Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s series
by Joe Bello
Joe Tardif is heading into his first season as the varsity coach of the baseball program at Mattituck High School. He steps into the role after he has been the head coach of the JV team at Mattituck for the past five years. Tardif takes over for Dan O’Sullivan, who was the varsity coach for six years.
Last year, the Tuckers finished with a record of 2-18. “The 2025 season went about as expected.” Tardif said, “We were and still are a young team working on fundamentals and keeping games close.”
Going into the 2026 season, Tardif and the Tuckers will be without their senior captain and All-League winning shortstop, Ben Vogel.
“We will miss him dearly as we relied on him for almost everything between hitting, defense, base running and on the mound.” Tardif said.
Vogel was a four-year starter for Mattituck, he won three All-League awards across these years. Last season, he hit .347 with 13 runs scored.
Nick Chew was the other award winning player last year on the Tuckers, he was awarded with Academic All-League.
But Tardif does have some talent returning in 2026 to his roster. This includes all three of his seniors, two of which are four year varsity starters, while the other is a three year starter.
The ace of the rotation is going to be 6’5” Tyler Brown, who has a great command over his fastball and also mixes in sliders and changeups to keep hitters off balance. He held batters to a .181 batting average against, while posting a 2.05 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP, during the 2025 season.
“Tyler understands the game well and knows we will lean on him in big moments.” Tardif said. “I am looking forward to him being a dominant starter who can go deep into games. He will also look to be a great mentor to many of the young arms on staff.”
RHP Tyler Brown (Mattituck 2026) commits to Molloy University @USG_Baseball pic.twitter.com/FI6s2hGQUx
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) November 4, 2025
Fellow four year starter, Trey Hanson, will also look to make a big impact in the Tuckers lineup this season. The senior plays third base, outfield and also pitches. Hanson had a 3.92 ERA on the mound for the Tuckers last season, and drew 13 walks while at the plate.
Taking over the starting shortstop role for Tardif this spring will be senior Mike Buckley, who is going into his third year starting on varsity. Buckley will fill the shoes at shortstop which was vacated by Vogel following his graduation last spring. He will also contribute for the team on the mound. Buckley hit .262 last season with 16 hits.
Tardif also mentioned a pair of underclassmen which will both look to make some noise this spring on the varsity club.
Brayden Kruk is one of them, heading into his sophomore year at Mattituck. Kruk plays catcher and second base, and will be one of the Tuckers’ impact bats this season in the lineup.
The other is freshman Crosby Palmeri, a player that Tardif is excited to see compete at the varsity level this spring.
“Crosby does everything asked of him as a baseball player.” Tardif said. “He makes the game look simple, usually with a smile on his face.”
Palmeri is also a catcher who plays other infield spots as well. But Tardif says he can play anywhere, and is an all around quality baseball player.
The Tuckers kicked off their winter workouts right around Christmas break, as they look to surprise some teams this spring.
Tardif is excited for what is to come ahead of his varsity coaching debut for the Tuckers.
“Going into the 2026 season, I am most excited to lay a foundation for a new culture for Mattituck baseball.” Tardif said. “I want to do the simple things exceptionally well and to not ask my players to do anything they aren’t capable of.”
2016 League MVPs pic.twitter.com/GKL301SXT7
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) December 18, 2016
“I want to take a little piece of knowledge from every exceptional coach I’ve ever had and instill it into my program.” Tardif added. “I want my players to be situationally prepared, ready to fly around, and of course ready to have fun playing the beautiful sport of baseball.”
Tardif mentioned some of these “exceptional coaches” that he will use to build his program at Mattituck. These names include his father John Tardif, former Mattituck head coach, Steve Decaro, Cortland baseball coach, Joe Brown and his former Body Armor Titans coach Neal Heaton.
Joe Tardif officially begins his varsity coaching career at Mattituck as they open up with a three-game set against Shoreham-Wading River on March 27th.
