Tom Abruscato
GAME RECAP: Bats Lead LI Central Rams to Double Header Sweep
by Joe Bello The Central LI Rams took on Dodger Nation in a LI Boys of Summer 17/18u Varsity division double header on Wednesday evening. The Rams, led by the excellent play all day long of Giancarlo Rengifo, took both games against the Dodgers. Giancarlo Rengifo following game one of today’s double header. Went 2/2 with 2 doubles, a walk and an RBI in the 6-4 victory. pic.twitter.com/tyjTQhuCNa — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 3, 2024 Game 1 Matt Kurz pitched a complete game in game one of the double header. He was very good, only running into trouble in the 7th inning. He pitched 7 innings, allowing 6 hits, 2 walks and 3 earned runs, while having 7 strikeouts. The offense was headlined by Rengifo, who went 2 for 2 with 2 doubles, a walk and an RBI. “Just simplifying things.” R...
Clarke Head Coach Tom Abruscato Wins Game No. 500
The head coach of Team Long Island in the 2023 Leiderman Cup will be Tom Abruscato of Clarke HS! pic.twitter.com/jUF2HpKWYU — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 24, 2023 It’s not supposed to be that easy, but Clarke baseball has certainly made winning look routine over the past 25 years since Tom Abruscato took over as the varsity head coach in 1999. This past weekend, Tom Abruscato won his 500th career game in a 7-0 victory over Cold Spring Harbor. They have averaged 20 wins per season for more than 2 decades – despite only 19 regular season games and have won at an .801 clip. If it sounds insane, that’s because it is. It is an unprecedented amount of winning. They have captured New York State Championships in 2002 and 2005 as well as Long Island Championships in ...
Coming Off Another Conference Championship, Clarke May Lean on Younger Core
by Max Edelman Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s season preview series. Clarke 12, Wantagh 6 Clarke captures the Nassau A-IV Crown JJ Palumbo: 3-for-4, 4 RBIs Tom Roche and Dylan Vikara each had 2 hits and 2 RBI AJ Bardi hit a grand slam for Wantagh pic.twitter.com/TyhR3cNUn6 — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 11, 2023 In his 25 years as head coach of the Clarke Rams, head coach Tom Abruscato has been league champion 23 times and compiled an .800 winning percentage. And 2023 was no different. But as sweet as last season was, the goal is always to win the county – as they last did in 2019. “We won the conference.” Abruscato said. “We won the conference for the 23rd time in 25 years. So that was good. We’re in a very competitive l...
GAME RECAP: Plainedge Erupts for 5 Runs in First Inning, Eliminate Clarke With 11-1 Win
Final: Plainedge 11, Clarke 1 WP: Dom Pannitti (1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 3 Ks) Zach Rosenzweig: 3-for-4, 3 RBIs, 1 Run Plainedge eliminates Clarke and will face Mepham tomorrow pic.twitter.com/b5ol2TJbt5 — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 18, 2023 Fifth time’s a charm. Plainedge, having been swept by rival Clarke during the regular season and lost early in the week during the playoffs, finally got their revenge and eliminated the Nassau powerhouse on Thursday by the score of 11-1. The game was uncharacteristic of Clarke, who suffered some defensive miscues including two costly ones in the first inning that allowed the inning to be extended and Plainedge batted around scoring 5 runs. The inning started with back-to-back well-struck doubles by Nick Gerardi and Zach Rosenzweig, both na...
Ken Kortright State Farm Game of the Week: Gritty Clarke Overcomes 3-0 Deficit, Improves to 14-1-1 On the Season
Final: Clarke 4, Mineola 3 WP: Jarret Sarrantonio Zaim Deljanin: 2-for-3, go-ahead RBI single in fifth Clarke improved to 14-1-1 pic.twitter.com/phxiPgmxQx — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 4, 2023 If you’re going to beat Clarke, you have to take an early lead and continue to pile on and not allow them the chance to build momentum and mount a comeback as they are always capable of. Looking to salvage Game 3 of a crucial three-game series, Mineola took an early 3-0 lead on the road, but were unable to add any insurance runs which allowed the Clarke offense to overcome and ultimately complete the three-game sweep with a 4-3 win. George Neofitidis got the start for the Rams and he got into some early trouble. After retiring the first batter, Mike Duda singled to left field, and...
