by Nick Cipolla An awesome moment for Long Island baseball as Logan O’Hoppe singles in his first big league at bat! pic.twitter.com/VrtoNLTjKz — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) September 29, 2022 Ryan Dalton is no stranger to St. John the Baptist program. He played for the Cougars, he was the JV coach for the past two seasons and his father is well-respected Athletic Director, Ralph Dalton. Casey McKay was at the helm before him, helping lead the Cougars to the CHSAA Championship in 2018 but decided to step down and is now an assistant coach on staff. There was a lot to celebrate for the St. John the Baptist program last year as 2018 alum Logan O’Hoppe reached the big leagues with the Los Angeles Angels and his close friends and family were able to be in attendance to watch him ...
By Blake Buscemi Downing goes the distance for a complete game shutout. Absolutely dominant performance with 10 Ks. pic.twitter.com/QOvLmIgSf0 — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 22, 2022 There were a pair of Catholic League games played today at St. Joseph’s College, both of which had one thing in common; they were pitcher’s duels. That was to be expected with the quality of pitching that was lined up for the day. Game one started off with a bang when Chaminade centerfielder and Binghamton-commit Nick Ungania smoked a triple into the right-center field gap. Marist-commit Brady Steinert drove him in with a single later in the inning to give Chaminade a 1-0 after an inning. Things got very quiet after this as both starting pitchers, Kyle Chase of St. John the Baptist and John Downin...
St. Anthony’s coach Paul Parsolano on the victory @SAFriarsBase pic.twitter.com/MFzohVxbV4 — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 26, 2022 One of the advantages to fielding a young team is that they typically benefit from the experience and come back the following year as a more cohesive and confident group. That appears to be the case for the St. Anthony’s Friars, who are flourishing in 2022. They defeated St. John the Baptist, 8-0, behind the second straight complete game shutout by Jason DeCaro – their ace junior who lowered his ERA to 1.42 with 31 strikeouts over 24.2 IP. He has taken that next step and become the ace they envisioned. DeCaro was lights-out, striking out 10, walking three and allowing just three hits (one was a misplayed double) over a complete g...
Chaminade LHP John Downing on his complete game gem to send Chaminade in the Championship series pic.twitter.com/Q4XMnYbwWg — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 7, 2021 Pitching and defense is the name of the game in the CHSAA and Chaminade has always thrived in that category. In the ultra-competitive Catholic League, the difference between a win and a loss is sometimes a defensive miscue or failed bunt attempt. That was the case as No. 2 Chaminade edged No. 3 St. John the Baptist, 2-1, to advance to the CHSAA Championship Series against Kellenberg on Wednesday. Chaminade knew they had a tall order in facing St. John the Baptist ace RHP Kyle Chase (St. John’s-commit) who has the ability to shut down any opponent. What he can’t control, though, is what happens once the ba...
by Chris Sacchi Casey McKay’s St. John the Baptist baseball team has been a consistent contender for the CHSAA title since he took over in 2016. With one title, another title appearance, and most recently a semi-finals loss to St. Anthony’s in 2019, McKay has coached a lot of great players. So how does he feel about this year’s squad, ahead of a unique 2021 season? “This is probably the most talented team we’ve had,” McKay said. “I would almost say since the team’s been nationally ranked in the early 2000’s. It’s more talented than the team we had when we won in 2018.” “They’re ready to play, they’re hungry to play. We have a lot of college baseball players on this team that are really, really excited for this year to see what they’re able to do and pu...
Giancarlo Giacometti fires 6.1 innings today against Kellenberg in a 6-1 victory for St. John the Baptist. He’s our @BsbLifestyle101 Player of the Game pic.twitter.com/sRz2Bffj67 — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 9, 2019 With several MLB scouts lined up behind home plate, Giancarlo Giacometti shined the brightest on a dreary day in East Meadow on Opening Day for St. John the Baptist. The crafty right-handed pitcher was unflappable, as he fired 6.1 strong innings in a 6-1 win for the Cougars over Kellenberg. He noted that he was excited for today and had it marked on his calendar facing Miami-commit Jason Diaz. “‘Especially being Opening Day, I just wanted to get the win,” said the right-hander. After going down 1-2-3 in the first, they had a huge second inning. Freshman st...
by Joseph Langan Since the hire of Coach Casey McKay in 2016 St. John the Baptist High School has found themselves to be one of the top competitors in the CHSAA league. Since that time they’ve found themselves making back-to-back championship appearances, in which they hoisted the title in 2018. SJB fought hard in 2019 to try and make it back to the CHSAA title game for the third straight year, but fell short in the semi finals to St. Anthony’s High School. As the 2020 season rapidly approaches, SJB is hungry to avenge their semifinal loss and hold up the championship trophy once again. Coach McKay and his team will be challenged more than ever before during that endeavor with new addition of the Brooklyn/Queens Catholic schools to the league. Instead of looking at it as negative Co...
Final: Chaminade 3, St. John the Baptist 0 WP: Logan Koester (4-hit shutout) The Flyers advance to the Championship Round on Sunday at Hofstra pic.twitter.com/RCdplLqgxW — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 22, 2019 It was a battle of the present and future stars on display Tuesday night at St. Joseph’s College. For a while, it appeared the youngster would be the star of the evening but a two-run single by Aidan Larkin broke a scoreless tie and was the difference in Chaminade’s 3-0 victory over St. John the Baptist to send the Flyers into the championship at Hofstra. St. John the Baptist freshman Kyle Chase took the mound against Chaminade ace Logan Koester. Chase, the unflappable youngster, was perfect through four innings–showing his ability to keep his heart rate...