Michael Anderson
South Side Ready to Protect their Title in 2022
by Mike Anderson Grand slam by TJ Maher breaks the game open – South Side leads 10-1 in the third pic.twitter.com/Gix5YrXLP3 — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 17, 2021 After reaching the Long Island Championship last year, South Side High School varsity baseball enters the 2022 season as contenders to defend their league title. They finished 2021 14-8, and had a wild ride all the way to the end, before falling 3-1 to Newfield in the Conference III LIC. This year, they’ll look to do more of the same, and have a lot of guys coming back to help them do so. South Side will be without some of their impact players from a year ago, such as catcher Jack Temple, center fielder Paul Mata, and shortstop Kyle Aromiskis. Temple is now playing Div-III football at USMMA, and Mata is runni...
Friday College Recap Powered by Orlin & Cohen
by Mike Anderson Friday, March 4th marked the third weekend of the 2022 college baseball season, and a couple of New York teams played some big games on the day. Let’s go around the horn and recap some of the things you may have missed. Division-I: Florida Atlantic played host to Fordham while opening a three-game series on Friday night. Despite engaging in a back and forth contest, FAU was able to take the opener 9-5 behind a big performance from their offense. After falling behind 1-0 in the top of the second on an Andy Semo solo blast, South Florida responded with a three-spot in the bottom of the third. They took the lead on a crucial error that led to two runs scoring, making the score 3-1. Fordham tied the game back up at three apiece after back-to-back RBI singles by Cian Sahler and...
Seaford Loaded With Depth, Primed for Another Playoff Run
by Mike Anderson Sophomore Sean Costello comes through with a walk-off single in the bottom of the 8th for Seaford to beat Clarke 5-4 pic.twitter.com/hEzPO6q0nh — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 28, 2021 After falling just short in the county finals tournament, Seaford High School will look to have another good year in 2022. Last year, they put together a very strong showing, going 14-4 overall and 14-2 in conference play. They were ultimately eliminated by Island Trees, who went on to win the title. Despite a disappointing end, Seaford has a lot to look forward to in 2022. Despite losing a pair of all-county players to graduation (pitcher Tom Hartmann and shortstop/pitcher Anthony Ippoliti), Seaford has a large core of returning players, as 15 are expected to be back in 2022. Sev...
Babylon Enters 2022 With Valuable Experience
by Mike Anderson League V brought some of the best baseball teams in Suffolk County to light last year, as four teams won at least 11 games, and three of them won at least 15. That top-heaviness hid some of the scrappy, middle-of-the-pack teams, such as Babylon High School. Their varsity team, led by head coach Mike Birnbaum, showed that they were no pushover school in 2021 and will look to take the next step this upcoming season. They finished the year in fifth place, finishing under .500 at 8-10. However, they had several bright spots throughout the season. They notably beat second place Shoreham-Wading River in an exciting 11-inning game, handing them one of only three losses from the regular season. They also snapped Center Moriches’ 32-game winning streak dating back to 2018, and late...
Shoreham-Wading River Looking to Continue Remarkable Postseason Streak
by Mike Anderson Go-ahead 3-R HR by Joey Marchese puts Shoreham-Wading River up 5-3 in the top of the fourth pic.twitter.com/kyV05kSkBA — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 12, 2021 For Shoreham-Wading River varsity baseball, it’s 35 years and counting. That’s 35 consecutive playoff berths. In 2021, they went 15-3, and head coach Kevin Willi credited everyone and everything from top to bottom for the program’s long-sustained success. “It started with Sal Mignano who is basically the founder of SWR baseball. He created a tradition of hard work and dedication that has translated into my tenure as coach. It’s really amazing because the kids are driven and motivated. They work hard, they do extra lessons, they’re always above and beyond,” Willi said. However, it wasn’t just the culture o...
Despite Graduating League MVP, Bayport-Blue Point Returns 13 Players from 15-Win Season
by Mike Anderson Final: Bayport-Blue Point 3, Mattituck 2 WP: Brady Clark S: Charles Aurandt pic.twitter.com/xJsKWJIpXg — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 25, 2021 Led by League V MVP Luke Schartner in 2021, Bayport-Blue Point varsity baseball made the playoffs for the 24th consecutive year. They went 15-3 and captured the third seed in the league’s playoff picture. Turning the page now to this year, the Phantoms still have reasons to expect success in 2022. The team will be returning 13 players this year after only graduating seven. However, replacing Schartner’s bat from the three-hole and his arm from the rotation will not be easy. They also lost pitcher Charlie Aurandt, who is now playing Div-III ball at St. Joseph’s College. However, they have the bullets to help fill in their...
