For the second straight season, Farmingdale State has won the Skyline Conference Championship!
It’s their 10th conference title in school history!
FINAL: Farmingdale State 5 – USMMA 2
Matt Faraone: 2-4, go ahead RBI single https://t.co/fCWs8wXHXV
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 10, 2026
For the first time since Keith Osik took over in 2006, the Farmingdale State Rams were in danger of not reaching the playoffs. They started their 2026 season dropping the first four Skyline Conference games against Mount St. Vincent and Manhattanville.
“After we dropped the first four games, we really had to break it down to the studs. We focused on the little things, running out to your position and staying on top of them about the way to play the game. I just remember back to that week thinking it was tough to swallow losing four straight conference games. That’s all we play for – winning the conference championship. I gotta give them a lot of credit for turning it around. It didn’t even seem like a winning streak – it just seemed like we were making up for lost time,” said Keith Osik.
The Rams turned it around in a big way, winning their next 21 consecutive games – a program record. They ran the table in the Skyline Conference championship, which was their second straight title and 10th under Osik.
They ultimately had their season end in the NCAA Regional against Shenandoah and Messiah, with the latter coming by the score of 16-12.
Last year’s team was led by All-American Richie Heyder. The Sachem East grad had a season for the ages – he was named Skyline Conference Player of the Year and Axcess Baseball’s College Player of the Year. He slashed .470/.608/.897 for a ridiculous 1.505 OPS. He transferred to Division-I Stony Brook after the season.
Senior first baseman Richie Heyder adds to the Farmingdale State lead with an RBI single
Carmine Scardina also had an RBI single in the inning, his second of the day
Farmingdale State 10 – Saint Joseph’s 2 https://t.co/Hfan1JCIB4
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 8, 2026
Coach also shouted out Carmine Scardina.
“Believe it or not, besides Heyder, Scardina really stepped up with some big hits and really came through for us.”
They also had Dom LoFroscia come up huge with a 1.103 OPS and Mike D’Angelo bat .390 with a .929 OPS. The former graduated while D’Angelo will be back for 2027, and Osik called him a “big bat.”
The rotation was led by Thomas O’Neill, Derek Watts and TJ Cox. The latter two graduated while O’Neill suffered an arm injury but is confident that he’ll be back in time for the season.
“The two people that really solidified the season for us was Watts and TJ Cox. They really stepped up to have two really good arms through the playoffs and that’s kind of the secret.”
They also had another significant injuries to RHP Dennis Kelly who was instrumental during their 2025 championship run and he will be back either in the rotation or at the backend of the bullpen.
The Rams return SS KK Delacruz, Christian Villacci, Tyler Diez, Joe Lanza and Aidan Mehmel on the position player side. Coach McCabe mentioned Christian Pellegrino as an impact pitcher that’s returning.
As is generally the case, the back-to-back championships have ignited an influx of talented transfers and freshmen that want to be a part of the winning program, as was the case during their run of 7 consecutive titles last decade.
“Winning takes care of a lot,” said Osik. “It certainly helps our recruiting. Mike {McCabe} did a great job, he brought in a lot of freshmen – James Beckworth, Richie Luke, Dan Casey, Patrick Dunbar, to name a few. Another potential impact freshmen is 1B Matt Garcia who will compete for time with Vin Deiosso.
They really made some moves with transfer players; bringing in Joey DiMotta (FDU), CJ Forman (Adelphi), Matt Reiter (Molloy), Mikey Furst (Staten Island) and Nick Berasti (St. Thomas Aquinas). Our audience may be familiar with many of those names and Berasti had arguably the best moment of his career on the Farmingdale mound back in 2024 during the Nassau A Championship for Clarke HS. Speaking of Clarke HS, his former teammate, Zaim Deljanin also transferred from Nassau CC and he was the League MVP during his senior season in 2023.
“He is really something,” said Osik. “If I’m wrong about that kid…”
Osik also noted that DiMotta has had a great fall, hitting a couple home runs already. He was apart of Commack’s dominant team in 2023 along with Chris McHugh in the middle of the lineup that cruised to winning the Long Island Championship over Massapequa.
“We just have a really good combination of freshmen and transfers. We are really happy about our future.”
They will open up at home against CCNY on February 27 with a double header as they look to begin their quest for a 3-peat.