West Islip
Talented Pitching Staff Makes West Islip Formidable Once Again
by Max Edelman Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s season preview series. West Islip: 3 Walt Whitman: 2 Jake Romeo: 2-3, RBI Erick Burciaga: 2-3, 2 R Alex Burciaga: 5.2 IP, 4 H, 1 ER pic.twitter.com/OeQurUfNOX — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 20, 2023 The regular season was a strong one for the West Islip Lions in 2023. The Lions roared to a 20-5 overall record, a 17-3 league record, and sixth league title in seven years. However, the season did not end in a championship. Despite winning three of their playoff games, the Lions lost two games to Lindenhurst, which ended their season. Head coach Shawn Rush, who is entering his 14th season as West Islip head coach, looked back on last season and looked ahead to what should be an exciting...
Where Are They Now Powered by the BK7 Brand: Kyle Gelling
It’s rare that you can truly say you work at your dream job. Long Island native and former Division-I baseball player, Kyle Gelling, has the distinction of being able to say that as he has established himself working at Barstool Sports since 2018. While luck certainly plays a part in finding the perfect job, Kyle put himself into that position through relentlessly pursuing his passion of working in sports and has reaped the rewards of that work. But to understand how he got there, you need to know where he started. The Early Days Kyle was born and raised in West Islip, the second of two children, his sister being 10 years older. He always had a love for sports – specifically baseball and football. His father split season tickets with a group of friends and he was able to attend...
Up Next Powered by State Farm Ken Kortright Agency: Brian Brower
(Editor’s Note: This is the second installment of the Up Next Series in which we highlight the top underclassmen on Long Island. Make sure to check out last’s week’s feature on Everett Zarzicki. Special thanks to State Farm Ken Kortright Agency for sponsoring this year’s series.) Brian Brower (‘27, NY) barrels up a fastball and lines it the other way for a single. Loose, leveraged stroke w/ smooth barrel control throughout the zone. Athletic 6’0” build w/ some room to fill. Up to 80 mph on the mound earlier in the day. 14 & 5 months. #Super25FallSQ… pic.twitter.com/m6gmlwNE6D — PG Mid Atlantic (NY, NJ, PA, MD,DE,DC) (@PGMidAtlantic) September 11, 2023 If one thing is for sure; hard-throwing left-handed pitchers will never go unnoticed in the world of amateur bas...
GAME RECAP: Evan Byrnes Continues Outstanding Season, West Islip Improves to 13-1
Mid 5: West Islip takes a 1-0 lead on a wild pitch to score Frank Romano pic.twitter.com/UkE2CdQLsd — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 3, 2023 When it comes to the term “Classic West Islip baseball”, a few things come to mind; run prevention, outstanding defense and taking advantage of the opponent’s errors. That is even true against the top teams on Long Island, as the Lions will generally find a way to force the opposition into making an error and capitalizing on it. It has allowed them to sprint out to a 13-1 start to the season and capture the first two games of a critical three-game set against Smithtown West, who were just a game back of them in the standings. West Islip came back from an early 4-0 deficit and walked it off on Monday. On Tuesday, they won a ...
GAME RECAP: West Islip’s Offense Strikes Early & Often in 8-0 Win
Sophomore Evan Byrnes was outstanding for West Islip as he fired six shutout innings and he was backed by an offense that posted 3 runs in the first inning and continued to tack on. He’s our Player of the Game @GCsports pic.twitter.com/QPX89aGq4e — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 21, 2023 There’s no question that West Islip is on the short list of top baseball programs on Long Island. They solidified that status last decade when they captured Suffolk County Class AA Championship in 2014, 2016 & 2018. In 2016, they were one win away from winning the New York State title. They nearly added to that list in 2021, but fell short in the County Championship to Newfield. They are in pursuit of adding another banner to the right field fence. They moved ever so closer to that go...
West Islip Enters 2023 With Young, Talented Roster
by Andy Smith West Islip Lions head coach Shawn Rush is no stranger to winning. He is now entering his 14th season as the head coach, Rush has seen it all during his long and successful tenure. Rush led West Islip to County Titles in 2014, 2016, and 2018. The Lions finished with a 15-8 overall record, 14-4 in league play and earned the title of League IV Champions. This upcoming season, however, West Islip will be without many key contributors from last year. “A senior heavy group” was a major component of last season’s squad, and a big part of their outstanding results in 2022. However, Rush is prepared to lead the next core of Lions to success. West Islip LHP Jake Rivera strands the bases loaded in the third, no score pic.twitter.com/rjtGjdCISQ — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbasebal...
