Johnny Castagnozzi
Massapequa: How Do They Do It?
(This is the first part of a 5-part series in which we take a deep dive into the best baseball towns on Long Island. First up is Massapequa.) ERIK PAULSEN JR WALK-OFF GRAND SLAM TO WIN IT FOR MASSAPEQUA!! ARE YOU KIDDING?! pic.twitter.com/XxVwkXrBMY — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 31, 2023 by Patrick Duryea Nestled in between a few neighborhoods on the South Shore of Long Island, you’ll find Massapequa High School and its beloved baseball diamond. Looking out from the bleachers standing behind home plate you’ll see one of two things. One may be the Massapequa water tower looming over the neighborhood and trees, on the other side, you’ll see pennants all over the school buildings. Those pennants represent Massapequa High School’s long history of cross-sport dominance in Nas...
Massapequa’s Quest for a 4th Consecutive Championship
MASSAPEQUA HAS DONE IT! They are the back-to-back-to-back Nassau County Class AA Champs!!! FINAL: Massapequa 8 Port Washington 6 pic.twitter.com/vCR8ZkeiCe — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 1, 2019 How unique is 2021? Massapequa – the three-time reigning Long Island Champs open up their season tomorrow against Port Washington and they don’t even have their final cuts made. That’s right, the team coached by one of the greatest coaches in Long Island history will take the field on Tuesday but won’t have their final roster until Thursday. And it’s totally plausible. Championships are the norm at Massapequa. They captured the previous three Class AA Long Island Championships before the shutdown in 2020 and Coach Tom Sheedy said 2020 was the best team of ...
Johnny Castagnozzi Singles Twice, Scores Twice in Collegiate Debut for UNC
It’s hard to envision a better collegiate debut for UNC freshman Johnny Castagnozzi. The Massapequa-native singled in the third and sixth innings – scoring both times – in North Carolina’s 7-4 victory over James Madison to improve to 2-0. It’s impressive on several levels, not the least of which is a northeast player getting the start in the second game of the season for an ACC team that is expected to make the NCAA Tournament. Additionally, he was the spark plug for two rallies, showing aggressiveness at the plate and on the basepaths which directly helped the Tar Heels come away with the victory over the CAA opponent. Here’s the video pic.twitter.com/8WPQZatDNN — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) February 20, 2021 Castagnozzi is no stranger to winni...
Q & A With Wade Kelly On IG Live
Let’s start off with an easy one: How do you like playing for Coach [Tom Sheedy]? It’s great. He always has a get-after-it attitude. He always looks to make us better, but he tries to find the holes in what we have so we can improve on that. Another easy question: Favorite major leaguer? Bryce Harper; I liked him when he first started and made his debut. Just his energy and the way he plays, I always liked following him. Massapequa has three Division I players on the roster right now. But who are some of the younger players that you’re excited to see? Bobby Stang is one of them. He was with us last year. He didn’t get a lot of time because of Nick Schwartz, but the kid can rake and he’s definitely going to be a big part of the team. Also Danny Sohn. He played left field for us last year as...
Are Hitters Making A Comeback on Long Island?
Steven Matz. Marcus Stroman. Nick Tropeano. Anthony Kay. Joe Palumbo. Kevin McCarthy. Kyle McGowin. Those are the Long Island natives that are in the Major Leagues right now. They are all pitchers. In fact, it’s been 10 years since a position player from Long Island has played in the big leagues and that was Reid Gorecki (Kellenberg) with the Atlanta Braves in 2009. Fourteen of the past 15 players have been pitchers. That’s a trend that says our bats are lagging behind our arms. It makes sense in theory–our pitchers have fresh arms as they only play outdoors from March to October. This works in their favor. Our hitters, though, have limited reps while their counterparts in California, Texas, Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas can get at bats 12 months out of the year. Alt...
Game of the Week Presented by Muddy Locker Sports: Massapequa Overcomes 5-0 Deficit, Wins Third Consecutive LIC
Massapequa holds on, 7-6, to win the Long Island Class AA Championship for the third consecutive season ! pic.twitter.com/KEF44EkuVo — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 8, 2019 Once again, Massapequa has done it. They are your back-to-back-to-back Class AA Long Island Champions. This time, they defeated Connetquot 7-6 in one of the best games of the year. In a rather curious decision, neither team decided to throw their ace for the Long Island Championship. Connetquot jumped on the board first in the bottom of the 2nd inning, thanks to a Jared Yalon RBI. Yalon came through once again for the Thunderbirds in the bottom of the 4th inning with a 2 RBI double. This put Connetquot in front 5-0. When it seemed like Massapequa was down and out, they most certainly weren’t. With the ...
