Final: Smithtown East 5, Hills East 0 WP: James Lanflisi (6.2 innings relief, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 9 Ks) Ciminiello: 1-3, 3B, 3 RBIs Smithtown East clinches postseason berth pic.twitter.com/3g30UNRryz — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 7, 2024 Going into the game, James Lanfisi figured he would watch from the dugout as staff ace Ben Kennedy took the mound looking to send his team to the playoffs. One batter in, Lanfisi found himself warming up to come in. Impressively, he was able to not only get himself ready to go on a moment’s notice, he was absolutely brilliant as he fired 6.2 shutout innings with 9 strikeouts in a 5-0 victory over Hills East to clinch a playoff berth for the Bulls. Lanfisi, who is committed to Utica, was very efficient needing just 85 pitches to dice through ...
by Mike Merolle Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s season preview series. Smithtown East took a step back in 2023, missing the playoffs with a record of 5-14. In 2022, however, Smithtown East was the Suffolk Conference II champions and reached the Suffolk County Class AA Finals. In his third season as head coach, Robert Christensen looks to flip the script this season. “Every season is a fresh start where we have to bring the lessons learned from the previous season to a new group of guys,” Christensen told Axcess Baseball. “Anytime a season ends, you reflect on how the season was, what worked well and [what] didn’t work, what do we need to get better, who graduated, and who can step in to help us the following season.” From the past two ye...