Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s series
by Joe Bello
Congratulations to Mineola RHP Jesse Kostulias who is the recipient of the Axcess Baseball x BK7 Brand Player of the Week. The senior fired a complete game, 2-hit shutout with 14 Ks on the mound while going 7-for-10 with 2 doubles, 2 homers, 7 RBIs and a walk at the plate pic.twitter.com/AiKpKA5C1M
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 20, 2025
The Mineola Mustangs are heading into the 2026 season looking to rebound after a disappointing end to their season last spring. Head Coach Helms Bohringer is entering his 31st season at the helm of the Mineola varsity baseball program.
In 2025, Mineola finished with a record of 12-10, going 12-6 in league play. But in the playoffs they were swept by Wheatley in the quarter-finals, which included a heart-breaking loss in game one where they fell to Wheatley 3-2 in 10 innings.
Bohringer spoke to Axcess Baseball about the lesson his team learned from this result in the playoffs.
“I think that they finally realized that the game of baseball, especially at the high school level, is the more fundamentally sound team on game day is the team that is more likely to win, the attention to detail matters.” Bohringer said. “A bit of a disappointment, I was hoping to at least make it back to the semifinals like the 2024 season.” He added, “We had senior depth and a nice influx of young players who played well in the regular season, just not when it counted the most.”
The Mustangs will be without three award winners from last year as we go into this season.
Jesse Kostulias, who is now at New Haven, was awarded All-County honors last spring. Kostulias led the team with home runs last season as he finished with four. While also hitting .474, with a slugging percentage of .772 and 30 RBIs for the Mustangs.
Luke Martinez, now playing ball at SUNY Maritime, also was named All-County last season for Mineola. “Luke Martinez, the swiss army knife, played multiple positions when he wasn’t pitching.” Bohringer said. “He had a hit in every game of the regular season.” Martinez led the team with a .533 average and only struck out four times in the 2025 season.
Both Martinez and Kostulias were stellar on the mound for the Mustangs, as Kostulias finished with a 1.83 ERA and Martinez with a 1.56 ERA. Kostulias struck out 59 batters in 30 innings, while Martinez struck out 36 in 27.
All-Conference winner and starting catcher Jayden Sleeper also has graduated from Mineola. “Jayden Sleeper was our starting catcher,” Bohringer said, “It was like having another coach on the field. He threw out better than 60% of would-be basestealers.” He hit .375 with 17 RBI’s for the Mustangs.
Now to get into who will be on the field this season for the Mineola Mustangs as they look to have another good season.
Senior Ryan Valente is returning as one of the starting infielders this season while also getting in some time on the mound. On the mound last season, he was 3-0 in his relief role for the Mustangs. He also played a key role at the plate last season as he hit .412 with 14 RBI including a big walkoff home run against Clarke. Valente was named All-League for the 2025 campaign.
Junior Dylan Dinkeleacker was named All-League as well last season, accomplishing the feat as a sophomore. Bohringer says that he is “expected to be the next big bat in our lineup” for next season. Last season he hit .368 with 12 RBI and hit an impressive .714 with runners in scoring position. Bohringer says that he will help the Mustangs on the mound as well.
Max Walters, senior, is expected by Bohringer to be an important part of the Mustangs lineup this season. He hit .278 in 2025 while also having 13 RBI.
“I am excited for both Dylan and Maks,” Bohringer said. “As they have put a lot of time into getting stronger and hitting in the off-season. Both have plus power and make solid contact.”
Fred Klauck (Mineola 27) was an All-league pitcher this season with Mineola. The LHP had a good performance during today’s showcase.
His fastball sat in the high 70s, topping out at 80 MPH. His curveball has good movement and he controls both pitches well. Hitters had a hard… pic.twitter.com/HfYT4F1Ypj
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 19, 2025
Fred Klauck was awarded All-League honorable mention last season as a sophomore for Mineola. Now, going into his junior year, Bohringer says he will be depended on to be the number one pitcher this year following the departure of both Kostulias and Martinez. “Klauck will probably be in the number one spot,” Bohringer said. “He comes back to improve on his 3-2 record, although in his 24 innings of work he struck out 42.”
As well as the four mentioned above, Bohringer is also excited about sophomore catcher Julian Pineda as he looks to take the reins as starting catcher from the graduated Jayden Sleeper.
The Mustangs have been working out together as a team since the beginning of January for their winter workouts as they prepare for what should be a good season in Mineola.
“We graduated a lot of seniors and have only five juniors returning.” Bohringer said, “We will be a young team and the sooner we can identify everyone’s role the better the season we will have. The conference is an 11-team conference so everyone plays each other two times. We will have no non-league games to work on things, so practices and scrimmages will be paramount.”
The Mineola Mustangs kick off their 2026 schedule with a home matchup against the Lynbrook Owls on March 24th.
