George Caratzas
Saturday College Recap Powered by Orlin & Cohen
by George Caratzas Easter weekend means time with family, but it also means that we have some college baseball to discuss. Let’s take a look at how some local teams did on Saturday. Division I: Stony Brook 7, Hofstra 5 The Seawolves won their second straight game over their cross-island rival, grabbing Saturday’s game with early offense and late pitching. Stony Brook took the lead early, going up 4-0 in the second, before the Pride stormed back with five in the bottom of the third. Tyler Castrataro opened the scoring for Hofstra’s offense with a solo homer, before Nick Biddle singled home a run. Luke Masiuk launched a three-run home run to put the Pride up 5-4. That lead hardly lasted, as Nico Azpilcueta smashed his 13th longball of the season — a three-run shot — to flip the game back in ...
GAME RECAP: Late Rally Fuels Comsewogue to 3-1 win over Westhampton
by George Caratzas FINAL: Comsewogue 3, Westhampton 1 Warriors hang on to win on a lineout to third base pic.twitter.com/r74l5ix2qn — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 14, 2025 On the back of a solid outing from its starter and clutch hits from its stars, the Comsewogue Warriors picked up their first win in league play. The Warriors (2-4) welcomed the Westhampton Hurricanes (1-6) on Monday, as the two sides squared off for the first of three meetings this season. Despite a slow offensive day on both sides, Comsewogue rallied late, scoring twice in the fifth and once in the sixth to take home a 3-1 victory. Westhampton cracked the scoreboard first, putting up a run in the opening frame against Comsewogue starting pitcher Josh Lubell. After back-to-back walks put a pair of runners a...
Friday College Recap Powered by Orlin & Cohen
by George Caratzas The weekend has come, which means it is time to recap some college baseball. With Friday’s play over, let’s check out some of the action amongst the local clubs. Division I St. John’s 6, Xavier 5 The Red Storm started their weekend with a walk-off win over a Big East Conference foe. They jumped out to a quick 5-1 lead, with Jon Legrande picking up a pair of RBI hits. Already up 3-1, Adam Agresti notched a run-scoring double, before Luke Orbon brought him home with a single stretch the lead to four. Xavier chipped back, getting three runs in the top of the sixth on a single and a pair of bases loaded-walks. Having cut the deficit to one, the Musketeers scored the equalizer in the top of the ninth on a sacrifice fly by Connor Misch. In the tenth, Legrande became the hero,...
GAME RECAP: Spatenga Leads Sayville to Shutout Win over Miller Place
by George Caratzas Our @GetGameChanger Player of the Game is LHP Chris Spatenga. The Molloy-commit struck out 11 over 6.2 shutout innings of a 5-0 victory by Sayville pic.twitter.com/QPZmBL5NMU — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 9, 2025 Behind early offense and a gem from its starting pitcher on the road, the Sayville Golden Flashes improved to 3-2 on the season. After losing its first game of the series to the Miller Place Panthers on Tuesday, the Golden Flashes returned the favor on Wednesday, grabbing a 5-0 win. Although just one would have been enough for starting pitcher Chris Spatenga, Sayville plated all five runs in the first five innings. The Golden Flashes got to work early on offense, scoring three before the Panthers even came to bat. With two men aboard, Sayville fir...
GAME RECAP: Gelling’s Gem Lifts Bayport-Blue Point to Season Opening win
by George Caratzas Our first @GetGameChanger Player of the Game is Brady Gelling of Bayport-Blue Point who struck out 10 over 5 shutout innings in an 11-0 victory pic.twitter.com/poJn4Cs5Zh — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) March 31, 2025 On the back of a great start from their ace and 11 total hits, the Bayport-Blue Point Phantoms claimed a win on opening day. Welcoming the John Glenn Knights for the season-opener, Bayport-Blue Point head coach Victor Manzella sent Brady Gelling to the mound to start the year. Gelling set the momentum quickly, striking out a pair in a scoreless first inning. In the bottom of the first, the Phantoms broke out, scoring a pair. After a hit batsman and a walk opened the inning, second baseman Cooper Fuller lined a single up the middle to bring home the g...
Brentwood Looking to Bounce Back after Difficult 2024 Campaign
Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s series by George Caratzas In Rich Gonzalez’s seventh year leading the Brentwood Spartans, they went 5-13. Now in year eight, Gonzalez is looking to a group consisting of four captains to lead Brentwood to success “Experience helps us dramatically,” Gonzalez said in an interview with Axcess Baseball. “We needed that spark last year to help us extend our lineup. Now, we feel more comfortable with ourselves being a year older and more experienced.” The Spartans have four captains: Ezekiel Hernandez, Luiyi Gomez, Nathaneal Alvarez and Rylain Vega. Hernandez figures to head Brentwood’s rotation as a senior. Of the Spartans five victories last season, Hernandez was named the winning pitcher in three of them as the...
