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Where Are They Now Powered by Complete Sports Performance: Patrick Cantwell

Where Are They Now Powered by Complete Sports Performance: Patrick Cantwell

When you win at every stop you’re at, it is no coincidence – winners win.

West Islip-native Patrick Cantwell has won championships for his little league, high school, college, minor league and major league teams. He was the ultimate field general and stop sign behind the dish.

But first, let’s turn the clock back.

The Early Days

Patrick was born and raised in West Islip. He was the second child, he has a sister named Kim.

They are a family of athletes – his mother played softball, bowling and was a cheerleader. His father played high school baseball. His sister played soccer, track and gymnastics.

From a young age, he was drawn to professional athletes that not only won but held themselves to a high standard such as Derek Jeter, Michael Jordan, Ken Griffey Jr and Michael Young.

Cantwell was a true multi-sport athlete. While his greatest successes came on the diamond, he also played soccer through high school, and even was the kicker for the football team in his junior year. The school made a rule to allow him to participate in both fall sports.

In his youth, Cantwell recalls walking to the ballfield as he lived walking distance from a little league field. His team won the District 34 championship one of the years. He had an intense pitching matchup against future teammate and future big leaguer Nick Tropeano, in which he was out dueled by Tropeano, 2-1.

He also played for the LI Bulls travel organization which was composed of many future West Islip teammates. He played two summers for the LI Tigers, coached by A.J. Nunziato’s dad. A.J. was the 2007 Carl Yastrzemski Award winner out of Ward Melville.

He would eventually play two summers for the Long Island Titans in 2007 and 2008. He said it was “back when there was only a Blue and Gold team”. He played alongside Tropeano, future teammate Sal Intagliata, Matt Pfaeffle, Dan Lackner, and others.

West Islip

West Islip had long been a lacrosse town. The team was the No. 1 ranked public school in the nation around this time.

“Everyone tried to get on the lacrosse team,” said Cantwell.

After all, West Islip hadn’t won a County Championship in baseball since 1969. They had an appearance in the finals in 1999 and semifinals in 2000.

Little did they know, the tides were turning behind the scenes.

As a 9th grader, he helped lead the JV team to an undefeated record and was called up for the playoffs.

Led by players like Cantwell, Tropeano, Steve Smith, Kyle Gelling, Matt Simone, and others, the Lions became the best team in Suffolk County in 2008. They defeated Commack in a thrilling best-of-3 championship to advance to the Long Island Championship against Massapequa.

“We weren’t happy about the location,” he said referring to Fireman’s Field in Valley Stream. They were defeated by Mike Mandarino and Massapequa to finish the season with a 23-5 record under head coach Steve Mileti. It was also their first league title in 21 years.

That season eventually became a turning point for the program who won County Championships in 2012, 2014 and 2016 (Long Island Championship) under coach Shawn Rush.

Cantwell was named All-Long Island; he batted .477 with 31 runs, 8 triples, two HRs and 33 RBIs. He was also named All-Long Island and All-State as a soccer player.

In terms of his college recruiting process, it was not what you’d expect.

“I didn’t get a lot of looks,” said Cantwell, who was widely regarded as the best defensive catcher in the region. He noted he was looking at CW Post and St. John’s in addition to Stony Brook.

“I had gone to some PG Showcases but I was still raw. I was always drawn to Coach Senk. Tropeano and Sal had committed there before I did which helped.”

He did not feel that St. John’s was nearly as interested as Stony Brook. In fact, during his tour he was told they were also hosting a switch-hitting catcher that day, so he made the decision to commit to Stony Brook who had just won the America East Championship in 2008.

The coach that recruited him was Joe Pennucci, who is now the head coach of East Tennessee State. He had the following to say about Cantwell.

