Hills East
Hills East Poised For Bounceback Year
by Tony Genualdo Last season for Hills East was full of ups-and-downs. The team got some early success going, including four walk-off victories. But in the end, they dropped 5 out of their last 6 games and were unable to make a playoff push. Nine seniors left the team following the season, including two-time All-League player Nick Gavilla (now at Adelphi University) and All-County player John Son (now at Utica College). Coach Tim Belz is fortunate to have a deep team this year to cushion the loss of them. “We are deep at every position this year,” Belz said. “So, filling the spots will be easy and there are open positional battles for every spot this year.” He’s not wrong with the amount of talent on the team. Ten seniors return from last year. Among those players are Andrew Ferber and Jas...
Reis Henderson’s Walk-Off Wins It For Hills East
Reis Henderson wins it for Hills East with a walk-off single to score Nick Gavilla ! pic.twitter.com/yyZVfPV9MN — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) March 29, 2019 When you go 10 years between playing each other, it’s hard to call it a rivalry. When you are neighboring schools, though, this is anything but just another game. There’s bragging rights on the line. Hills East sent the home faithful home happy with a dramatic 4-3 victory over Hills West on a walk-off RBI single by Reis Henderson. Reis Henderson on the dramatic 4-3 victory over Hills West pic.twitter.com/v55r5JTzHv — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) March 29, 2019 By any measure, it was a fantastic baseball game between two disciplined and well-coached teams that are perennial playoff clubs. Hills West took an ...
Sal Agostinelli: The Story of How An Undersized Long Island Catcher Became One of the Most Influential Men in Professional Baseball
(Editor’s Note: Story was originally published on Nov. 12, 2016. We will have coverage of the Agostinelli Memorial Tournament beginning tomorrow at Baseball Heaven.) It was 1993 when Jay Hankins approached the Triple-A catcher for the Philadelphia Phillies with a question. “Hey Sal, did you ever think about being a scout?” “The only thing I know about scouting is that it’s old guys in chairs,” Sal responded. “Well, I think you would make for a good one,” he stated. As fate would have it, that catcher was Long Island native Sal Agostinelli, who went on to accept a position as the area scout for the Phillies and his area would be New York and New Jersey. As time went on and he had success in his coverage area, the front office tasked him with more and more territory. The next year was ...
Suffolk Class AA Power Rankings
Prior to the season, I wrote up some predictions for Suffolk Class AA based on my observations from the previous season and the improvement I saw from each team in the off season. So far, those predictions are looking pretty good. Here’s the top 10 teams in Suffolk Class AA right now. The obvious limitations to this list is that I’ve been covering games in Nassau and the CHSAA as well, so I haven’t yet gotten to see all the teams in Class AA, but within the next two weeks I should be able to. Here’s my best stab at it. 10) Deer Park (8-4) One of the biggest surprises this year, they have been led by senior Connor Hewlette, who already has four wins and Robert Belotti, who has three. They also have a fairly easy schedule remaining, which gives them a good chance at a...
Patch Dooley Fans 15, Fires One-Hitter in 2-1 Victory over Smithtown East
It was a phenomenal pitching duel between Hills East ace Patch Dooley and Smithtown East’s Doug Goodwin this afternoon. Both starters dominated, but Dooley was the star–fanning 15 in a one-hitter and leading the charge in a 2-1 victory. Dooley threw a complete game, the one run he allowed came on the only hit allowed, a home run down the left field line by Andrew Canino to lead off the fourth inning. However, he came back strong recording 11 of the game’s final 12 outs on strike outs, and finishing with 15 Ks. After the game he said, “My curveball was working, I was spotting my fastball and my team did a great job of toughing out two runs to get the win.” Hills East only mustered four hits themselves, but smart base running helped put those who did get on get ...
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