Friday College Recap Powered by Orlin & Cohen
by George Caratzas It was an action-packed weekend for these six local teams as the college season rages on. Let’s see how it all went down on Friday. Division I: Northeastern 10, Stony Brook 4 The Huskies pounced on Eddie Smink early, getting a solo homer from Harrison Feinberg in the second inning. While Smink settled down from there, Northeastern scored another four in the fifth, courtesy of three long balls. Stony Brook fought back as RBIs from Scott Gell, Brett Davino and Matt Miceli got the Seawolves within one at 5-4. However, the Stony Brook bullpen struggled, surrendering five combined runs in the eighth and ninth innings to cap off a 10-4 loss. Jack Doyle led the way for Northeastern, hitting a pair of home runs as part of a 3-for-5 day. Jack Goodman also had three hits and a ho...
With Schneider Entering Third Season at the Helm, Harborfields Tries to Flip Record
Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s series by George Caratzas After three straight losing seasons, the Harborfields Tornadoes are looking to turn their fortunes in 2025. In year three with head coach Ian Schneider, the club will rely on a roster heavy on upperclassmen. This year, 16 of the 18 roster spots are occupied by juniors and seniors, with 10 of them in the junior class. “Last year our core was definitely much younger,” Schneider said in an interview with Axcess Baseball. “We had a lot of sophomores and juniors and now we’re much older and more experienced. We brought back a majority of the guys that got ample playing time last year.” The one major missing piece in 2025 is pitcher Max Hilsenroth, who re-classed and will eventually conti...
Bellport Looking to Make Headway After Difficult 2024 Season
Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s series by George Caratzas The Bellport Clippers went 10-10 in 2023, leading many to believe that they would begin to take the next step with a young roster in 2024. However, things went completely sideways for head coach Joe Murphy, as the Clippers went just 1-19 in a difficult year for the program. Bellport did not have any seniors last year and did not field a JV roster for the second time in three years. “The enrollment in our program has been down for several years,” Murphy said in an interview with Axcess Baseball. “We have a lack of numbers so that definitely puts us behind the eight ball. Our goal last year was to forget about wins and losses. We wanted to play hard and try to compete in every single ...
Friday College Recap Powered by Orlin & Cohen
by George Caratzas With conference play starting for a couple local teams this week, let’s check out how the action went down on Friday. Division I: Delaware 8, Stony Brook 1 The Seawolves dropped their Coastal Athletic Association opener, as some poor defense contributed to a six-run third inning. Eddie Smink cruised through the first two, and Stony Brook plated a run on a Matt Jackson RBI double in the top of the second. In the third though, Johnny Pilla misplayed a ball with a runner at second base, opening the door for the Blue Hens. From there, right fielder Aaron Graeber launched a two-run homer to take a 3-1 lead before RBI’s by Brett Lesher and LT Cockrill made it 6-1. Then, Jackson Tyer capped off the scoring with a two-run bomb of his own, making it eight runs for Delaware, six o...
Deer Park Looks to Rebound With Large Returning Class
Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s series by George Caratzas Deer Park 5 Bellport 0 Brian Ugalde threw a 2 hit complete game shutout striking out 12. He was also 2-2 with an RBI and 2 runs scored. — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 6, 2024 After missing the playoffs by a game in the midst of an 8-10 season, the Deer Park Falcons are bringing back a large chunk of their roster as they hope to improve in 2025. Head coach Ryan Argenziano expects nine players from that roster to return, creating a much more experienced core at the forefront. Of the nine returners, the Falcons are returning six seniors that Argenziano expects to lead the way. “We’ll have some younger guys but it’s really going to be those six seniors that we rely on,” Arg...
East Meadow Looking to Make Noise in First Year Under O’Connor
Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s series by George Caratzas The 2025 season will look a bit different for the East Meadow Jets. Former-head coach Vinny Mascia retired following the season and Bill O’Connor has taken the reins for the Jets as they look to build upon a 10-9 season a year ago. In the playoffs, East Meadow was bounced in the first round by Farmingdale, ending its season. “They were a pretty competitive team last year,” O’Connor said in an interview with Axcess Baseball. “That was a pretty young team, so we have a lot of guys returning. Two of our top-three pitchers are back so we should be pretty good.” The two pitchers that O’Connor references are Alec Coehlo and Spencer Kemler. Coehlo will serve as the Jets’ top option, as the...