“Pat obviously had plenty of tools to play at our level but another skill set was the separator. His ability to connect with teammates and communicate was incredible. I remember watching a high school game and even at that age he was the only leading the way. Pat’s leadership is like having 12 position players on the field and hitting 10 dudes. He set the standard and made everyone live up to it. You don’t replace a Pat Cantwell. You just hope that the returning players can take what he gave to the program. Guys like Pat come around once a decade so you can’t take it for granted when they are in your dugout.”

Stony Brook

The only negative to Cantwell deciding to attend Stony Brook was that they had a starting catcher firmly entrenched. Uniondale grad Justin Echevarria had solified his spot and would eventually get selected by the San Diego Padres in the 2010 MLB Draft.

“I didn’t just walk in as the starter,” said Cantwell. “But Coach Senk used to say, ‘if you’re good, you’re gonna play.’ I took that as challenge accepted.”

As a freshman, Cantwell split time behind the dish and caught 30 games. He was named to the America East All-Rookie team; he caught 15 runners stealing and batted a solid .284.

It was a much better season for Stony Brook in 2010, as the Seawolves won the America East by winning all three games to advance to the NCAA Regional. They lost to No. 1 Coastal Carolina, defeated NC State before getting eliminated by Coastal Carolina.

Cantwell performed exceptionally as a sophomore. He played 37 games in right field and 14 more behind the dish. He batted .361 with 46 runs scored, 36 RBIs, 15 doubles and a strong .439 OBP. He had one of the best moments of his collegiate career when he hit the go-ahead two-run homer in the 7th inning in the America East Championship.

He played in the NECBL in Maine that summer. With Echevarria off to pro ball, the catcher spot was now Cantwell’s to lose.

2011 was a strange season for the Seawolves in the sense that they had a remarkable amount of talent, won a program-record 42 games but were upset by Albany in the America East tournament – and this came after they defeated Albany, 14-2, in the opening round of the tournament.

Cantwell was named America East first team as a catcher after catching all 54 games. He batted .308 with 14 doubles and 23 RBIs batting out of the leadoff spot. He threw out a mind boggling 16 of 26 attempted base stealers.

That summer, Cantwell played in the prestigious Cape Cod League. He played on the same team as teammate Travis Jankowski, who was named MVP of the league. Cantwell was named to the All Star Game which is played at Fenway Park.

“Travis had an incredible season and it was cool to see his transformation as a player. He was one of the best players in the country.”

Entering the 2012 season, Cantwell noted the players had a “bitter taste in our mouths after how the 2011 season ended.”

They were returning many of the same players except for first team All-Conference third baseman Steve Marino (.341 AVG, 19 doubles, 39 RBIs, 44 runs scored ) and 5th round draft pick Nick Tropeano (12-1, 1.84 ERA, 119 Ks).

“It was sort of a running joke that the 2011 team was better than 2012. We had very loft expectations that year.”

The 2012 Seawolves gelled in a way that few teams do. They rode the combination of a talented lineup and a veteran pitching staff to being one of the best teams in the country that nobody was talking about.

Matt Senk’s team was defeated 1-0 by Yale on St. Patrick’s Day, and then went on a mission.

They channeled their inner 1984 Tigers and went on a 35-5 run entering the America East tournament. They swept through the tournament to punch their ticket to the NCAA Regional where they would travel to Coral Gables to take on the U.

If anyone was doubting the Seawolves entering the tournament, they were certainly taken seriously after a 10-2 drubbing of Miami on June 1. New Yorkers might’ve been a little distracted as it was the night of Johan Santana’s no-hitter – the first in franchise history.

How did they thoroughly mow down some of the nation’s best without seemingly breaking a sweat?

“We were really close,” said Cantwell. “We did everything together. We got along really well. We never really got nervous – even in the regional. I never sensed any fear.”

They finally had a hiccup the next night against UCF, losing 9-8, but bounced back with wins over Missouri State and two against UCF to punch their ticket for a showdown with LSU in the Super Regionals.

