Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s series
by Max Edelman
After serving eight years as an assistant coach, Joe Mancini took the reins as the head coach of the Miller Place Panthers in 2024. In his rookie season in charge, Mancini led his team to a second place league finish. But after winning a playoff game over Center Moriches, the Panthers eventually fell to both Kings Park and Sable. This season, Mancini is looking to build off of the playoff victory from last season.
Of the seniors that graduated from Miller Place last year. Alex Strickland, who had a sub 1 ERA last season, is now pitching at Longwood University. His brother, Joe Strickland is at Misericordia University and Mike Monaco is now at the University of Bridgeport.
An extended look at ’25 LHP Nicholas Frusco (NY)… #NatElite @PGMidAtlantic https://t.co/Lm9XJOIdhg pic.twitter.com/XRHwWtAxZO
— Perfect Game Scout (@PG_Scouting) July 28, 2024
In terms of the big time returners. The player at the top of the list is Nick Frusco. The Clemson commit and 2024 all-county raked last season for the Panthers. In 73 at-bats, Frusco hit .452 with an .544 OBP and an OPS of 1.2. Frusco drove in a team high 24 runs, and will be called upon to lead the Miller Place offense once again in 2025 Additionally, Frusco is one of the team’s very best pitchers. Striking out 81 batters in 2024 while holding an ERA around 0.5. Despite that amazing season, Mancini believes that the best is still yet to come from Frusco.
“I think he’s going to have more of a breakout season than he did last year.” Mancini said. “He’s going to be the anchor of our staff. But I think overall, both offensively and defensively, he’s going to be a guy that’s going to pull us a long way this year.”
Also an all county player, Long Island University commit Joe Fallon shined in his sophomore campaign. Fallon hit .468, 1.18 OPS to go along with 15 RBIs and 21 runs scored. Behind the plate, the catcher threw out 11 of 31 attempted base stealers.
“I really expect another year from him like that, even bigger.” Mancini said. “I’m excited for him, and he’s also going to try to help us out of the pen this year, something he didn’t really do much of last season.”
With many players having graduated in 2024, many of the younger players on the Panthers will be thrusted into larger roles this season. Mancini cited Ian Moore, who last year in only seven innings of work, showed flashes of what’s to come out of the bullpen. Moore struck out six batters and kept a 1.8 ERA. Mancini also mentioned Joe Salgado, who hit .250 for the Panthers last year, as a potential outfielder for the team.
Other players receiving shoutouts from Mancini include Jacob Marcario, who hit .222 with two doubles last season, Evan Fallon, who is returning to the Panthers after attending St. Anthony’s and Shane Kieran, who is entering his sophomore season with the Panthers.
With the loss of numerous seniors, Mancini will be relying heavily on Nick Calandrino as an important piece of the team’s rotation. Last season, Calandrino struck out 24 to only seven walks, and is expected to have a big season by his coach.
“I expect him to have a really strong year for us.” Mancini said. “I’m going to have to rely a lot on him as well.”
While many pitchers did graduate for the Panthers last year, Mancini still believes that his squad’s biggest strength lies in his team’s pitching depth, giving him the flexibility needed to manage both his rotation and his bullpen.
“Our pitching is going to be our strength.” Mancini said. “It all comes down to our offense. We need to hit when we need to hit, and that’s going to dictate how far we go this year.”
