Mark Faello
2018 Nassau County Class AA Preseason Power Rankings
With our fourth nor’easter this month upon us, who knows when opening day may be. As soon as the fields are clear, however, the high school baseball season will finally get underway. Although Class AA may be overlooked because there’s 14 teams compared to 28 teams in Class A, there’s still a significant amount of competition. Last year was about as exciting as it gets in Class AA, with Massapequa taking home the title and the Long Island Championship, so don’t expect this year to be any different. With many of the top teams returning their best players, let’s take a look at this year’s preseason top five teams. 5. Farmingdale A team that took the county by storm in 2017 is back and expected to make a deep run this season. Luckily for the Dalers, their tw...
What Are the Major Story Lines to Watch for in 2018?
With the calendar flipping to 2018, all eyes are on the upcoming baseball season. Despite the bitter cold in the beginning part of the season, it was another enjoyable season in 2017. We will go through some of the major story lines to watch in 2018… Who is MLB Draft worthy? Despite several players garnering interest late into the season, the only high school Long Island players that got drafted were Ben Brown and Brian Morrell. This was surprising to me considering some other players getting looks from Major League scouts. We will cover this topic more in depth in the next week or so, but I’ll give you four players that have my attention–Franklin Parra, Anthony Fontana, Logan O’Hoppe and Mark Faello. Next year will be interesting with Tim McHugh, Jason Diaz and Max...
Man of the Year Award Finalists Announced
Finalists for Axcess Man of the Year are: •Brian Morrell, SWR •Jimmy Joyce, Wantagh •Chris Cappas, Kellenberg pic.twitter.com/NnO1H4GAEC — Axcess Baseball (@axcessbaseball) November 21, 2017 We will be hosting our third annual Awards Banquet on Saturday, January 6 at Villa Lombardi’s. Among the several awards we will be handing out will be the Axcess Man of the Year Award to the top high school player on Long Island. The four finalists are: Chris Cappas (Kellenberg) Pitching: 6-1 record, 0.18 ERA, 53 K, 39 IP Offense: .438 AVG, 3 HR, 22 RBI, 1 K Mark Faello (Plainview-Old Bethpage) Pitching: 7-0 record, 1.26 ERA, 0.74 WHIP, 74 K, 56.2 IP Offense: .372 AVG, 2 HR, 23 RBI, .450 OBP, 22 R Jimmy Joyce (Wantagh) Pitching: 9-2 record, 1.27 ERA, 92 K, 66 IP Offen...
5 High School Seniors That Could Get Drafted in 2018
As the season wore on, it seemed I was hearing about more and more players that had risen their stock and impressed scouts in various tournaments in places such as East Cobb, Diamond Nation or Baseball Heaven. In addition to the amount of Div-I commits there were, a handful of other players rose to the next level; where they might hear their name called on draft day in June 2018. Only Ben Brown and Brian Morrell wound up getting drafted from the 2017 class–a slight disappointment considering how many players seemed to have the chance at it. In 2018, though, I expect as many as five Long Island seniors to get drafted out of high school. Here’s a rundown of the players that have already garnered interest from the local MLB scouts… Franklin Parra (Copiague LHP) The Dominican...
Team Fontana Takes Inaugural Home Run Derby 35-31
We couldn’t have asked for better weather or a better match up for our inaugural Home Run Derby today at NYIT. In what looked like it would be a blowout, Team McHugh made a furious comeback from a 26-10 deficit to come up just short, by the score of 35-31. Below are some of the highlights from the contest…. Anthony Fontana led off the bottom of the first with a huge round. He hit three home runs and compiled 14 points overall. His sweet swing produced several long blasts pasts the cone in deep right field. The Furman-commit got his team out to a quick 14-0 lead. Both teams exchanged two points in the second inning from James Myler and Jarred Vanderhoof. In the top of the third, the captain Tim McHugh put up four on the board. His power bat generated several massive flies out to...