Willie Carmona, another Long Island-native, was named Most Outstanding Player of the tournament after going 11-for-21 with 2 Hrs and 10 RBIs over the 5 games.

Shock The World

It’s hard to overstate just how much of an underdog Stony Brook was. To most of the college baseball world, it was irrelevant that they had won 50 games entering this matchup. This was not just David vs Goliath. It was fait accompli.

LSU has won 8 National Championships and appeared in 20 College World Series. They played at the legendary Alex Box Stadium, Skip Berman Field aka “The Box” which seats over 10,000 spectators.

Most of their fans had likely never even heard of Stony Brook.

“When we showed up, we had a day to practice. There was people tailgating the practice. I saw a guy with a motorized Margherita maker. They were all chirping us – which is fine. I honestly can’t say enough about the hospitality of their fans. They gave us our props. There’s thousands of people all wearing purple and gold. It was awesome. It was everything you dream of. Nobody thinks you have a chance. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. You could feel it in your bones, people felt we had absolutely no shot at winning.”

LSU had two of the best pitchers in the country (Aaron Nola and Kevin Gausman) and two future big league position players (Austin Nola and JaCoby Jones) but Stony Brook had some blue-collar, gritty players that had no fear.

Game 1 was suspended due to rain. LSU showed their might with game-tying home runs in the 9th, 10th and 11th innings to send the game to the 12th. They won on a walk-off RBI single by Mason Katz.

On the one hand, it was to be expected that LSU came out on top in a Super Regional in a game they were heavily favored to win. On the other hand, Stony Brook proved they just might be crazy enough to hang with them.

Later that day, Tyler Johnson fired a complete game gem and out dueled Kevin Gausman to force a do-or-die Game 3.

Sunday, June 10. The night that changed the trajectory of Stony Brook baseball forever.

Frankie Vanderka took the ball. The Levittown-native known for having zero fear on the mound was the perfect candidate to take the ball with the nation watching.

He fired a complete game, 3-hit performance as the Seawolves bats came to life and cruised to an absolutely shocking 7-2 victory in front of 10,620 screaming fans.

But don’t just take it from me. It was the opening highlights on Sportscenter that night. It was their 28th win in their last 31 games and they became just the second No. 4 seed to reach Omaha since 1999. Additionally, they were the first northeast team since Maine in 1986 to reach Omaha – and that was the last year of the geographical based regional so all eight regions had a representative.

In regards to Frankie Vanderka, Cantwell said:

“He had one of the most illustrious careers in Stony Brook history – he threw 2 no-hitters. He was incredible. His mentality had a ripple effect on the rest of the pitching staff. Those guys were fearless.”

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end and even a miraculous season like this one ended with a two-and-out in Omaha.

There wasn’t much time to cherish in the success, though, as the MLB Draft had already taken place and Stony Brook had seven players selected.

Travis Jankowski was selected 44th overall which was the highest selection in program history. Remarkably, the team landed four players on the All-American team.

Cantwell was among those to hear his name called. He was selected by the Texas Rangers in the third round. Maxx Tissenbaum and Willie Carmona were both selected in the 11th round. James Campbell went in the 12th round, Jasvir Rakkar (26th round) and Tyler Johnson (33rd round) rounded out the list of draft picks.

“The buzz did die down because of the draft and guys were getting shipped all over the country for pro ball. The disappointment stung. It was hard to let it die, but we all had so much going on. There wasn’t really a lot of time to sit back and enjoy it. Pro baseball is not for the faint of heart – it’s a never ending beast.”

Pro Ball 

Cantwell would go on to play eight seasons in pro ball – the first five-and-a-half seasons were with the Rangers organization before being traded to Toronto.

“When I was traded, I was crushed,” said Cantwell. “I loved every teammate I had with the Rangers. All the affiliates were great, I really liked Round Rock. When you get drafted, they don’t tell you that 90% of big leaguers make their debut with a different team than the one that drafted you.”

