by Trevor Dugan
Top 1: East Hampton wasted no time – they hit 2 homers in the first inning (Mason Miles and Victor Eddie Aguero) to take a 3-0 lead as the rain begins to come down pic.twitter.com/DJ5wry59w8
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 23, 2025
This summer, East Hampton infielder Mason Miles committed to Bucknell University to play Division-I Baseball. He is part of a surge in college commitments from East Hampton High School in recent years – they currently have three in college from the 2025 class, they have three college commitments from the 2026 class – with a fourth on the way. They’ve come a long way from their 0-20 season less than a decade ago.
Mason has a solid support system in place, both at East Hampton and as a member of Titans Baseball, one of the premier travel baseball programs in the northeast. Mason’s road to Division-I baseball is rooted in hard work, discipline, and support from the two Long Island baseball communities he refers to as his “two homes.”
Mason’s Attention Grabbing Start at East Hampton
Mason Miles moved to East Hampton from downtown Manhattan when he was just eight years old. It was quite a drastic change coming from the busy streets of New York City to the quiet town on Long Island’s east end, but he settled in nicely and began his Long Island baseball career in East Hampton Little League.
East Hampton head coach Vinny Alversa, whose son also played in EHLL, took notice of Mason before he even stepped foot in East Hampton High School. Alversa explained that as a head coach, he’s always keeping an eye out for young talent coming up through the pipeline, whether that be players from the middle school team, or younger kids making the All Star team in EHLL, which is where he first saw Mason.
By the time Mason reached East Hampton High School, he made quite an impression on his coaches as a member of the JV team. When the varsity squad found itself wanting for offense, Mason was called up from JV as a freshman to provide a spark. He did exactly that, impressing his coaches enough that they named him a starter over a senior player who had been with the varsity team since he was in eighth grade.
Mason has remained an integral piece of the East Hampton lineup ever since, and played a crucial role in their postseason run this past season. He hit two home runs in a playoff game against rival Eastport-South Manor to help East Hampton advance and end ESM’s undefeated season. The Bonackers made it all the way to the Class AA Suffolk County finals against East Islip, but unfortunately came up just short.
East Hampton 7, Eastport-South Manor 3 (F/9)
East Hampton advances to the Suffolk AA Finals against East Islip on Saturday pic.twitter.com/kDoP4fuMXi
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 28, 2025
How East Hampton Has Helped Mason Miles
Getting recruited to play Division-I college baseball is never easy, especially not for a player from one of the most geographically isolated towns on Long Island. But Mason Miles and his East Hampton teammates are lucky to have a solid support system and committed coaches like Vinny Alversa and Henry Meyer to help guide them along the path to improving year round.
Coach Alversa spoke highly of his players’ commitment to the program he has instituted at East Hampton High School, and particularly the work ethic of Mason.
“We’ve put in place a year round program here at East Hampton, but the players are the ones who do all the work,” Alversa said. “They’ve heard me say it, if you want to play baseball after high school you need to work all year. And these guys know that, all I’ve done is give them an opportunity to always be working.”
“The freshmen see how the varsity players grind, they’re watching this saying ‘okay this is what I have to do’,” he continued. “Guys like Mason set the example for all the younger players.”
When it comes to college recruiting, the coaches of East Hampton are always willing to assist their players in any way they can. Mason gives a lot of credit to Henry Meyer, assistant coach at East Hampton High School, for helping him find a place to play college baseball. Meyer’s son Hudson played with Mason at East Hampton, and now plays college baseball at SUNY Oswego. Coach Meyer has been instrumental in helping Mason navigate the recruiting process, providing invaluable advice and always being there whenever Mason needed anything.
However, the East Hampton coaches have noticed a change in how colleges are recruiting over the past decade.
“If they need anything, of course I’ll pick up the phone and make some calls to anyone I know,” Alversa explained. “But I don’t know how many colleges reach out to high school coaches now. The players are mostly being seen during the summer.”
“I think I’ve gotten two calls from college coaches in the last eight years asking about players,” Alversa continued.” “Mostly what will happen nowadays is I’ll have a player tell me he just attended a camp or showcase, and he’ll ask me to call the coach he spoke to and put a good word in.”
Because of this, Coach Alversa encourages his players to play elsewhere on Long Island and seek the best competition possible the rest of the year with high end travel baseball organizations. He named USG, East Coast Lumberjacks, MVP South Shore, and the Titans as some travel teams where his players have found success and gotten looks from college coaches.
In Miles’ case, he joined the Long Island Titans after a teammate recommended the organization to him.
“If you want to get more reps and play the best competition, you have to go up island,” Miles said. “So now I’ve been with the Titans for several years, and it’s been great.”
As far as recruiting goes, joining the Titans was likely the best decision of Mason Miles’ young baseball career.
“I have two homes, East Hampton for high school ball and Titans Baseball,” Mason told Axcess. “Both of them helped immensely to get me to where I am today.”
The Titans have been one of Long Island’s preeminent travel baseball programs for the past two decades. Since 2020 alone they have had players commit to over 50 different college baseball programs. Mason Miles is the latest in a long line of fantastic players getting the chance to play college baseball after moving through the Titans pipeline.
Players on the Titans get the chance to enter tournaments against elite competition at places like Diamond Nation in New Jersey, Ripken Baseball in Maryland, and right here on Long Island. These competitions are heavily attended by college scouts and coaches from all over the east coast, giving players exposure to a wide array of different schools.
