{"id":51880,"date":"2025-03-11T20:29:17","date_gmt":"2025-03-12T00:29:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/?p=51880"},"modified":"2025-03-11T20:34:27","modified_gmt":"2025-03-12T00:34:27","slug":"fresh-off-appearance-in-suffolk-county-semifinals-walt-whitman-ready-to-take-next-step","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/2025\/03\/11\/fresh-off-appearance-in-suffolk-county-semifinals-walt-whitman-ready-to-take-next-step\/","title":{"rendered":"Fresh off Appearance in Suffolk County Semifinals, Walt Whitman Ready to Take Next Step"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-conversation=\"none\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">The 13th ranked player in NYS Jaden Grose (Walt Whitman 2026) has an electric fastball sitting 89-91, with a changeup that can hit 80<\/p>\n<p>Has multiple power four offers on the table <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/T4xLWv019L\">pic.twitter.com\/T4xLWv019L<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/axcessbaseball\/status\/1893733999027130458?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 23, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><em>Special thanks to <a href=\"https:\/\/metalandscapedesign.com\">Metamorphosis Landscape Design<\/a> for sponsoring this year’s series<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>by Max Edelman<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It was a strong year in 2024 for the <strong>Walt<\/strong>\u00a0<strong>Whitman<\/strong> Wildcats, finishing the year with double as many wins as losses, ending with a 16-7 record between the regular season and playoffs. However, head coach <strong>Keith Barrett<\/strong>, who will be entering his 13th season in charge of the Wildcats in 2025, will look to take yet another step forward.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-50361 aligncenter lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IMG_2296-300x174.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"174\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IMG_2296-300x174.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IMG_2296-1024x595.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IMG_2296-768x446.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IMG_2296.jpg 1127w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/174;\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe were a final four team last year.\u201d Barrett said. \u201cWe won three playoff games, our first one we beat Northport and then beat top-seeded Connetquot in a two-day span. We lost a heartbreaker to Commack, beat William Floyd and then were eventually eliminated in our rematch against Connetquot.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Six members of the 2024 Whitman team were seniors, with a number of them continuing their baseball careers at the college level. They include <\/span><b>Paul McNally <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">who’s playing at St. Joseph\u2019s Long Island, <\/span><b>Kevin Brown <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">who\u2019s at Wesleyan University and <\/span><b>Tom Crapanzano <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">is playing at Nassau Community College.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Wildcats will be led this year by reigning All-County pitcher<\/span><b> Jaden Grose. <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Barrett believes is one of the very best pitchers in the county. His numbers back it up, he went 6-2 with 1 save and 1.67 ERA, 74 Ks over 50.1 innings and a stellar 0.71 WHIP.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Additionally, Barrett is counting on production from SUNY Oneonta-commit and reigning All-Leaguer <\/span><b>Michael Orgera.<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Another key piece for Whitman will be <\/span><b>J.D. Duffy. <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Duffy was an All-League player as a freshman, but after suffering an injury, Duffy was able to work back and return for the back half of the season for the Wildcats. Barrett is excited about what Duffy can do in a full season.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-conversation=\"none\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">JD Duffy (Walt Whitman 2026) is another top 500 player with <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ShowTime_Select?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@ShowTime_Select<\/a><\/p>\n<p>He hit .358 last summer with 16 XBH, figures to be an important power bat for Showtime going forward <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/rnWCB8u0UB\">pic.twitter.com\/rnWCB8u0UB<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/axcessbaseball\/status\/1893720591380762746?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 23, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cHe broke his back before we started playing games last year.\u201d Barrett said. \u201cHe only missed half the season. He\u2019ll definitely be a big player for us both as a pitcher and an outfielder. It was remarkable last year that he was actually able to come back and play. He only missed three or four weeks after breaking his back.