Commack
Tools of Intelligence: Talking with the Catchers of Long Island’s Recent Aces
by Pat Duryea Pitchers are unique animals. No one pitcher is the same. Each pitcher has a unique mix of pitches, movement, and velocity. To find those wrangling the pitchers, you look no further than right behind home plate. The catcher. Nobody knows a pitcher better than their catcher. Catching is far from a passive profession, they must strategize just as much as any pitcher and do a whole lot of dirty work. But as we examine the top pitchers in Suffolk County across the past two seasons there is no better perspective to hear from, than that of their catchers. Pat-Med 2, Sachem East 0 WP: Josh Knoth (6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 15 Ks) S: Jack Costello Jayden Kennedy: RBI double, bases loaded walk Pat-Med will face No. 1 Connetquot tomorrow pic.twitter.com/ORo94RMhrG — Axcess Baseball LI (@axc...
Evan Kay Strikes out 11, Leads Commack to Third Long Island Championship in 4 Years
by Jacob Infald (Photo: Adam Rubin/Commack School District) Kay does it again! 11 strikeouts on the day including striking out the side in the 7th. pic.twitter.com/HM7EGjJlrC — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 2, 2024 For the third time in four seasons and for the second consecutive one, the Commack Cougars are the Class AAA Long Island baseball champions. On the evening of June 1st at Middle Country Athletic Complex, the Cougars were once again led by their ace, Stony Brook-commit Evan Kay and they defeated the Farmingdale Dalers, 2-1. Kay was dominant out on the mound allowing only one unearned one in a seven inning complete game shutout. He struckout 11 batters and walked none. Kay attacked Dale hitters early in the count with a sharp slider, a nasty changeup and a powerful fa...
Commack Enters 2024 Atop the Mountain
Final: Commack 9, Shenendehowa 0 WP: Evan Kay (CG shutout, 2 hits) Commack will play Ketchum in the Class AA State Finals on Saturday pic.twitter.com/cWRiSEdV0H — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 10, 2023 Commack was as close as possible to winning their first State Championship in program history. They fired a no-hitter in the Class AA Finals against Ketchum but lost, 2-1. They finished with a record of 25-3. While that loss certainly stung, it shouldn’t take away from the fact that they continued their reign as the top baseball program in Suffolk County – they have captured back-to-back-to-back Suffolk Class AA Championships and they defeated Massapequa, 7-0, in a rare anticlimactic Long Island Championship at St. Joseph’s University. Coach Matt Salmon followin...
Up Next Powered by State Farm Ken Kortright Agency: Ryan Bush
(Editor’s Note: This is the fourth installment of the Up Next series in which we highlight the top underclassmen on Long Island. Previously, we featured Everett Zarzicki, Brian Brower and Stellan Zangari. Special thank you to State Farm Ken Kortright Agency for sponsoring this year’s series.) Since 2017, Commack has turned into the premier baseball program on Long Island. Much of that is due to the culture that the late head coach Bryan Bonin instilled, as the Cougars won a County Championship in his first season at the helm and followed that up with another in his final season in 2021, and in the first two seasons under Matt Salmon in 2022-’23. Besides the great culture that Bonin helped instilled, they have a tremendous pipeline of talent that’s on par with the be...
GAME RECAP: Lindenhurst Stuns Commack With 4-Run 7th Inning to Keep League Title Hopes Alive
Lindenhurst scores 4 runs in the bottom of the 7th and they defeat Commack 7-6 on a walk-off sac fly by Steve Hernandez pic.twitter.com/gloo0C8L9s — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 9, 2023 It’s not often that you are left speechless following a high school game, but this was one of those. The two-time reigning Suffolk Class AA Champion Commack Cougars have led League I wire-to-wire this season – even flirting with a perfect season until recently – but entered play today looking to clinch the League Title against a hungry and senior-laden Lindenhurst Bulldog team led by Stony Brook-commit Chris Carson. Leading 6-3 in the bottom of the 7th and 7-8-9 in the order coming up, things looked very safe for the Cougars as they looked to get three final outs. That last out...
Commack Continues to Establish Itself as Premier Program in Suffolk County
Bottom 4: A grand slam by Justin Crispino and Commack opens up a 7-3 lead pic.twitter.com/Rpr7jcYEui — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 25, 2022 Commack took the field in 2022 with heavy hearts following the tragic passing of their beloved coach Bryan Bonin. He was a winner on the field and a truly respected man in the community and a loving father, husband, son and brother. The Commack community rallied behind him and honored him in the best way they knew how – continue to win. The Cougars went 17-1 in the regular season, capturing the League Championship and they continued to win as they went 7-1 during the Suffolk County playoffs, capturing their third County Championship since 2017. They had their season end in the Long Island Championship against their new rival, Massape...
