Smithtown West
Smithtown West Aims To Build On 15-Win Season
by Mike Merolle Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s season preview series. Smithtown West is coming off of an impressive 2023 season going 15-7 and making a strong playoff run with two wins. The team is returning 13 players in 2024. Head coach Al Nucci is excited about what this year’s group brings to the table. “Many of them competed at a high level and were major contributors in 2023,” Nucci told Axcess Baseball. “Having had success last year and understanding the grind of a varsity season, I expect them all to be more confident, exhibit more leadership, and bring an intense atmosphere to our daily practices.” Some key fielders returning for their senior season are Jason Zeller (16 runs, 10 RBIs), Chris Theofield, and Connor Catania (11 inn...
GAME RECAP: Evan Byrnes Continues Outstanding Season, West Islip Improves to 13-1
Mid 5: West Islip takes a 1-0 lead on a wild pitch to score Frank Romano pic.twitter.com/UkE2CdQLsd — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 3, 2023 When it comes to the term “Classic West Islip baseball”, a few things come to mind; run prevention, outstanding defense and taking advantage of the opponent’s errors. That is even true against the top teams on Long Island, as the Lions will generally find a way to force the opposition into making an error and capitalizing on it. It has allowed them to sprint out to a 13-1 start to the season and capture the first two games of a critical three-game set against Smithtown West, who were just a game back of them in the standings. West Islip came back from an early 4-0 deficit and walked it off on Monday. On Tuesday, they won a ...
Ryan Conk Leads Smithtown West in 3-0 Shutout
by Andy Smith Ryan Conk was today’s Game Changer by throwing a complete game shutout to lead the Bulls of Smithtown West to a 3 – 0 victory. pic.twitter.com/JbDOfWLewy — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 24, 2023 Pitching was the story today as only three players rounded the bases, and all were Smithtown West Bulls. Ryan Conk was the star of the show, throwing a complete game shutout with eight punchouts while surrendering only three hits and two walks. Conk was resilient today and got out of a few jams with runners in scoring position multiple times to keep this game scoreless. Catcher John Dwyer (MIT-commit) drew a one-out walk in the opening frame and then stole second base. However, Conk would retire the next consecutive batters via a groundout and a strikeout. In ...
Smithtown West Poised for Success following Conference Finals Appearance
by Andy Smith Final: Smithtown West 2, Centereach 0 WP: Ryan Conk (CG shutout) Dom Crema sac fly and DiBlanda RBI single Smithtown West will play Smithtown East in the Conference II Finals tomorrow pic.twitter.com/BwVAWgWL4O — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 23, 2022 The Smithtown West Bulls had a very successful season last year. 18th year head coach Al Nucci reflected on the 2022 campaign. “We had a very nice start beginning the year with a 9-3 record. We then went into a funk losing five of our next six games. That tough stretch forced us to soul search and refocus. Our team had to show that it could deal with the adversity of a very rough two week stretch. We answered the bell and won our last two league games to finish 12-8 overall and 12 and 6 in league play. We earned a 5 ...
Luke Russo’s Arm, Marc Promutico’s Bat Leads Bellport to 10-3 Win
Final: Bellport 10, Smithtown West 3 WP: Luke Russo (6 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 8 Ks) Marc Promutico: 2 hits, 4 RBIs Bellport gets even in the standings with Smithtown West heading into rubber match of series pic.twitter.com/4Srl8cr3QA — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 12, 2022 (Photo Credit: Adam Rubin/ Smithtown CSD) Following their loss on Monday to league rival Smithtown West, Bellport‘s head coach Joe Murphy told his team that the measure of a good team is how they bounce back from a loss. “We talk about the three E’s; energy, emotion and execution – and we did it. They really buy-in, they’re a great group of kids and they responded,” he added. They came away with a 10-3 victory on the road in a game that was mostly decided by the second inning. Th...
