Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s series
by Joe Bello
Joseph Rotondaro is entering his 8th season as the head coach of the New Hyde Park Gladiators. After finishing the 2025 season with a 11-12 record, including a playoff run which saw them beat MacArthur in the first round before being eliminated to the eventual county champions, Garden City. Going into another season in the tough AA-2 Conference, Rotondaro and his team are ready to go into battle in 2026.
“I feel we had a strong year with a mixed group of seniors and underclassmen in 2025.” Rotondaro said. The 2025 Gladiators batted over .300 as a team and featured a pitching staff which struck out 170 batters in 138 innings pitched. As mentioned earlier, the Gladiators will have to take on a tough conference of opponents, featuring the likes of Garden City, South Side, Manhasset and Carey.
Rotondaro has a clear message for his team as they navigate through their 2026 season. “Control what you can control,” he said. “That is to live in the now, win the day whether it’s practice or a game, and take it one game at a time.”
The Gladiators will be without some big impact players from the previous year as we head into the spring season though. Jason Torres graduated and is now attending Molloy University on a scholarship. He was awarded All-Conference honors last year, while also finishing as a finalist for conference pitcher of the year. While also playing shortstop, where he batted .426, he finished with a 1.18 ERA on the mound with 72 strikeouts. Torres held opposing batters to an average of .159.
Also graduating was Dylan Colon and Charles Vasquez, both of whom will be playing college baseball this upcoming season. Colon will be attending St. Joseph’s University Brooklyn, he batted .350 with 18 stolen bases last season. He was also awarded All-League honorable mention. While Vasquez will be at Utica University this season, he batted .305 while also contributing on the mound. Vasquez was awarded All-League honors last year.
RHP Charles Vasquez (New Hyde Park 2025) commits to Utica University pic.twitter.com/5dQZSQ35ye
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) January 21, 2025
Also receiving awards last season are some guys who will step up and be impactful this year for the Gladiators once again.
Starting catcher Thomas Giannatsis, who is committed to City College of New York, hit .322 last year and picked up an All-League honorable mention. Giannatsis will once again play a big part in the success that the Gladiators will have this year.
“Captain Thomas Giannatsis is starting his third year on varsity as the starting catcher,” Rotondaro said, “He has really grown into the position and as a leader on the field. I am looking forward to seeing Thomas have an impactful season.”
Also returning is Daniel Lynn, who is committed to Old Westbury. He contributed on both sides of the ball last season, with 55 strikeouts on the mound and a .352 batting average at the plate. He was awarded All-Conference honors last season.
Sophomore Jake Padinha returns for his second season of varsity baseball this spring. He was an All-League honorable mention last year as a freshman. Padinha will be both pitching and playing outfield for the Gladiators this season, he hit .300 in 2025.
Rotondaro will also look to other returners to make a big impact on the Gladiators team this season. Some of these names include junior outfielder and pitcher Jacob Varghese, senior infielder Aiden McNeely and senior pitcher Lorenzo Rios.
“It needs to be a team effort,” Rotondaro said about this upcoming season. “Pitchers need to throw strikes and players need to make the plays and keep the physical and mental errors minimal.”
Rotondaro mentioned that this year the Gladiators will feature a young pitching staff, but added that the experience is still there. “With our pitching staff,” He said, “We are young this year, but still experienced. I am looking forward to coaching and seeing great things from all of them.”
They have started their team winter workouts in preparation for the 2026 season. They will be working from the first week of January all the way up to March 9th when tryouts begins.
“Watching this group’s passion, work ethic, and focus is great to see from a coaches perspective.” Rotondaro said, “Which is really beneficial and a great recipe for crafting that culture that every coach strives for in their program. I have great expectations for the 2026 season. We will compete with everyone and will work hard everyday to reach our goal of getting back to the playoffs.”
New Hyde Park opens up their 2026 season on April 7th against Elmont.
