Smithtown East
GAME RECAP: James Lanfisi Fires 6.2 Shutout Innings of Relief, Smithtown East Clinches Playoff Berth
Final: Smithtown East 5, Hills East 0 WP: James Lanflisi (6.2 innings relief, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 9 Ks) Ciminiello: 1-3, 3B, 3 RBIs Smithtown East clinches postseason berth pic.twitter.com/3g30UNRryz — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 7, 2024 Going into the game, James Lanfisi figured he would watch from the dugout as staff ace Ben Kennedy took the mound looking to send his team to the playoffs. One batter in, Lanfisi found himself warming up to come in. Impressively, he was able to not only get himself ready to go on a moment’s notice, he was absolutely brilliant as he fired 6.2 shutout innings with 9 strikeouts in a 5-0 victory over Hills East to clinch a playoff berth for the Bulls. Lanfisi, who is committed to Utica, was very efficient needing just 85 pitches to dice through ...
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...
Jerry Suppa’s Arm and Bat Leads Smithtown East to 6-0 Win Over Centereach
Jerry Suppa was the winning pitcher for Smithtown East – throwing 4.1 innings of shutout ball and also driving in a run with an RBI double. He’s our Player of the Game Powered by @GCsports pic.twitter.com/vitxNSz2Ch — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) March 28, 2023 Last season was one to remember for Smithtown East, who reached the Suffolk County Class AA Finals in Head Coach Rob Christensen‘s first season where they lost to Commack. They graduated several impact players, but the experience that the returning players gained was invaluable. That was on display this afternoon as they defeated League rival Centereach, 6-0, behind a dominant performance by senior Jerry Suppa. These two teams squared off in the postseason last season, with Smithtown East coming out on top. The r...
Smithtown East Takes Field Coming off Suffolk Finals Appearance
by Brian Honka Final: Smithtown East 14, Centereach 6 WP: Matt Wild Centereach will play Smithtown West on Monday. Smithtown East will play the winner of that game on Tuesday pic.twitter.com/G82wE4KnIe — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 21, 2022 Smithtown East enters this year trying to defend their Conference II Championship. They had a terrific 2022 season, defeating rival Smithtown West before losing in the Suffolk County Class AA Finals to a loaded Commack team. Overall, they went 12-6 in league play before winning four playoff games and finished with an overall record of 16-9. Coach Rob Christensen, entering his second season with the program, said, “last year’s team had 9 very talented seniors who took the team and turned them into a family.” He added that everyo...
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...
Biederman, Whitman Hold On in a Defensive Battle Against Smithtown East
by Nick Cipolla Post game interview with Walt Whitman’s Grant Biederman. pic.twitter.com/McOfxSBvVV — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 7, 2021 Grant Biederman (Walt Whitman 2021) has had a dominant senior season. He has pitched a perfect game against Hills East and his last start saw him throw a complete game, four hit shutout against the very same Hills East. Biederman showed how dominant he can be against Smithtown East In the first inning, Whitman capitalized on two errors made by Smithtown East leading to Whitman’s only two runs in the game. The first run came in on an RBI single which was followed by a ball hit deep to left by sophomore Tyler Mezadurian that hit off of the left fielder’s glove, allowing the second run, and ultimately the deciding run, to cross the plate...
Smithtown East Entering Uncharted Territory
50 wins over the previous three seasons. That’s what Smithtown East was able to accomplish thanks to a seemingly never-ending pipeline of pitching talent coming through the system that has extended back into the middle of the decade. While they weren’t ultimately able to get over the hump and capture a County Championship they were firmly in the mix in each year under Head Coach Ken Klee. They were eliminated by Longwood in 2019, Connetquot in 2018 and Ward Melville in 2017. The core of those teams were pitching – specifically upperclassmen. The 2020 team was going to be built similarly as Klee noted he had 15 seniors on the team last year. Four of them are currently playing in college and they are Mike Ciminiello (Seton Hall), Nick Dagnello (Charleston), Ryan Klee (Ander...
OTD: Justin Harvey’s 2-R HR in Sixth Inning Propels Smithtown East to 5-4 Win
(Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared on April 4, 2019.) Our @BsbLifestyle101 Player of the Game is Justin Harvey for his game-winning two-run home run in the sixth inning pic.twitter.com/ZrH09z2XBM — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 3, 2019 With the game on the line in the sixth inning of a rivalry game, Justin Harvey was looking for one pitch. He got it, up & in, and he did not miss it. He deposited a 2-R home run to left field to score his brother, Nick, and break a 3-3 tie against Smithtown West. Smithtown East sent Adelphi-commit Michael Storms to the mound. He allowed two runs in the top of the first on an RBI ground out by Jason Weinhaus that scored Eric Reuter and an RBI single to center by John Powlowski to score Jimmy Klee. Brendan Kupka started fo...
OTD: Patch Dooley Fans 15, Fires One-Hitter in 2-1 Victory
by Tyler Marko (Photo Credit: Asia Lee) (Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared on March 31, 2017.) It was a phenomenal pitching duel between Hills East ace Patch Dooley and Smithtown East’s Doug Goodwin this afternoon. Both starters dominated, but Dooley was the star–fanning 15 in a one-hitter and leading the charge in a 2-1 victory. Dooley threw a complete game, the one run he allowed came on the only hit allowed, a home run down the left field line by Andrew Canino to lead off the fourth inning. However, he came back strong recording 11 of the game’s final 12 outs on strike outs, and finishing with 15 Ks. After the game he said, “My curveball was working, I was spotting my fastball and my team did a great job of toughing out two runs to get the win.” Hills East only muste...
Smithtown East Looking To Break Down The Barrier
By Joseph Langan Over the past five seasons, there hasn’t been a team more successful during the regular season than Smithtown East. Unfortunately, they have been unable to get over-the-hump in the postseason and capture that elusive county championship. As they prepare to hit the field for their 2020 season, coach Ken Klee and his team “prepare to be successful every game.” Coming off a 17-5 season, Coach Klee is no stranger to regular season success, but when it comes to the playoffs, things haven’t gone as smooth. With Coach Klee well aware of his team’s talented roster and championship potential he “expects to win a championship” adding “there is no backup plan.” With that, he is also well aware of his teams past shortcomings, explaining that “the last two years we did not ...
Dylan Johnson Puts On a One Man Show In 1-0 Victory
Dylan Johnson delivers ! The sophomore rips an RBI hit and gets himself a 1-0 in a classic pitcher’s duel ! pic.twitter.com/jJEi1gFUYf — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 18, 2019 Baseball is a team sport, but on this day Dylan Johnson essentially was the alpha male for Newfield. The sophomore was a one-man show in a 1-0 victory over Smithtown East, delivering the walk-off single in the seventh inning and recording the win–an incredible 13-strikeout, three-hit shutout over one of the dominant teams in Suffolk County. “Coming into the inning I knew I was coming up soon, and I wanted to help my team get the win,” said Johnson, younger brother of Stony Brook freshman Kyle Johnson. “Nick pitched a great game he had everything work for him,” he noted...
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