Jim McGowan
Eastport-South Manor Returns 16 Players, Headlined by 2-Time All-County Catcher
By Mike Merolle Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s season preview series. Eastport-South Manor 4, Westhampton Beach 3 WP: Cole Johnson (CG, 6 H, 6 Ks, 1 BB) Tristan Gatchalian game-tying HR Ayden Deslauriers scored go-ahead run on wild pitch ESM improves to 8-6 overall (6-6 league play) pic.twitter.com/zZ1RkuqL9e — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 28, 2023 After finishing last season with a record of 11-11, Eastport-South Manor is focused on improvement in 2024. Their season came to an end after losing to Sayville and Mount Sinai in the playoffs. Head coach Jim McGowan will look for more in his 10th season as the Eastport-South Manor head coach. McGowan is excited for the return of 16 players from last year’s playoff team. Senior D...
Eastport-South Manor Looks to Reload After Graduating 11 Seniors
Eastport-South Manor 5, Westhampton Beach 0 WP: Jake Deslauriers (6.1 IP, 8 Ks) Tristan Gatchalian: 3-for-4, RBI Deslauriers: 1-for-3, 2 RBI pic.twitter.com/V4R7KN67jZ — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) March 31, 2022 It’s fair to say that Eastport-South Manor flew under the radar last season as they finished the regular season with a record of 14-4 and even won two of three from league champ and eventual County Champs, Rocky Point. In the postseason, ESM lost their first game to East Islip before beating West Babylon to advance to face East Islip, but they had their season cut short by them. Head Coach Jim McGowan said, “It was an emotional ending. We had 11 seniors. Seven of them I had since 8u on the Sharks. It was a special group; the way they carried themselves and pra...
Eastport-South Manor Returning 15 Players from 2021 Playoff Team
by Daniel Lopes After losing the 2020 season to the COVID-19 pandemic, players and coaches on Long Island took on the 2021 season with even more importance. This was no different for Eastport-South Manor and head coach Jim McGowan, who went 10-8 and lost to Newfield in the playoffs. “Having a school season after losing 2020 made the season itself special and we had a special group of kids that gave us everything they had,” said McGowan. “We lost six games by one run or in the last inning, so we had to deal with adversity and injuries, but the group responded every time, which is a credit to them.” Despite returning 15 players from last years team, Eastport-South Manor still lost contributors on each side of the ball to graduation. On the mound, Connor Marcello had a phenomenal year, posti...
Eastport-South Manor Hoping Last Year’s Experience Equals Turnaround Season
In a little over one year, Eastport–South Manor went from the Class AA Finals to a 3-12 season. Graduating eight seniors from 2018 certainly did not help–including Axcess League 5 MVP Ryan Foran. There was a huge amount of roster turnover and the year did not go so well for them as they dropped to last place. Coach Jim McGowan has made some big changes this offseason, though, to make sure that the events of last year never happen again. “With 12 returning players, we put a team in a summer league where we were able to play the equivalent of a high school regular season,” McGowan said. “We also played a fall tournament together and have changed some of how we run our winter workouts.” Pitching was a big question mark heading into last season, but now McGowan says that the depth of arm...
