Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s season preview series
by Max Edelman
2025 was a year for growth and development for the North Shore Vikings and head coach Rob Gates. Although they missed the playoffs with a 7-13 overall record, it was not a wasted season for the Vikings.
“We had eight underclassmen playing on a regular basis.” Gates said. “We fell short of the playoffs, but that’s a good thing when you had eight ninth or tenth graders that played a lot. They all played on a regular basis last year.”
16 out of 20 of the players on North Shore’s varsity team are returning from last year. Of the four seniors who graduated, the biggest losses are Ryan Lau, who was an all-conference player last season, and Mateo Rincon, who went to Nichols College to continue playing.
“The two of them had big offensive seasons.” Gates said. “That’s the biggest thing we have to replace is those two bats in the middle of the order.”
Although the Vikings will miss Lau and Rincon, with 16 returning players, North Shore will be full of talent heading into the year. At the very top of that list is junior Liam Ricco, who was an All-League member as a sophomore. Ricco, a second baseman and outfielder, hit .420 with 12 RBIs to go along with eight extra base hits.
“He just had a super consistent sophomore season.” Gates said. “The average was good, the walk rate to strikeouts were good, he drove in a lot of runs, he scored a lot of runs and he just continues to impress people with a very simple approach at the plate. We expect a big year from Liam.
Congratulations to North Shore LHP Brady Ayres on being named this week’s recipient of the Axcess Baseball x BK7 Brand Player of the Week. The sophomore fired a no-hitter with 11 Ks on the mound while going 7-for-13 with 2 doubles, 1 triple, 5 runs scored and 6 RBIs for the… pic.twitter.com/I1U332NRVJ
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 28, 2025
Also a junior, Gates expects a big year from Brady Ayres. Ayres is a left handed pitcher and first baseman who shined as a two- way player. Ayres, who has 12 career varsity starts, went 3-4 last year with 31 strikeouts across 24 innings in 2025, and hit .333 as a sophomore with 14 RBIs.
“He’s probably our best all-around player coming into the year.” Gates said. “He’s likely going to pitch game one on the mound and he’s been a middle-of-the-order bat since his freshman year. He hit .333 last year and .315 as a freshman. On the mound, he was up-and-down. He ran into some really tough games against really tough teams in the league, but he had some big highlights, including a no-hitter last year. I expect him to have a huge season.”
On the mound, Gates has two seniors, who impressed in their junior seasons. The first of the pair is Marco Visintainer, who made six starts last year and went 2-3.
“He knew he had a couple of tough luck games.” Gates said. “He kept us in games last year, he was consistent.”
The second of the seniors is Aurelio Cagno. Cagno was a go-to piece for Gates out of the bullpen last season. In eight appearances, Cagno recorded a 2.86 ERA.
“Numbers wise he was our best pitcher last year.” Gates said. “He was really consistent out of the bullpen and he will be in contention for that opening rotation spot.
Another name to watch for that last spot in the rotation is Jake Lau. He pitched in six games during his freshman season and in the words of his coach, got better each and every week. Lau and Cagno are seen as the top two contenders for the final spot in the rotation.
“Jake got better every outing.” Gates said. “I remember his first outing, I brought him in with men on in a tight game, and he had a rough first outing. But he’s a tough, serious kid and got a little better every outing. I remember he pitched twice in relief against Plainedge, and I think he only allowed one earned run that whole series. By the end of the year he was showing why he was up as a freshman.”
Senior James Camardella is returning to the Vikings after missing his entire junior season due to a knee injury suffered playing football. Standing at over 6’3, Camardella hit .260 with 14 RBIs in his sophomore season in 2024. Camardella started during his sophomore season and will likely slot back into the middle of the order. He will also factor in as a pitcher.
“He’s one of the guys that we expect to replace the big bats that graduated.” Gates said.
Behind the plate, senior Jonathan Versocki and junior Canon Evans will return to the team this season.
“Those two are big strong kids, who work tremendously hard.” Gates said. “When they’re not catching, they’ll bounce around. They are two guys that will be big parts of our lineup, and help to replace the bats that graduated.”
Other returners are Joey Cristofari and Casey Gates. Both Gates and Cristofari were All-Conference in football, and were cited by Gates as being two of the best athletes on the team.
“They will both play key spots in the infield.” Gates said. “ I expect both of them to have big years offensively.”
In the outfield, Thomas Priolo and Riley McCrudden return to the team to provide speed, and will also feature heavily out of the bullpen.
As what comes with every young team, the North Shore Vikings will be primed to continue growing in 2026, and Gates believes with the help of new assistant Jon Capobianco, the Vikings are primed to take a big step forward.
“This group of boys are working really hard in the weight room.” Gates said. “They’re working really hard with our throwing program and our hitting nights. They want to take that next step and get back to the playoffs and hopefully contend come playoff time. I think we will have the right guys to make that happen. I think this is a big year in terms of growth for our program. And I look forward to the next few years.”
