Calhoun baseball
Tim Fine’s Game-Winning Hit Helps Calhoun Top Plainview
A Tim Fine two-run game-winning single helped push Calhoun past Plainview JFK, 10-9. Calhoun got the momentum going early in the bottom of the first with shortstop Matt Pelcher knocking a homerun to deep right center to get the Colts on the board and tie it up at one a piece. The Colts knew they would be in for a test, as Plainview JFK starter and Hofstra-commit Mark Faello took the hill. Faello certainly had plenty of run support throughout the game. The Hawks knocked a total of nine runs in the game and scored one in at least every inning. The trouble for the Hawks came in the second inning when Calhoun second baseman Jack Pugliano cleared the bases loaded with a one-out triple to right center. Pugliano would later score in the same inning on a two-run double by starting pitcher Anthony ...
Nassau County Class AA Power Rankings (5th Edition)
If there’s one thing we learned this past week, it’s that Oceanside is the powerhouse of Class AA. Not only did they sweep the defending Long Island champions, but they did it in convincing fashion, outscoring them by 20 runs on the series. An exciting week of baseball this upcoming week is headlined by Plainview vs. Calhoun and Farmingdale vs. Oceanside. Heading into the back half of the season, here are your top five teams in Class AA for this week. 5. Herricks (6-6) (Last week: Unranked) After starting the year off 1-5, there was no telling to how this Herricks team may pan out. Fast forward to week four of the season and they’re sitting at the .500 mark with their toughest opponents behind them. With just Long Beach (4-5) and Baldwin (5-7) left on their schedule, ther...
Nassau County Class AA Power Rankings (4th Edition)
The top teams in Class AA all took a tumble last week as Plainview, Massapequa and Farmingdale all suffered a defeat. Luckily for them, there’s still plenty of baseball left to be played in the season and they still hold top spots in their respective conferences. At the midway point in the season, it seems that anyone is capable of winning. With that being said, here are this week’s top five teams in class AA. 5. Farmingdale (6-3) (Last week: #4) The Dalers suffered a game three loss to a winless Hicksville team, therefore they drop a spot in this week’s power rankings. Although Farmingdale didn’t complete the clean sweep against Hicksville, there was still plenty of bright spots that came out of the series. Sophmore Justin Rosner continues to strengthen his case as...
Mike Pokorny’s Big Offensive Day Leads Calhoun to Victory over East Meadow
Mike Pokorny on the 4-2 victory for Calhoun pic.twitter.com/WFSUDXYqGR — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 11, 2018 With Calhoun leading 4-2 in the top of the sixth inning, Tyler Patterson stepped to the plate as the potential go-ahead run. He drove one to deep left and the Calhoun dugout collectively gasped. The ball was caught at the warning track by Jake Edwards to retire the side and also allowed their dugout to breathe a sigh of relief. The game was a match up of two talented pitchers. Charlie Cucchiara, named to our Preseason All-Long Island list, is coming off an All-County season as a sophomore for East Meadow against Mike Porcelli, who was an All-League starter last season. Porcelli allowed consecutive singles to start the game but worked out of the jam unscathed. Ca...
Nassau Class AA Power Rankings (3rd Edition)
In a week where two of the top teams had their bye weeks, there were a number of clean sweeps across the county. Oceanside, Farmingdale and East Meadow all stood out last week, sweeping their respective opponents in dominant fashion. So far, 2018 has proven that any team can be beaten at any time. For the time being, the top five teams in Class AA seem to be locked in as the best teams in the county, buy anything is possible in high school baseball. With that being said, here are the top five teams heading into the third week of the season. 5. Calhoun (5-1) (Last week: #3) Heading into the week, Calhoun seemed as if they were the hottest team in Class AA. However, they took a step back this past week. The Colts were fortunate to come out of the week with two victories against Herricks, as ...
Calhoun Season Preview
They’ve knocked on the door the past two seasons, losing in the semifinals each time. Last season was particularly cruel, as they led Plainview-JFK 2-1 in the seventh inning in consecutive games but failed to close the door each time. “I think we were just young, a little inexperienced last year,” said Head Coach Art Canestro, who is entering his fifth season at the helm. They graduated only two seniors, relying primarily on underclassman and juniors to get them to 15 wins. This year, they will have eight seniors, with about four of them expected to be starters. Canestro noted that the strength of the team is in his pitching staff, calling it a “strange year” that he has “legitimately eight pitchers”. “It’s a good problem to have when y...
Matt Pelcher Commits to Hofstra
The trend continues of Hofstra University becoming a hot-spot for elite prospects on Long Island. Catcher Matt Pelcher (Calhoun 2020) announced his verbal commitment to the Pride, joining fellow LI top players such as Jimmy Joyce, Anthony D’Onofrio, Mark Faello, Brad Camarda, James Cardinale and William Kennedy. He becomes the fourth 2020 graduate on the island to announce his verbal commitments (Joe Wozny; UCONN, Travis Honeyman; Boston College, Johnny Castagnozzi; North Carolina). Pelcher has been in the limelight since eighth grade, when he was called up to varsity to be the starting catcher for Calhoun. He did a commendable job, batting .286 and handling a very talented pitching staff led by Dylan Hughes and Jake Garguilo. We wrote a feature story on him directly following the se...
Art Canestro Reflects On Professional Career, Growing Up on LI
Art Canestro was never nervous on the mound–except maybe for this time, he admitted. Pitching in the first ever game at Coors Field, there was a capacity crowd of 60,000 people despite being a Spring Training game. “I just remember looking up in the stands and being blinded by the people. It was just a wall of people. I was never nervous pitching, but that time there was definitely some butterflies,” says the current Head Coach of Calhoun HS. “I didn’t even really get to enjoy it; it was over after eight pitches. I got two pop outs and a ground out and the inning was over,” he added. That was the closest he got the big leagues, but the left-handed pitcher enjoyed a glorious high school career at Wellington C. Mepham HS. He graduated prior to the inceptio...
B1000 Seminoles Capture Boys of Summer 17U Championship With a 4-0 Victory Over LI Titans
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5yVp_42nMk The No. 7 seed Batting 1000 Seminoles defeated the No. 3 seed Titans behind a clutch performance from their LHP Chris Wiercinski (Mineola 2018). He was dominant through out; shutting down the hard-hitting Titans lineup allowing no runs in his six and a third innings of work. @jonahkarp82 interviews the winning pitcher Chris Wiercinski after his stellar Championship Game outing for the @liboysofsummer pic.twitter.com/bmTlO1Q8Wu — Axcess Baseball (@axcessbaseball) August 13, 2017 “It felt good, I haven’t felt that good out there in years,” said the winning pitcher, Wiercinski. “After that performance I’m really confident now and I hope to keep that going in the future.” The hard throwing lefty would fan ten b...
