Fall Ball Series
Fall Ball Series Powered by East Coast Strength & Performance: Stony Brook University
Stony Brook Head Coach Matt Senk on winning the 2019 America East Championship pic.twitter.com/7h4QQVSm2x — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) October 28, 2019 In more than one way, 2019 was a banner year for Stony Brook baseball. The proud program captured their sixth America East Championship in thrilling fashion with the go-ahead run coming on a two-run double by Chris Hamilton to give them the lead for good over rival Binghamton. They trailed 5-2 in the bottom of the fourth inning but scratched-and-clawed their way back. They trailed in all three conference playoff games. Additionally, SS Nick Grande (Smithtown West 2016) and OF Michael Wilson were both selected in the MLB Draft to add to their impressive list of alumni sent into professional baseball. On the flip side, they did lose...
Fall Ball Series Powered by East Coast Strength & Performance: Adelphi University
Freshman southpaw Michael Storms (Smithtown East) has thrown well this fall pic.twitter.com/ZsCyyRIk9z — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) October 22, 2019 It’s hard to imagine a team having a better regular season than Adelphi did in 2019– they finished with a record of 34-6-1, they peaked as the No. 5 ranked Division-II team in the nation, they went on an 18-game unbeaten streak, they had an All-American pitcher and an MLB draft pick (Ed Baram). Somehow, there’s still a sense of unfinished business in Garden City as the Panthers had their season cut short in disappointing fashion with consecutive home playoff losses to Southern Connecticut, Franklin Pierce and Wilmington University. A team with a 3.44 ERA allowed 27 runs in those three postseason games and watched Ne...
Fall Ball Series Powered by East Coast Strength & Performance: Suffolk CC
Christian McPartland on the mound pic.twitter.com/1ogiE0u2Ag — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) October 17, 2019 Coming off a 26-7 season which culminated in capturing the Region XV Championship, expectations are sky high once again for Suffolk CC. Second year Head Coach Jason Galbraith is extremely confident in his squad this season having guided them to the Super Regionals in his first year at the helm. “This is probably the best infield in the region,” said Galbraith. “The infield is absolutely amazing. I don’t see anyone having better defense than us,” he added. There are certainly reasons to be excited especially with the presence of Chad Pike, who transferred from Dayton State after winning the League MVP at Southampton HS in 2017. Pike is an excepti...
Fall Ball Series Powered by East Coast Strength & Performance: Molloy
Injuries are part of the game. But sometimes they can be especially cruel and derail a season. “I thought last year’s team was just as talented as the three years before that when we made it to the Finals but when you lose the Preseason Player of the Year for basically 26 games–all 24 conference games–and Tom Brady missing just as much, that’s a huge part of the lineup,” said Molloy Head Coach Joe Fucarino. The Preseason Player of the Year was Matt Overton, who had a back injury that derailed much of his season. He added that at one point they had 13 guys injured at once. Despite that rash of injuries, they were able to compile a conference record of 14-14, missing the ECC postseason by one game after a hot streak kept their slim hopes alive until Queens...
Fall Ball Series Powered by East Coast Strength & Performance: Farmingdale
While I was down at Farmingdale State College today, the biggest change I noticed about the reigning Skyline Conference Champs was not the roster but the field they were on. Having played there during the 2010 and 2011 seasons, then being back each subsequent season I am very familiar with the campus and the stadium. So it was very noticeable when I first saw the brand-new turf on the field. This was “long overdue” in the words of Head Coach Keith Osik. They made several more upgrades, including each of the bullpens, adding protective fence in front of the dugout, a brand-new scoreboard, batting cages and even brought in the outfield fences. Osik joked that “when the score is 3-2 in the ninth inning we’d like our guys to know they can put the ball out”, but ad...
Fall Ball Series Powered by East Coast Strength & Performance: Hofstra
Here at Hofstra University for the Fall Ball Series Powered by @EastCoastSP pic.twitter.com/VJUmiak5nt — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) October 5, 2019 Playing in the CAA presents challenges to any northeast team. The grueling conference schedule is often unforgiving. Fall behind in the standings early and you can be left in the dust and out of postseason contention. The Hofstra Pride, led by Coach John Russo, nearly completed a miraculous postseason push but just missed out in 2019. This season, they are primed to return back to the postseason–as they did in 2018–and they certainly are using the new-age tool to maximize their chances. I was down there today for their exhibition match up against Molloy College and observed their tablet that was placed halfway between the ...
