Michael Sweeney
Chaminade Enters 2023 as 3-Time Defending Champs, Reigning NYS Champs
John Downing fires a complete game and Chaminade captures the first ever CHSAA NYS Championship pic.twitter.com/0zCtFUooL1 — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 12, 2022 To say that 2022 was a dream season for Chaminade would be an understatement. Legendary Head Coach Mike Pienkos, who has won 650 games and led the Flyers to an incredible 20 NSCHSAA Championships during his tenure. Pienkos was named Axcess Baseball’s Coach of the Year this past season as he led the Flyers to a 25-2 record and they captured the first ever New York State Catholic League Championship after two hard-fought games at St. John’s University. Chaminade Head Coach Mike Pienkos was named the High School Coach of the Year Powered by the BP Group pic.twitter.com/rSuKWiRTRL — Axcess Baseball LI (@axces...
Next Level Holds Off Late Rally for 4-3 Win
Final: Next Level 4, Team Francisco 3 WP: JJ Gatti @BCprospects pic.twitter.com/EJx8x4fS72 — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 18, 2022 Familiar faces squared off in Saturday’s early morning match up between Next Level and Team Francisco Notorious 9 in the Blue Chip Prospect Father’s Day tournament. Despite a late rally by Team Francisco, it was Next Level who held on by the score of 4-3. Next Level sent JJ Gatti to the hill. He is coming off winning the first ever NYS CHSAA Championship with Chaminade last week and had one of the best seasons of any Long Island pitcher (7-1 record, 0.89 ERA, 54.2 IP, 70 Ks). Gatti fired a 1-2-3 inning against the impressive top of the lineup for Team Francisco of Dominick Carbone, Antonio D’Amore and Jason DeCaro. In the home hal...
Chaminade Captures 19th NSCHSAA Championship
Chaminade has captured the 2021 CHSAA Championship with a 4-1 win over Kellenberg ! pic.twitter.com/jmozQfolci — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 10, 2021 Under normal circumstances, you would get anxious when the potential tying run steps to the plate in Game 2 of the CHSAA Finals but with a team like Chaminade that lives and dies with pitching and defense, somehow the base runners just don’t feel that likely to score. The Chaminade Flyers defeated Kellenberg, 4-1, to capture the 19th championship in program history. They outscored the Firebirds 14-2 over the two game series and won four of five games against them this season. And this was with a team that was considered inexperienced by coach preseason and vulnerable by many. This game did have a much different vibe than G...
Chaminade LHP John Downing Fires Gem To Advance to CHSAA Finals
Chaminade LHP John Downing on his complete game gem to send Chaminade in the Championship series pic.twitter.com/Q4XMnYbwWg — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 7, 2021 Pitching and defense is the name of the game in the CHSAA and Chaminade has always thrived in that category. In the ultra-competitive Catholic League, the difference between a win and a loss is sometimes a defensive miscue or failed bunt attempt. That was the case as No. 2 Chaminade edged No. 3 St. John the Baptist, 2-1, to advance to the CHSAA Championship Series against Kellenberg on Wednesday. Chaminade knew they had a tall order in facing St. John the Baptist ace RHP Kyle Chase (St. John’s-commit) who has the ability to shut down any opponent. What he can’t control, though, is what happens once the ba...
Chaminade Starts Title Defense With 11-5 Win at St. Anthony’s
Final: Chaminade 11, St. Anthony’s 5 WP: John Downing pic.twitter.com/xoWMAPcczU — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 28, 2021 It turns out the demise of Chaminade was greatly exaggerated. The reigning champs went out on opening day at St. Anthony’s and handed it to the Friars with an 11-5 victory. Both teams are fielding inexperienced rosters in terms of their varsity experience, but Chaminade is certainly not lacking in their star power and that was evident today. Head Coach Mike Pientkos who has led the Flyers to over 600 wins spoke to me last week about the uncertainty of his roster and their lack of experience at this level. He did note, however, that they have a lot of players that can really play the game and will be impact players for them. From my vantage point...
