Nick Fanti
LI Field House Hosts 3 Team Italy Pitchers
Tuesday was an exciting day as a bevy of talented pitchers threw bullpen sessions in Hauppauge at the brand new LI Field House. The most notable name was former big leaguer Matt Harvey, who came down to prepare for the World Baseball Classic, which will take place in early March 8 and Harvey will participate for Team Italy. Matt Harvey getting a bullpen in @LIFieldHouseNY pic.twitter.com/czM55W93Ps — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) February 21, 2023 Two other pitchers with local connections will participate on Team Italy as well – Stephen Woods (Hills East 2013) and Nick Fanti (Hauppauge 2015). Woods, an 8th round pick by the San Francisco Giants in 2016 out of SUNY Albany, is currently a free agent but has reached as high as Triple-A. He was also traded for Evan Longoria in 201...
Familiar Faces Prepare to Represent their Nation on the World Stage
by Andy Smith Long Islanders will certainly recognize many of the players in the World Baseball Classic next month. These are the MLB superstars or international sensations. However, a few names may be locally familiar. Jacob Steinmetz, currently in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization, is a member of the Israel pitching staff. The Woodmere native started seven games in the Arizona Complex League in 2022 after being drafted in the third round (pick 77) of the 2021 MLB Draft. He will play alongside outfielder Joc Pederson (San Francisco Giants) and pitcher Dean Kremer (Baltimore Orioles) under manager Ian Kinsler. Amazing moment as Long Island native Jacob Steinmetz becomes the first Orthodox Jewish athlete to get selected in the MLB Draft pic.twitter.com/giZgs8GELh — Axcess Baseba...
Who Would You Start a Franchise With – LI Edition?
Long Island has had many great ballplayers through out history – but people forget how rich the recent history has been. Several players that graduated over the past decade have gone on to great college careers and even reached Major League Baseball. We even did a mock draft back in June covering this topic. Here are the results of yesterday’s mock draft. Players selected played on Long Island between the years 2010-2020 pic.twitter.com/UV4LWlU9gb — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 10, 2020 But what if we made it even more exclusive? Instead of fielding an entire team, it was just a pitcher and a position player. Who would you pick then? I know who I would pick – but I solicited the help of some of the most well-respected coaches on Long Island to fill in my blin...
Aidan Crowley Fires Third Consecutive No-Hitter Against Hauppauge
Shoreham-Wading River (7-0) RHP Aidan Crowley made history this week when he became the first Long Island pitcher to complete back-to-back-to-back seven inning no-hitters. He completed the feat on Tuesday against Hauppauge in a 6-0 win for the Wildcats. For the season, he is now 4-0 with 40 strikeouts, 1 hit allowed and no runs allowed over 26 innings. In recent years, three pitchers have made attempts at history; Matt Crohan (Riverhead) in 2013, Nick Fanti (Hauppauge) in 2015 and Brian Morrell (Shoreham-Wading River) in 2017, but all three came up just short. Additionally, in 1996 James Bailin (Division) fired two seven-inning no-hitters, but the third game lasted only five innings (according to Gregg Sarra of Newsday). The state does not recognize any game under seven innings as an offic...
Nick Fanti Has Successful Shoulder Surgery
Nick Fanti in the game for Team Italy ! pic.twitter.com/XwOXsvQYCj — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) March 12, 2017 Nick Fanti, a 31st round pick out of Hauppauge HS in 2015 that has excelled in the minor leagues, had successful shoulder surgery today in Philadelphia. He stated that he is “excited to come back next season.” The southpaw had a quick rise to prominence during the 2015 season in which he won the Carl Yastrzemski Award in a tight vote over Ward Melville 3B/RHP Joe Flynn. He was drafted in the 31st round of the 2015 MLB Draft by the Philadelphia Phillies, opting to sign rather than fulfill his commitment to Marist College. He was the first of the four Long Island players to sign with the Phillies between 2015-’18. He was the recipient of the 2015 Steven M...
