Really good bullpen from freshman Joe Valentino pic.twitter.com/0fkn9Me6Tf — Axcess Baseball (@axcessbaseball) October 25, 2017 Our Fall Ball Series concluded this afternoon at LIU Post with the reigning ECC Champion Pioneers. I watched their full-team workout and it was very eye-opening. If there was any question that LIU Post baseball has come a long way over the previous three seasons, look no further than the newly-implemented rule by the school’s athletic department. On days that the men’s soccer team is playing, the baseball team is prohibited from taking batting practice on the field due to the amount of home runs that have interrupted the soccer games. The biggest culprits have been Rob Andreoli and Zach Fritz. Head Coach Mike Gaffney noted that in previous years t...
We waited long enough to unveil it. Here is our 2017 college All-Long Island team video announcement. The Most Valuable Player, Cy Young, Rookie of the Year and Coach of the Year Awards will be announced and given out at our third annual Awards Banquet this winter. Below are the players along with their key stats. Hofstra: Steven Foster: .317 AVG, 64 H, 17 2B, 3 HR, 20 RBI, .368 OBP, 8 SB Vito Friscia: .305 AVG, 47 H, 8 HR, 33 RBI, .532 SLG, .404 OBP Stony Brook: Toby Handley: .342 AVG, 67 H, 44 R, 17 2B, 8 3B, 5 HR, 34 RBI, 45 BB, .466 OBP Casey Baker: .302 AVG, 57 H, 35 R, 4 HR, 37 RBI, .404 OBP, 15 SB Brian Herrmann: 4-3 W-L, 3.46 ERA, 80.2 IP, .234 AVG NYIT: Louis Mele: .341 AVG, .422 OBP, .459 SLG, 46 H, 2 HR Molloy: Brian Murphy: .342 AVG, 65 H, 46 R,.385 OBP, 44 SB Angelo Navetta: ...
It took longer than anticipated but a handful of Long Island natives were selected on Day 3 of the 2017 MLB Draft. Here’s a rundown of the selections: Matt Seelinger, FSC (Pittsburgh Pirates, 28th round) The 2013 graduate of Clarke HS became the first player to get drafted out of Farmingdale State College since Tadeusz Nowakowski in 1978. He had a brilliant stretch of two seasons for the Rams, being named Skyline Conference Pitcher of the Year in 2016 and followed that up with a 4-1 season in ’17, in which he compiled a 1.39 ERA with 69 strikeouts over 51.2 IP. He finishes his career just ahead of me in the program-record book for highest strikeouts per nine (10.6). Their early postseason exit prevented him from compiling some of the numbers that other elite pitchers did. Still...
The LIU Post Pioneers are ECC Champions for the first time since 2010!! pic.twitter.com/jMf2MJWQWK — aXcess Baseball (@axcessbaseball) May 14, 2017 For the first time since 2010, the LIU Post Pioneers are East Coast Conference champions. They completed the journey with their 9-7 victory over the Molloy Lions. This was the first time in the past six seasons that the ECC champion was not either Dowling or St. Thomas Aquinas. It was a game that definitely lived up to the expectations as the score bounced around quite a bit, but despite the late push from Molloy, LIU Post was able to come out on top. LIU Post got out to an early lead in the bottom of the first with a Zach Fritz RBI fielder’s choice with the help of a throwing error that brought in a pair of runs. Molloy answered back...
Jake DeCarli looked like the 2015 version of himself in last night’s outing against No. 6 ranked Southern New Hampshire. The senior RHP struck out 10 and allowed only four hits over 7.0 IP in the 4-3 victory. Dan Jagiello came on in relief and struck out all four batters he faced to record his first save of the season. The Pioneers’ offense was dormant for the first four innings, and they trailed 3-0 when they came to bat. They sparked a rally, with the first run coming on an RBI single by Michael Greene. Reigning All-Long Island outfielder Rob Andreoli smacked an RBI single of his own, as did Anthony Vaglica. The go-ahead run came across on a double play off the bat of Zach Fritz. With the victory, the Pioneers improved to 2-3. They will be back in action today against Felicia...