Friday College Recap Powered by Orlin & Cohen
Friday night saw lots of action in the college baseball world, as many teams either kicked off week two, or opened up their season. Let’s take a look and dive deeper into how some of the local teams did on February 25. Division-I St. John’s had a rough day, being the footnote in a historic performance by the Oregon Ducks. Oregon blew out St. John’s by a final score of 23-5, en route to their second straight win. The 23 runs marked a program record for Oregon, as they reached it with a 13-run bottom of the eighth inning after entering the inning only up 10-5. In their last game, which was last Monday, Oregon scored 21 and beat San Diego after losing their first three games. Having said all of that, the game was not nearly as uncompetitive as it may seem. Oregon jumped out to an early 5-0 le...
Friday College Recap Powered by Orlin & Cohen
by Michael Anderson After a long offseason, the 2022 NCAA Baseball season is officially underway, as Friday afternoon brought the first round of action for college baseball this year. However, it was a particularly quiet day for some of the New York schools. St. John’s, Stony Brook, Albany, LIU, Fordham, and Old Westbury all opened up the season with a road game somewhere down south, but only one team came out victorious. Division-I: Middle Tennessee played the role of the away team against St. John’s down in Wilmington, North Carolina, and was able to win an intense game that went into extra innings, 3-2. St. John’s struck early with a pair in the first, as catcher Tate Ballestero singled home the game’s first run. First baseman Nick Cirelli grounded out productively to first base, ...
Hauppauge Looking to Build on Last Year Despite Big Graduating Class
by Mike Anderson Hauppauge High School varsity baseball sought out to defend their 2019 league title in 2020, but ultimately never got a shot. Taking the field as a team for the first time in nearly two years, the 2021 Hauppauge Eagles did not disappoint, making the playoffs with a 12-6 record and finishing in third place in League III, only behind West Islip (13-5) and Newfield (15-3). Varsity head coach Josh Gutes shed light on his team in an interview with Axcess Baseball, talking about what worked for them last season and what they look like right now coming into this season. He attributed his strong core of seniors from last year as the driving force to their successful 2021 season. “We had four sophomores on that league championship team in 2019 that got a ton of time. So, even thou...
Deeper Staff, More Experience Fueling Higher Hopes for William Floyd in ‘22
by Mike Anderson Playing in League I of Section XI is always a tall task, and the 2021 season saw no exception to that. Five teams won at least 12 games last season from League I, which held back some younger teams, such as William Floyd High School. Floyd’s varsity baseball team had an up and down year, finishing below .500, yet still being able to show their competitiveness by winning seven games in a very competitive league. Head coach Keith Kobasiuk, now entering his fifth year as varsity head coach for William Floyd, gave an honest assessment of his team’s performance last year, citing a lack of experience as the main reason for their losing season. “We graduated two seniors who were on the field playing full-time. Everyone else was a junior or sophomore. And with the Covid season, so...
Loaded Kellenberg Primed for Another Great Year
by Michael Anderson Kellenberg first year head coach Pat Miles led his team to a 12-3 record and the No. 1 seed entering the playoffs pic.twitter.com/fwF8YMS89e — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 28, 2021 Pat Miles left a great impression in his first year as head coach of the Kellenberg Memorial High School varsity baseball team. The Firebirds finished 12-3 and clinched the top seed in the CHSAA. Of course, it wasn’t really his first impression; at least not with his players. “I had those kids on JV… I’ve coached all those kids before. In a shortened season, it wasn’t much of a learning curve regarding my players because I’ve had them for two years for the most part. I knew exactly the kids’ weaknesses and the kids’ strengths,” said Miles. It wasn’t just the continuity from a coa...
Rocky Point Looks Poised to Make a Run at County Title
by Mike Anderson Final: Rocky Point 4, Hills West 2 WP: Dominick Carbone S: Cody Miller Carbone: 3-for-4, 2 RBI Rocky Point improves to 12-1 pic.twitter.com/dwyolLkHjx — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 2, 2021 It’s hard to improve on a 16-2 record, but that’s what Rocky Point Varsity Baseball will look to do this year. And when you have a team as talented and as deep as Rocky Point, that is very possible. Though they were upset in the playoffs and eliminated by Harborfields, the Eagles had themselves a great year. Rocky Point was the top seed in League IV last year, and their 16 wins tied them for the most in Section XI along with Mt. Sinai, who was the top seed in League V. What made their season all the more impressive was the competition that they faced: six of their nine opp...
