Michael Malaszczyk
Sayville Looking to Regain Magic of 2019
By Michael Malaszczyk Brock Murtha’s no-hitter sends Sayville to the N.Y. state championship for the first time in program history! pic.twitter.com/HOYA7iindr — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 9, 2019 Coach Joseph Esposito of Sayville is ready to take on 2022. Sayville had a solid season in 2021. Coming off of the 2020 season which never began, Sayville ended their 2021 season in third place in their conference, losing 2-1 to East Islip in the semifinals. There is absolutely no shame in losing a close playoff game to East Islip; who ended up sweeping the Long Island Championship. Sayville’s defense still managed to hold a high-octane offense to two runs. Going back even further than 2021, Sayville won the Long Island Championship in 2019, also under Coach Esposito. But despite Sa...
North Babylon Returning 5 Starters From Playoff Season
By Michael Malaszczyk While every baseball team on Long Island was affected by the coronavirus pandemic with the full shutdown in 2020 and case surges in 2021, North Babylon was hit particularly hard. A number of North Babylon’s starting players began the season while in quarantine, and one of North Babylon’s coaches was put in a ten day quarantine in the middle of the season. Nevertheless, North Babylon bounced back to have a strong season that saw them finish 9-9 overall and clinch a playoff spot, defying these early hiccups. “After a 0-3 start, the team battled to clinch a playoff berth on the final day of the season with a 1-0 win over Walt Whitman,” said Corrado. “Eventually we lost to Bay Shore in the first round of the playoffs.” Corrado is proud of his team for overcoming the odds ...
Coming Off County Finals Appearance, Sachem East Hungry to Take Next Step
By Michael Malaszczyk Coach Kevin Schnupp is ready for the 2022 season, and while proud of his team’s 2021 season, isn’t going to settle for second best. Sachem East had a great year in 2021, coming off of a season cut short in 2020. They finished with a 16-4 overall record and came just short of glory against Commack in the Suffolk County Championship. “Obviously we were disappointed that we didn’t finish what one of our preseason goals was,” said Schnupp. “But all in all it was a great season and the boys performed really well in a tough league. We faced several top pitching prospects throughout the year. To look back on 2021 positively, Schnupp feels that what led his team to success last year was its blend of upperclassmen and rookies. Evan Fisher with his second HR of the game ...
Under First Year Coach Joe Fusco, St. Dominic is Poised to Put Plenty of Runs on the Board
By Michael Malaszczyk Coach Joe Fusco of St. Dominic’s High School is ready to take the team to new heights this year. St. Dominic’s bounced back in 2021, the first season since baseball was cut short by the coronavirus pandemic, to have a strong season in the highly competitive Catholic League. St. Dominic’s finished fourth overall in the league, losing to Kellenberg in the semifinals. While this is Coach Fusco’s first year with St. Dominic’s, Fusco is no stranger to baseball and brings a ton of experience; Fusco previously worked as an assistant coach at Clarke High School under the tutelage of Tom Abruscato. “We made 2 county championship appearances and won a county championship,” Fusco said of his time at Clarke. Fusco also works as a coach for Team Francisco Hitting Academy. “We are...
Rob Christensen Takes Over For Smithtown East in 2022
By Michael Malaszczyk 2022 could very well be the year that Long Island baseball finally breaks free of the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Coach Rob Christensen, the new head coach of Smithtown East’s baseball, seems to agree. “Last season was everyone’s first season at the varsity level due to Covid,” said Christensen. “This experience should definitely benefit us for the season.” Smithtown East has nothing to be ashamed of in terms of how last season went considering the circumstances; they made it to the playoffs before ultimately losing to Northport. Christensen himself has many years of experience in the game of baseball; he was an assistant coach at Smithtown East for eight years and learned the ropes of coaching from former coach Ken Klee. “I learned an incredible amount...
Despite Graduating Two Standout Performers, Mepham Poised for Another Playoff Run
By Michael Malaszczyk TYLER O’NEILL WITH A 2-STRIKE GAME-TYING GRAND SLAM IN THE FIFTH pic.twitter.com/zkj9uRMu52 — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 14, 2021 It would be difficult to find someone with a deeper knowledge of the game of baseball than Eric Passman. Coach Eric Passman of Mepham has been coaching baseball for fifty years and has no intentions of stopping anytime soon. He has been coaching at Mepham since 2017, and looks forward to Mepham’s 2022 baseball season. Passman was happy to share his thoughts about both last season and this one. “Last season was excellent,” said Passman. “And I can’t say I was happy with how it ended – we were one ground ball away from going to the county finals. And we played a tough game, tough three game series with Calhoun...
After losing in County Finals, Calhoun Hopeful To Take Next Step
By Michael Malaszczyk CALHOUN IS HEADING TO THE NASSAU CONFERENCE II FINALS pic.twitter.com/Ezs8uDbiDv — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 14, 2021 Coach Art Canestro of Calhoun High School is getting right down to business this year. Calhoun had a very strong season in 2021, finishing with a 17-4 record (15-1 regular season). They came just short of glory when they lost to Garden City in the County Championship. Canestro, while critical of how this occurred, is staying positive about this experience and is striving to overturn that result this year. “Last year we had a ton of kids that could fill up the strike zone and get outs,” said Canestro. “This year we virtually return everyone now with experience. Our pitching is going to be much better.” Despite this positivity about the...
Led by the 2021 CHSAA Pitcher of the Year, St. John the Baptist Hungry to Get Back on Top
By Michael Malaszczyk Coach Casey McKay of St. John the Baptist’s baseball team sees only good things for his team this upcoming season. After what was a difficult start for all teams as a result of losing their 2020 season to the coronavirus pandemic, St. John the Baptist had a strong season in 2021, finishing third in the Catholic League. St. John the Baptist came up just short in the semi-finals, losing 2-1 to Chaminade in a pitcher’s duel between ace Kyle Chase (‘22) and Seton Hall-commit John Downing (‘22). McKay is in no way discouraged by this event and instead feels the experience gained from last season will lead the team to great places this season. “While we were disappointed with the result, the coaching staff was extremely proud of the way our players competed during the sea...
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