Anthony Fontana and Tim McHugh Select HR Derby Teams
We live tweeted the draft picks for the 2017 Axcess Baseball Home Run Derby last night. The event will take place on Saturday, September 9 at NYIT beginning at 2pm. Tim McHugh won the coin toss and selected James Myler first overall. Anthony Fontana used his first selection on Logan O’Hoppe. Here are the full teams. Team Fontana: Anthony Fontana, Wantagh 2018 Logan O’Hoppe, St. John the Baptist 2018 Vinny Pagano, Commack 2020 Will Feil, Wheatley 2018 Kyle Johnson, Newfield 2018 Jarred Vanderhoof, Longwood 2018 Mark Faello, Plainview-JFK 2018 Team McHugh: Tim McHugh, Commack 2019 James Myler, Longwood 2020 Johnny Castagnozzi, Massapequa 2020 Charles Rainone, Deer Park 2018 Peter Zielinski, MacArthur 2018 Chris Peralta, Valley Stream South 2018 Travis Honeyman, Massapequa 2020
Three-Run Third Propels Body Armor to 4-2 Win over Titans-Parso
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbifqwX4G7M&t=1s In a battle filled with current and future Div-I prospects, it was a third inning rally that enabled the Body Armor Titans to come out victorious in a friendly rivalry. In what was dubbed “McGregor vs Mayweather“, Titans-Parso took an early 2-0 lead in the top of the second on a two-run double by Nick Ungar (Connetquot ’18) on a well-struck ball off James Cardinale (Commack ’18) into left center field to score Will Feil (Wheatley ’18) and Chris Peralta (Valley Stream South ’18). That was all the offense they would muster up on this day against a loaded pitching staff. Kyle Johnson (Newfield ’18) came on in relief in the third inning and worked around a walk and a single to Mike Handal (Garden Cit...
Axcess League MVPs Honored at Battle of the Border
During the seventh inning stretch of today’s Battle of the Border, we honored the high school aXcess baseball League MVPs during a ceremony. Below is a list of the winner’s from each conference: Nassau County: A1: Bobby Lewis, MacArthur A2: Tyler DeMeo, Carey A3: Jimmy Joyce, Wantagh A4: Nick Tuzzio, Lynbrook A5: A.J. Cain, Seaford AA1: Brendan McFall, Oceanside AA2: Mark Faello, Plainview-JFK Suffolk County: League 1: Brad Malm, Pat-Med League 2: Pete Theodorellis, Commack League 3: Mike Ruggiero, Smithtown East League 4: Greg Tsouprakos, West Islip League 5: Matt Overton, Hauppauge League 6: James Weisman, Rocky Point League 7: Brian Morrell, Shoreham-Wading River League 8: Kenneth Gordon, Babylon League 9: Luke Hansen, Southold
Previewing the Nassau Class AA Semifinals
The top four seeds have advanced onto the semi finals, something anybody could’ve predicted. Although there were a couple scares within teams seeded 2-4 having to play a game 3 last week, they won when it really mattered and earned a spot in the semifinals. Both series will feature heated conference rivalry match ups, which means we will be in for an exciting week of baseball to say the least. Massapequa vs. Oceanside These playoffs continue to spoil the fans of rivalry match ups, and this takes the cake for biggest series of the year in Class AA. The rematch of Massapequa vs. Oceanside is back in the postseason. Both sides will have their own shot at revenge come this week. Last year, Massapequa knocked Oceanside out of the playoffs and this year Oceanside swept them in three games ...
Nassau County Class AA Power Rankings (5th Edition)
Everything went as expected this past week in Class AA, causing only slight alterations in the rankings–basically the top teams stayed hot . With a week of little to no surprises at all, let’s take a look to see if there was any mix up in this week’s power rankings. 5. Calhoun (10-5) (Last week: 4) Non-league games often are a chance for coaches to get inexperienced players playing time and have some fun. However, when you lose a non-league game against a team that’s 2-13 on the season, there’s no excuse for losing. Calhoun lost to Bellmore JFK 5-3 during their bye week, which could result in negative momentum riding into their last week of the season. Sophmore Jake Edwards will look to continue to dominate at the plate this week against Valley Stream Central....
Nassau Class AA Power Rankings (3rd Edition)
Photo Credits: Jim Primm There’s a new #1 team in this week’s power rankings which shouldn’t come to a surprise to anyone. Officially more than halfway done with the season, here’s your top 5 teams heading into this week. 5) Farmingdale (8-4) (Last week: 5) An impressive victory over Oceanside keeps Farmingdale locked in the top 5. Pitching is clearly a stronghold for this Farmingdale team, as they haven’t given up more than 6 runs all season. Not only do the Dalers have a strong rotation, but they have a talented bullpen as well, led by Anthony Burriesci. After their bye week, the Dalers have their toughest series of the season coming up against Massapequa. 4) East Meadow (8-4) (Last week: Unranked) The defending county champions are finally back in the top 5...
Axcess Baseball Episode 6–Featuring Mark Faello
Check out the latest edition of aXcess Baseball featuring special guest Mark Faello of Plainview-JFK. He is coming off throwing a no-hitter with 19 K in his last outing against Herricks.