West Islip Looking to Return Back to the Top
By Michael Malaszczyk Final: West Islip 3, Smithtown West 2 WP: Piht Walk-off hit by Anthony Riviezzo pic.twitter.com/ral4RDgk2U — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 14, 2021 Coach Shawn Rush of West Islip is prepared to take on 2022. West Islip had a great season in 2021. They bounced back from having lost the 2020 season to make it to the Conference Four Finals. In the Finals, they ended up losing a nail biter of a game to Newfield. “Newfield broke a 0-0 tie in the sixth to take the championship,” said Coach Rush. Pinch-hitter Josh Jacobs ripped a bases-clearing double to give the Wolverines a 3-0 lead, which was the final. Their starting pitcher, Jake Rivera, was outstanding matching Kendall Kendrick pitch-for-pitch for 5 innings but ultimately the Newfield lineup was too tough to...
Newfield Captures First County Championship in Program History
Adelphi-commit Kendall Kendrick pitched the game of his life – 1 hit shutout with 10 strikeouts against perennial powerhouse West Islip to deliver Newfield their first county championship in program history. They will face South Side on Sunday in the LIC pic.twitter.com/DCGrDLMjTY — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 18, 2021 When Eric Joyner took over the Newfield varsity baseball program, he brought a winning pedigree from the football team that had won County Championships in 2011 and 2015. It was a much-needed facelift for a program that hadn’t reached the postseason since 2005. Problem was, they didn’t have quite enough talent or leadership in the program. In 2018, they finally broke the playoff drought but ran into two very tough teams (Connetquot and Smithto...
Coming Off Three Titles in the Last Decade – West Islip Returning Entirely New Team
Final: West Islip 5, North Babylon 4 (13 Innings) WP: Brad Battaglini (5 IP, 1 R) Mike LaDonna: Wall-off sac fly pic.twitter.com/ogXGg6gd4Q — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 24, 2019 Over the course of his tenure, Shawn Rush has established West Islip as the model of consistency in terms of Suffolk County baseball programs. Since 2008, they have captured four Suffolk County Championships and two Long Island Championships. They won Suffolk Class AA Championships in 2014, 2016 and 2018. They were looking to continue their “even year” trend last year and appeared to have a decent shot at it with a starting rotation consisting of three college-bound seniors – Bobby DiCapua (Bentley), Brad Battaglini (Cortland) and Brian Lundie (Farmingdale). That alone would’...
West Islip, Stony Brook Alum duels with Gerrit Cole in Yankees Intrasquad Game
Nick Tropeano on the mound for the Stony Brook Seawolves. Tropeano started the final Yankees intrasquad game before Opening Day next Thursday. Photo Credit: Stony Brook Athletics by Kenneth Fermin All eyes were on Gerrit Cole Friday night at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, N.Y. The pitcher who signed with the New York Yankees for $324 million this offseason took the mound for the final time before the 2020 Opening Day. While Cole impressed fans striking out the side opening the contest, the opposing pitcher matched the ace throwing zero’s on the scoreboard. West Islip High School (’08) and Stony Brook (’11) alum Nick Tropeano battled Cole on the pitching mound in the Yankees intrasquad game on July 17th. Tropeano, representing the ‘Bombers,’ gave up two singles and struck out three batters in...
OTD: Commack Captures First County Championship Since 1997
Commack does it!! They are the 2017 Suffolk Class AA Champions ! Commack 8, West Islip 6 WP: Jake Krzemienski pic.twitter.com/00g1i7pt9V — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 31, 2017 One week before the season, the Commack baseball team didn’t know who their Head Coach would be. This was a team coming off a 14-win season and a playoff run with arguably the best staff on Long Island. Three months later they are celebrating their first Suffolk County Class AA championship since 1997 after their 8-6 back-and-forth victory over the reigning Long Island Champion West Islip Lions. Senior Pete Theodorellis, who tied the game up at 6-6 in the sixth inning with a double off the fence–and fired 8.2 IP yesterday–never wavered in his optimism with this team. Even during that period of confusion ...
OTD: Jake Guercio’s Big Day Leads West Islip Over North Babylon
(Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared on April 14, 2018.) In a makeup game, the West Islip Lions defeat the North Babylon Bulldogs 15-6. Fordham-commit Jake Guercio went 3-for-3 with a three-run home run, three RBI and two stolen bases. West Islip improves to 6-2 while North Babylon falls to 5-3. Jordan Piht gets the win for West Islip while Evan Christopher earns the loss for North Babylon. “I don’t think the score was really indicative of the game,” says West Islip head coach Shawn Rush. “We had some big hits in some big spots…Any time you get out of North Babylon with a victory is a good day,” he added. West Islip got the scoring started early, with Jimmy Loeffler driving in Guercio on a RBI double. Senior Anthony Ippolito would drive in Loeffler on a double in the next...
