Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s series
by Anthony DiCocco
For the first time in 33 years, the MacArthur Generals will not have the legendary Steve Costello at the helm as the team’s skipper. Now first-year head coach Frank Ziegler will try to carry on his legacy.
“I’ve coached with Coach Costello for the last five years and he was an unbelievable mentor, not just for baseball, but for life,” Ziegler said in an interview with Axcess Baseball. “It was an amazing feeling to take over for him. The program’s got a reputation and a lot of history and we don’t take it lightly. We need to keep it up to standard and live up to the legacy and exceptions that Steve set.”
MacArthur went 14-6 last year with a senior-heavy team. Despite performing well all season, the Generals ran into a white-hot Garden City squad in the playoffs, as they were eliminated by the eventual Nassau County and Long Island Champions.
“We liked our chances to make a run and then it unfortunately came to an end,” Ziegler said. “It was a little disappointing in that we fell short of our goals with a lot of players that put a lot of time into the program, but we definitely have a lot of new faces this year.”
Coming into the new year, MacArthur will be without All-County 1B Nick Albert — who is taking a gap year as he prepares to play college baseball in 2027 — and All-County 3B Dylan Tripi (Barry University), as well as pitchers Alex Darzano and League AA-I Pitcher of the Year Chris Lonergan, who are both playing at Nassau Community College. RHP Joe Farina also graduated to leave the Generals with no returning starting pitchers, as did middle infielders Chase Palma and Michael Joyce.
With most of the Generals starters moved on, virtually every position on the diamond is up for grabs right now. The only two returning starting position players from last year’s team are seniors 3B/SS Matt Kerr and OF Ben Arreaga.
As a junior last year, Kerr posted a .405 on-base percentage (OBP). Along with making an impact at the plate, he is also known to flash the leather on the left side of the infield. He will play both short and the hot corner this year depending on how the team’s pitching shakes out.
“Matt Kerr gave us a lot defensively last year and we’re expecting him to step up and really be a leader for us,” Ziegler said.
Arreaga played the outfield last year, but his availability for MacArthur this spring is cloudy at the moment. He tore his anterior cruciate ligament during football season this past fall, meaning he is currently battling back from the injury to try to make an impact in some way this year. Arreaga batted .297 with a .519 OBP, five runs batted in (RBI), 12 runs scored, eight steals and 16 walks a season ago.
“We’re looking to get [Arreaga] healthy and get a lot of help from him this year in some capacity,” Ziegler said. “Whatever we’re able to get from him would be great, but it’s up in the air right now if he’ll be ready to start the year.”
Besides Kerr and Arreaga, the rest of the Generals will be on the younger side. However, Ziegler has high hopes for his infield depth, though he is still unsure how everything will shake out.
Two of the most prominent newcomers to the varsity team will be juniors Steven D’Ornellas and Tyler Neal.
D’Ornellas is a middle infielder that slashed .426 with a .529 OBP, 18 RBIs, 30 runs and seven stolen bases at the junior varsity level last year. Additionally, with the Generals’ starting staff depleted, he is slated to be one of the team’s top pitchers. On the mound, he did not allow an earned run last year across 25 frames while going 4-0 with a 0.84 walks and hits per inning pitched (WHIP), 33 strikeouts and a .114 batting average against (BAA).
Like D’Ornellas, Neal also plays the middle infield. While playing alongside D’Ornellas last year, Neal batted .429 with a .567 OBP. He drove in 20 runs, scored 17 and blasted a homer on top of swiping nine bags.
Junior 1B Connor Schmidt is a name to watch as well. The newcomer batted .361 with a .561 OBP, six doubles, a home run, 18 RBIs, 16 runs and five steals last spring.
Connor Schmidt (MacArthur 2027) stands at 6’1 230 pounds. The sophomore hits the ball hard to all parts of the field, exit velocity topped at 92 MPH according to @PrepBaseballNY pic.twitter.com/KInZur77nd
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 30, 2025
Fellow junior Brayden LaBonte and sophomore Brian Kalinowski will vie for playing time as well.
“We are really excited about the infield group that we have,” Ziegler said. “We’re expecting them to be a really strong group.”
On top of competing for time on the infield dirt, junior Gus Sofronis is expected to eat a number of innings alongside D’Ornellas at the top of the rotation. Prior to his call-up this spring, Sofronis also did not allow an earned run last year while throwing for 29 innings with a 5-1 record, 0.86 WHIP, .146 BAA and 30 strikeouts.
”[D’Ornellas and Sofronis] are the big two right now as far as guys we’re expecting to throw a lot of innings,” Ziegler said. “We also have a couple of 10th graders, a group of juniors and some other guys working their way back from injury that we’re looking at.”
One of those sophomores is Colby Grzelaczyk, who went 5-0 with a 2.24 ERA and 70 punch outs across 78 innings of summer ball. At just 15 years old, the hard-throwing right-hander already stands at 6-foot-four and was called a “really exciting arm” by Ziegler.
Colby Grzelaczyk (MacArthur 2028)
Headlines a deep pitching staff for MVP South Shore featuring a devastating splitter. pic.twitter.com/fwi7ambCO6
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) March 1, 2025
With an abundance of infielders, whoever loses out on those spots will be in the mix to see at-bats as a designated hitter or can potentially earn a spot in the Generals’ wide-open outfield. There is also a battle for playing time behind the plate, which includes senior C Anthony Anzano, who is committed to play at Suffolk Community College next year.
End of 1: Dodgers Nation takes a 1-0 lead off a rbi single by Anthony Anzano pic.twitter.com/xv11tnutwq
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 26, 2023
Since the team essentially has no positions locked up at the moment, Ziegler is hoping the competition will aid his young group of Generals. Regardless of who earns those spots, Ziegler expects a plethora of players to serve a purpose.
“We’re going to be one of those teams where we have a lot of guys stepping up to fill an individual role to get the most out of our guys,” Ziegler said. “We just need to sustain the culture of MacArthur baseball and make sure that every day is a step forward. We have a young group so that growth is important.”
The Generals will leap directly into the fire to open their league slate against the team that sent them packing from the postseason last year — the Garden City Trojans. MacArthur will aim to get off to a hot start against the defending champs with a three-game series beginning on Tuesday, April 7.
