Philadelphia Phillies
Q & A With Matt Alifano
Adelphi has had a long history of excellence on the baseball field and even amidst that list of outstanding performers, Matt Alifano warrants inclusion with the best of the best. The Center Moriches grad helped the Red Devils to a perfect season in 2019 and kept that momentum going into 2020 when he started his collegiate career on a tear before the pandemic ended the season abruptly. It was in 2021 when he truly broke out for the Panthers. Matt Alifano’s first collegiate HR was a grand slam. The sophomore is batting .419 on the season pic.twitter.com/b3Z6yd4K9S — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) March 29, 2021 He batted .394 – which was the highest for a Panther since Rich Mejia and Cliff Brantley in 2014. But what separated him from the pack was his pop from the leadoff s...
Corey Phelan Signs With the Philadelphia Phillies
2020 has taken a lot from us but not all hope was lot. Despite the truncated MLB Draft that eliminated all Long Island players from hearing their names selected, a few players with local ties have still made their way into professional baseball thanks to the post-draft signing period. Corey Phelan (Harborfields 2020) is the latest player to have his dreams of signing professionally come to fruition. Last week the hard-throwing LHP signed a professional contract worth $20,000 with the Philadelphia Phillies. They have done extremely well in locking up local talent thanks in large part to Sal Agostinelli‘s scouting eye and his ties to Long Island. He will join a list of LI’ers that include Nick Fanti, Kyle Young, Ben Brown and Logan O’Hoppe that are in the Phillies organizat...
Sal Agostinelli: The Story of How An Undersized Long Island Catcher Became One of the Most Influential Men in Professional Baseball
(Editor’s Note: Story was originally published on Nov. 12, 2016) It was 1993 when Jay Hankins approached the Triple-A catcher for the Philadelphia Phillies with a question. “Hey Sal, did you ever think about being a scout?” “The only thing I know about scouting is that it’s old guys in chairs,” Sal responded. “Well, I think you would make for a good one,” he stated. As fate would have it, that catcher was Long Island native Sal Agostinelli, who went on to accept a position as the area scout for the Phillies and his area would be New York and New Jersey. As time went on and he had success in his coverage area, the front office tasked him with more and more territory. The next year was Delaware, then they added New England. By 1997, his territory was Canada through Delaware when they had big...
Logan O’Hoppe to Appear in NYPL All-Star Game
Add another accomplishment to his young career. Logan O’Hoppe (St. John the Baptist 2018) will appear in tonight’s New York Penn League All-Star Game at Richmond County Bank Ballpark (Staten Island Yankees home field). The game begins at 7pm, but the gates will open at 3pm for spectators. Expect a large contingent of friends and family for the wildly popular 19-year-old phenom. O’Hoppe has five home runs, 20 runs scored and 26 RBI through 44 games this season. He was recently named Philadelphia Phillies minor league hitter of the month after he crushed five home runs in one month. He is also regarded as one of the best defensive catchers in the Phillies’ system. Fans will be treated to an incredible day, and that’s even before the first pitch is thrown. Former...
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...
Ben Brown on Getting Drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies
(Ben is a 2017 graduate of Ward Melville HS. He just finished up a tremendous season in which he led the Patriots to the League I title and an appearance in the Suffolk Count semifinals. He compiled a record of 5-1 with 67 K over 40 IP while allowing only 17 hits. Today he was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 33rd round of the 2017 MLB Draft. The following words are his own.) So, in the weeks leading up to the draft, I knew I had a chance of having my name selected–I was invited to a few pre-draft workouts but I decided to go to the Twins and Phillies ones. They were both great experiences and there were a lot of draft picks there. I knew there was no shot I would go in the top 10 rounds, but I had an idea that I would go today but I had no clue which round or which team&#...