Hauppauge Looks to Replace 13 Graduating Seniors From 2018
by Andrew Giantasio Final: Hauppauge 2, BBP 1 (11 innings) WP: Pete Sanderson Ryan Levenberg hits walk-off sac fly Rob Ray pitches CG pic.twitter.com/ANoE4lPiD0 — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 21, 2018 Despite having their season end at the hands of Miller Place in the postseason, it was another winning season for the Hauppauge Eagles. They played a thrilling extra-inning game against Bayport-Blue Point in which Ryan Levenberg hit a walk-off single in the 11th inning to spoil League MVP Rob Ray’s gem. With a year of Class A baseball under their belt, Josh Gutes‘ club enters 2019 as one of the favorites once again. While three new teams enter the Class A division this year (Eastport, Hills West and West Babylon), in their second season, the Hauppauge Eagles are ready to tak...
How Are the Local Players Performing in Pro Ball?
It’s no secret that Long Island has proven its mettle in Major League Baseball by generating some legitimate talent in recent years. But what gets lost in the shuffle, however, is the dozens of players that are grinding it out in the minor leagues (and have been for years) for the chance to have their name on a big league scoreboard. Here are the current stats of the players currently active across affiliated professional baseball that have connections to Long Island. If I forgot anyone, please drop a comment to let me know. Several players were active until this season, for purposes of brevity we will limit this list to players currently active. Major Leagues, School, Year (Team): Marcus Stroman, Pat-Med ’09 (Toronto Blue Jays) 0-5 record, 7.71 ERA, 37.1 IP Steven Matz, Ward M...
Alex Katz Reflects On His Playing Career
(Photo by Brian Westerholt/Four Seam Images) What could be a bigger thrill for a six-years-old than getting to stand on the field of a Major League Baseball stadium and getting to meet your favorite players? What could be a bigger thrill for a baseball player than getting to participate in the World Baseball Classic in front a sold-out crowd in Japan? New Hyde Park-native and Herricks HS grad Alex Katz was fortunate to experience both things. The former was the virtue of luck by winning a contest at a shoe store that he was entered in. The latter was the virtue of many years of hard work, success and persistence. The hard-throwing southpaw grew up a die-hard Met fan in New Hyde Park and he remembers going to games at Shea Stadium hoping to grab the attention of his idols, Billy Wagner and ...
R.C. Orlan: What’s It Like to Be in the Rule 5 Draft?
When you envision draft day, you picture being surrounded in a room full of your closest friends and family waiting anxiously to hear your name selected by the MLB commissioner Rob Manfred and then getting a phone call from the team right before the commissioner takes the podium and then you hear “With the 25th pick of the 2017 Major League Baseball draft…” For left-handed pitcher R.C. Orlan, there was none of the that. Yesterday his name was called in the first round of the Rule 5 draft. He was selected 25th overall in the Triple-A portion by the Cleveland Indians, who had the opportunity to select him when the Washington Nationals left him unprotected. In fact, not only was he not patiently waiting for his name to be called, but he didn’t even know until he check ...
Recap of Mariano Rivera Clinic at St. John the Baptist
Mariano teaching the proper technique to cover first pic.twitter.com/8jD6meeLka — Axcess Baseball (@axcessbaseball) October 14, 2017 What an unbelievable experience it was for 50 young ballplayers this afternoon at St. John the Baptist‘s baseball clinic. Major League Baseball’s all-time save leader (652) and five-time World Series Champion Mariano Rivera spent nearly three hours signing autographs, speaking to the players, running drills and even providing personal pitching instructions. Everyone in attendance marveled at Rivera’s incredible down-to-earth demeanor despite the massive success he’s attained in his illustrious career. With rain in the early portion of the morning, the clinic began inside with Rivera taking plenty of time to sign an autograph and t...
Who’s the Next Long Islander to Make the Big Leagues?
There’s a very real chance that the presence of Marcus Stroman, Nick Tropeano and Steven Matz in the big leagues has paved the way for several more Long Islanders to eventually make the show. There’s a bevy of them in the minor leagues on any given year, but the current crop seems to have a few players that have not only youth on their side but also an upward trajectory. Here’s five players that could be the next to debut. Nick Fanti (Philadelphia Phillies) If I had to bet, the Hauppauge grad has the best chance of the bunch. He’s still only 20-years-old and already has three terrific minor league seasons under his belt, two no-hitters and an appearance in the World Baseball Classic. Over 189.2 IP, he has compiled an ERA of 2.28 and has a sparkling record of 17-3. H...
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