Rob Christensen
Smithtown East Plans To Go Back To Their Winning Ways In 2024
by Mike Merolle Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s season preview series. Smithtown East took a step back in 2023, missing the playoffs with a record of 5-14. In 2022, however, Smithtown East was the Suffolk Conference II champions and reached the Suffolk County Class AA Finals. In his third season as head coach, Robert Christensen looks to flip the script this season. “Every season is a fresh start where we have to bring the lessons learned from the previous season to a new group of guys,” Christensen told Axcess Baseball. “Anytime a season ends, you reflect on how the season was, what worked well and [what] didn’t work, what do we need to get better, who graduated, and who can step in to help us the following season.” From the past two ye...
Smithtown East Defeats Hills East, 7-2, Remains Undefeated at 6-0
Final: Smithtown East 7, Hills East 2 WP: Ben Kennedy (5 IP, 2 R, 4 Ks) Matt Wild: 3-for-3, RBI double Kurt Schneider: 3-for-3, double, HR Smithtown East improves to 6-0 pic.twitter.com/u6414gOpL0 — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 18, 2022 It takes contributions up-and-down the lineup if you have championship aspirations and that’s exactly what Smithtown East has been receiving thus far in 2022. The Bulls have raced off to a 6-0 start, thanks in large part to an offense that has been outstanding so far. They defeated Hills East, 7-2, led by 3-for-3 performances from both their leadoff batter, Matt Wild, and their seventh place hitter, Kurt Schneider. Their starting pitcher, Ben Kennedy, showed toughness through five innings of work – escaping a bases loaded jam in th...
Rob Christensen Takes Over For Smithtown East in 2022
By Michael Malaszczyk 2022 could very well be the year that Long Island baseball finally breaks free of the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Coach Rob Christensen, the new head coach of Smithtown East’s baseball, seems to agree. “Last season was everyone’s first season at the varsity level due to Covid,” said Christensen. “This experience should definitely benefit us for the season.” Smithtown East has nothing to be ashamed of in terms of how last season went considering the circumstances; they made it to the playoffs before ultimately losing to Northport. Christensen himself has many years of experience in the game of baseball; he was an assistant coach at Smithtown East for eight years and learned the ropes of coaching from former coach Ken Klee. “I learned an incredible amount...
