NEWS
John Glenn Looks To Take Step Forward in Year 2 Under Billy Riedel
Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s series by Joe Bello Coach Billy Riedel is heading into his second year as the head coach of the varsity squad at John Glenn High School. After finishing with a record of 3-17 during the 2025 season, the Knights look to make some noise during their 2026 campaign. “The 2025 season supplied us with a great foundational year to build off of.” Riedel said, “We had a lot of underclassmen up, like shortstop Armando Muniz, catcher Joey Meyer, and utility man Gavin Paterniani that gained valuable experience as they continue to build their varsity resume.” B1 Catcher Joey Meyer (John Glenn 2028) catches a runner stealing to end the bottom of the first B1 leads 1-0 after one pic.twitter.com/QfahxgyuUR — Axcess Baseball ...
Coming off First County Title in 9 Years, East Meadow Looking to Build on Success
Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s series By Anthony DiCocco Owen Smith is the @GetGameChanger Player of the Game as the East Meadow RHP went the distance and also drove in 3 runs at the plate pic.twitter.com/ooUcF4Mwuj — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 25, 2025 In year two under head coach Bill O’Connor, a young and hungry East Meadow Jets team will hope to make some noise against some of Nassau County’s best squads. Last spring, East Meadow went 17-7, riding its wave of success all the way to a Conference AA-1 title. After capturing their first title in nine years, the Jets now find themselves back in Conference-AAA for the 2026 season, where they will take on some powerhouse programs, such as Farmingdale and Massapequa. “We...
Biomechanics in Motion: Science Backed Athletic Training
by Trevor Dugan Baseball players have been using the laws of physics to their advantage since the sport’s inception in the 19th century. From the invention of the curveball to the modern obsession over launch angles, physics and baseball have always been deeply intertwined. The same is true for every sport, and biomechanics is at the root of it all. Biomechanics, as it relates to sports, is the study of the response of the body to mechanical force, with the goal of understanding the most efficient way to move to get the most out of your movements and avoid injuries. Many athletes who were unfamiliar with this term have likely already been exposed to its principles in some capacity by coaches while learning to throw a ball or swing a bat or stick. While it may not be at the forefront of t...
Up Next Powered by Ken Kortright State Farm: Jack Yonkman
(Editor’s Note: This is the 15th installment of the Up Next series in which we highlight the top underclassmen on Long Island. Previously, we featured Jack Mulligan, Alex Pagano, Quincy Gibbs, Michael Cotto, Charlie Edwards, Evan Picciano, Nick Lawrence, Robbie Mascia, Jacob Abran, Tyler Camastro, Jason Davis, Michael Garcia ,Vincent Bourne and Nate Lewis. Special thanks to Ken Kortright State Farm for sponsoring this year’s series.) Some swings from this past season pic.twitter.com/zsD0SC1hnt — Jack Yonkman (@jack_yonkman) December 4, 2025 Regardless of what new innovations come to the game of baseball, power will always be a valuable skill. In the case of Division sophomore Jack Yonkman, he put his power on display all summer. It was a tremendous season for the slugger. Over 36 games pla...
Farmingdale Eager to Regain Nassau-AAA Title
Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s series By Anthony DiCocco Final: Farmingdale 1, Oceanside 0 WP: Justin Hills (6 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 BB, 6 Ks) Lone run scored on a bases loaded walk by Kenneth Roldan in first inning Farmingdale improved to 11-1-1 pic.twitter.com/lvRXN0zQf3 — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 6, 2025 After falling just short of being back-to-back Nassau County Champions, the Farmingdale Dalers are eager to begin their climb to return to the top of the mountain. Two years ago, Farmingdale finally got over the hump, as it captured its first county title after a 34-year drought. However, the Dalers were unable to complete the repeat last spring despite going 19-5-1. In the final game of a best-of-three series, Massapequa ups...
Talented Hills East Returns Core of Last Year’s Playoff Team
Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s series by Max Edelman After an 11-7 season that ended in his team dropping their first two playoff games, head coach of the Half Hollow Hills East RedHawks Tim Belz looked back on what was an up and down season for his team. “We were a young team.” Belz said. “Where we started only one senior and had four ninth graders in the lineup and at times two or three sophomores and the rest were juniors.” While the RedHawks will be full of youth this upcoming season, they did lose four seniors to graduation. Including Matt LeRose, who is attending Alvernia University, where he is continuing his baseball career. Among returning players, Belz is looking for a big season from Nate Greene. Greene is committed to Rollins...