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-50625 aligncenter lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/LISR-Banner-300x157.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"157\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/LISR-Banner-300x157.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/LISR-Banner-1024x536.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/LISR-Banner-768x402.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/LISR-Banner.jpg 1200w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/157;\" \/><\/p>\n<p><b>Lucien Saint Cyr <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">is another high-end player that will be a key piece for them. Barrett is looking forward to having Saint Cyr at his best this year.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cHe kind of had a tale of two seasons last year.\u201d Barrett said. \u201cHe started a bit slow, but in the second half of the season he was very good.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Grose, Duffy and Saint Cyr are all ranked by Perfect Game among the top 50 players in the 2026 class in the state.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In terms of seniors, <\/span><b>Andrew Buckshaw <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and <\/span><b>Daniel Ryan<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> both played significant time for the Wildcats last year, and will be called upon to take big steps forward in their final seasons as high school players. Additionally, Barrett mentioned <\/span><b>Andrew Blair, Riley LaRegina, Eddie Beck <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and <\/span><b>Ethan Jacotot <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">will be impact guys for the Wildcats in their final season on the team.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When a team makes it as far as Whitman did last year, the players gain experience that only comes with strong playoff performances, and Barrett believes that experience will help push his team onward this season.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cPlaying five playoff games and making it pretty far is going to be our biggest strength.\u201d Barrett said. \u201cOur biggest concern is that we don\u2019t have a big roster and we have to stay away from the injury bug.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Whitman Wildcats will open their season April 1 against Central Islip. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The 13th ranked player in NYS Jaden Grose (Walt Whitman 2026) has an electric fastball sitting 89-91, with a changeup that can hit 80 Has multiple power four offers on the table pic.twitter.com\/T4xLWv019L \u2014 Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) February 23, 2025 Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s series by Max Edelman It was a strong year in 2024 for the Walt\u00a0Whitman Wildcats, finishing the year with double as many wins as losses, ending with a 16-7 record between the regular season and playoffs. However, head coach Keith Barrett, who will be entering his 13th season in charge of the Wildcats in 2025, will look to take yet another step forward. \u201cWe were a final four team last year.\u201d Barrett said. \u201cWe won three playoff games, our first one we beat Northport and then beat top-seeded Connetquot in a two-day span. We lost a heartbreaker to Commack, beat William Floyd and then were eventually eliminated in our rematch against Connetquot.\u201d Six members of the 2024 Whitman team were seniors, with a number of them continuing their baseball careers at the college level. They include Paul McNally who’s playing at St. Joseph\u2019s Long Island, Kevin Brown who\u2019s at Wesleyan University and Tom Crapanzano is playing at Nassau Community College. The Wildcats will be led this year by reigning All-County pitcher Jaden Grose. Barrett believes is one of the very best pitchers in the county. His numbers back it up, he went 6-2 with 1 save and 1.67 ERA, 74 Ks over 50.1 innings and a stellar 0.71 WHIP.\u00a0 Additionally, Barrett is counting on production from SUNY Oneonta-commit and reigning All-Leaguer Michael Orgera. Another key piece for Whitman will be J.D. Duffy. Duffy was an All-League player as a freshman, but after suffering an injury, Duffy was able to work back and return for the back half of the season for the Wildcats. Barrett is excited about what Duffy can do in a full season. JD Duffy (Walt Whitman 2026) is another top 500 player with @ShowTime_Select He hit .358 last summer with 16 XBH, figures to be an important power bat for Showtime going forward pic.twitter.com\/rnWCB8u0UB \u2014 Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) February 23, 2025 \u201cHe broke his back before we started playing games last year.\u201d Barrett said. \u201cHe only missed half the season. He\u2019ll definitely be a big player for us both as a pitcher and an outfielder. It was remarkable last year that he was actually able to come back and play. He only missed three or four weeks after breaking his back.\u201d Lucien Saint Cyr is another high-end player that will be a key piece for them. Barrett is looking forward to having Saint Cyr at his best this year. \u201cHe kind of had a tale of two seasons last year.