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Up Next Powered By The Yard Sports Academy: Ben Cohen
(This is our fourth installment of the 2020-’21 “Up Next” Series Powered by The Yard Sports Academy. Previously we featured Andrew Koshy, Sebastian Lippman and Josh Knoth. Thank you for your continued interest and Happy Thanksgiving) Thanks to our partnership with East Coast Youth Baseball, we covered a lot of games involving LIB Prime 12u. When it comes to youth baseball teams, they are as good as it gets. Many games did not get past the third inning, as their offense was often putting up 15+ runs in those innings and winning via run-rule. Ben Cohen hits a walk-off grand slam to send LIB Prime into Think Pink championship pic.twitter.com/EBFXiyS37s — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) October 5, 2020 Much of that damage involved power-hitting Ben Cohen. The Massapequa ...
Up Next Powered by The Yard Sports Academy: Andrew Koshy
Andrew Koshy (Kellenberg 2023) and Christian Alicea (St. John the Baptist 2024) combine on a strike-em-out, throw-em-out pic.twitter.com/OPBSG7ytF9 — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) October 27, 2020 This is the second installment of the “Up Next” Series Powered by the Yard Sports Academy. The first featured athlete was Josh Knoth. It hasn’t even been two years since there was a high-end pitcher at Kellenberg HS and they already have another. Sophomore Andrew Koshy transferred into the school from the Mineola school district and he already is generating some buzz. The hard-throwing righty had a dominating summer for Team Francisco Notorious 9. Despite often playing against older competition, his numbers were straight out of a PlayStation. Record: 9-1 ERA: 0.58 Innings...
Up Next Powered By The Yard Sports Academy: Josh Knoth
Josh Knoth (Pat-Med 2023) sitting 80-81 T83 pic.twitter.com/GLYUZPinPB — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 25, 2020 Pat-Med has been no stranger to hard-throwing right-handed pitchers in recent years. While everyone will immediately think of Mets RHP Marcus Stroman, there have been quite a few since including Matt Vogel – who was also drafted out of high school in 2013. Knoth is showing the type of potential to join that list. As we learn more about pitching, we can learn even more about a pitcher’s ability to be effective. Spin rate, perceived velocity and spin efficiency are all factors that make a pitcher more difficult to square. Sometimes, it’s more simple than that. When a pitcher is in 10th grade, only 160 lbs and already sitting in the low 80s, that’...
Up Next Powered by The Yard Sports Academy: Dominick Carbone
(This is the final installment of our popular series titled ‘Up Next’ in which we highlight the next crop of superstars on Long Island. Previously, we have featured Tyler Cook, Charles West, Jayden Stroman, Liam Stemmler, Paul Napolitano , Sadier Vicioso , Frank Kelly, Matt Gileno . None of these players have appeared in a varsity game, but we are confident that they will soon. The series is Powered by The Yard Sports Academy, which you can check out here.) When it comes to the quickest path to the upper levels of baseball, there is nothing quite like the hard-throwing southpaw. Besides the fact that only 10 percent of the population is left-handed, an even fewer percentage of that is capable of firing a fastball above 85 MPH. So the ones that can do it are often rewarded for ...
Up Next Powered By The Yard Sports Academy: Tyler Cook
(This is the eighth installment of our popular ‘Up Next’ Series in which we spotlight the next wave of superstars on Long Island. Previously, we have featured Charles West, Jayden Stroman, Liam Stemmler, Paul Napolitano , Sadier Vicioso , Frank Kelly and Matt Gileno. None of these players have appeared in a varsity game, but we are confident that they will soon. The series is Powered by The Yard Sports Academy, which you can check out here.) When he was two-years-old, Tyler Cook‘s grandfather would take him to the park. Unlike most children that age, Tyler was there to take batting practice. The freakishly-talented toddler swung the bat well beyond his years, connecting on each swing as people watched in amazement. “How old is he? 2?!” recalled his mother. Fast forward 11...
Up Next Powered By The Yard Sports Academy: Frank Kelly
(This is the seventh installment of our popular ‘Up Next’ Series in which we spotlight the next wave of superstars on Long Island. Previously, we have featured Charles West, Jayden Stroman, Liam Stemmler, Paul Napolitano , Sadier Vicioso and Matt Gileno. None of these players have appeared in a varsity game, but we are confident that they will soon. The series is Powered by The Yard Sports Academy, which you can check out here.) “How do they do it?” That’s a common question you hear when discussing Massapequa‘s unprecedented run of success. They’ve won the past three Class AA Long Island Championships. They also had a streak of four in a row from 2006-2009. The easy answer is that it starts at the top with some terrific coaching from Tom Sheedy and...
