(Photo Credit: Ed Rotondo)
Stony Brook-commit Evan Cabral’s homer in Garden City’s win pic.twitter.com/8ba0wAvpV8
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 11, 2025
How do you follow up a record-breaking season in which you post a school-record .603 batting average?
How about a Long Island-leading 10 home runs and leading your team to the Class AA Long Island Championship.
For Garden City, it was a dream season as they not only captured the Long Island Championship over East Islip, but won eight consecutive playoff games along the way before finally losing in the Southeast Regional to Fox Lane.
Evan Cabral, a Stony Brook-signee, was among the most dangerous hitters in the region and a huge reason for their success. He finished a decorated career with exactly 100 hits. He batted .380 in 2025 over 29 games with a .541 OBP, 1.401 OPS, four doubles, two triples, 30 RBIs, 41 runs scored, drew 23 walks, crushed 10 homers and was successful on 5 of 6 stolen base attempts.
While the public sees the end result, the hard work began back in the fall during captains practices.
“We definitely knew it was a special group from the fall when we would hit in groups of two or three. They always wanted to put in the work. Really we weren’t expected to be that good this year. 2024 was really “the year”, so we had a chip on our shoulder and played for each other.
Last year was a disappointing postseason exit for the Trojans who were swept by Division in the quarterfinals, which was the same team that ended their 2023 season.
Led by a group of motivated returners, Garden City was not going to be denied.
They faced an immediate challenge in the postseason when they squared off against MacArthur and trailed 6-1 in the 6th inning. They were able to mount a furious rally and win, 7-6.
“Once we won that, we knew it was a special year.”
They continued to win, sweeping East Meadow to reach the finals and sweeping Bellmore JFK in the finals to advance to the Long Island Championship against East Islip. The Redmen, who possessed the best pitching staff on Long Island, had no answer for the Trojans offense who put up 9 runs to capture the title.
“We were definitely prepared for that game. It’s all on the coaches. We faced a heavy lefty arsenal of pitches in the machine since we knew we were facing Thomas Costarelli. He’s a great pitcher and a great friend of mine. We faced lefty guys throwing BP. That preparation made us confident,” said Cabral.
Finally, they had their dream season end against Fox Lane in the Southeast Regional, but it was a banner year for the Trojans who won their first title since 2021, when the current crop of seniors were in 8th grade.
Cabral noted that two players that were really underrated this season were Kyle Walsh and Jimmy Trocchia.
“Kyle was driving in all the runs and Jimmy, we think, is the best closer on Long Island. We always had confidence in him when he came in.”
Many of the players also play their travel ball together for Next Level Baseball. Cabral has played for the Body Armor Titans since he was 13-years-old. He forged relationships with many of the top players on Long Island. He cited Alex Bono, Ethan Ramirez and Angel Cartagena as three of his closest teammates that he’s been playing with for several years.
They’ve competed in several top-tier tournaments. Cabral noted that his favorite was Alabama last summer, where he made it to the championship of the B Bracket. That is a tournament that attracts many of the top schools in the nation looking to recruit the best players across the country.
Interestingly enough, Cabral was originally on the radar of college coaches due to his pitching prowess. As a freshman, he was called up to varsity thanks to his fastball that reached 83-84 MPH. Unfortunately, Tommy John Surgery threw a wrench into his pitching career and an ensuing arm surgery the following year further hindered his chances even of pitching at the varsity level.
Stony Brook was initially interested in him as a pitcher, but after coming down to one of his games at the Medford Athletic Complex, Cabral put up a performances for the ages, crushing three bombs in a single game which earned him the attention, and ultimately a scholarship to attend Stony Brook University.
He will be studying Business Management starting in the fall, and looking to help the Seawolves compete in the ultra-competitive CAA under new head coach Jim Martin.
He’ll be getting his reps in this summer for the Titans in the Blue Chip Collegiate League, and will also participate in the Bryan Bonin Grand Slam Challenge on June 23 representing the Nassau All-Stars.
His high school coach, Dave Izzo, had the following to say:
“Evan has been on varsity since he’s a freshman, which doesn’t happen very often in Garden City. After a day or two of JV tryouts in 9th grade, JV coach Ryan Boelsen came to us and said this kid doesn’t belong with me. Now 4 years later, 3 All-County Awards, 2 Conference Champs, 1 County Championship and 1 Long Island Championship later, Evan is getting ready to graduate and continue his athletic and academic careers at Stony Brook. His name is sprinkled all over the GC record book – second in most categories only to 2000 NYS Player of the Year John Maloney. He hit 10 home runs this season, and almost all were no-doubters. The ball comes off his bat differently than most HS players. I’m surprised he wasn’t intentionally walked more this year but that’s a credit to the season that junior Chris Desiderio had hitting third behind Evan this year. Assistant coach Ray Chaputian convinced me early in the season that Evan needs to bat second this year coming off a year in which he hit a GC record .603 in the 3-hole. It worked out pretty well! Evan has been a quiet kid until this year when he was voted captain Yalon with fellow quiet senior Jimmy Trocchia. I can’t say enough about the leadership that these two provided all year long and eventually ending in an LIC. The sky is the limit for this kid who has Major League power, hitting many of his home runs well beyond the 350/375 signs on our field. It will be a tall order for us to figure out how to replace his bat in the lineup next year.”
Get to Know Evan:
Favorite Athletes: Francisco Lindor & Mookie Betts
Other Sports Played: Basketball until 13-years-old
Siblings: Younger Sister
Favorite TV Show: Invincible
Superstitions: Put on uniform same way every game, put on equipment same way before every at bat
Favorite App: Instagram
Favorite Musical Artist: ASAP Rocky
Favorite Restaurant: Chipotle
Favorite Favorite Spot: Dominican Republic
