by Chris Sacchi Matt Prokopowicz is in his second year as head coach of the St. Dominic’s baseball team. Yet, he’s still waiting to manage his first game. “Getting to go now, I’m a little kid in a candy store. I’m all smiles ear to ear and I can’t wait, I need to get that baseball fix in… it’s starting to hit home that we’re going to be starting very very soon.” Coach has a lot to look forward to. As a former All-American at Hofstra, and a member of Massepequa’s 2006 Class AA State Championship team, coach brings great experience from his playing days to foster what he feels like is a fantastic team environment. “Being a team and having success, you’ve got to trust every single person… And those kids get it. They understand it and they’re buying in. And if you come ...
Phillies prospect Kyle Young (St. Dominic 2016) is coming along well in his rehab from Tommy John. Yes, he is tall (7’0) pic.twitter.com/XI0jBanADh — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) December 16, 2019 Kyle Young stood above the competition on every field he was on. Literally, the 7’0 southpaw is the tallest player to play professional baseball and had dominated at St. Dominic HS in 2015-’16 prior to that. The southpaw was drafted out of HS in 2016 by the Philadelphia Phillies and has been terrific during his minor league career. He compiled a 2.92 ERA, 14-8 record, 166 Ks over 172.1 IP. Despite his long limbs, he displayed amazing control – walking just 27 batters and holding a 1.03 WHIP. He has decided to walk away from baseball. MILB listed it on their minor l...
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...
Carlos Hidalgo gets the start for St. Dominic. The reigning CHSAA Pitcher of the Year pic.twitter.com/AltFcIrILU — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) March 28, 2019 Matt Prokopowicz knows exactly what it takes to be a successful player on Long Island. He was a part of the Massapequa‘s famed undefeated season in 2006 culminating in capturing the Class AA New York State Championship. He went on to have an illustrious career at Hofstra University in which he batted .376 and compiling 271 hits and garnering Baseball America All-American status. Now he’s the head coach of St. Dominic High School, becoming their third skipper in three seasons. They are looking to bounce back after an early postseason exit in May. The prior year, they made it to the Championship game but lost to St....
In a move that has been in the makings for over two decades, Brooklyn/Queens schools will be added to the Nassau-Suffolk Catholic League–effective spring 2020. This is big news, as it adds more parity to a league that was already very balanced. Rather than three-game series, there will be two-game series for the Long Island schools and one-game against the Brooklyn/Queens schools. This will not include the playoffs–the existing format will remain, but their hope is to build towards an intersectional or state tournament like public schools do. Below is the letter that was sent out by Ralph Dalton, President of NSCHSAA. Since the inception of the current format, here are the championships by school: Chaminade – 16 St. John the Baptist – 12 Holy Trinity – 6 Kelle...
The St. Dominic Bayhawks have a new coach at the helm and it is Hofstra‘s hit king Matt Prokopowicz. He was an assistant to Brian Anderson last season. “I can’t even tell you how pumped I am for this,” said Prokopowicz in a state of jubilation. “I’ve been working for this for a long time. After being on the staff last year, I developed a good rapport with a lot of the kids. It’s a real pleasure to call St. Dominic my home and it’s really something special to have my own program. I’m hoping to be here for 15-20 years, maybe even more,” he added. Prokopowicz is among the most prolific hitters in Long Island history. In addition to an incredible career for Hofstra in which he batted .416 as a freshman (10th in the nation) and .431 as...
Final: Holy Trinity 5, St. Dominic 3 The Titans advance to face No. 1 Chaminade on Monday at St. Joseph’s pic.twitter.com/EaJY5PKl5f — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 15, 2019 Don’t tell Holy Trinity they are underdogs. In the ultra-competitive CHSAA, the Titans know every team is tough and they also know they can compete with anyone. “I’ve told this team all year that if you play good baseball, take care of the ball, play together as group–they can beat anyone,” said second-year Head Coach Dan Luisi. “Doesn’t matter who they’re facing, just play tough, stay with your guys and compete, you have a shot to win any baseball game,” he said. They jumped out to an early 1-0 lead against Teddy Brennan on an RBI single by Stephen...
Leading 3-0 in the fifth inning with reliable Johnny Flannigan on the hill, it appeared that St. Dominic was on the verge of forcing a do-or-die Championship Game against St. John the Baptist. After a wild turn of events and a go-ahead two-run triple by Matt Lavin, it was a disappointing end to the season for the Bay Hawks. Disappointing ends typically lead to motivated groups, and with first-year Head Coach Brian Anderson at the helm, there is no reason to believe this team won’t at least make it to the Championship Game again, and could be the favorites. Anderson, who is highly-regarded for his ability to motivate younger players, helped lead the 12U Body Armor Titans to first place in a 104-team tournament in Cooperstown during August 2017. “We have a great group of guys her...
Well-struck double by Boston College-commit Travis Honeyman pic.twitter.com/tlJp4MpSiG Axcess Baseball (@axcessbaseball) October 7, 2017 The bats of Motus Academy came out hot in their early afternoon victory over the Ontario Terriers, scoring five runs in the second inning. Lou Annunziata got it started with a single to left, and advanced to second when Frankie DiMartino was hit by a pitch. Brady Doran hit an RBI single to score Annunziata and Jason Vasil followed with a single of his own to score DiMartino. Boston College-commit Mikey Florides ripped a two-run single to extend the lead to 4-0 and Carlos Hidalgo followed with an opposite field RBI triple to right center to make it 5-0. “The guys really had a great approach,” said Head Coach Bryan Goelz. “They work...
Boston College has certainly taken advantage of the talented pool of players from Nassau County this summer as they have now received verbal commitment from St. Dominic 2019 SS Mikey Florides just one week after Massapequa 2020 Travis Honeyman did the same. Mikey transferred from Glen Cove HS prior to last season. He really generated tons of interest from Div-I schools this summer when he went on an offensive tear–going 18-for-22 against top competition. That, in addition to his defensive prowess, put him in the category with other elite middle infielders from the region. His brother, Andrew, was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in 2013 and played in our second annual Battle of the Border in May. Below is our feature on him from this past January when he was a relative unknown. When ...