Shoreham-Wading River
Who Was The Best Team of The 2010s?
When it comes to being considered the best–the bar is set high. Over the course of the past 10 seasons, there have been undefeated seasons, there have been back-to-back state champs, there have been pitching staffs loaded with Division-I talent and pro pitchers. But there can only be one team considered the best. I have watched a lot of baseball, but I didn’t trust my own instinct so I solicited the help of some trusted sources to put together my definitive list of the best teams of the decade. To make it a bit easier, we narrowed it down to teams that have won a Long Island Championship, because plenty of talented teams have made it to the finish line only to come up short. We also did not list any school more than once on purpose because many of the back-to-back champions featured the sa...
OTD: Wantagh Gets to Morrell Early, Repeats As Long Island Champions
THE WANTAGH WARRIORS ARE BACK TO BACK CLASS A LONG ISLAND CHAMPIONS! FINAL: Wantagh 4 Shoreham-Wading River 2 pic.twitter.com/JFdQ2tqOgN — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 3, 2017 Much like they have for the past two seasons. Wantagh‘s star players shined when it mattered most. This time it was in the Long Island Championship, defeating the 24-1 Shoreham-Wading River WIldcats 4-2. From the first pitch of this championship contest, the atmosphere could’ve been mistaken for a Wantagh home game. The first pitch of this game was driven for a lead off double over the left fielder’s head courtesy of Anthony D’Onofrio. This was just the beginning. When the first inning was all said and done, Morrell was forced to throw 32 pitches and allowed four earned runs, handing him his worst outing...
OTD: Mason Kelly’s Two-Run Single Is The Difference In SWR’s 4-2 Win Over John Glenn
Mason Kelly ripped the go-ahead 2-R single in the fourth inning to give Shoreham-Wading River the lead for good. He is our @BsbLifestyle101 Player of the Game pic.twitter.com/XSRPFRTmQ2 — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 10, 2019 With the bases loaded, two outs and a tie game in the fourth inning Mason Kelly came through in a big way. The Furman-commit lined a two-run single to center field to give Shoreham-Wading River a lead that they would not relinquish. They came away with a 4-2 victory over new league rival John Glenn. Early on, pitching was dominant on both sides. A pitching match up juniors; right-hander Cullen Santamaria for SWR and Matt Polestino, the southpaw for Glenn. The first order of business for Glenn was getting a hit, after getting no-hit by Aidan Crowley yeste...
Shoreham-Wading River Enters 2020 With An Army of Flamethrowers
It’s been nearly two generations since Shoreham-Wading River has failed to qualify for a postseason berth. Last season, they had another successful season and finished with a record of 17-6 but lost to Rocky Point twice to get eliminated. Entering 2020, they possess arguably the deepest pitching staff in Suffolk County and it does not bode well for opposing hitters. Leading the charge is Boston College-commit Aidan Crowley – who started the 2019 season with back-to-back-to-back no-hitters. “I was a pitcher and I know to throw one no-hitter requires a lot of luck – everything has to go your way,” said Head Coach Kevin Willi. “To throw three no-hitters, that’s just amazing. And he started the year with those. He carried his success into the season to...
How To Develop A Team-First Attitude
(Photo Credit: Bill Landon) An integral part of any successful team is for its members to have an unselfish, team-first attitude. Teams are sometimes successful in the win-loss column just due to pure talent, but that is not typically going to be a yearly occurrence. In fact, when a team wins just because of the pure talent it has, it is often without the excitement and exhortation of a tight unit. The major responsibility of this development is of the Head Coach. There are some teams, of course, that have some players who might be natural leaders, but ultimately the Head Coach is the one to foster that development through out the year. As a HS coach for 38 years, I had the fortune of coaching a ton of tremendous young men. My most successful and enjoyable seasons were the ones where the p...
