Daniel Lopes
Saturday College Recap Powered by Orlin & Cohen
by Daniel Lopes It was a busy day of college baseball on Long Island, as 13 teams combined to play 17 games, including six doubleheaders. In total Hofstra, St. John’s, Long Island University, Stony Brook, Fordham, Molloy, Adelphi, Queens, Maritime, Farmingdale State, Old Westbury, St. Joseph’s, and USMMA played. DIVISION I: Hofstra 5, Elon University 6 Neither team started the game hot at the plate, as this game went scoreless for the first three innings. Elon struck first in the bottom of the fourth, when Luke Stephenson scored on an obstruction call at third base, giving Elon the lead. They scored the rest of their five runs over the next four innings, including a three- run fifth inning. The highlights included a two-run single from Parker Haskin, a sacrifice fly from Samuel Frontino, ...
Saturday College Recap Powered by Orlin & Cohen
by Daniel Lopes Only five Long Island teams were in action on Saturday, as inclement weather caused cancellations for another five programs today. In total, St. John’s, Stony Brook, Fordham, SUNY Maritime and USMMA combined to play six games today. DIVISION I: St. Johns 15, Sacred Heart University 5 Sacred Heart got on the board first in this game, scoring two in the top half of the first game. Ryan Donnelly got the action started, driving in Justin Jordan with a double. Donnelly scored a couple of batters later, as George Sutherland drove him in with a single. St. John’s retaliated with a run of their own in the bottom half of the first, as Kevin Michaels drove in Tate Ballestero with a double. After a scoreless second inning for both teams, St. John’s completely woke up, out-scoring Sacr...
Long Island Lutheran Poised to Repeat in 2022
by Daniel Lopes Coming off of a 2021 season in which they won the Private School Athletic Association (PSAA) championship, Long Island Lutheran and head coach Shaun Manning is pleased with the progress his squad has made in the last year. “I was really happy with what we were able to accomplish last spring with all the baseball we were able to play, between the Boys of Summer preseason league and the PSAA season,” said Manning. “We ended up getting in a bunch of contests, and it was really good for our kids.” This year’s team has almost perfect continuity from last season, as all but one player returns from the roster. However, the lone graduate from the team leaves a big hole, as their captain Harrison Leone has moved on to college. Leone was an important part of the roster, especia...
Oceanside Looking to Build Off Playoff Season
By Daniel Lopes Baltimore Orioles prospect Kyle Martin (Oceanside 2016) pic.twitter.com/udoJab78CZ — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) January 27, 2021 After a 2021 season that saw Oceanside make a surprise run in the playoffs with an inexperienced roster, head coach Mike Postilio is ready to build on the progress of that run. “It wasn’t what I hoped for or expected, but at the end, we found a way to get in the playoffs and then make it back to the final four with a team that was under .500 for the first time since I’ve been coaching there,” Postilio said. “I was super proud of the kids and the senior group. We had great leadership.” They were eliminated in the semifinals against Massapequa in a best-of-three series. Multiple seniors from last year’s team have since graduated, but...
Saturday College Recap Powered by Orlin & Cohen
By Daniel Lopes It was a wild day of college baseball for teams on Long Island, as 13 schools combined to play 17 games. There were multiple wild endings in these games, as multiple ended in walk-offs DIVISION I: St John’s 2, University of San Francisco 13 St. John’s got out on top early in this one, taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the 1st inning after Nick Cirelli drove David Glancy in with a single. However, it was short-lived, as San Francisco came out of the gates swinging in their half of the first. Mario Demera tied the game with an RBI single, then Harris WIlliams III broke the game open with a grand slam to give San Francisco a 5-1 lead. San Francisco only continued to build on their lead, as Gabe Giosso hit an RBI double in the 3rd inning. In the 5th, they had another big inning,...
Huntington Coming Off First County Championship Since 1960
By Daniel Lopes In 2021, Huntington made history, making the playoffs for the first time since 2005 and winning the Conference II Suffolk County Championship for the first time in over 60 years. This success was rewarded heavily, as eight players earned All-League honors and head coach Bill Harris won the Conference II Coach of the Year. “Being an alumni of Huntington High School, I couldn’t be more proud of these young men and my assistant coach Rob Cappas for the great achievements we made last season,” said Harris. “We put Huntington baseball back on the map.” They will be without much of the core that helped them get to the championship last year, as nine seniors from last year’s team have since graduated. One of the biggest losses is Kyle Colleluori, who was a workhorse for the ...
