Connetquot
Q & A With Mike DiFilippo
One of the hallmarks of a winning college program is player development. While any program would love to bring in the big-time recruit, it’s just not rational to expect that every player on your roster will be a PG All-American or an All-State player. There needs to be instances of players that come in and take a leap forward. During my time at Farmingdale State College, that would occur routinely. Players that were either overlooked in high school or simply took their game to another level once they stepped foot on campus. St. Joseph’s is the new king of the Skyline Conference – having won back-to-back-to-back championships including a thrilling walk-off win, 9-8, this year over those Farmingdale Rams in the winner-take-all finals. The Golden Eagles, who lost their first...
GAME RECAP: Nick Pepitone Fans 15 in 2-Hit Shutout to Keep Connetquot’s Hopes Alive
Final: Connetquot 4, Walt Whitman 0 WP: Nick Pepitone (CG shutout, 2 hits, 15 Ks, 3 BBs) Connetquot is moving on! They will face the loser of Commack-Sachem North on Wednesday pic.twitter.com/aN0VNGIuOG — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 21, 2024 With their backs against the wall, having lost their first playoff game on Friday (which leaked into Saturday when the game was suspended after 11 innings), Connetquot has rattled off wins in three straight elimination games to keep their championship hopes alive. They defeated Smithtown East on Sunday and Longwood on Monday to set up a rematch against the upstart Walt Whitman Wildcats, who are buoyed by their impressive young talent. Connetquot called up senior RHP Nick Pepitone, who took the hard luck no-decision on Friday when he struck...
GAME RECAP: Nick Pepitone Fans 10 over 6 Shutout Innings As Connetquot Runs Win Streak to 9
Final: Connetquot 6, Lindenhurst 0 WP: Nick Pepitone (6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 10 Ks) Tony Gagliardo: 3-for-3, run, RBI Jagger Adamo: 2-for-4, 2 RBIs, run Connetquot has won 9 games in a row pic.twitter.com/Msh1w9OM12 — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 30, 2024 The Connetquot T-Birds may have gotten off to a slow start to the season, but they are firing on all cylinders as the calendar flips to May. They cruised past Lindenhurst, 6-0, to run their win streak to 9 and clinched a playoff berth in the process. Starting pitcher Nick Pepitone was outstanding, as he had a no-hitter into the fifth inning. He wound up allowing two hits, walking three and striking out 10 in a dominant effort. “Everything was working for me today,” said the Endicott College-commit. “Mainly my fast...
Led by Power Arms, Connetquot Hungry to Avenge Last Year’s Playoff Exit
by Max Edelman Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s season preview series. St. John’s-commit Ryan Kiendle closing out the 7-3 victory for Connetquot pic.twitter.com/pbwCsZSFP2 — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 21, 2023 In a season in which the Connetquot Thunderbirds saw a near-perfect regular season with an overall 19-4 record, they were unable to carry that success into the playoffs. In what head coach Robert Burger, who is entering his fifth year as head coach, called a tale of two seasons. “Last year was a tale of two seasons.” Burger said. “We were the League III champs, number one seed in the Suffolk County playoffs. But then the second season started and we went 1-2. And at the end of the day, that’s what matters most.” Connetq...
Up Next Powered by State Farm Ken Kortright Agency: Jagger Adamo
(Editor’s Note: This is the eighth installment of the Up Next Series in which we highlight the top underclassmen on Long Island. Previously, we highlighted Everett Zarzicki, Brian Brower, Stellan Zangari, Ryan Bush, Bryce Cutrone, Justin Ortiz and Colin Raymond.) Keith Osik has seen a lot of baseball. He is one of the five best baseball players ever to come out of Long Island, as he had a remarkable career at LSU and went on to play a decade in the big leagues. Since then, he has been the head coach at Farmingdale State College for close to 20 years where he has won 8 Skyline Conference Championships. Additionally, he has been around the travel league circuit for many years and coaches Team Steel. All of that is to say that his evaluations are typically extremely accurate so it opene...
GAME RECAP: Jack Costello Fires Gem, Pat-Med Pulls Off Upset at No. 1 Connetquot
🚨 Upset Alert 🚨 Final: Pat-Med 3, Connetquot 2 WP: Jack Costello (CG, 1 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 2 Ks) Rob Melo: RBI single Jack Costello: sac fly Bryan Frascogna: RBI single Pat-Med will play the winner of Ward Melville-Longwood on Saturday pic.twitter.com/T6NLwIJdH6 — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 17, 2023 Baseball is a unique game filled with quirks and statistical oddities. Here’s one for you: three times since 2003, Connetquot was the No.1 seed in the Suffolk AA postseason and were defeated by Pat-Med at home. There’s no rhyme or reason to that, each team was comprised of entirely different players but each time the Raiders were able to do something exceptionally difficult – beat one of the best teams on Long Island on their own turf. Pat-Med certainly hasn’t ...