Mike O’Reilly Working Hard At Driveline To Return To Pro Ball
It’s hard to fathom exactly how clutch Mike O’Reilly was during the 2012 Suffolk County Class A postseason run. The Shoreham-Wading River RHP/3B was a force of nature. He hit walk-off home runs against Rocky Point and Sayville, with the latter HR coming with the team trailing 1-0 in extra innings. He had another game in which he crushed a bases-clearing double to stave off elimination. On the mound, he was just as dominant. The hard-throwing righty fired 22 consecutive shutout innings including a 10 inning shutout in the Class A Long Island Championship against Tyler Manez and Plainedge. Their magic would finally run out in the 11th inning when Plainedge put up a three-spot to win 3-1 and head to the New York State tournament. He captured the 45th Carl Yastrzemski Award, becomi...
Who Was The Best Team of The 2010s?
When it comes to being considered the best–the bar is set high. Over the course of the past 10 seasons, there have been undefeated seasons, there have been back-to-back state champs, there have been pitching staffs loaded with Division-I talent and pro pitchers. But there can only be one team considered the best. I have watched a lot of baseball, but I didn’t trust my own instinct so I solicited the help of some trusted sources to put together my definitive list of the best teams of the decade. To make it a bit easier, we narrowed it down to teams that have won a Long Island Championship, because plenty of talented teams have made it to the finish line only to come up short. We also did not list any school more than once on purpose because many of the back-to-back champions fea...
Brian Morrell Transfers to St. John’s University
One of the most decorated players in Long Island baseball history has a new home. Brian Morrell, two-time winner of the Carl Yastrzemski Award and 2017 MLB Draft pick, has transferred to St. John’s University from the University of Notre Dame. It was just two years ago that Morrell was the most talked about player in our region, he completed an historic 5-year high school career by leading Shoreham-Wading River to the Long Island Championship against Wantagh. For his career, he won 23 games with a 1.15 ERA an 295 strikeouts over 213 IP. At the plate, he batted .409 with 26 home runs and 124 RBI. His senior season was legendary. He compiled a record of 10-1 with a 1.28 ERA and 93 strikeouts over 67.1 IP. He fired three no-hitters, (six for his career) and was also just as impressive a...
Q & A With Cullen SantaMaria
Shoreham-Wading River making the playoffs is just one of the facts of life. It’s been over 3 decades since they have missed out. While they did not capture the Suffolk Class A title (that went to Sayville), they had another strong season thanks to the emergence of pitchers like Aidan Crowley and Cullen SantaMaria. The former committed to Boston College earlier this summer, while the latter committed to Hofstra University just two days ago. I had a chance to speak with Cullen and here’s what he had to say… Who is your favorite player in the MLB and why? Trevor Bauer is my favorite MLB player because he works hard to perfect his craft every day. Who are the biggest role models in your life and why? My parents are my most significant role models in life. They are behi...
Kyle Callahan’s Walk-Off Single in 10th Delivers Rocky Point to 9th Straight Win
Walk-off single by Kyle Callahan and Rocky Point defeats Shoreham-Wading River, 4-3, in 10 innings ! pic.twitter.com/520eBR5wGZ — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 23, 2019 Kyle Callahan ripped an RBI single to score Sean Hamilton in the bottom of the 10th inning to propel No. 2 Rocky Point to a 4-3 victory over No. 3 Shoreham-Wading River in the Suffolk A winner’s bracket. “I’m so stoked,” said Callahan. “I believed the whole time that we were going to get it done. We came, we were waiting, we had opportunities but we finally came and got it done,” he added. Equally as important to his walk-off hit was the gutsy performance of Mike Gunning. The senior who was voted Axcess Baseball‘s League VI MVP earlier this week was outstanding in this ga...
Mike Smith Hits Walk-Off Two-Run Double to Keep SWR’s Undefeated Hopes Alive
Mike Smith is our @BsbLifestyle101 Player of the Game after his walk-off two-run double to give Shoreham-Wading River the 6-5 win pic.twitter.com/iUAVJOMhj8 — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 23, 2019 What started out as the Aidan Crowley Watch Party turned into a dramatic come-from-behind victory for Shoreham-Wading River on a two-run walk-off double by Mike Smith in the bottom of the seventh inning to defeat rival Miller Place, 6-5. Several Division-I coaches were on hand to watch the talk of Long Island baseball attempt to fire his fourth consecutive no-hitter. The drama quickly came to an end when Gavin McAlonie (more on him later) lined a clean single up the middle which was also the first hit he had allowed in 25 innings. That turned into the first run he allowed all season...
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...