Cantwell had reached Triple-A in 2017. Getting so close and not reaching the ultimate goal can really wear on a person’s psyche. Fortunately for him, he got to experience the bliss of winning a championship in pro ball while with Toronto in 2018.

“Winning that championship was probably the most fun I had in pro ball. I was probably the oldest player on the team at 28. We had Vladdy, Bo Bichette, Cavan Biggio, Jordan Romano was one of our starters. John Schneider was the manager. He had a way about him – he was never too serious.” It was his best offensive season in pro ball, he compiled an .819 OPS.

Cantwell played 2019 in Triple-A but was limited to 26 games. He entered 2020 ready to continue his playing career, but the COVID-19 pandemic certainly impacted those plans. He was under the impression that he was going to be sent to their alternate site and he tried to stay ready, but ultimately he did not get that chance.

“It turns out a 30-year-old concussion-prone catcher is not on top of everyone’s wish list,” joked Cantwell. With that came the end of his professional playing career.

Looking back on it, he said the following:

“I was really hard on myself. Taking a step back now, how I handled adversity was not the best. I beat myself up. I always wanted to be the hardest worker. At times I could be my own worst enemy. If I pulled back a little maybe things would’ve gone different. It’s gotta be fun. When you’re that close, it weighs on you that any mistake could cost you the opportunity. The fear of not getting there becomes a lot more real.”

The Next Chapter

In 2021, Cantwell had decided he wanted to re-enroll in school and start his nursing career.

“Two or three days before Opening Day I got a call from the Texas Rangers saying that their bullpen catcher needed neck surgery. They told me ‘if you want the job it’s yours but you have to be here tomorrow.’ That was on a Friday, I had just put my down payment for classes. I had just started dating my now-wife. I dropped back out but the school told me I wouldn’t get my deposit back.”

Cantwell’s first experience as a bullpen catcher was in Kansas City.

“It was the perfect role,” he said. “I got to do what I love without the risk of a foul ball hitting me in the face.”

He would stay in that role for four seasons.

In 2023, the Texas Rangers had their best season in franchise history and won their only World Series title, defeating the Arizona Diamondbacks in five games.

To make things even more wild, he was reunited with Stony Brook teammate Travis Jankowski who was an outfielder and pinch runner.

In terms of winning a championship as a bullpen catcher he said:

“It’s a different mindset from the players. It was hard for me to separate myself as a staff member from the players. I was so close to something I dreamt about and I had no control over it. My wife says that was the most stressed she’s ever seen me – getting to the Mecca and having no control. It’s scary, it’s exciting. I don’t know if there’s enough adjectives. I don’t know if it’s really set in, the run of good luck I had – first to be thought of, then to take the job and be there when they won.

Cantwell had the opportunity to catch some of the game’s best pitchers – Jacob deGrom, Max Scherzer, Nathan Eovaldi, Aroldis Chapman.

“What separates those guys is their preparation. You think you’re prepared, then you see them. Even on the days they’re not pitching, everything is so specific. They don’t just go out there to feel good. They go out there to execute. It was incredible. I can’t say enough about them.”

Eventually, Cantwell felt it was time to move on.

“The baseball lifestyle became harder to deal with. There’s not a whole lot of time for family. Obviously, I miss baseball. I’m really happy with where I’m at. I have no regrets, I live in Patchogue with my wife and I’m a plumber. I still give a few private lessons. But I’m the type of person I need to give my all into something and I need to reciprocate the energy the people are giving me.”

Cantwell’s career might be over, but he left his imprint everywhere he went. West Islip became a powerhouse for the next decade after his team turned it around. The entire narrative and perception about Stony Brook changed after the 2012 team. Even as the years come and go, the stories of that team will live on.

He, along with the entire 2012 Stony Brook team was inducted into the school’s athletic Hall of Fame.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Vinny is the President of Axcess Baseball. He is a 2013 graduate of Adelphi University and he is currently the Long Island area scout for the San Diego Padres

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