Connetquot Primed For Another Deep Postseason Run
Connetquot rolled to the League III title last season but was defeated by Smithtown West in the Class AA playoffs. Still, they finished with an overall record of 20-4. They had a pretty young team – although one of the seniors, Ryan Waring, was named the League MVP after going undefeated and is now at SUNY Poly. First year Head Coach Dwayne Page, a 2014 graduate of Connetquot had high praise for Waring. “He really embodied that role of an ace. It’s a testament to his character. It really helped when the senior group is light to have a player like him,” he added. This year, they will have a small army of seniors on the team – 16 to be exact. Several of those players are three or four-year varsity players. That type of veteran leadership usually bodes very well ...
Q & A With Anthony Scarabino
When people ask how programs like Connetquot are also to continually produce winning seasons year-after-year, it starts with the dedication of the players and coaches at the youth level. During the shutdown season of 2020, I heard about how good the freshman class at Connetquot was and that they would be a force in a couple years. That came to fruition as the T-Birds captured their League Championship yet again before losing in the postseason to Smithtown West in a rain-soaked two-day game. One of their biggest contributors was junior captain Anthony Scarabino who was named Team MVP, All-League and All-County. He batted .436 over 23 games with a .563 OPS, .551 SLG 1.114 OPS, 34 hits, 5 doubles, 2 triples, 27 RBIs, 34 runs, 18 walks and 11 stolen bases. The do-it-all outfielder recently ann...
Connetquot Ready For New Challenge in League III
After a long wait it’s safe to say Connetquot is fired up to be playing An RBI double by freshman Ryan Kiendle off the fence in left gives them a 1-0 lead pic.twitter.com/Op8gOV7zbs — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 8, 2021 For the first time in program history, Connetquot will complete in League III this season. The program had previously been in League II and is one of the perennial powerhouses on Long Island. 2021 was a typically strong season for the T-Birds, who finished with a record of 15-4. They lost, 1-0, in the Conference II semifinals against Bay Shore and League MVP, Coltrane Calloway. Despite not reaching their goal, Connetquot was a very young team. Coach Rob Burger, who won the Class AA County Championship in his first season in 2019, stated that they had 7 so...
What is the Best School to Recruit from on Long Island?
This idea originally came to me about five years ago when I was covering a Shoreham-Wading River practice before the season. Looking around, it appeared they had more talent some many college teams and I remember thinking that a college coach could’ve done most of their recruiting just from that team. They wound up winning 20 consecutive games and capturing the Class A Suffolk County Championship that season. That was in 2017 and since then a lot has changed. But at the same time, the cream always rises to the top and many of the best programs on Long Island have been the best programs for several decades. Some have their peaks and valleys, but this list will focus on the best of the best – the ones you can always count on will be there come playoff time, the ones that produce ...
Up Next Powered by The Yard Sports: Ryan Kiendle
This is the third installment of the popular series “Up Next Powered by the Yard Sports” where he highlight the top underclassmen on Long Island. The first two feature stories highlighted Centereach OF Logan Norman and Garden City LHP Gabe Beschloss. Please check out the Yard Sports by clicking here. For many years, it would’ve been unheard of for a freshman to be a starter on varsity for Connetquot. Not that none of them were capable, but the talent pool is so incredibly strong, it simply made more sense to allow even the most advanced players to get their feet wet playing JV every day, dominate that level, before moving up to varsity the next year. Sometimes players like Ryan Kiendle come around, and force a coach’s hand. Final: Connetquot 8, Northport 0 WP: Ryan ...
Coltrane Calloway Sends Bay Shore to Conference II Finals
Coltrane Calloway fires a 4-hit shutout and Bay Shore advances to the Suffolk Conference II Finals with a 1-0 win over Connetquot ! pic.twitter.com/FryTZ6oBMO — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 16, 2021 When Mike Herbst announced that this would be his last season at the helm for Bay Shore, I had a feeling they would make it a special year. The Marauders seem determined to fight to the bitter end – as they defeated Connetquot, 1-0, to advance to the Suffolk County Conference II Finals against Huntington on Friday. Ace Coltrane Calloway was lights-out, firing a 4-hit shutout against a tough Thunderbirds lineup. The pitching match up lived up to the hype. Connetquot sent ace LHP Sean Mileti to the hill against Calloway. The lone run that scored in the game came in the first in...
