Garden City
Garden City Ready To Avenge Quick Exit in ’19
In 2019, Garden City entered the postseason flying high as the No. 1 seed with a 14-1 record and the best player in the county playing SS and batting leadoff. Two games later, their season was over in two shocking upsets against South Side and Plainedge. “I’ve had to live with that taste in my mouth for the past two years,” said head coach Dave Izzo, who took over in 2017. “We didn’t play poorly we just got beat both games,” he added. The scores were 2-0 and 5-3. Tommy Reifler went onto capture the Diamond Award for his outstanding play and has since gone to SUNY Binghamton where he is raking to the tune of .350/.426/.450 triple slash line as a redshirt freshman in the America East conference. Additionally, 2018 graduate Mike Handal is leading the 20-0 F...
Nassau County Class A Playoff Preview (Plus Predictions)
As always, the Class A playoffs will be a roller coaster of emotions. It brings high energy, closely contested match ups and upsets. The factor that makes these playoffs so great, is that there’s 18 teams competing for the ultimate goal of a county championship. As we’ve seen in previous years, there’s been clear favorites heading into the postseason. However, this year, it’s anybody’s title to win. With that being said, let’s take a look at the Class A playoffs. Play-In Games: #18 South Side vs. #15 Island Trees For several reasons, this is a great match up. Not only do both teams have great arms, but they both struggle to hit high-end pitching. For South Side, expect Dan Kelleher to take the mound. Kelleher features a lively fastball, along with the ab...
Andrew Zupicich’s Bat Delivers Win For Garden City On Senior Day
Andrew Zupicich is the @BsbLifestyle101 player of the game as he went 4-4 with a three-run moonshot. He talks about how his team held on to win on Senior Day. pic.twitter.com/ZIejngBNUo — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 7, 2019 On senior day, the Garden City Trojans got the best of the Carey Seahawks by a score of 7-5. With the victory, Garden City improves to a county best record of 13-1 on the season. Right off the bat, it seemed as if this was going to be a blowout. In the bottom of the first inning, RBI from Jay Brown, Jake Fraher and a bases loaded walk provided Garden City with an early 3-0 lead. After nearly batting around in the first inning, this meant that the middle of the Garden City lineup was due up once again in the second. With two runners on base, Andrew Zupicich ...
Oceanside Edges Garden City 5-4 In A Thriller
Austin Vlahakis talks about how he worked his way out of a 7th inning jam to propel his team to victory. pic.twitter.com/cvmtqjvbPD — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 4, 2019 On Thursday afternoon, Oceanside survived a late inning surge from Garden City, as they escaped with a 5-4 victory. In the opening frame of the game, Oceanside led things off with back-to-back-to-back doubles from Jake Lazzaro, Noah Eisel and Austin Vlahakis. The string of three doubles provided the Sailors with a quick 3-0 lead. Eisel came through again in the early innings for Oceanside as he launched a solo shot, providing them with a four-run lead in the 2nd inning. He finished 2-for4 on the day and also got the start on the mound, pitching 4.1 innings allowing one earned run. When the Oceanside bats wen...
Nassau County Class A Preseason Power Rankings
Spring has sprung which means the varsity baseball season is officially underway. After Wantagh won their third consecutive County Championship in 2018, things are expected to be a little different in Class A this season. While there will be new teams emerging as contenders, there’s also going to be plenty of teams that come into the season with a chip on their shoulder, ready to prove they are worthy of winning. With that being said, here are the preseason power rankings for Class A. 10. Valley Stream North Competing in an extremely tough conference, Valley Stream North enters the season as “sleepers” in Conference A4. With a lineup consisting of Albany-commit Joe Gisonda and James Saracino, they can give opposing teams nightmares. They also return Chrs Manzi and Colin M...
Garden City Enters 2019 With A Chip On Their Shoulder
Final: Garden City 12 Wantagh 3 WP: Andrew Nagel Winner take all game Tueaday @ 4PM. pic.twitter.com/D3JLUtDuLz — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 28, 2017 Among the most impressive teams in Nassau Class A over the last two years is the Garden City Trojans. After taking Wantagh to Game Three of the County Championship two years ago and losing to them in the semifinals last season, it’s evident they came up just short of something special. The question of “what if” will linger around the locker room this off season, but expect the Trojans to turn the page and be a threat once again in 2019. As far as Garden City’s conference opponents, it’s hard to envision anyone preventing them from being conference champions once again. Their 2019 schedule includes N...
