Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s series
by Hunter Javeline
After a year of hard work and dedication, the Westbury Green Dragons finished 12-8 and earned a promotion to the AAA conference from the Countywide League. Transitioning from a non-playoff eligible league to a playoff eligible league will challenge this team more than ever before.
In 2022, Coach Ryan Mulholland took over the program and they haven’t looked back. Prior to that, they were winless for 2 seasons. Each year they have been improving; from 7 to 11 and last year to 12 wins. Coach Mulholland won Coach of the Year in 2025.
Two years ago, Coach Mulholland and the Westbury Green Dragons won the regular season championship. Last year, they finished in 3rd place.
Jonathan Cruz was a huge part of the team in the prior 2 seasons. Last year he went 6-0 on the mound with a 1.52 ERA and he had 81 strikeouts in 37 innings pitched. Coach Mulholland said, “he’s the ace of our staff. He’s our shortstop. He does whatever is required of him on the field.” Cruz is committed to play at Albright College next year. He won All-League honors in Nassau County his freshman, sophomore and junior years.
A huge loss on the pitching side of things was Abhay Patel who was their other do-all-all player. He had 4 wins on the mound, and played shortstop and third base. Patel earned All-League honorable mention last year.
On the offensive side of the ball, the Green Dragons are losing Josue Monegro who batted .640 last season and Jario Carrasco who batted .380 with 19 RBIs. Christian Irizarry, who catches for the team, is going to have big shoes to fill with the players that graduated last year He was the starting catcher on varsity as a sophomore. Irizarry bats first or second and has great speed and bat-to-ball skills. He batted .447 last year with 10 RBIs and 15 runs scored.
Ben Raskin is another player to watch out for who plays first base. Raskin has a lot of power and will be hitting in the middle of the lineup this year.
Coach Mulholland is excited about freshman Carmine Ioannou.
“We are excited about his good speed and athletic ability. We are excited to see his impact this year.”
With the promotion to the AAA Conference every game is going to be a battle. Last year, the countywide league became more competitive when teams were added and only prepared this team for bigger goals for this upcoming year.
Coach Mulholland said, “I think that we’re looking forward to it.” This team this year has about ten seniors. The team has the current standing valedictorian and salutatorian in Jayden Merino and Eder Venegas. These high character guys show the dedication and the turn around of this program.
“All these kids want to win and can play multiple positions to help us out.” Coach Mulholland said this senior class is full of leaders and are ready to show why they belong in the AAA Conference this year. Despite several key losses, the team still feels confident heading into the 2026 season thanks to its strong defense and pitching.
The Westbury Green Dragons open their season up March 24 against Elmont.
