Congratulations to Center Moriches RHP Joey Hiller who is this week’s recipient of the Axcess Baseball x BK7 Brand Player of the Week. The junior fired a 3-hit complete game gem with 15 strikeouts. He also went 7-for-13 with 4 doubles, 6 runs scored and 4 RBIs
Previous winners:… pic.twitter.com/B3fPVAzjcL
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 5, 2024
Center Moriches head coach Paul Gibson III knows Joey Hiller as well as anyone. He’s been coaching him since he was 12-years-old and called him up to varsity in 8th grade.
Fast forward to May 2025 and Hiller was not just their ace, but one of the best pitchers on Long Island – twice named All-County and a 4x All-League selection. Hiller was locked in a pitcher’s duel with Kings Park RHP Everett Zarzicki, he fired 10 innings, allowed 0 ER and displayed to the baseball world just how tough he is in a big spot. Center Moriches survived, 4-3, in 13 innings to stay alive for another day.
“After the 9th inning, Gibby asked me if I wanted the ball and I said yes I am winning this game,” said Hiller, who finished his career with 257 career strikeouts and a 0.98 ERA this season.
It was nothing new for Hiller, who was the winning pitcher in the Class B Long Island Championship game against Wheatley in 2022 as a freshman. He also defeated Mattituck in Game 1 of the Suffolk County Finals prior to that.
“He’s always been a competitor,” said Gibson. “I started coaching him when he was in 12u as soon as he got to the big field. The thing that prepared him most is that he really knows the game. He clearly always watched baseball and knew how to pitch. He got beat up a lot as an 8th grader but he kept throwing strikes. He always did the little things well – he always held on runners and limited walks.”
While Hiller was never a particularly hard thrower, he continued to make incremental improvements.
“He just progressively made improvements,” said Gibson. “He didn’t just start throwing 90 one day. He was 76 MPH then 80, then 83, then 86. It was just a consistent climb. It took a lot of hard work. It’s great to see how things are progressing.”
Last year around this time, Hiller started putting himself on the radar of Division-I schools.
It all started after his outing in Boston at the Prospect Select tournament – which he calls the coolest baseball trip he’s ever been on. He noted that the Quinnipiac University coach texted Gibson about him and he went on his visit shortly after. He also had visits with Bentley University and was supposed to make a visit to Farleigh Dickinson University – but that one never happened. Once he visited Quinnipiac, he knew that way the fit. He capped off a great summer by recording the save for Team Long Island in the Leiderman Cup against Team NYC.
Final: Long Island 7, NYC 4
WP: Luke Lang
S: Joey Hiller pic.twitter.com/0YjZfvGpea— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) August 17, 2024
As luck would have it, his catcher and longtime teammate, Brayden Hromada, also committed to Quinnipiac and they’ll be starting their collegiate careers together this fall. The Center Moriches to Quinnipiac connections run strong as Gibson also took the same path.
Hiller spoke highly of his coach, saying the following:
RHP Joey Hiller (Center Moriches 2025) commits to Quinnipiac University @mvpnewyork pic.twitter.com/MfyNR8HAgk
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 28, 2024
“He’s very knowledgeable about the game, but he also has a good connection to his players. He has always been more than a coach. Players want to leave it all on the field for him.”
Hiller also credits much of his success to his pitching coach, Bill Pulsipher, and his trainers at Infiniti Sports Performance. He noted that his biggest uptick in velocity came since January when he started going there. He’s been taking lessons from ex-big leaguer Pulsipher since he was 7 or 8, and also mentioned his son, Leyton, as the person that helped him feel comfortable playing at the varsity level when he was in 8th and 9th grade.
Pulsipher had the following to say about him:
“Joey is a bulldog competitor who has always had a pitcher’s mentality. I started working with Joey around the sixth grade when he was a little undersized kid who still had the intestinal fortitude and mindset that he was going to get people out. I told him all the way back then, that by the time he was a junior in high school he would be the best pitcher at Center. He has stayed the course and worked extremely hard and reaped the benefits of his hard work. I often say Joey is a blueprint of my coaching philosophy – putting pitching first over chasing pure velocity. Joey has now reached the upper 80s and still maturing. He’s been a great pupil and we’ve butted heads over the years at times due to his competitiveness, but he’s the type of kid you want to work with.”
Hiller will look to major in finance, following in the footsteps of his father who is a financial advisor at Merrill Lynch. Before that happens, he has a college career ahead of him. Gibson is confident that he will be successful.
“I think he will continue to takes steps, especially as a pitcher-only. He would pitch and then play the field the next day, so his arm never really had the rest. With his ability to pitch, throw strikes and mix it up, I think he will do very well.”
Get to Know Joey:
Favorite Athletes: Derek Jeter & Steph Curry
Favorite Baseball Movie: The Sandlot & Moneyball
Pregame Superstitions: Eat a PB&J
Favorite App: Instagram
Siblings: younger sister
Other Sports Played: Basketball and Soccer
