Tommy Ziegen
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SUNY Old Westbury Baseball Preview: Athleticism and Speed Will Be Hallmark for Panthers
Senior Adam Heidenfelder will be anchoring the rotation pic.twitter.com/UnEyFlV8bf — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) September 22, 2017 Despite losing to Mount Saint Mary’s College in the first round of the Skyline Conference tournament, the SUNY Old Westbury Panthers baseball team has high hopes and confidence heading into 2018. “I am the most positive coach. I never talk about the negatives,” said head coach Rod Stephan. The Panthers, 20-16 (10-8 Skyline) in 2017, have only 12 players returning with 10 freshmen and four new transfers which doesn’t include John Fogarty, who did not play last season. “We’re young. And when I say we’re young, it means we’re going to be good for a while,” said Stephan. For coach Stephan, this is ...
Fall Ball Series: SUNY Old Westbury
Senior Adam Heidenfelder will be anchoring the rotation pic.twitter.com/UnEyFlV8bf — Axcess Baseball (@axcessbaseball) September 22, 2017 Today I was down at the Jackie Robinson Athletic Complex, home of the SUNY Old Westbury Panthers, to get a good look at the team they will be going to battle with during the 2018 season. They are coming off a 20-16 campaign, but had their season cut short by No. 5 Mount St. Mary’s in a shocking upset. They graduated 12 players, notably two-time All-Long Island SS Tommy Ziegen, CF Kevin Lao, C Carlos Balmaceda, 3b Michael Cardino in the lineup and RHPs Daniel Aguilo and Trey Pizzutello from the rotation. With that being the case, the performance and leadership of the returning players that they do have is critical. Second baseman Jesse Russo ha...
2017 College All-Long Island Team
We waited long enough to unveil it. Here is our 2017 college All-Long Island team video announcement. The Most Valuable Player, Cy Young, Rookie of the Year and Coach of the Year Awards will be announced and given out at our third annual Awards Banquet this winter. Below are the players along with their key stats. Hofstra: Steven Foster: .317 AVG, 64 H, 17 2B, 3 HR, 20 RBI, .368 OBP, 8 SB Vito Friscia: .305 AVG, 47 H, 8 HR, 33 RBI, .532 SLG, .404 OBP Stony Brook: Toby Handley: .342 AVG, 67 H, 44 R, 17 2B, 8 3B, 5 HR, 34 RBI, 45 BB, .466 OBP Casey Baker: .302 AVG, 57 H, 35 R, 4 HR, 37 RBI, .404 OBP, 15 SB Brian Herrmann: 4-3 W-L, 3.46 ERA, 80.2 IP, .234 AVG NYIT: Louis Mele: .341 AVG, .422 OBP, .459 SLG, 46 H, 2 HR Molloy: Brian Murphy: .342 AVG, 65 H, 46 R,.385 OBP, 44 SB Angelo Navetta: ...
Tommy Ziegen: Reflecting on Derek Jeter’s Career
(Editor’s Note: Tommy Ziegen is a 2017 graduate of SUNY Old Westbury. He has twice been named to our All-Long Island team and will make it this year as well. He batted .408 with 6 HR, 40 RBI, 39 runs scored, 13 doubles, 3 triples, .692 SLG, .446 OBP and 19 stolen bases. He will be participating in our Battle of the Border All-Star Game on May 30 at Hofstra University. The following words are his own.) I was never into comic books growing up. I did have a bunch of posters on my wall though, and as far as I’m concerned there was a superhero on every single one of them. However, this superhero didn’t wear a mask, and he didn’t wear a cape. He wore a jersey, with pinstripes, and he wore the number 2. That’s the best way to describe my admiration for the captain. I looked up to him...
Farmingdale and Old Westbury Split a Tightly-Contested Doubleheader
Conference opponents Farmingdale State and SUNY Old Westbury split two vastly different–but dramatic–games in a doubleheader today. Farmingdale out-slugged Westbury 10-9 in game one, while Westbury won game two, a pitching duel by the score of 2-1 on a walk-off walk. Game one began as a pitching duel, Matthew Constantine and Trey Pizzutello shut down both side for three innings before the bats broke through. An error in the fourth allowed Farmingdale’s first two runs to come across, but a single by Christopher Reilly and a two-run homer from Domenic Palumbo got the Rams halfway to their final score. Westbury came right back scoring four in the fourth on singles from Paul Rapoli, Carlos Balmaceda and Jesse Matos. They even took a two-run lead off Rapoli’s third singl...
Old Westbury Prepared to Return to Top of Skyline Conference
In the two years that we’ve done our Awards Banquet, Old Westbury has quietly led the Long Island programs with eight players represented on the All-Long Island team. Coach Rod Stephan has done a commendable job building up the program, and has now averaged 25.1 wins per year since he took over in 2011. He has also had three pitchers drafted during his tenure–the only three players the Skyline Conference has had drafted during that time. With that being the case, it is certainly time to take them seriously. Despite a disappointing exit in the 2016 season–an extra-innings loss to rival Farmingdale State–the Panthers look ready to compete for the Skyline Conference crown yet again. While watching their practice the other day, the team showed off their top arms during ...
10 Skyline Conference Players That Could Be X-Factors
The Skyline Conference has improved vastly over the past few seasons. There are now four teams that could legitimately win it this year. St. Joseph’s, Old Westbury and Farmingdale have each one it in the past three seasons. Below are 10 players that could have a large say in who ultimately wins it this season. Nick Attardi-OF, Farmingdale State The reigning Skyline Conference Rookie of the Year is a force at the top of the order. He hit .420 with a .514 OBP and struck out only seven times. They have transformed into more of a small-ball team over the past couple years. When I was playing there, it was a lineup filled with power but with the speedsters they have, they try to “get-em-on, get-em-over, get-em-in”. With the vast improvements of the rest of the Skyline Conferen...
