Matt Alifano
Fall Ball Series Powered by Baseball Lifestyle: Adelphi
Cooper Johnson comes through with the walk-off RBI single to propel Adelphi to a 5-4 comeback victory over St. Rose ! pic.twitter.com/5v1qCe1RA5 — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 10, 2022 Entering the 2023 season, the Adelphi Panthers have what head coach Bill Ianniciello called a “good problem” and that’s having to find at bats for some talented players. With the cancellation in 2020, Adelphi – like many collegiate teams – has an abundance of upperclassmen on the roster. But in the case of the Panthers, they also have a number of quality freshmen, sophomores and juniors that would warrant starting jobs on many other competitive teams in the region. The big loss, however, will be 3B Matt Alifano. The 2021 Axcess College Player of the Year followed tha...
Q & A With Matt Alifano
Adelphi has had a long history of excellence on the baseball field and even amidst that list of outstanding performers, Matt Alifano warrants inclusion with the best of the best. The Center Moriches grad helped the Red Devils to a perfect season in 2019 and kept that momentum going into 2020 when he started his collegiate career on a tear before the pandemic ended the season abruptly. It was in 2021 when he truly broke out for the Panthers. Matt Alifano’s first collegiate HR was a grand slam. The sophomore is batting .419 on the season pic.twitter.com/b3Z6yd4K9S — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) March 29, 2021 He batted .394 – which was the highest for a Panther since Rich Mejia and Cliff Brantley in 2014. But what separated him from the pack was his pop from the leadoff s...
Recap of the 2022 MLB Draft
Since MLB condensed the amateur draft in 2020, it has severely impacted the northeast region. That does not figure to change any time soon with the implementation of the 20-round draft. Historically, most Long Island players would be selected on Day 3 (Round 11-40) which just means there’s less of an opportunity for the local players to have a chance. With that said, there was still some that had their dreams fulfilled this week. Let’s break it down: Round 10 – Milwaukee Brewers – Brian Fitzpatrick (St. Anthony’s 2018, Rutgers University) 6’7 LHP Brian Fitzpatrick (St. Anthony’s/Rutgers) is back from Tommy John and up to 93 MPH pic.twitter.com/9VxNoGiDIj — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) January 11, 2020 Fitz is a 6’7 southpaw that domin...
Biggest Surprises in the 2022 Season So Far
College baseball is seven weeks in, while high school baseball is about one week in. Plenty of storylines have evolved already and it’s never too early to dive into them. Here’s what has jumped out at me so far: D1 Shakeup For the past decade, it’s been St. John’s and Stony Brook atop the local “power rankings”. Not that it’s official, but those teams had clearly separated themselves from the rest of the pack. With Ed Blankmeyer at the helm for the Johnnies and Matt Senk for the Seawolves, they were competing for the top players in the area and also bringing in the occasional out-of-state superstar that would get drafted. Through the early going in 2022, are we seeing maybe a changing of the guards? Both teams got off to sluggish starts this season...
Adelphi Sweeps Season-Opening DH From Saint Anselm
Adelphi RHP Josh Rovner discusses the Panthers’ double header sweep over Saint Anselm. Rovner went 5 IP, struck out 6 and allowed just one run. Panthers won Game 2 by the score of 13-1 pic.twitter.com/OF1jkyTrfr — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) February 27, 2022 The Adelphi Panthers kicked off the official Bill Ianniciello era with a double header sweep against visiting Saint Anselm College on a typically cold February afternoon at William J. Bonomo Field. Here’s how it went down: Game 1: The Panthers sent ace Nic Luc to the hill. The fifth-year senior was greeted rudely by Ward Melville grad Brady Doran with a leadoff double. He came around to score on an RBI single by Zack Clough. That was all Luc would allow, though. He settled in and wound up striking out 9 batters ov...
Recap of the 2021 Axcess Baseball Awards Banquet
Oh what a night! It was an evening of celebrating the 2021 baseball season now that the book is officially closed on it. We had over 130 guests at the beautiful Hilton Long Island in Melville; which included honorary guests Ray Negron, executive for the New York Yankees, and Super Bowl Championship Gary Brown. Additionally, there was familiar faces from across the Long Island baseball scene. The night began with an inspirational keynote speech from Ray Negron who told his story of getting caught spraying graffiti at Yankee Stadium by then-Yankees owner George Steinbrenner. In a surprise turn of events, he offered him a job as a batboy. Negron worked his way up the organizational ranks and is now an executive with World Series rings, and he has also parlayed it into a successful career as a...