Smithtown West Looking to Build off Success of Second Half of ’21
By Michael Malaszczyk Smithtown West RHP Tyler Lawrence struck out three in a complete game win over West Babylon. He also went 3-for-4 with four RBI pic.twitter.com/MK68Nbp12R — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 6, 2021 The 2022 varsity baseball season is almost here, and Coach Al Nucci is starting the season confident that his team learned the right lessons in 2021. Smithtown West had a good season in 2021; they finished with an 11-8 overall record and made it into the playoffs before losing to Eastport-South Manor. According to Coach Nucci in an interview with Axcess Baseball, it was a remarkable comeback season. “We had a difficult start to the season, losing six of our first nine games and digging ourselves into a pretty big hole,” said Nucci. “Our offense was struggling, our ...
OTD: Matt Hogan Fires No-Hitter Against Smithtown West
Matt Hogan on his no-hitter against Smithtown West pic.twitter.com/FTpv502c4o — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 13, 2018 by Frank Farnacci Vanderbilt-commit Matt Hogan threw a no-hitter today, leading his Half Hollow Hills East Thunderbirds to a 5-0 win over Smithtown West Bulls. “I was feeling pretty good, but honestly it was just the defense behind me today. Everyone was making plays. There were no errors in the field,” Hogan said. His humility was admirable considering he struck out eleven with a powerful fast ball and a biting curve ball. “I’ve seen Matt pitch now for three, four years at the varsity level”, said Hills East Manager Tim Belz. “Today he took a little bit off, pounded the zone, got ahead. It’s one of the best pitching performances I’ve seen from him in ...
Nick Grande Decides to Step Away From Baseball
Nick Grande, a 17th round draft pick of the Arizona Diamondbacks, in the 2019 MLB Draft and 2018 All-American SS for Stony Brook University has decided to call it a career after one professional season. He made the announcement on our podcast Wednesday evening. “It’s been a tough couple of months thinking about this but I have a great support system with unbelievable parents that support me in whatever I do and it kind of came down to the fact that I don’t have much left in the tank mentally or physically to go and do it again,” he said.”As I’ve mentioned, playing for Stony Brook was my dream. Obviously getting drafted is everybody’s dream–but playing for Stony Brook and doing well, that’s what meant the most for me. I didn’t expe...
Brian Delaney, Christian Amoruso Lead Smithtown West to 2-0 Win Over Centereach
Final: Smithtown West 2, Centereach 0 WP: Brian Delaney S: Christian Amoruso Amoruso is the @BsbLifestyle101 Player of the Game he also had an RBI hit pic.twitter.com/fspanKo311 — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 22, 2019 Centereach was unable to push a run across against Brian Delaney in the third, fourth or fifth innings when they had two runners on base each time. Smithtown West ace was able to escape unscathed each time, even with constant rain coming down at Centereach HS for a 2-0 win by the Bulls. “I think we played well today even though the conditions were not ideal,” said Delaney, who recorded the win with six shutout innings. “We were able to fight through that and we were successful today,” he added. He was opposed by Centereach ace Eddie Basse...
Justin Harvey’s 2-R HR in Sixth Inning Propels Smithtown East to 5-4 Win
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 for West, he allowed the runs right back on an RBI double by Will Kennedy an...
Smithtown West Hopes To Rebound From Tough 2018 Through Experienced Players
In 2018, Smithtown West failed to make the postseason for the first time since 2007. Returning the top two pitchers in their rotation and key players offensively, they believe this year will be different. “We have a returning group that was able to get a lot of experience in 2018. They understand the work that needs to be put in to have success. We should benefit from that greatly,” said Head Coach Al Nucci. Smithtown West will compete in League III this season. Their opponents consist of Smithtown East, Hills East, Newfield, Centereach, Copaigue and Northport. Last season, Smithtown West struggled to put up runs, resulting in four shutout losses. Returning players with varsity experience, they hope this year is different. “A lot of small ball and manufacturing of runs wi...