Up Next Powered by The Yard Sports Academy: Sadier Vicioso
Long Island Baseball captures the 15U Championship with a 7-6 come-from-behind victory. Sadier Vicioso fired four hitless innings in relief to record the win pic.twitter.com/uAZQdJT10K — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) October 14, 2019 (This is the fifth installment of our popular series ‘Up Next’ in which we spotlight the next wave of superstars on Long Island. Previously, we have featured Jayden Stroman, Liam Stemmler, Paul Napolitano and Matt Gileno. None of these players have appeared in a varsity game, but we are confident that they will soon. The series is Powered by The Yard Sports Academy, which you can check out here.) “JACKPOT!” He thought to himself when he found out he landed a Dominican-born left-handed pitcher in the 12th round of the Baldwin Litt...
Up Next Powered By The Yard Sports Academy: Matt Gileno
Tucked away on the north shore of Long Island is Cold Spring Harbor. The reigning Class B Nassau County Champs had an outstanding season going 19-5 but still remain on the periphery when it comes to consistently dominant programs. When researching players for this series, I try to find players that haven’t generated a ton of buzz yet but will soon. This players’ coach told me “I have the perfect player to recommend, I know for a fact you haven’t heard of him yet, but you will.” As a 7th grader playing in middle school, Matt Gileno‘s numbers were off-the-charts. He batted .613 with a .688 OBP. He threw a no-hitter against an 8th grade team. During the summer against better competition, he batted .426 with 4 HR and drew 27 walks since pitcher...
Up Next Presented by The Yard Sports: Jayden Stroman
(We are bringing back our popular series called ‘Up Next’ in which we highlight the next crop of stars on Long Island. All the players have been recommended by coaches and none of them have played at the varsity level yet. We can confidently say that they will soon be. First up is Marcus Stroman’s younger brother, Jayden. This segment is sponsored by The Yard Sports Academy. Check them out here. ) Most 12-year-olds spend their summers playing video games with friends or riding their bikes. But most 12-year-olds don’t have an older brother that’s an established Major Leaguer. Jayden Stroman gets to enjoy the perks not often associated with being a middle schooler. Getting to hang out on the field current Major League superstars such as Alex Bregman, Vladimir Gu...
Up Next: Evan Virno
2018 got off to an ominous start for Bellport’s varsity team. Just one year after being crowned co-champs with West Islip and Deer Park in League 4 for the first time in their 50+ year history, they were at risk of missing the postseason late in the season. They needed to win all three to qualify for a postseason berth. Miraculously, they won all three, including a walk-off victory over Hills West on a hit by Brennan Beatrice. Despite losing in the first round against Bay Shore, the next few years should be rather prosperous for Bellport. With several returning players and a strong JV team, they could make some noise once again this season. One player that is perhaps a year away from contributing on varsity but is in the pipeline is Evan Virno. The ninth grader is coming off an outst...
Up Next: Nick Farnacci
(Editor’s Note: This is the 10th profile of our Up Next Series which highlights the top middle school and JV kids on Long Island. We are approaching the end of the series. Once January 1 arrives, we will be full swing in terms of high school and college baseball season.) Plate coverage is a lot art. With the proliferation of the “three-true outcomes” (home run, strikeout, walk), players are foregoing the approach they learned in Little League in favor of what they see on the MLB Network. Besides the fact that very few youth players possess the type of power to hit the ball over the fence, it also is not conducive to a team-mentality. When a young player embraces the old-school approach of small-ball, it is a breath of fresh air. 14-year-old Nick Farnacci is an interesting...
Up Next: Ryan Muskopf
While working at the renowned New York Baseball Academy (NYBA) camp at Hofstra during the summer of 2016, I was in charge of working with Group 5 one week. This is for younger players, typically fifth or sixth grade. Most of the players have potential but are very raw and have plenty to work on. One player that caught my eye was young Ryan Muskopf. Then in fifth grade, he was easily one of the best players in the camp and was well beyond his years in terms of talent. The camp ends each summer in mid-August and it’s up to the players to continue to work on what they learn. In many cases, the players will really take that experience and grow from it. They will continue to develop and sometimes you end up hearing about these players later. Muskopf is that player. While conducting resear...