Sachem East Returns Strong Core Following 17 Win Season
Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s series by Anthony DiCocco Bottom 3: AJ Vurchio rips a 2-out, 2-run double to extend Sachem East’s lead to 5-0 pic.twitter.com/AxM1n0Isjf — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 20, 2025 Under the watchful eye of head coach Kevin Schnupp, Sachem East will hope to take the next step in 2026 after a strong finish to last season. In 2025, Sachem East got off to a tough start before surging back into playoff contention. After beginning the season 2-5 while experiencing some growing pains, the team rattled off 13 straight wins, helping it finish the campaign 17-7. Sachem East — a squad that featured a large number of underclassmen last season — was ultimately bounced from the postseason, but found some playoff ...
Plainview JFK Seeking to Return to Nassau AAA Finals
Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s series by Anthony DiCocco Following a successful 2025 season, the Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK Hawks will strive to continue their strong play with a new-look lineup and pitching staff. Last year, head coach John Givargidze and the Hawks continued to perform in a powerhouse conference despite losing some high-profile players, going 13-10-1 and 10-7-1 in Conference-AAA play. Nevertheless, Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK was ultimately eliminated by Farmingdale in the semifinals for a second consecutive season after pushing the Dalers to the brink in a best-of-three series. Despite falling short of their ultimate goal, Givargidze was proud of his players for both their on-field play and the way they conducted themselv...
Southampton Looks to Lean on Strong Pitching to Compete in League VII
Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s series by Anthony DiCocco With a mix of returners and new faces, head coach Zach Epley and the Southampton Mariners hope to turn the tide heading into the 2026 campaign. The Mariners have struggled over the past half decade, going 22-84 since 2021. Last year, Southampton went 6-14, and due to lower enrollment they dropped from Class A to Class B in its league. However, with an increased focus on fundamentals after sporting a .901 team fielding percentage in 2025, Epley believes his squad can enjoy a turnaround. “We can’t beat ourselves,” Epley said. “We lost a few close games in the middle of the season, which was disappointing for us in games we thought we could win. Those top teams are going to be fundamen...
Farmingdale High School Welcomes Third Annual Coaches Clinic
by George Caratzas For the third straight year, the Farmingdale Baseball League is hosting its annual coaches clinic on Sunday, Feb. 1. Inspired by the World Baseball Coaches’ Convention, the clinic is designed as an opportunity for local youth baseball and softball coaches to share ideas and grow the community. After stepping away from coaching, founder Mike LoGerfo — the vice president of the Farmingdale Baseball League — created the clinic in 2024. “I was the varsity baseball coach at Locust Valley High School in the mid-2000s, and I was very fortunate to go to the World Baseball Convention,” LoGerfo told Axcess Baseball. “That was an awesome event, and I learned so much from the presenters. I have a lot of connections in baseball, and I thought this was something we could do locally....
Riverhead Looks to Build On First Playoff Appearance in a Decade
Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s series by Max Edelman In his three seasons as head coach of the Riverhead Blue Wave, Kevin Kerman’s team has undergone a full transformation. In his first year in charge, Kerman’s squad managed only one victory in 20 games, fast forward just two years, the Blue Wave finished 14-10, the first time Riverhead finished over .500 under Kerman. “Last year was a huge step in the right direction for our program.” Kerman said. When I took this team over 4 years ago, we were in rebuild mode. We were a young group that needed to get bigger, stronger, and gain more experience. We went from 1-19 in year one to 4-16 in year two, to 14-10 with two playoff victories in year three. It was a massive improvement from our p...
Coming Off Back-to-Back Semifinals Appearances, Carey Hungry to Take Next Step
Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s series by Max Edelman Here is the Gamechanger player of the game…..Jayden Gigante. Gigante went 4-5 breaking the 4-4 tie in the fourth to give his team the lead, 6-4. pic.twitter.com/i9NWeduZwC — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 8, 2024 In a year leading a team with plenty of star power, Carey Seahawks head coach Doug Robins, who is entering his eighth year leading the Seahawks, looked back on what was a strong season in 2025. “We had a good year number wise.” Robins said. “We went 19-7, but we lost in the semifinals to Bellmore JFK for the second year in a row. We played well. We pitched well, we hit well and we started a lot of underclassmen. We had some big years from guys.” Every season sees...