Adelphi Crushes Le Moyne, 13-2, To Advance to NE-10 Championship
FINAL: Adelphi 13, Le Moyne 2 WP: Nic Luc The Adelphi Panthers are headed to the NE-10 Championship this weekend against Southern New Hampshire ! pic.twitter.com/eh2F6i6UPi — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 17, 2021 It’s hard to believe that it’s been 7 years since Adelphi has competed in an NE-10 Championship game. In that year, they lost to Southern New Hampshire 2-0, with future MLB Draft Pick Jonathan Mulford on the mound. They will get another opportunity at Southern New Hampshire next Friday in the NE-10 Championship series – which will be best-of-three up in Manchester, NH to face the No. 20 ranked SNHU Penmen (22-6). Adelphi came to play today against Le Moyne, cruising to a 13-2 victory in the Southwest Division Final. The Panthers sent RHP Nic Luc to th...
Adelphi Crushes Felician on Opening Day
1-2-3 first inning for Tom Ambrosino. Panthers coming to bat pic.twitter.com/R0k7sUfJXn — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) March 11, 2021 After such a long delay from the end of their 2020 season, it was only right they had some breaks come their way. Adelphi opened up their 2021 season on a sun-soaked day at William J. Bonomo Field and to make things even better for them – came away with a 15-0 victory over Felician. “We have been very diligent with being conscious of Covid,” said HC Dom Scala. “That tells me a lot about the mindset that the captains and veterans have instilled in the team. We had 1 practice outside and then intersquad. Had a pleasantly surprising game. I was feeling good going into today. Told them let play smash mouth baseball and they did,&#...
Perfection! Center Moriches Captures NYS Class B Title to Finish Undefeated Season
For the past two seasons, Center Moriches has dispelled the theory that baseball is a game of failure. After yesterday’s 11-1 victory in the New York State Class B State Championship against Schuyersvile, the Red Devils captured their second straight title to cement themselves into the history books. They are the first team to finish a season undefeated (26-0) since Bayport-Blue Point in 2013–who also was able to pull off the distinction of back-to-back State Championships the next season. They have also not lost a game since April 18, 2018. Any way you slice it, this is truly a special group. In this game, they jumped out ahead immediately with a three-run shot by catcher Alec Maag. The Axcess League MVP has been the straw that stirs the drink all season and has been playing o...
Reigning Class B Champs Continue to Steamroll Competition
Andres Auffant is our @BsbLifestyle101 Player of the Game he allowed just two hits with nine strikeouts over five shutout innings and also had 3 hits at the plate including a 3-R home run for Center Moriches pic.twitter.com/6AhOdQU8rE — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 16, 2019 When you are supremely talented, sometimes it can be difficult to avoid complacency. Center Moriches, the reigning New York State Class B champs, has not succumbed to that. They cruised past Babylon, 20-0, behind Andres Auffant‘s incredible day. The Franklin Pierce-commit fired five shutout innings, allowing just two hits, both singles, while striking out nine batters. He also was a menace at the dish. He had three hits, including a three-run HR in the second and a two-run single in the third which o...
The Reigning Class B State Champs Enter 2019 With Target on Back
Center Moriches defeats Marlboro, 5-1, to advance to the Class B New York State semifinals pic.twitter.com/9h7Q3GRINq — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 2, 2018 Losing the New York State Class B Championship was not something Center Moriches was interested in. Trailing by four runs in the sixth inning against Binghamton Seton Catholic Central, the Red Devils were staring defeat in the face and the prospects of a long bus ride back to Long Island as runner-ups. A seemingly innocuous at bat by DH Brad Sakellarides, however, mounted an improbable seven-run rally which featured a go-ahead hit by 1B Robert Copozzi. The Red Devils handed the ball to reliever David Franchi, who promptly slammed the door and delivered the first State Championship in program history. They had previously co...
