Ward Melville
Up Next Powered by The Yard Sports Academy: Charles West
(This is the sixth installment of our popular ‘Up Next’ Series in which we spotlight the next wave of superstars on Long Island. Previously, we have featured 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.) Charles West, aptly named for a left-handed pitcher, didn’t waste his time this summer facing competition that would be helpless against him. He chose to go the more challenging route–pitching a year up–against competition that would provide more of a challenge. The end result was that they weren’t very successful either–as the 14-year-old...
Where Are They Now: A.J. Nunziato
It may be hard to believe but Ward Melville wasn’t always a baseball powerhouse. In fact, before there was Max Nielsen and Ben Brown and Anthony Kay and Steven Matz there was many dormant years. From 1975 until 2004 they did not qualify for a postseason appearance and the school was most notable for their lacrosse program and famous comedian graduate Kevin James and NFL punter Todd Sauerbrun. That all changed in the mid 2000s. Between a strong core of players and the presence of Lou Petrucci in 2007, the program soon became a perennial contender. A.J. Nunziato, a shortstop who grew up idolizing Derek Jeter, wanted to change the culture of the program and get the focus back on baseball. “We didn’t necessarily get along with the lacrosse players,” said Nunziato. ̶...
Anthony Kay Promoted to Big Leagues
It was just four years ago the Long Island baseball community was celebrating the promotion of Ward Melville 2009 grad Steven Matz to the big leagues with the New York Mets. While it is north of the border, Ward Melville 2013 grad Anthony Kay joins the exclusive club of Long Island natives to get the promotion to The Show. Kay, 24, was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays just before the July 31 trade deadline along with Simeon Woods Richardson for Pat-Med 2009 grad Marcus Stroman. After a very difficult first start with Triple-A Buffalo (4.2 IP, 9 H, 7 R, 3ER), the southpaw has bounced back in a big way. Overall, his numbers with Buffalo are stellar. He has thrown 36 innings, allowing 10 ER (2.50 ERA), with 39 strikeouts while allowing just 33 hits. His walks, 22, are a little high but with hi...
Q & A With Frankie Collora
Ward Melville has a habit of grooming pitchers in beasts. Frankie Collora might just be the latest to join that list. With an improved velocity in the mid-to-upper 80s and command of three offspeed pitches, he promises to be a problem for League I hitters next year. He announced his verbal commitment to SUNY Cortland, so I spoke with him to get a better understanding about his decision and what makes him tick. Here’s what he had to say… Who are your biggest role models in life and why? My biggest role models are definitely my parents because I’m an only child with a limited size family so I’ve always looked up to my parents and they’ve led me on the right path ever since I was little. Who are your favorite players in Major League Baseball and why? I used to lo...
Busy Week of College Commitments
With the conclusion of the summer season typically comes a flurry of college commitments as players decide where they’d like to continue their baseball playing career and college coaches ready to solidify their next crop of incoming players. This year is no different as the passed weak has featured several players announcing their verbal commitments. Here’s how it went down. Gavin McAlonie (Miller Place) – Molloy College Quick Hit: Raised his stock significantly beginning with his 4-for-4 performance against Shoreham-Wading River back in late April when Aidan Crowley was going for his fourth consecutive no-hitter in front of a huge crowd. Since then, he proved he is an impact player every step of the way especially with his in-game performances with Body Armor. He also th...
Max Nielsen Captures the 52nd Carl Yastrzemski Award
Max Nielsen strikes out 18 batters to send Ward Melville to the Suffolk County AA Finals ! pic.twitter.com/RtJrqe4y4p — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 31, 2019 When he was in sixth grade, Max Nielsen remembers going to the Ward Melville varsity baseball games watching Anthony Kay star for the Patriots. That was in 2013 when the southpaw was dominating Suffolk County hitters and leading the Patriots to the Long Island Championship. Six years later, it was Nielsen who was the key piece to the Patriots claiming the League I title and making a deep postseason run once again into the semifinals of the Suffolk AA postseason. They won the league title four of his five seasons on varsity. The hard-throwing Nielsen was the recipient of the coveted Carl Yastrzemski Award, which is given an...