\u201d Barrett said. \u201cHe started a bit slow, but in the second half of the season he was very good.\u201d Grose, Duffy and Saint Cyr are all ranked by Perfect Game among the top 50 players in the 2026 class in the state. In terms of seniors, Andrew Buckshaw and Daniel Ryan both played significant time for the Wildcats last year, and will be called upon to take big steps forward in their final seasons as high school players. Additionally, Barrett mentioned Andrew Blair, Riley LaRegina, Eddie Beck and Ethan Jacotot will be impact guys for the Wildcats in their final season on the team. When a team makes it as far as Whitman did last year, the players gain experience that only comes with strong playoff performances, and Barrett believes that experience will help push his team onward this season. \u201cPlaying five playoff games and making it pretty far is going to be our biggest strength.\u201d Barrett said. \u201cOur biggest concern is that we don\u2019t have a big roster and we have to stay away from the injury bug.\u201d The Whitman Wildcats will open their season April 1 against Central Islip. &nbsp; &nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":51881,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,461],"tags":[3463,3329,2708,2924,3251,2056],"class_list":{"0":"post-51880","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-archive","8":"category-news","9":"tag-2025-season-previews","10":"tag-jaden-grose","11":"tag-keith-barrett","12":"tag-lucien-saint-cyr","13":"tag-max-edelman","14":"tag-walt-whitman"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Fresh off Appearance in Suffolk County Semifinals, Walt Whitman Ready to Take Next Step - Axcess Baseball<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/2025\/03\/11\/fresh-off-appearance-in-suffolk-county-semifinals-walt-whitman-ready-to-take-next-step\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fresh off Appearance in Suffolk County Semifinals, Walt Whitman Ready to Take Next Step - Axcess Baseball\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The 13th ranked player in NYS Jaden Grose (Walt Whitman 2026) has an electric fastball sitting 89-91, with a changeup that can hit 80 Has multiple power four offers on the table pic.twitter.com\/T4xLWv019L \u2014 Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) February 23, 2025 Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s series by Max Edelman It was a strong year in 2024 for the Walt\u00a0Whitman Wildcats, finishing the year with double as many wins as losses, ending with a 16-7 record between the regular season and playoffs. However, head coach Keith Barrett, who will be entering his 13th season in charge of the Wildcats in 2025, will look to take yet another step forward. \u201cWe were a final four team last year.\u201d Barrett said. \u201cWe won three playoff games, our first one we beat Northport and then beat top-seeded Connetquot in a two-day span. We lost a heartbreaker to Commack, beat William Floyd and then were eventually eliminated in our rematch against Connetquot.\u201d Six members of the 2024 Whitman team were seniors, with a number of them continuing their baseball careers at the college level. They include Paul McNally who’s playing at St. Joseph\u2019s Long Island, Kevin Brown who\u2019s at Wesleyan University and Tom Crapanzano is playing at Nassau Community College. The Wildcats will be led this year by reigning All-County pitcher Jaden Grose. Barrett believes is one of the very best pitchers in the county. His numbers back it up, he went 6-2 with 1 save and 1.67 ERA, 74 Ks over 50.1 innings and a stellar 0.71 WHIP.\u00a0 Additionally, Barrett is counting on production from SUNY Oneonta-commit and reigning All-Leaguer Michael Orgera. Another key piece for Whitman will be J.D. Duffy. Duffy was an All-League player as a freshman, but after suffering an injury, Duffy was able to work back and return for the back half of the season for the Wildcats. Barrett is excited about what Duffy can do in a full season. JD Duffy (Walt Whitman 2026) is another top 500 player with @ShowTime_Select He hit .358 last summer with 16 XBH, figures to be an important power bat for Showtime going forward pic.twitter.com\/rnWCB8u0UB \u2014 Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) February 23, 2025 \u201cHe broke his back before we started playing games last year.\u201d Barrett said. \u201cHe only missed half the season. He\u2019ll definitely be a big player for us both as a pitcher and an outfielder. It was remarkable last year that he was actually able to come back and play. He only missed three or four weeks after breaking his back.\u201d Lucien Saint Cyr is another high-end player that will be a key piece for them. Barrett is looking forward to having Saint Cyr at his best this year. \u201cHe kind of had a tale of two seasons last year.\u201d Barrett said. \u201cHe started a bit slow, but in the second half of the season he was very good.