This is a year where there is a higher-than-normal amount of players with professional caliber playing on Long Island. There might not be a first-round pick, but there will be plenty of Day 3 guys. To discuss them all, it will be broken into a multi-part series. Here is the first group. Jesse Berardi (Commack ’14, St. John’s ’18) You won’t find anyone that says a bad word about Berardi. He won the Carl Yastrzemski Award in 2014 and was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies. His makeup is off the charts and everyone adores how he respects the game and hustles at all times. He was regarded as the best defensive shortstop to come out of Long Island since Shawon Dunston. His bat has come along and all of a sudden he developed power which only enhances his value. Assuming...
The LIU Post Pioneers defeated No. 1 seed Dowling with an 8-0 shutout. It’s hard to call it an upset when they handled them three of four during the regular season and had the ECC Pitcher of the Year on the mound.Jake DeCarli threw a CG five-hit shutout with seven strikeouts to lower his conference-leading ERA to 0.76. He allowed hits in the first, second, fifth and eighth inning but never more than two base runners in any inning. His record improves to 6-1 on the season.The offense was dormant against Brendan Butler for the first two innings but came alive in the third when Thomas Asbaty hit a two-run single to score Anthony Brunetti and Kenny Daley.They broke it open with three more in the fourth inning on a wild pitch, an RBI single by Vinny Iacono and double by Brunetti.In the fi...
Photo Credit: LIU Post Athletics The LIU Post Pioneers won a dramatic 2-1 game over Queens in 10 innings to clinch a postseason berth in the ECC tournament.In the bottom of the 10th inning, Matt Bowers hit a walk off single to score Rich Maccarone and send the Pioneers into the playoffs. Dan Jagiello recorded the victory, he threw a scoreless 10th inning in relief of Jake DeCarli. DeCarli continued his magical season. After allowing a run in the second inning, he threw seven scoreless innings. He finished with nine strikeouts, he allowed only five hits while walking two. His ERA sits at 0.92. In 59 innings he has allowed a ridiculous 30 hits–which equates to a .152 opponent average. He certainly deserved the victory, but the offense couldn’t get going against Queens’ star...
Photo Credit: LIU Post Athletics The LIU Post Pioneers salvaged a series split with Bridgeport by winning 11-4 in the series finale. They scored nine of their 11 runs in the final two innings to turn defeat into triumph. The Pioneers trailed 4-2 in the seventh inning but they broke through with four runs thanks to two runs on a single by Kenny Daley and a two-run error off the bat of Anthony Brunetti. In the eighth inning, they scored five more runs. The first came on another costly error by Bridgeport to bring the Pioneers’ seventh run home. Vinny Iacono‘s RBI double and Daley’s RBI single brought the score to 11-4.Dan Jagiello, who threw eight innings and struck out eight while allowing four ER, received his fourth victory of the season. Dillon Burke closed it out with ...
Photo Credit: LIU Post Athletics In the battle for ECC supremacy, the LIU Post took down their Suffolk county rival Dowling Golden Eagles three games out of four.. The LIU Post earned the 5-3 victory on Tuesday, behind Dan Jagiello‘s seven strong innings. He allowed one ER, allowed seven hits, three walks while striking out seven. It was his second win of the season. The offense got it going in the third inning on an RBI single by DH Kyle Fagan (4-for-5, 3 RBI), which scored Tom Asbaty. In his next at bat, Fagan smacked another RBI single to score Vinny Iacono. Fagan ended up to score on a wild pitch by Dominic Danetti later in the inning. The Golden Lions finally got on the board in the eighth inning on an RBI ground out by Jon Cruz, to score Adam Schuster.In the top of the ninth, F...
Today’s Dowling verse LIU Post game has been postponed due to the threat of rain. The game will be made up on Monday for the fourth game of the series.Tomorrow Dowling will host the DH. It will begin at noon.The series will be crucial for each team, considering the ramifications in the ECC standings. Dowling is currently first in the conference with a 6-2 record. They are percentage points ahead of St. Thomas Aquinas, who currently sit at 9-3. LIU Post is just behind with a 6-3 record.Dowling will most likely throw Cody McPartland and Brendan Butler in tomorrow’s twinbill, while the Pioneers of LIU Post will probably throw ace Jake DeCarli and either Dan Jagiello or Connor McCarthy.Dowling has been led by their terrific pitching. They have a staff ERA of 2.33. Their contributio...