Connetquot Captures Suffolk AA Championship
Connetquot is the 2019 Suffolk AA Champs ! They will face Massapequa in the Long Island Championship on Saturday pic.twitter.com/DVn38w3IzF — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 4, 2019 When Connetquot made a deep postseason run into the Suffolk AA Final Four last season, many felt that they had overachieved. Everyone except the players, who felt they should’ve won it all. One year later, they have climbed the mountain top and captured the AA County Championship for the first time since 2015. They did so with a 14-1 victory against No.1 seed Ward Melville and ace Max Nielsen. The T-Birds and their high-octane offense had been held in check in Game 1 by Ryan Hynes, but defeated Ethan Farino yesterday. They faced UCONN-commit Max Nielsen, who was coming off an 18-K master piece o...
Connetquot Forces Decisive Game 3 With 5-4 Victory
Derek Yalon comes up huge with back-to-back strikeouts with runners on 2nd & 3rd. Connetquot leads 5-3, bottom 6 pic.twitter.com/V9reqOFBQ0 — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 3, 2019 In front of a packed house and facing elimination, Derek Yalon came up huge with a six-out save to allow Connetquot to force a decisive Game 3 of the Suffolk County AA Finals, with a 5-4 victory. The T-Birds hung on by the skin of their teeth in a game in which they committed seven errors, but stranded the tying run in scoring position in the seventh inning as Ward Melville threatened to come-from-behind. The first inning featured the most action in the game as the Patriots came out of the gate hot scoring three runs (two earned) against Joey Savino–the top prep pitching prospect on Long Isl...
Max Nielsen Fans 18 in CG Shutout to Send Ward Melville To Suffolk AA Finals
Max Nielsen strikes out 18 batters to send Ward Melville to the Suffolk County AA Finals ! pic.twitter.com/RtJrqe4y4p — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 31, 2019 With a trip to the Suffolk AA Finals on the line, Ward Melville LHP Max Nielsen delivered the game of his life. The UCONN-commit struck out a school-record 18 batters in an 8-0 victory over West Islip to advance to host No. 3 Connetquot in a best-of-three series beginning tomorrow. After allowing the first two batters to reach base in the top of the first, a caught stealing and two strikeouts allowed him to escape unscathed. Facing 6’5″ RHP Anthony Cinquemani, the Ward Melville offense wasted no time. Matt Maurer doubled on a shallow pop up to left field, Ethan Farino was hit by a curveball and catcher Anthony ...
Game of the Week Presented by Muddy Locker Sports: Matt Franco’s Three-Run Home Run Sends Ward Melville Into Semifinals
It’s tough to have a more competitive, intense baseball game between two Suffolk County powerhouses than the one we just saw at Ward Melville to send the Patriots into the Class AA semifinals next week. Trailing 6-5 in the bottom of the sixth, right fielder Matt Franco crushed a game-winning three-run home run to left center field to give Ward Melville an 8-6 lead, one that they would not relinquish. The game was the definition of back-and-forth as the Patriots jumped out to an early 1-0 lead on a solo home run by Ethan Farino in the first inning. They added to that in the bottom of the third when Brady Doran led off with a double to right center field and advanced to third when Matt Maurer laid down a perfect bunt and reached first safely. After a walk to Ethan Farino, Anthony Pasca...
Suffolk AA Postseason Primer
May has been an exciting time for the local college baseball teams. We’ve been treated to some great conference tournaments and this past weekend was no exception. The only downside–if any–is that high school coverage has had to take a back seat to events like the Skyline Conference tournament, ECC Tournament and the East Regional. This has limited my time covering the local high school teams but today begins a clean slate–the postseason. There will be no shortage of compelling match ups this week. Additionally, it doesn’t appear weather will be a major factor this week (knock on wood). Remember last year the terrible downpour that caused the games to be suspended on Tuesday and cancel all of Wednesday. We don’t need that. I’m going to go over a fe...
