Mike Valiando
Island Trees Gears Up For A Bounce Back 2024 Season
by Mike Merolle Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s season preview series. Island Trees 2, North shore 1 WP- Kevin Kristyensen Save- Christian Taylor James Karras and Andrew Mule with multiple hits pic.twitter.com/sjlKSvekB2 — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 13, 2023 Last season was a transitional year for Island Trees as the Bulldogs finished the year with a 5-13-1 record. There were many new faces on the team and Island Trees had a new coach in 2023. Now in his second season as head coach, Mike Valiando expects competitive baseball in Island Trees. “Last season did not end the way we wanted it to… We had a lot of new faces. Last year’s team showed flashes of what it could be at times,” Valiando told Axcess Baseball. “I am ex...
Island Trees Enters New Era With Head Coach Mike Valiando
by Andy Smith Vinny Giambona with a 3 run triple to put Island Trees up now 13-1 over Wheatley pic.twitter.com/HMTPFnAZO7 — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 23, 2022 Island Trees had a down year by their standards. The Bulldogs won the Nassau County Conference 5 Title in 2021 but fell short of their goal in 2022. The Bulldogs finished with a 9-9 league record, but they were eliminated by Seaford in the double elimination bracket. Head Coach Mike Valiando, who will make his head coaching debut in 2023, reflected on how the team performed last season. “Last year was filled with a lot of ups and downs. We had some injuries, but our players battled, and the seniors gave us everything they had.” Although Valiando is entering his first season as the head coach he is quite famil...
