Nick Papageorge
Wheatley Primed To Contend For Class B Championship
Despite coming off a season that was not up to their usual standard, Wheatley head coach Paul Paino’s expectations for this upcoming season have not changed one bit. “We’d one six championships in ten years, but then we had an off season last year, where we didn’t even make the playoffs. We missed it by one game. So we’re looking to get back on track,” Paino said. “We certainly hope to. We have a good group of kids coming up.” First and foremost, Paino will be counting on his two senior captains to lead the team, if they are going to go get to where they hope to go. Both named Nick, one Nick Sampogna, the other Nick Papageorge. “They’re going to be the team leaders,” said Paino. “Nick Papageorge is an infielder and a middle of the lineup hitter. He’s one of the better players on Long Isl...
Are Hitters Making A Comeback on Long Island?
Steven Matz. Marcus Stroman. Nick Tropeano. Anthony Kay. Joe Palumbo. Kevin McCarthy. Kyle McGowin. Those are the Long Island natives that are in the Major Leagues right now. They are all pitchers. In fact, it’s been 10 years since a position player from Long Island has played in the big leagues and that was Reid Gorecki (Kellenberg) with the Atlanta Braves in 2009. Fourteen of the past 15 players have been pitchers. That’s a trend that says our bats are lagging behind our arms. It makes sense in theory–our pitchers have fresh arms as they only play outdoors from March to October. This works in their favor. Our hitters, though, have limited reps while their counterparts in California, Texas, Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas can get at bats 12 months out of the year. Alt...
Wheatley Looks to Repeat as Class B Champs As Paul Paino Closes In On 400 Wins
Final: Wheatley 8, Oyster Bay 5 WP: Stephen McCleary Will Feil: 3-for-4, 3 RBI pic.twitter.com/aW2J5hV5hP — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 23, 2017 Winning is nothing new to Wheatley. Under Head Coach Paul Paino, they have won seven Nassau County Class B title–including five of the past six. He has won 392 games, meaning he will likely achieve that feat this season. They finished 25-5 last season, before having their season ended in the Long Island Championship by Center Moriches–the eventual Class B New York State Champs. The game was played in absolutely deplorable conditions at SUNY Old Westbury and it caused Wheatley to make some costly defensive miscues. “The game was a mess on our end–not their end,” said Paino. “They were able to manage ...
East Rockaway Hands Wheatley First Loss of the Season
A strong pitching performance combined with timely defensive plays helped push East Rockaway past Wheatley, 7-5. The bats were in full swing for the Rocks on Thursday afternoon, pounding out 10 hits and seven runs. In the first inning they started the game off with a walk, an infield single, a double steal and an RBI groundout to go up 1-0. They continued that momentum in the second, putting up three runs in the inning, two of them off the bat of Dylan Hensaw. Those runs helped extend the lead to 4-0. Wheatley starter Francis Cappi struggled to find the zone all day, giving up six runs, four walks and one balk in just 3.1 innings. The Wildcats battled back in the bottom of the third, plating two runs, one off the bat of Albany-commit Will Feil. Feil had a day at the plate, going 3-for-3 wi...