\u201d Grose, Duffy and Saint Cyr are all ranked by Perfect Game among the top 50 players in the 2026 class in the state. In terms of seniors, Andrew Buckshaw and Daniel Ryan both played significant time for the Wildcats last year, and will be called upon to take big steps forward in their final seasons as high school players. Additionally, Barrett mentioned Andrew Blair, Riley LaRegina, Eddie Beck and Ethan Jacotot will be impact guys for the Wildcats in their final season on the team. When a team makes it as far as Whitman did last year, the players gain experience that only comes with strong playoff performances, and Barrett believes that experience will help push his team onward this season. \u201cPlaying five playoff games and making it pretty far is going to be our biggest strength.\u201d Barrett said. \u201cOur biggest concern is that we don\u2019t have a big roster and we have to stay away from the injury bug.\u201d The Whitman Wildcats will open their season April 1 against Central Islip. &nbsp; &nbsp;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/2025\/03\/11\/fresh-off-appearance-in-suffolk-county-semifinals-walt-whitman-ready-to-take-next-step\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Axcess Baseball\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/axcessbaseball\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-03-12T00:29:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-03-12T00:34:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/DSC_0755.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1620\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Vinny Messana\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@axcessbaseball\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@axcessbaseball\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Vinny Messana\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/2025\/03\/11\/fresh-off-appearance-in-suffolk-county-semifinals-walt-whitman-ready-to-take-next-step\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/2025\/03\/11\/fresh-off-appearance-in-suffolk-county-semifinals-walt-whitman-ready-to-take-next-step\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Vinny Messana\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f547cb10f01b2dcfa9613585604f881f\"},\"headline\":\"Fresh off Appearance in Suffolk County Semifinals, Walt Whitman Ready to Take Next Step\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-03-12T00:29:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-03-12T00:34:27+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/2025\/03\/11\/fresh-off-appearance-in-suffolk-county-semifinals-walt-whitman-ready-to-take-next-step\/\"},\"wordCount\":666,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/2025\/03\/11\/fresh-off-appearance-in-suffolk-county-semifinals-walt-whitman-ready-to-take-next-step\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/DSC_0755.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"2025 Season Previews\",\"Jaden Grose\",\"Keith Barrett\",\"Lucien Saint Cyr\",\"Max Edelman\",\"Walt Whitman\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Archive\",\"NEWS\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/2025\/03\/11\/fresh-off-appearance-in-suffolk-county-semifinals-walt-whitman-ready-to-take-next-step\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/2025\/03\/11\/fresh-off-appearance-in-suffolk-county-semifinals-walt-whitman-ready-to-take-next-step\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/2025\/03\/11\/fresh-off-appearance-in-suffolk-county-semifinals-walt-whitman-ready-to-take-next-step\/\",\"name\":\"Fresh off Appearance in Suffolk County Semifinals, Walt Whitman Ready to Take Next Step - 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He is a 2013 graduate of Adelphi University and he is currently the Long Island area scout for the San Diego Padres\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/author\/vmessana\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Fresh off Appearance in Suffolk County Semifinals, Walt Whitman Ready to Take Next Step - Axcess Baseball","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/2025\/03\/11\/fresh-off-appearance-in-suffolk-county-semifinals-walt-whitman-ready-to-take-next-step\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Fresh off Appearance in Suffolk County Semifinals, Walt Whitman Ready to Take Next Step - Axcess Baseball","og_description":"The 13th ranked player in NYS Jaden Grose (Walt Whitman 2026) has an electric fastball sitting 89-91, with a changeup that can hit 80 Has multiple power four offers on the table pic.twitter.com\/T4xLWv019L \u2014 Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) February 23, 2025 Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s series by Max Edelman It was a strong year in 2024 for the Walt\u00a0Whitman Wildcats, finishing the year with double as many wins as losses, ending with a 16-7 record between the regular season and playoffs. However, head coach Keith Barrett, who will be entering his 13th season in charge of the Wildcats in 2025, will look to take yet another step forward. \u201cWe were a final four team last year.\u201d Barrett said. \u201cWe won three playoff games, our first one we beat Northport and then beat top-seeded Connetquot in a two-day span. We lost a heartbreaker to Commack, beat William Floyd and then were eventually eliminated in our rematch against Connetquot.