New BEAST Training Facility Opens
The bar keeps raising for training facilities on Long Island. There is a new home for Team BEAST in Huntington and it is located in what was previously Retro Fitness at 1815 East Jericho Turnpike. The facility is 15,000 square feet and is an upgrade over their previous home just a few miles down the road. The biggest takeaway is that the facility will be centered around player development for players from 8u to college. It is equipped with fully retractable cages opening to full size turf area, a dedicated HitTrax area, standalone pitching lab with Rapsodo, Pro Radar and video. Multiple plyowalls, warm up spaces, locker rooms and a classroom upstairs. Additionally, there will be a physical therapy office near the entrance. It will be the home to BEAST baseball, BEAST softball as well as sp...
Round 2! Massapequa Defeats Commack in a Rematch of the 2021 Class AA Finals
by Chris Prystupa FINAL: Massapequa 2 Commack 1 pic.twitter.com/ozGuqGNW5C — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 4, 2022 In a rematch of the 2021 Class AA Long Island Championship, the Massapequa Chiefs and the Commack Cougars met once again in the battle for the title. Rather than being a slugfest these two teams put their pitching and defense to the test. After a scoreless first inning for Massapequa’s Erik Paulsen, the Chiefs were looking to provide some early run support as the first two hitters of the game, Matt Castrogiovanni and Tim Dorman, reached on back-to-back singles. Commack’s starting pitcher Eric Mohr induced a soft line drive which turned into a double play ending the threat. In the top half of the second inning, second baseman Michael Pulcini brought in the game...
Longwood Forces Winner-Take-All With 4-3 Win Against Commack
Longwood head coach Ryan McSherry following the playoff victory pic.twitter.com/ApxJZKSYaB — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 24, 2022 Well I guess they won’t want me covering any more Commack games. The Cougars, who had been riding an 18-game winning streak since their last loss on April 5 – which was when we last covered them – lost 4-3 to Longwood which forces a winner-take-all Conference I Championship today. Longwood brought their bats in the first inning against Stony Brook-commit Eric Mohr. Devin Montalvo led the game off with a walk and he was sacrificed to second base by Mike Arbuiso and he scored on Louis Kaleb’s RBI single to make it 1-0. Mason Mehling went the other way with a single and Preston Gerena scored Kaleb with an RBI single of his own t...
Tom Ribaudo’s Three-Run Blast Propels Ward Melville to 4-2 Win
Ward Melville catcher Tom Ribaudo following his late game heroics in the 4-2 victory over Commack pic.twitter.com/JGicHCGMmL — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 5, 2022 When Commack and Ward Melville square off, there is guaranteed to be some sort of dramatic finish. We’ve seen it time-and-time again, most notably that 2019 semifinals matchup at Ward Melville. This game did not feature nearly as much offense or ejections, but there was an exciting finish with an exclamation point from the captain. Trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the sixth inning against reliever Matt Mayer, Ward Melville captain Tom Ribaudo stepped to the plate after a 4-6-3 double play briefly took some of the life out of the home faithful. A walk drawn by Rob Looney flipped the lineup and brought up Ribaudo....
Commack Takes the Field With Heavy Hearts in 2022
Commack captures the Conference I Long Island Championship with a 3-1 victory over Massapequa ! pic.twitter.com/QCz1prESnG — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 21, 2021 Commack will take the field with heavy hearts in 2022 following the passing of their Head Coach Bryan Bonin in January. Bonin was an incredible person and coach – who led the Cougars to the County Championship during his first year in 2017 and also their first Long Island Championship in program history in 2021. Incumbent coach, Matt Salmon, had the following to say: “Since Bryan passed away, I’ve been in constant contact with the guys. The kids really loved him. It’s almost taken on a natural feel the way Bryan would’ve wanted it. Everybody is locked in on baseball. During tryouts, from...
Commack head coach Bryan Bonin Passes Away
Commack head coach Bryan Bonin passed away last night after a battle with cancer. He was just 33 years old. It is a truly devastating loss for the baseball community, his family and loved ones. Bryan led the Commack Cougars to the Long Island Championship in 2021 with a hard-fought victory over Nassau Champion Massapequa. It was really inspiring that his team knew about his diagnosis and was able to rally behind him and capture their first LIC in program history. We named Bryan the Coach of the Year and he was the no-brainer selection. He also led them to the Class AA County Championship in 2017, which was his first season at the helm and it broke a drought of 20 years. He began having more difficulties in the time since the season ended and unfortunately the situation became more grim in ...