Members of the Titans organization also encourage their players to attend showcase camps, which provide even more opportunities for exposure. There is no shortage of excellent camps designed to put players in front of college coaches to showcase their talents, as well as get chances to personally introduce themselves to coaches from any schools they’d like to attend.
Mason first made contact with the head coach of Bucknell University, Scott Heather, at a Showball camp in Medford, New York. His coaches from the Titans encouraged him to attend this camp, where he took the initiative to introduce himself to the Bucknell coach and express his interest in the Pennsylvania based university.
Mason also commends the efforts of a key member of the Titans brass and Philadelphia Phillies area scout Tom Downey, who leveraged his connections in the college baseball world to get Mason the attention he deserved as a prospect. When Mason wasn’t getting the looks Downey felt his talents merited, he made a call to Bucknell head coach Scott Heather, who Mason had met earlier in the summer, to talk about the young star from East Hampton. After Downey’s call, Mason was invited to a camp on the Bucknell campus in Pennsylvania.
“After Tom called Bucknell’s coach I went down there for a camp and I was like, I love this place, this is definitely for me,” Mason said. “A couple of weeks later I got the call from the head coach and made it happen.”
Mason’s proactive introduction to Coach Heather and performance at the Bucknell camp, combined with Downey’s testimonial call to Coach Heather, secured him a spot at the Division-I university known for their success in the Patriot League, as well as a strong commitment to academics, the perfect combination for an athletically and intellectually gifted student like Mason.
Having access to a well-connected individual in the regional baseball community like Downey has clearly been invaluable to Mason on the path to Division-I baseball, and he is very grateful for Downey’s support. He acknowledged that Downey would do the same for any one of the Titans’ players, and is always happy to help them in any way that he can.
“Tom is a very passionate guy, and wants the best for all his players,” Mason said. “He and the rest of Titans Baseball have been a huge help to me over the years.”
Mason’s coach this summer with the Titans was Brian LoRusso, who also coaches at Locust Valley High School. LoRusso speaks glowingly of Mason, and expects his success and leadership to carry over into his college baseball career.
“Mason has the most pop of any player I’ve ever coached, he mishits balls out of the ballpark. He was able to handle all types of velocity as we faced 90 MPH arms in our Boston and Diamond Nation tournaments,” LoRusso said about Mason. “As a defender he is athletic enough to play almost every position.”
“Mason is the definition of a great teammate and leader,” LoRusso continued. “Mason’s skill automatically made guys on the team look up to him, but his personality and competitiveness pushed our guys to play their best ball when it mattered most. His leadership was one of the reasons our team had a very successful recruiting year despite it being the most challenging landscape it’s ever been! These skills will absolutely translate to the D1 level.”
What comes next for Mason and East Hampton
Having secured his baseball future with his commitment to Bucknell University, Mason is now looking forward to his senior season at East Hampton High School. After their exciting playoff run to the Class AA Suffolk County Finals, Mason and head coach Vinny Alversa are looking to build on their success from last season. Alversa spoke about Mason’s importance to the team, and what the Bonackers need to do to get back to their winning ways this coming spring.
“He came out like a monster last year, we’ve just got to get him protection this season,” Alversa said about Mason, who will be a top three bat in the East Hampton lineup once again. “He’ll continue to do the same this season. He’s fun to watch, and hats off to him, he works his ass off.”
Mason and his East Hampton teammates have a unique schedule compared to the rest of the schools on Long Island. The closest opponents on their schedule take just under an hour to reach, and when they face schools like Hauppauge or Comsewogue their bus ride can last over two hours. But Mason is used to it by now, and thinks of their remote location as a strength rather than a weakness.
“I think us being out here isolated from the rest of the Island brings us closer together as a team,” Miles told Axcess. “And it’s definitely a bit of a home field advantage.”
Mason’s East Hampton teammate Trevor Meehan, who recently committed to play at the University of Bridgeport, commented on his expectations for he and Mason’s Senior season.
“I think we’ll be good, just like last year. We lost our catcher Carter Dickinson and shortstop Hudson Meyer, and one of our pitchers Tyler Hansen. They’re playing in college now, so that hurts a little bit,” Meehan explained. “But we have some good young guys coming up who have been working hard, and obviously Mason will be back, along with Victor Aguero and Finn O’Rourke who will both be playing college baseball too.”
“Coach Alversa puts countless hours into helping us, he’s super important and a big role model for a lot of us,” Meehan continued. “We’re going to have a good year, I’m looking forward to it, and hopefully we’ll be right back where we left off, except this time we win the championship.”
With a returning core of very good players, and some exciting young players ready to step up, the whole East Hampton program is ready for another shot at the county championship.
“The kids we have, they’re all awesome,” Coach Alversa says. “I’m excited for next season, and I’m really lucky to be able to do this.”
Mason Miles: East End Success Story
Through years of grinding and the support of his two baseball homes, East Hampton and Titans Baseball, Mason Miles earned himself a spot at Bucknell University. His commitment is a testament to his own resolve, as well the transformation of East Hampton into a program that consistently pumps out high level talent that can make it to the next level. Mason’s achievements are evidence that even in the farthest reaches of Long Island, with the right support system and plenty of grinding a talented player like Mason can achieve his goal of playing Division I baseball.