\u201d Six members of the 2024 Whitman team were seniors, with a number of them continuing their baseball careers at the college level. They include Paul McNally who’s playing at St. Joseph\u2019s Long Island, Kevin Brown who\u2019s at Wesleyan University and Tom Crapanzano is playing at Nassau Community College. The Wildcats will be led this year by reigning All-County pitcher Jaden Grose. Barrett believes is one of the very best pitchers in the county. His numbers back it up, he went 6-2 with 1 save and 1.67 ERA, 74 Ks over 50.1 innings and a stellar 0.71 WHIP.\u00a0 Additionally, Barrett is counting on production from SUNY Oneonta-commit and reigning All-Leaguer Michael Orgera. Another key piece for Whitman will be J.D. Duffy. Duffy was an All-League player as a freshman, but after suffering an injury, Duffy was able to work back and return for the back half of the season for the Wildcats. Barrett is excited about what Duffy can do in a full season. JD Duffy (Walt Whitman 2026) is another top 500 player with @ShowTime_Select He hit .358 last summer with 16 XBH, figures to be an important power bat for Showtime going forward pic.twitter.com\/rnWCB8u0UB \u2014 Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) February 23, 2025 \u201cHe broke his back before we started playing games last year.\u201d Barrett said. \u201cHe only missed half the season. He\u2019ll definitely be a big player for us both as a pitcher and an outfielder. It was remarkable last year that he was actually able to come back and play. He only missed three or four weeks after breaking his back.\u201d Lucien Saint Cyr is another high-end player that will be a key piece for them. Barrett is looking forward to having Saint Cyr at his best this year. \u201cHe kind of had a tale of two seasons last year.\u201d Barrett said. \u201cHe started a bit slow, but in the second half of the season he was very good.\u201d Grose, Duffy and Saint Cyr are all ranked by Perfect Game among the top 50 players in the 2026 class in the state. In terms of seniors, Andrew Buckshaw and Daniel Ryan both played significant time for the Wildcats last year, and will be called upon to take big steps forward in their final seasons as high school players. Additionally, Barrett mentioned Andrew Blair, Riley LaRegina, Eddie Beck and Ethan Jacotot will be impact guys for the Wildcats in their final season on the team. When a team makes it as far as Whitman did last year, the players gain experience that only comes with strong playoff performances, and Barrett believes that experience will help push his team onward this season. \u201cPlaying five playoff games and making it pretty far is going to be our biggest strength.\u201d Barrett said. \u201cOur biggest concern is that we don\u2019t have a big roster and we have to stay away from the injury bug.\u201d The Whitman Wildcats will open their season April 1 against Central Islip. &nbsp; &nbsp;","og_url":"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/2025\/03\/11\/fresh-off-appearance-in-suffolk-county-semifinals-walt-whitman-ready-to-take-next-step\/","og_site_name":"Axcess Baseball","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/axcessbaseball","article_published_time":"2025-03-12T00:29:17+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-03-12T00:34:27+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1620,"height":1080,"url":"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/DSC_0755.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Vinny Messana","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@axcessbaseball","twitter_site":"@axcessbaseball","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Vinny Messana","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/2025\/03\/11\/fresh-off-appearance-in-suffolk-county-semifinals-walt-whitman-ready-to-take-next-step\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/2025\/03\/11\/fresh-off-appearance-in-suffolk-county-semifinals-walt-whitman-ready-to-take-next-step\/"},"author":{"name":"Vinny Messana","@id":"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f547cb10f01b2dcfa9613585604f881f"},"headline":"Fresh off Appearance in Suffolk County Semifinals, Walt Whitman Ready to Take Next Step","datePublished":"2025-03-12T00:29:17+00:00","dateModified":"2025-03-12T00:34:27+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/2025\/03\/11\/fresh-off-appearance-in-suffolk-county-semifinals-walt-whitman-ready-to-take-next-step\/"},"wordCount":666,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/2025\/03\/11\/fresh-off-appearance-in-suffolk-county-semifinals-walt-whitman-ready-to-take-next-step\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/DSC_0755.jpg","keywords":["2025 Season Previews","Jaden Grose","Keith Barrett","Lucien Saint Cyr","Max Edelman","Walt Whitman"],"articleSection":["Archive","NEWS"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/2025\/03\/11\/fresh-off-appearance-in-suffolk-county-semifinals-walt-whitman-ready-to-take-next-step\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/2025\/03\/11\/fresh-off-appearance-in-suffolk-county-semifinals-walt-whitman-ready-to-take-next-step\/","url":"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/2025\/03\/11\/fresh-off-appearance-in-suffolk-county-semifinals-walt-whitman-ready-to-take-next-step\/","name":"Fresh off Appearance in Suffolk County Semifinals, Walt Whitman Ready to Take Next Step - 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