Led By A Strong Pitching Staff, Manhasset Ready To Cause Havoc In Conference A2
Two times in three years, Manhasset reached the semifinals in Class A. However, in 2017 they experienced difficulties as they finished 4-15. As seen in the past, Manhasset knows how to rebound after a tough year. If all goes right and everyone produces, they can easily make a postseason run in Conference A2. “If we are going to make a playoff run, our pitching is going to carry us,” Head Coach Mark Giardino stated. “We have a very strong and deep staff. If we stay healthy our staff can be dynamic,” he added. The Indians starting rotation consists of returning players that have previous varsity experience. They will be led by Hamilton-commit Jay Schlaefer, who will be the ace. He will be backed up by Will Allen and Cole Zaffiro on the mound. Aside from their returnin...
Bellmore JFK Ready To Build on 2018
Since their county championship appearance in 2016, Bellmore JFK has hit a bump in the road as far as success. In 2017, the Cougars struggled to the finish line in a rebuilding year. Last season, they rebounded nicely with an 11-9 record before getting eliminated in the first round of playoffs. Going from a county championship caliber team, to a lowly season, back to a playoff team in just a year, it was evident that Bellmore JFK had the talent to make another postseason run, but changes needed to happen. This year, a whole new coaching staff will lead the way for the Cougars. After being the assistant coach for three years, Mike Gattus will take over as Head Coach this season. Dan McDermott (STAC ’11), will be the assistant coach for Gattus. By bringing in a change of scenery, it ha...
Q & A With Garden City SS Tommy Reifler
Tommy Reifler is a middle infielder for Garden City HS and the HDMH Titans. He recently committed to Binghamton University. We spoke about his success on the field and a number of other topics. Here’s what he had to say. Can you tell our audience about your experience with the college recruiting process and how you decided to commit to Binghamton? My recruiting process all happened during the early summer. The coaching staff at Binghamton watched me play in June and followed me throughout July. I decided to commit to Binghamton because I really liked the program, coaches and the academics fit what I was looking for. Garden City has been very successful the past few seasons. What have you enjoyed the most? What do you think it will take to get over the top and beat a team like Wantag...
Wantagh Overcomes Early Deficit To Repeat As Class A County Champions
THE WANTAGH WARRIORS ARE YOUR BACK TO BACK CLASS A CHAMPIONS!!!!! FINAL: Wantagh 4 Garden City 2 pic.twitter.com/zX5QpNE4Uh — aXcess Baseball (@axcessbaseball) May 30, 2017 Despite the struggles, despite the losses, despite the deficits, Wantagh overcame every single obstacle in their path and are now back-to-back county champions. Although winning may seem like a normal day at the office for the Wantagh Warriors, this wasn’t just any other victory. This was a victory with a great amount of emotion that solidified their team’s legacy. On the mound for game 3 of the county championship, southpaw Brendan Haas got the start in the most significant game of his young career. He struggled early with his command, allowing 2 earned runs in the 1s...
Massapequa and Garden City Both Force Game 3’s
The Massapequa Chiefs and Garden City Trojans both faced elimination this afternoon–both won in blowout fashion to force a winner-take-all Game 3 on Tuesday. The Chiefs defeated the Plainview Hawks in game one of the double header at SUNY Old Westbury by a score of 10-1. For the second consecutive year, Massapequa is headed to game 3 of the county championship. Last year, the Chiefs fell to the East Meadow Jets in the do-or-die game 3. This year they’re hoping to be on the other end of the spectrum. “Last year was very upsetting, we thought we should’ve won the county championship but we ended up losing to a very good East Meadow team, but this year we’re even more determined. After the win we’re in the same spot as last year but now we’re very con...
Previewing the Nassau Class A Semifinals
And then there were four. The first two rounds of playoff baseball in Class A brought rivalry match ups, games that came down to the wire and a ton of upsets. Let’s hope the next round brings the same amount of excitement. With the first week of playoffs in the books, here’s a look at the upcoming best of three series’ in Class A. Division vs. Wantagh: The match up players and fans have been waiting patiently for is finally here. The rivalry between two of the most decorated programs in Nassau County is back, and this time, they will be playing for a trip to the county championship. Before anybody goes and makes any predictions, there are several aspects that need to be highlighted. The first aspect is that the regular season does not matter. Although Division beat Wantag...
