Fall Ball Series
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...
Fall Ball Series Presented by the Greene Turtle: SUNY Old Westbury
Injuries were especially cruel to the Old Westbury Panthers‘ pitching staff last season, resulting in a 9-8 loss in the first round of the Skyline Conference playoffs against Mount St. Mary’s. Despite falling down 4-0 after three innings, their relentless offense fought back before ultimately stranding the bases loaded with the go-ahead run on second base. It was a microcosm of their season, as the team was led by a .331 AVG, .402 OBP and .444 SLG. They averaged 7.08 runs/game and eclipsed double digits on eight occasions. Unfortunately, they lost ace Adam Heidenfelder, who had transferred from Hofstra University and won their first two games of the season, to a season-ending shoulder injury. His absence reverberated through a pitching staff that lacked an answer, resulting in ...
Fall Ball Series Presented by The Greene Turtle: St. Joseph’s
When Anthony Caminiti struck out the final batter to seal the 2018 Skyline Conference championship for St. Joseph’s on May 7 it confirmed they were the top team in the conference. Not only that, it also clinched their second title in three years, entering the conversation of the top Division-III programs in the region. With that being the case, a new precedent has been set when you put on the uniform and step on Gregg Alfano Field. “The expectation now is to win a championship,” said Head Coach Rick Garrett, who just completed his fifth season with a winning percentage of .582. “Every day, every game, we play to win. The expectation is that if we don’t win, it’s a failure. Every kid took last year (2017) as a failure. I’ve never seen a team put in ...
Fall Ball Series Presented By The Greene Turtle: LIU Post
This is the second installment of our Fall Ball Series Presented by The Greene Turtle in which we visit the local colleges and provide an in-depth, inside look at how their 2019 teams will look featuring photos, videos and interviews with players and coaches. Up next is LIU Post coming off a 29-20 season last season. I was bullish on LIU Post all last year, often featuring them at the top of the Division-II Weekly Power Rankings even when they weren’t playing their best. A major reason for that was their overall depth in the lineup but also a very talented pitching staff that featured some younger arms that were ready to come into their own. They made a postseason run but ultimately were defeated by Molloy, 11-4. They graduated three impact players; Rob Andreoli, Ramger Iglesias and ...
Fall Ball Series Presented by The Greene Turtle: NYIT
This is the first installment of our Fall Ball Series Presented by The Greene Turtle in which we visit the local colleges and provide an in-depth, inside look at how their 2019 teams will look featuring photos, videos and interviews with players and coaches. First up is NYIT with their first-year Head Coach and 14-year MLB veteran Frank Catalanotto. It is impossible to ignore the change in culture at NYIT under 14-year Major League veteran Frank Catalanotto. Coming off a disappointing 13-win season during their first year competing at Division-II level, the Bears decided to start fresh with an entirely new-look coaching staff beginning with one of the best Major League baseball players to come from Long Island. Catalanotto, 44, batted .291 over 4,292 at bats and certainly brings an incred...
Fall Ball Series Returning This September
By popular demand, the Fall Ball Series will be returning this September, presented by the The Greene Turtle! Last year, we visited each of the colleges in our coverage area for a day dedicated to previewing the upcoming season; including interviews with coaches/players and videos/photos of the impact players. Here are the list of schools that will be included in the same (in no particular order): Division-I: Stony Brook Hofstra Fordham St. John’s Division-II: Adelphi Molloy LIU Post NYIT Division-III: Farmingdale Old Westbury St. Joseph’s Maritime Junior Colleges: Suffolk Nassau In case you missed it, this is last year’s editions for each school. LIU Post Farmingdale Maritime Hofstra Stony Brook NYIT St. Joseph’s Old Westbury Molloy
Fall Ball Series: Farmingdale
For a span of seven years, winning a Skyline Conference championship was an annual tradition for the Farmingdale State team. I was a part of two of those titles, and there was three more after that. Something strange happened in 2015–someone else was crowned champions (Old Westbury). Then it happened again in 2016 (St. Joseph’s). And again this past year (Maritime). As the calendar approaches 2018, the Rams will be looking to return to the mountain top, a spot that was so familiar for the program. They will have to do so without two of their critical players from last season; Matt Seelinger and Dalton McCarthy, who both graduated. Seelinger was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates, becoming the first player selected in the MLB Draft since 1979. I was down at their intrasquad today...
Fall Ball Series: Hofstra
We continued our Fall Ball Series at Hofstra yesterday, where the Pride hosted Queens College in a scrimmage. They looked good in yesterday’s scrimmage. They got on the board early and often and won by the scores of 12-1 and 9-3. While the results of the fall do not count, it is a positive sign to see a pitching staff throw strikes and fundamentally solid baseball. The Colonial Athletic Association is historically a difficult conference that featured four 30-win teams (Northeastern, UNC-Wilmington, William & Mary, Delaware) last season. The Pride struggled in 2017, but they are returning their top four leading hitters (Steven Foster, Vito Friscia, Mikey Reisner, Teddy Cillis) in addition to their top two power hitters (Friscia and Vinnie Costello) and will be hoping that l...