Game of the Week Presented by Muddy Locker Sports: Massapequa Takes Home Third Consecutive County Championship
MASSAPEQUA HAS DONE IT! They are the back-to-back-to-back Nassau County Class AA Champs!!! FINAL: Massapequa 8 Port Washington 6 pic.twitter.com/vCR8ZkeiCe — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 1, 2019 For the third year in a row, Massapequa has won the Class AA County Championship. This time, they defeated Port Washington 8-6, clinching the sweep and the title. From the beginning of the series, there was never much doubt in Massapequa. Building off Friday’s victory, Massapequa wasted no time taking charge. In the bottom of the 2nd, RBI from Dan Sohn and Alex Rende provided Massapequa with an early 3-0 lead. In the bottom of the 3rd, Johnny Castagnozzi launched a three-run HR to left field, putting the Chiefs out in front 6-0. considering Derek Haag shut down the Port Washingto...
Oceanside Counters Massapequa’s Late Comeback, Wins 7-6
Chris Siklas is our @BsbLifestyle101 player of the game after giving his team the lead in the top of the 7th. He finished with three hits & 3RBI. pic.twitter.com/CPe1GF7wHW — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 30, 2019 Every time Massapequa and Oceanside meet, it’s always a treat. As predicted, Tuesday afternoon’s game did not disappoint by any means. In a game for the ages, Oceanside topped Massapequa by a score of 7-6 to take game two of the series. This wasn’t a normal win by any means for Oceanside, this was the result of a hard fought battle. After suffering a tough loss on Monday, the Sailors wasted no time getting runs on the board. In the opening frame of the game, Austin Vlahakis started the Oceanside rally with an RBI single to left field. The next b...
Johnny Castagnozzi: What I’m Thankful For
(Editor’s Note: Johnny Castagnozzi is a 2020 graduate of Massapequa HS. He was the first player in Tom Sheedy’s tenure to start as a 9th grader. All he’s done is lead them to back-to-back Class AA Long Island Championships including a NYS Class AA Championship this past June. He committed to the University of North Carolina as a sophomore. The following words are his own…) Thanksgiving is a time of year to look back on the many things that we have in our lives that we appreciate. For me there are so many things that come to mind. First, I have been blessed with an incredible family. They support me in every aspect of my life. My Mom and Dad who do everything possible to help me to develop as an athlete and as a person. They’ve given me strength even when things are ...
Massapequa Stuns Oceanside To Repeat As Champions
The Massapequa Chiefs are your back-to-back Nassau County Class AA Champions!! FINAL: Massapequa 5 Oceanside 0 WP – Christian DeNave pic.twitter.com/mCPV1lFsnt — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 28, 2018 As we’ve learned in the past, the regular season means virtually nothing once you get into the postseason. On Monday afternoon, Massapequa proved they were worthy of winning back-to-back championships as they prevailed to a 5-0 victory over Oceanside in game two of the Nassau County Class AA Championship. For the third consecutive year, Massapequa swept Oceanside in the postseason after getting swept by them in the regular season. This time, it was for the county championship. Similar to game one of the series, the Massapequa offense wasted no time getting to the vaunte...
Massapequa Edges Oceanside In Crucial Game One Victory
Year in year out, when Massapequa plays Oceanside in playoffs it’s never as good as advertised, it’s better. On Saturday afternoon, Massapequa squeaked by Oceanside by a score of 6-5 to capture the game one victory. They’re now one win away from repeating as county champions in consecutive years. Earlier in the season when these two teams played, Oceanside flat out embarrassed Massapequa in game one of the series as they won by a score of 13-0. However, this wasn’t the case yesterday. Oceanside jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the first inning courtesy of a Leo Alvarez RBI. He finished the day cashing in all 5 RBI for Oceanside. In the first inning, it seemed as if Brendan McFall was going to shut out Massapequa once again, as he struck out the first three batters...