Fall Ball Series Powered by East Coast Strength & Performance: Old Westbury
Here at SUNY Old Westbury for the Fall Ball Series Powered by @EastCoastSP pic.twitter.com/JYtmcj2REn — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) October 2, 2019 (This is the second installment of the 2019 Fall Ball Series which began with NYIT on Saturday. We will continue these through out the month of October. We will have interviews and video highlights at each of the local college campuses. Please make sure to visit East Coast S & P by clicking here.) Not all champion-less seasons are created equal. In the case of the 2019 Old Westbury Panthers, their surprised postseason run which featured an upset over No. 2 ranked USMMA certainly left a positive taste in their mouth. The team featured only one senior position player which means they will return seven of those eight starters this sea...
Fall Ball Series Powered by East Coast S & P: New York Tech
Here at New York Tech for the first installment of our 2019 Fall Ball Series Brought to you by @EastCoastSP pic.twitter.com/trKDqWhnPL — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) September 28, 2019 (This is the first installment of the 2019 Fall Ball Series. In our third year of this segment, we will continue to visit the local college campuses, focusing on their upcoming baseball season. We will have exclusive quotes and videos from players and coaches. Please check out East Coast Strength & Performance by clicking here.) When we last checked in with New York Tech, they were heading to their first College World Series in program history. From the doldrums to one of the top-8 teams in the nation was beyond the wildest expectations anyone had pegged for them. Head Coach Frank Catalanotto, no...
Fall Ball Series Presented by The Greene Turtle: Stony Brook
Nick Grande (Smithtown West 2016) takes a two-strike pitch and drives it for a single. He was named All-American in 2018 after compiling a .377/.468/.560 slash line with 32 stolen bases pic.twitter.com/nLyTqy8WDz — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) October 24, 2018 It’s been six years since their improbable run to the College World Series, but the “Omaha Effect” still has a positive impact on the Stony Brook baseball program. When you look around the field, you see talented players that may have previously opted to attend powerhouse programs in other parts of the nation had the Sea Wolves not boosted their value with that incredible 2012 season. Their run of sending players to the professional ranks continued in 2018 when 3B Bobby Honeyman and closer Aaron Pinto were s...
Fall Ball Series Presented by The Greene Turtle: Hofstra
Hofstra Head Coach John Russo discussing the impact John Rooney had on the program and the freshmen that have performed well this fall pic.twitter.com/cgw7FbHryd — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) October 14, 2018 Hofstra played their “Blue v Gold World Series” today which served as an intrasquad game with a competitive feel. With so many newcomers battling for starting roles come spring, it was the perfect way to get a sense for what they will be working with this season. They played it like a real game, with the Gold team even using starting pitcher Andrew Mundy in the last inning to put out a fire with runners on the corners and one out. The hard-throwing St. John the Baptist RHP threw one pitch, made a terrific sliding play on a bunt attempt and even doubled off the run...
Fall Ball Series Presented by The Greene Turtle: Molloy
A loaded offense powered the Molloy Lions to a record of 31-21 in 2018, including an incredible 15-0 start in conference play, and it took an outstanding effort by Tyler Patane of St. Thomas Aquinas to put an end to their run in the ECC postseason. Nevertheless, it was another winning season for Head Coach Joe Fucarino, entering his 14th year, who will have the challenge this season of replacing some incredibly talented players and pillars of the program. The biggest loss is that of Angelo Navetta. Without question, he will be difficult to replace–and in the words of Fucarino, “impossible to replace.” The Staten Island native won our Most Valuable Player Award in 2016, and had an even better season in 2018 in which he batted .384, with a robust .478 OBP, .616 SLG, 45 runs...
Fall Ball Series Presented by The Greene Turtle: Farmingdale State
After entering the postseason red-hot and defeating USMMA in the first round, 4-1, No. 1 seed Farmingdale State was poised to return to the beacon of the Skyline Conference for the first time since 2014. Unfortunately, they did run into a dominant pitcher in Joseph Murphy that put them on the precipice of elimination, which ultimately came later that evening. They enter the 2019 returning all but one of their impact players, and they have an army of transfers that have all experienced some degree of success at the college level. “We feel we are much deeper this year than in previous seasons,” said Head Coach Keith Osik, now entering his 14th year at the helm, with seven conference championships under his belt. The offense starts with OF/DH Vinny Rice, who was a force on offense...