Despite Graduating Starting Rotation from 2021, Farmingdale Well Stocked for 2022
By: Daniel Lopes After an 11-5 season that ended in the playoffs against Oceanside, Farmingdale and head coach Frank Tassielli hope to remain near the top of a highly competitive conference in 2022. “You look at a few of our conferences and divisions in Nassau County and there’s not many [teams] where you’re like, ‘Oh, that’s a cakewalk for that team,” Tassielli said. “Parity is alive and guys are working hard.” However, if Farmingdale is going to succeed, it’s going to be without most of their pitching rotation from last year, as multiple players graduated. One such player is Drew Alameda (St. Thomas Aquinas). Alameda was a quality player on both sides of the ball, hitting .410 with four home runs and 21 RBIs while pitching to the tune of a 0.81 ERA in 17 ⅓ innings pitched. Another pitche...
Saturday College Recap Powered by Orlin & Cohen
As the college baseball season continues into its second weekend, local teams got some more action. Stony Brook University, St. John’s University, Fordham University, Long Island University, Molloy College, Queens College, and the United States Merchant Marine Academy all played today. Division I: Stony Brook University 3, University of South Florida 9 After Stony Brook went scoreless in the top of the first, South Florida wasted no time taking the lead, scoring three runs in the inning thanks to a single from Daniel Cantu and a double from Keanu Jacobs-Guishard. Stony Brook got on the board in the third off of an RBI single from Stanton Leuthner, but USF struck right back, as Joaquin Monque hit his first home run of the season, extending their lead to 5-1. After a pair of scoreless inning...
Hills East Looking to Bounce Back in 2022
by Daniel Lopes After a season defined by COVID and the scheduling changes that it caused, Hills East head coach Tim Belz is hopeful that his team can bounce back from their 3-15 year in 2021. “Rebounding from a bad year last year, we’ve got some significant players coming back, and a lot of growth coming back with age and experience,” Belz said. “We’re definitely looking forward to getting back into the playoffs again, as a two-year drought for us hurts. So we want to get back into the playoffs.” Prior to that, they had reached the playoffs in four consecutive seasons. While the team did graduate some seniors from last year’s team, Belz believes that the core of the team remains intact. Hills East 2, Lindenhurst 0 WP: Ari Gluck (CG shutout) Nick Farnacci (video) and Kyle Cavataio ho...
After Reaching County Finals Against Bethpage, Plainedge Ready for Rigors of Nassau A4
by Daniel Lopes And the floodgates are open early for Plainedge, Pat Reyes hits a homer over the left field wall to push the lead to 4-0! pic.twitter.com/lEJrFNP8cw — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 16, 2021 Heading into the 2021 season, Plainedge entered a new era of baseball after losing 14 graduating seniors. Despite the losses, head coach Colin Fratrik’s team had a very successful season, going 13-3 and making it all the way to the county finals before losing in a game three to Bethpage. “The game came down to basically the last inning in the top of the seventh. We had the tying run on second base and we just were unable to get the big hit to get the game tied in that position,” said Fratrik. “We played some really good baseball and I was very proud of the team and the season...
Led by 7 Seniors, Bellmore JFK Looking to Return to Playoffs
by Daniel Lopes After a 6-10 season that landed Bellmore JFK a playoff spot, head coach Mike Gattus is excited to see what the added year of experience will bring to his team. Last year, the team was made up of mostly underclassmen who were able to get plenty of at-bats and innings at the varsity level. “We had three sophomores consistently in the starting lineup. One of our better pitchers who started every week for us was a freshman last year, and the lineup was mostly composed of underclassmen,” Gattus said. “I was pleased with the work that my guys put in, and I really look forward to this upcoming season.” While the team did receive plenty of contributions from underclassmen, they did lose multiple seniors from last years’ team, with outfielder Jake Sherman, pitcher Sam Ostroff, catch...
North Shore Graduated League MVP But Return Several Starters from Playoff Team
by Daniel Lopes Final: North Shore 4, Plainedge 3 WP: Nick Livoti (3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 2 K) Rosen and Maldonado RBI each North Shore improves to 9-5, Plainedge is 12-2 pic.twitter.com/K2MtovNPdr — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 5, 2021 Despite only having one player on the roster who had significant varsity experience in 2021, North Shore and head coach Scott Lineman continued to battle, posting an 11-8 season and losing to Plainedge in the playoffs. While the season may not have ended in a title, it was still essential for their growth. “One good thing [that] came out about it is that we did have a couple of underclassmen play a significant amount of time last year to gain experience going into this year.” Lineman said. While most of their core still remains, they will be without ...
