Massapequa
What is the Best School to Recruit from on Long Island?
This idea originally came to me about five years ago when I was covering a Shoreham-Wading River practice before the season. Looking around, it appeared they had more talent some many college teams and I remember thinking that a college coach could’ve done most of their recruiting just from that team. They wound up winning 20 consecutive games and capturing the Class A Suffolk County Championship that season. That was in 2017 and since then a lot has changed. But at the same time, the cream always rises to the top and many of the best programs on Long Island have been the best programs for several decades. Some have their peaks and valleys, but this list will focus on the best of the best – the ones you can always count on will be there come playoff time, the ones that produce ...
Up Next Powered by The Yard Sports Academy: Erik Paulsen
(This is the ninth installment of the popular series “Up Next” Powered by the Yard Sports Academy in which we highlight the top underclassmen on Long Island. Previously, we featured Centereach OF Logan Norman, Garden City LHP Gabe Beschloss , Connetquot INF Ryan Kiendle, Clarke MIF Nick Berasti, Miller Place SS Alex Strickland, Pat-Med OF Robbie Melo, Holy Trinity 1B Kyle Kozlowski, West Babylon 1B Jace Alvino and Chaminade SS Mikey Cervoni. Make sure to check out the Yard Sports Academy here.) 2021 was a rough year for many people but Massapequa’s Erik Paulsen is not one of those. The 2023 southpaw was called up to varsity as a sophomore and was a member of the Chiefs’ Nassau County Championship – their fourth consecutive. Following the season, he announced his verbal co...
Massapequa-native Harry Nelson to Be Inducted into the Cape Cod Hall of Fame
Harry Nelson, a graduate of Massapequa HS, will be inducted into the Cape Cod League Hall of Fame later this month. The ceremony will be at the beautiful Wequasset Resort on November 21. The class includes eight other individuals, including current Pirates SS Kevin Newman and former A’s SS Cliff Pennington. The event was scheduled to occur last year, but was postponed due to covid. Nelson had an incredible year for Bourne in 1964 – he led the league in batting at .390 – a record that still stands. He went 39-for-100, meaning he was 1 hit away from a .400 average. Additionally, he smacked 7 HRs, 7 doubles and drove in 27 runs. Most impressively, he was also a pitcher so he has the distinction of being the only pitcher to lead the league in batting average. Nelson noted tha...
Recap of Nassau County Semifinals
Yesterday was Game 1 of the Nassau County semifinals for each Conference. I won’t say it was filled with thrilling games (because three of them were run-rules), but it was certainly filled with outstanding individual performances. I bounced around like a mad man from Massapequa to Island Trees to Division. It took until my third stop to find a competitive game so I’m thankful I continued to search. Here’s a breakdown of each: Massapequa 10, Oceanside 0 Carter DeSousa with a walk-off single as Massapequa wins via run-rule 10-0 over Oceanside in Game 1 of the Nassau Conference I semifinals. They’ll be back at it tomorrow for Game 2 pic.twitter.com/zbgu3SYQlc — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 12, 2021 This one was over in the first inning when Massapequa knoc...
Bobby Stang, Matt Minio Lead Massapequa to 13-3 Win
Final: Massapequa 13, Port Washington 3 WP: Matt Minio Bobby Stang: 2 HR Connor Kelly: 3-R HR pic.twitter.com/fBFV1omeLK — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 5, 2021 As Massapequa‘s head coach Tom Sheedy stated earlier this week, the team is utilizing the next four weeks to prepare for the playoffs. The three-time reigning Long Island Champs just got their full squad back on Monday after their football team captured the Nassau Conference II Championship over Oceanside last weekend. Well, it doesn’t hurt to win some games along the way and in typical Massapequa fashion, they are off to a 2-0 start to the season. Today’s game was one of two high school games that took place on Long Island, and the Chiefs steamrolled Port Washington, 13-3, in a rematch of the 2019 Clas...
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...
Reasons To Be Excited For 2021
Last year at this time, everyone was full steam aheads towards another baseball season. We had no idea what was going on literally on the other side of the world. I don’t read the Wall Street Journal enough to know what’s going on in China so I had every reason to believe we would be on the verge of a normal year. I’m sure I was not the only one that was blind-sided by the cancellation of the 2020 high school and collegiate baseball season. It was awful news for everyone involved. We had already posted 65 high school season previews, hosted two college showcases and began covering college games over the course of the first two weeks of the year when the plug was pulled. Fortunately, we did have a semblance of a season in the form of summer and fall baseball. Everyone owes...
Who Was The Best Team of The 2010s?
When it comes to being considered the best–the bar is set high. Over the course of the past 10 seasons, there have been undefeated seasons, there have been back-to-back state champs, there have been pitching staffs loaded with Division-I talent and pro pitchers. But there can only be one team considered the best. I have watched a lot of baseball, but I didn’t trust my own instinct so I solicited the help of some trusted sources to put together my definitive list of the best teams of the decade. To make it a bit easier, we narrowed it down to teams that have won a Long Island Championship, because plenty of talented teams have made it to the finish line only to come up short. We also did not list any school more than once on purpose because many of the back-to-back champions featured the sa...
OTD: 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 bottom...
OTD: Massapequa Captures Third Consecutive County AA 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 Washington line...
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...