Clarke Returns Several Key Players From County Finalist Team
.801. That’s the winning percentage (474-118) of Clarke HS since Tom Abruscato took over in 1999. They have been the model of consistency in Nassau County and last year was yet another deep playoff run. Including winning the 2019 Nassau County A Championship, they have appeared in the County Finals in each of the past 3 seasons. They were defeated in a best-of-three by Calhoun at Farmingdale State College. From that team, they graduated three All-County players; Sean Welsh (Molloy), Nick Giardino (Miseridcordia) and catcher Jacob Dandic. That will be difficult to replace. Welsh was the Conference MVP – he batted .489 which included 46 hits. That number is second in program history for a single season. Giardino notched 40 hits – which was fifth all-time. They also graduate...
Despite Graduating the Diamond Award Winner, Clarke Ready to Compete in Nassau A4
Sean Welsh again ! This time a grand slam opens up a 7-0 lead for Clarke in the second inning 😧 pic.twitter.com/f3F3H3hWid — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 12, 2021 It was a typically strong season for the Clarke Rams who finished with a record of 16-4 and a share of their 37th league championship and 19th final four appearance. They also added another Diamond Award winner to their growing list. In a way, though, the season was not quite satisfying. They began with throwing no-hitters in three of their first five games of the season thanks in large part to the aforementioned Diamond Award winner, Tyler Cox. They were head & shoulders above their competition for most of the season. Just prior to the postseason, it was announced that Nassau Conference V would have their own pl...
Clarke Looks To Defend Their Crown Led by Preseason Player of the Year
FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 2013, THE CLARKE RAMS ARE COUNTY CHAMPIONS!!!! FINAL: Clarke 7 Division 0 pic.twitter.com/pWdOtzXJB7 — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 3, 2019 Despite consistently having the lowest number of students of all the Nassau Class A schools, Clarke has consistently won championships. Since the time head coach Tom Abruscato took over in 1999, the Rams captured County Championships in 2002, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2013 and most recently, 2019. Additionally, they captured the New York State Championships in 2002 and 2005. During the years 2007-2009, they made it to the County Finals but were knocked out the first two years. No matter how you slice it, the Rams have been one of the premier programs on Long Island for the past two decades. In 2019, they defeated Division ...
Clarke Enters 2020 With The Target On Their Backs
by Joseph Langan FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 2013, THE CLARKE RAMS ARE COUNTY CHAMPIONS!!!! FINAL: Clarke 7 Division 0 pic.twitter.com/pWdOtzXJB7 — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 3, 2019 Coach Tom Abruscato and his Clarke High School Rams have been one of the most successful teams on Long Island since the late 90s. Since his start with the Rams 21 years ago Coach Abruscato has compiled quite the resume, 2 New York State Championships, 3 Long Island Championships, 6 county championships, and an overall record of 434-107. After defeating Division for the Nassau Class A championship, Clarke was well on its way to winning their 4th Long Island Title. Sayville’s Brock Murtha had other plans in mind, throwing a no-hitter in a nail-biting 1-0 win to end Clarke’s joy ride. Coach Abr...
Clarke In Great Position to Make Deep Playoff Run
Consistency has been synonymous with Clarke baseball over the past two decades since Head Coach Tom Abruscato took over in 1999. There may be no simple formula to the success, but a good place to start is their work ethic and dedication. For example, the team has been running team workouts on Sundays for the past few weeks, beginning at 8 a.m. With full attendance from all players in the program. How many teams have that type of commitment from players? It has resulted in some unprecedented success. From 2002-’10, they played in either the Nassau County Class A semifinals or finals every single season–including the NYS Class A title in both 2002 and 2005. They lost the state finals in 2009 and won the County Championship again in 2013; led by Matt Seelinger and Jesse Russo, who...
