Kings Park
Tools of Intelligence: Talking with the Catchers of Long Island’s Recent Aces
by Pat Duryea Pitchers are unique animals. No one pitcher is the same. Each pitcher has a unique mix of pitches, movement, and velocity. To find those wrangling the pitchers, you look no further than right behind home plate. The catcher. Nobody knows a pitcher better than their catcher. Catching is far from a passive profession, they must strategize just as much as any pitcher and do a whole lot of dirty work. But as we examine the top pitchers in Suffolk County across the past two seasons there is no better perspective to hear from, than that of their catchers. Pat-Med 2, Sachem East 0 WP: Josh Knoth (6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 15 Ks) S: Jack Costello Jayden Kennedy: RBI double, bases loaded walk Pat-Med will face No. 1 Connetquot tomorrow pic.twitter.com/ORo94RMhrG — Axcess Baseball LI (@axc...
Ken Kortright State Farm Game of the Week: Hunter Colagrande Outduels Nick Fusco, Kings Park Wins 2-0
Hunter Colagrande struck out 11 in a complete game shutout outdueling one of the top pitchers on Long Island in a 2-0 victory for Kings Park pic.twitter.com/JQL1JM7SNs — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 17, 2024 You could not have asked for a better pitching match up in a playoff game. Arguably the top pitchers in the 2024 class and 2025 class squared off against each other in a Class A playoff game between Kings Park and Miller Place. It was Hunter Colagrande, one year older than Nick Frusco, who came out on top in this one as he fired a 4-hit, CG shutout with 11 strikeouts in a 2-0 victory that took just over 90 minutes to complete in front of his hometown crowd on a Friday evening. Offense was always going to be at a premium between these two Division-I arms. Scouts were lined u...
GAME RECAP: Three Kings Park Pitchers Combine On Opening Day No-No
Final: Kings Park 4, Mount Sinai 0 WP: Hunter Colagrande (5 IP, 0 H, 8 Ks) Combined no-hitter between Colagrande, Callaghan and Hauk pic.twitter.com/rUaPoCXZA3 — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) March 25, 2024 Kings Park Head Coach Andrew Abreu has a mantra for the team and it’s “Nothing Easy”. He joked that they lived up to that today, even in a combined no-hitter with a 4-0 lead. With their ace Hunter Colagrande on the hill, it was reasonable to expect offense to be at a premium in this one. Colagrande was outstanding, firing five no-hit innings with 8 strikeouts. He reached his pitch count limit of 75 and gave way to Matt Callaghan who fired a scoreless sixth inning keeping the no-hitter in tact. In the 7th, reigning League MVP Brandon Hauk came in and struggled wi...
Up Next Powered by State Farm Ken Kortright Agency: Everett Zarzicki
(Editor’s Note: The “Up Next” Series is back for another year! We highlight the top underclassmen on Long Island during this weekly series during the offseason. You can click here to read all of last year’s features. Special thanks to State Farm Ken Kortright Agency for sponsoring this year’s series – Enjoy!) Any time you have the opportunity to get called up to varsity as an underclassmen, it is a great chance to learn from older players – even if you don’t get into a game. In the case of Kings Park’s 8th grader Everett Zarzicki, he was not just called up but counted on in a big spot in the playoffs. If you don’t believe me, here’s what head coach Andrew Abreu: “Everett was called up last year towards the later part o...
Kings Park Clinches Postseason Berth for First Time Since 2018
Hunter Colagrande fired a 2-hit CG shutout in a 1-0 win to clinch a playoff spot for Kings Park pic.twitter.com/jMSOiy3pCY — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 24, 2023 It’s tough to get a better pitching matchup than the one we had today at East Islip. The 2021 Long Island Champs hosted Kings Park, who entered with a record of 9-3 and looking to clinch their first postseason berth since 2018. The pitching match up was a pair of Stony Brook-commits – RHP Hunter Colagrande (Kings Park) and LHP Nick Rizzo (East Islip). Stony Brook HC Matt Senk was in attendance to get a glimpse of two of his future pitchers. For those in attendance, you just got the sense that offense would be at a premium. Both pitchers were at their best today and one run would be enough – the que...
