West Islip baseball
Q & A With West Islip RHP Mike LaDonna
(Editor’s Note: It was yet another successful season for the West Islip Lions. They captured their third Suffolk County Class AA Championship since 2014. They had a 22-game winning streak prior to being defeated in the Long Island Championship by Massapequa. One of the main reasons they were able to have such an incredible season was the performance of junior Mike LaDonna. He was the winning pitcher in the County Championship against Eastport-South Manor, showing off his mental toughness and fastball with a complete game effort. Following the season, he announced his commitment to Division-II NYIT to play for Frank Catalanotto. Not content, he went out and led the football team to within a few years of a County Championship against regining Div-I LIC Champs Lindenhurst. I had a ch...
Cinquemani’s Double Delivers West Islip’s Third Suffolk AA Title in 5 Years
For the third time since 2014 West Islip captures the Suffolk County Class AA title ! pic.twitter.com/yc8SLZY0Dh — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 28, 2018 Two years ago, Shawn Rush was playing Kan Jam with his sophomore outfielder Jake Guercio following their victory over East Meadow in the Long Island Championship at a team barbecue. “We were just crushing everyone and he said to me ‘this is fun let’s do it again in two years’!’ Coach Rush said recounting the memory. They moved one step closer to being able to play another game of Kan Jam and by playing in another Long Island Championship with their thrilling 3-1 victory over an exciting and dangerous Eastport-South Manor team. Undefeated Ryan Foran had a no-hitter through four innings, but ran into...
West Islip Runs Win Streak to 20; On Verge of Third AA Title in 5 Seasons
That’s 20 consecutive wins for West Islip! Sophomore Bobby DiCapua has 8 of those. He’s our @DigmiNation Player of the Game after recording a CG win allowing just 2 R in the Lions 7-2 victory over Eastport-South Manor pic.twitter.com/vrEFbZaiFi — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 27, 2018 West Islip continued their other-worldly play as they used a four-run third inning to cruise past Eastport-South Manor, 7-2, for their 20th consecutive win. Sophomore ace, Bobby DiCapua, fired a complete game, allowing two runs on seven hits with three strikeouts to win his eighth consecutive decision of year to put the Lions on the precipice of their third Class AA title since 2014. DiCapua did just enough to earn the third spot of the rotation entering the season, according to Head Co...
West Islip Runs Win Streak to 19; Advances to 3rd AA Final Since 2014
No. 2 West Islip brought their bats against No. 3 Commack as they defeated the Cougars and are moving on to the Suffolk Class AA Finals. They will be looking to claim their third AA title since 2014. They will enter the series with a 19-game win streak. The Lions beat Commack 10-2 on Friday thanks to 12 hits and a stellar pitching performance from starter Anthony Cinquemani who allowed just two runs en route to a complete game. These two schools met last year in the AA Finals but with a different outcome as last year Commack moved on to the Long Island Championship and this year it was West Islip’s turn to advance. West Islip got the scoring started right out of the gate as they scored two runs in the first inning off of Commack starter James Cardinale. The Hofstra-commit hit West Islip le...
My Playoff Observations
What a chaotic week. What started off as a beautiful Monday with every game being played in 70 degree weather quickly turned into a slog that featured suspended games due to the weather on Tuesday, only one game being played on Wednesday, a productive Thursday, a cold/windy day on Friday and a complete washout today. Plenty of action occurred when the games were actually able to be played and here’s my biggest takeaways so far: The biggest surprise so far has been No. 17 Bay Shore coming out of nowhere to shock both No. 1 Smithtown East and No. 9 Connetquot. Both of these teams feature a myriad of Division-I and II players that have excelled against elite competition for years. Smithtown East threw their Hofstra-commit at them and the Marauders came away with a 7-4 victory on Monday....
