Prime Performance
Where Are They Now Powered by Prime Performance: Matt Prokopowicz
When Massapequa lost to East Meadow in the 2005 County Championship, there was a picture of the team celebrating on the mound. That picture was hung up in the locker room at Massapequa in the locker room. “That picture of them lit the fire for the next 20 years,” said Matt Prokopowicz. Hypernole or not, Massapequa went 29-0 in 2006 winning the Class AA Nassau County, Long Island and NYS Championships. Prokopowicz was a major part of that success as he was named All-State and hit a clutch HR in the Long Island Championship in the bottom of the sixth inning to cut into a 5-0 deficit. Prokopowicz will go down as one of the best hitters in Long Island history, as he wound up attending Hofstra University where he is still the all-time hit king. But before we get to that, let’s...
Where Are They Now Powered by Prime Performance: Billy Alvino
(Editor’s Note: This is the seventh part of a 10-part series in which we re-visit the careers of some of the top players in Long Island history. Previously, we featured James Bailin, Jeff Tyler, Jake Thomas, Luke Stampfl, Nick Trabacchi and Thomas Roulis. Special thanks to Prime Performance for sponsoring this year’s series.) In what remains their only County Championship in program history, Sachem East defeated Smithtown in the Suffolk Finals at Baseball Heaven by the score of 5-3. That Sachem team was a powerhouse, compiling a record of 24-5, despite it being the first year of the school. A major reason for their success was the presence of senior catcher Billy Aguiar (now Alvino). He batted .575 (12-for-19 in the playoffs) with 7 HRs, 17 doubles, 44 RBIs, 35 runs scored and ...
Where Are They Now Powered by Prime Performance: Thomas Roulis
Chaminade has had many dominant seasons in their program’s rich history. You don’t have to turn back the clock too far to look at their 2022 season as possibly their greatest season. If that’s Number 1, then right behind it is their 2011 team. They won the CHSAA Championship over St. Dominic in a thrilling 3-game series and had 13 players that went onto play collegiately. They finished the season 21-5. It was a team that was accustomed to winning, who had won their championship as freshmen and sophomores but came up short in the 2010 playoffs. While the years have gone on, their legacy will go down as one of the best teams that Long Island has seen. Their starting shortstop, Thomas Roulis, would be named Co-Player of the Year along with Holy Trinity’s Jack Parenty. ...
Where Are They Now Powered by Prime Performance: Chris Gannon
In what was the first County Championship for Hauppauge, Chris Gannon put together one of the finest seasons in Long Island history. He played CF and batted leadoff – hitting .483 with 5 HRs, 10 triples, 7 doubles, scoring an incredible 55 runs, drawing 27 walks, 42 hits and drove in 32 runs. The Eagles went 21-5 for the second straight year and successfully defended their title as Suffolk County Champs, this time against future MLB draft pick Tim Layden from Deer Park at Ducks Stadium. Surely, a player of that ilk would go on to play Division-I baseball before continuing his career in pro ball. For Gannon, however, his true love was not baseball, but soccer. He also starred on the Hauppauge boy’s soccer team where he was a two-time Long Island Champ. Ultimately, those two years were the p...
Where Are They Now Powered by Prime Performance: James Bailin
(Special thanks to Prime Performance for sponsoring this year’s “Where Are They Now” You can check them out by clicking here.) Photo Credit: Newsday/Bill Davis 29-0. There’s a beauty in perfection. It is elusive in the game of baseball – a game that is designed to include failures and to humble every player. For Division Ave HS in 1996, there was no such failures. The Blue Dragons went wire-to-wire not losing one game. In fact, they only played in one game that was decided by one run. They scored 325 runs during the regular season and often were up by double digits before their starting pitcher took the mound. And their starting pitchers usually only needed one or two runs to begin with. One of their starters, James Bailin, was untouchable that season as he fi...
Prime Performance Opens in Port Jefferson Station
Prime Performance, an indoor training facility, is now open in Port Jefferson Station, NY. The facility is opened in September and is 3,500 square feet. It features artificial turf and is tailored to accommodate baseball, softball, lacrosse and speed & agility training. They are fully operational for this off-season team winter workouts as well as private lessons, group training and clinics. Co-owner Scott Audia had the following to say: “Our mission is to be able to provide a clean training facility to young athletes at a reasonable price.” He went on to add that he has kids that have played sports for years and the facilities they trained at weren’t always as affordable. They have built out a pretty impressive list of trainers already: Andrew Aschettino Brian Forbes...