Kings Park Looks to Take Next Step In Coach Abreu’s 4th Season
by Andy Smith Hunter Colagrande (Kings Park 2024) threw a no-hitter (1 walk) in the Elite 8 @ PG WWBA Upperclass Nationals. Pitching against players two years older pic.twitter.com/DyOMR26vkz — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) October 11, 2021 Kings Park made major improvements in 2022. The Kingsmen finished with a 9-10 overall record, which is a major improvement from winning just four games in 2021. Entering his fourth season as the head coach, Andrew Abreu reflected, “We put an emphasis on the ball in play, hard contact in offensive counts and team swings in 2 strike counts, as well as being aggressive on the bases to force defenses to make plays.” The Kingsmen saw their batting average jump by .55 points, scored 35 more runs and swiped 15 more bags in comparison to 2021. Abreu, ...
Led by Outstanding Pitching Staff, Kings Park Ready to Make Noise
By Michael Malaszczyk Final: Kings Park 14, Miller Place 11 WP: Declan Cumming S: Jason Sacks pic.twitter.com/bTNWXUyeXz — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 10, 2021 Coach Andrew Abreu is ready to take his team to new heights in 2022. Long Island baseball suffered immensely from the coronavirus pandemic. All sports did, of course, but baseball was in a uniquely unfortunate position as a premier spring sport. LI Baseball didn’t get a season in the 2019-2020 academic year, unlike fall and winter sports, and had to come back for the 2020-2021 season with all that time off the field. With all of these factors in consideration, Kings Park played a great season in 2021. Coach Abreu felt strongly about this in an interview with Axcess Baseball. “After losing the year prior due to the pand...
Axcess Baseball Podcast Featuring Aidan Colagrande
Special thanks to the Vitality Center for sponsoring this series of podcasts at Showtime Athletics.
Kings Park Outlasts Miller Place in Slugfest 14-11
Final: Kings Park 14, Miller Place 11 WP: Declan Cumming S: Jason Sacks pic.twitter.com/bTNWXUyeXz — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 10, 2021 The beauty of baseball is one day you get shutout and the next you come out and score 14 runs against a perennial playoff team. Kings Park lost a tough one, 1-0, on Saturday against East Hampton‘s ace Colin Ruddy. Just two days later, they bounced right back and put up four runs in the first inning and won a thrilling game in come-from-behind fashion against Miller Place on the road. All told, the game took 3 hours from start to finish but you can take out about 15 minutes for a delay when the home plate umpire had to exit due to an injury he sustained. The field ump wound up changing into the protective gear. That was around 7pm and t...
Kings Park Led By Talented Pitching Staff
AJ Petraitis (Kings Park 2022) pic.twitter.com/jcHtKCoRqS — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 3, 2020 It took a year but Andrew Abreu will soon coach his first game as Head Coach for Kings Park. The former All-Region 2B at Dowling is excited to get going and is leaning on a talented, young pitching staff that has a lot of promise. “We have a lot of quality arms,” said Abreu. “That’s our strength which we think is critical this year. We have five guys battling it out for rotation spots. With the possibility of playing four games per week, it’s going to be a little more tricky this year,” he added in regarding to navigating through 28 innings per week. @CoachSorgie | part of my pen from 1/24/21 pic.twitter.com/e20zH66r81 — aidan colagrande (@Aidan...
Jake Deslauriers Fires 3-Hit Shutout Over Kings Park
It hasn’t been a great season for Eastport-South Manor, coming off an appearance in the Suffolk County AA Finals last May. You would never know by their performance today, as freshman Jake Deslauriers pitched mature beyond his years. The young RHP was efficient and dominant in a 4-0 shutout over a solid Kings Park team. He fired a three-hit shutout, not allowing a runner past second base in the game. “I really thought I would do well today,” he said. “That’s what I was planning to do. I tried to get my team a win–we’ve been struggling, but I had to go out and do something. They have a tough lineup but I had to find a way to work through it,” he added. His offense go him a run to work with early. After the first two batters were retired by Chr...