Suffolk CC Advances To NJCAA Region XV Championship With Blowout Win Over Nassau, 14-6
Suffolk CC displayed a show of dominance in their 14-6 victory over Nassau CC in the NJCAA Region XV playoffs. The Sharks advance to tomorrow and are set to play Nassau again, needing just one win to advance to the World Series. Despite the impressive run margin, Suffolk was down 3-0 after the first inning. Nassau sophomore outfielder Vincent Napolitano got this three-and-a-half hour offensive showcase started by driving a two-out, three-run homerun over the left field fence. “We had great approaches and we swung at really good pitches,” said Suffolk head coach Brian Klammer. “Not swinging at bad pitches is the key to winning.” Suffolk, however, was not deterred by this quick three-run deficit. The Sharks’ offense proved to be both resilient and relentless. They came right back and plated ...
Jake Guercio’s Big Day Leads West Islip Over North Babylon
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 at-bat. “[It was a] hard fought ...
Queens College Season Preview: Offensive Charge Healthy and Ready to Lead the Way
Brandon O’Brien (Division 2017) on to pitch for Queens. He was 21-2 in his high school career pic.twitter.com/WCUnvOaqfB — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) October 1, 2017 In 41 games last year the Queens College Knights went 18-23, notching key victories against conference foes and against the likes of No. 12 Franklin Pierce and NCAA East Region Champion St. Thomas Aquinas. They went 10-15 in conference play, marking the first double-digit conference win total since 2013. Still, they will be looking to make the necessary improvements to take the next step and make a championship push. On the pitching side, the Knights were carried by senior Joseph Broderick and freshman Nick Morena. The two combined for 131.2 innings and 129 strikeouts. Broderick has since graduated and Mor...
NYSSWA All-State Teams Announced
The 2017 New York All-State teams were announced this morning. They are classified into Class AA, Class A, Class B, Class C and Class D. Each Class is then categorized into individuals teams in descending numerical order. Below are the Long Island players that were mentioned. Class AA First Team- Hermes Abreu, Bay Shore Mark Faello-Plainview-JFK Second Team- Dylan Judd-Oceanside Patch Dooley-Hills East Third Team- Peter Theodorellis-Commack Anthony Siroka-Sachem East Fourth Team- Jake Edwards-Calhoun Brad Malm-Pat-Med Fifth Team- Angus McCloskey-Farmingdale Oliver Tavares-Deer Park Matt Overton-Hauppauge Sixth Team- Justin Reyes-East Meadow Greg Tsouprakos-West Islip Seventh Team- Matt Pinto-Massapequa Johnny Pohlman-Commack Frank Stola-Northport Eighth Team Chris Wasson-Massapequa ...
Commack Wins 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 (@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 ...
Commack Pulls Off Comeback Walk-Off In Extra Inning Thriller To Take Game One, 2-1.
First year Commack head coach Bryan Bonin was fired up with his team taking game one of the Suffolk County Class AA finals from West Islip. The first of a three game set was a classic pitcher’s duel in every sense of the term between WI senior Joe Valentino and Commack’s senior ace, Peter Theodorellis. West Islip scored one in the top half and Commack responded with two of their own to win it. “That was just a tough win, we teach the guys all season long to just stick together and good things will happen; do what we practice, and it worked out for us today, we got one more to win.” said Bonin. The intensity of this extra-inning game was felt throughout, as St. John The Baptist has one big section of bleachers forcing opposing fans to sit together. Theodorellis and Valentino both had ...
West Islip Advances to Class AA Finals With 5-1 Victory Over Ward Melville
Final: West Islip 5, Ward Melville 1 WP: Tom Gatto (complete game) West Islip advances to face Commack in Class AA finals pic.twitter.com/64j8cplbbn — aXcess Baseball (@axcessbaseball) May 26, 2017 Plenty of obstacles have stood in the way of West Islip this season. To this point, none have been able to hinder their success. Despite graduating a number of impact seniors last year, losing a pre-season aXcess Top 30 player to season-ending injury, dealing with two other playoff teams in their own league and now facing one of the top pitchers in the county in Ben Brown, they have passed every challenge with flying colors. They won two of three from No. 1 seed Ward Melville, 5-1, behind a complete game gem from Tom Gatto to advance to the finals where they will face No. 2 Commack. “...
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