Kellenberg
Up Next Powered by Ken Kortright State Farm Agency: Michael Cotto
(Editor’s Note: This is the fourth installment of the 2025 Up Next Series in which we highlight the top underclassmen on Long Island. Previously, we highlighted Jack Mulligan, Alex Pagano and Quincy Gibbs. Special thanks to Ken Kortright State Farm for sponsoring this year’s series.) Mike Cotto (Kellenberg 2026) smashes an RBI triple during a big first inning for Next Level Next Level 5 – Five Star 1 End first pic.twitter.com/mh5l5gQHYJ — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) September 7, 2025 In the 38-year history of Kellenberg baseball, they had never called up a freshman to the varsity team. Part of it was the school administration’s strict guidelines, but also because the school’s strong enrollment meant it wasn’t necessary to make such an aggressive...
GAME RECAP: Kellenberg Captures 2025 NSHSAA Championship on Walk-Off in Extra Innings
Sophomore Andrew Noe comes through with a walk-off hit in the bottom of the eighth and Kellenberg has captured the 2025 NSCHSAA Championship with a 3-2 win over Chaminade ! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/OvBv39K4LE — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 27, 2025 When Pat Miles took over the Kellenberg varsity head coach job in 2021, he nearly reached the mountain top in year one. It was the same story in year two – reaching the Championship series before losing to Chaminade. “This team has been a road block for 5 years now,” said Miles, following the game. “They’re such a good team, they’re so fundamentally sound and so well coached. Winning a playoff game in this league is an accomplishment, winning several playoff games and a championship is an amazing accompli...
GAME RECAP: Durso Outduels Coats, Leads Kellenberg Past St. Anthony’s 1-0
by Tucker Terranova Jack Durso discusses what worked and how he was able to navigate the St. Anthony’s lineup in Kellenberg’s 1-0 victory. pic.twitter.com/PExboTAb1x — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 18, 2025 Kellenberg has established itself as a Long Island pitcher factory, producing top-tier arms like Chris Cappas, Jason Diaz, and Andrew Koshy in recent years. It’s now time to add Jack Durso to that list. Durso, a southpaw heading to the University of Miami this fall, hasn’t just carried the torch in 2025, he’s added to the legacy. “Jack has been watching Kellenberg baseball since he was in sixth grade because his brother, Joe Durso, graduated in 2021,” head coach Pat Miles told Axcess Baseball. “He told me two years ago that he wanted to be on that Mount Rushmore with those gu...
GAME RECAP: Luke Coats Fans 10 in St. Anthony’s Opening Day Win
West Virginia-commit Luke Coats on the win for St. Anthony’s pic.twitter.com/jH8Ky6MXBV — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) March 25, 2025 4 games in one location in front of a packed house at Moriches Athletic Complex. Baseball fans were treated to an absolute perfect setting for Opening Day of the Catholic League. It was an incredible pitching match up between the reigning champs, St. Anthony’s, against the Kellenberg Firebirds. The Friars sent West Virginia-commit Luke Coats against Miami-commit Jack Durso. A handful of MLB scouts were on hand anticipating a tremendous pitcher’s duel. St. Anthony’s got off to a quick start in the top of the first. A leadoff single by Stony Brook-commit Jacob Vaccariello, HBP of West Virginia-commit CJ Alfano and a single to left by ...
Where Are They Now Powered by Prime Performance: Chris Cappas
It’s been over 7 years since Kellenberg’s thrilling 1-0 victory over St. John the Baptist at Hofstra University in which their sophomore stud, Jason Diaz, was electric and struck out the final batter to secure the second straight title for the Firebirds. It remains the last championship for Kellenberg. The Catholic League Player of the Year was senior LHP Chris Cappas who went 6-1 on the mound and allowed just 1 run over 39.1 innings (0.18 ERA) with 53 strikeouts. He ended the season on a 25.1 inning scoreless streak. He was equally as impactful at the plate, he batted .434 with 3 HRs, 23 RBIs and just one strikeout. Cappas, along with a group of seniors, formed a bond that he believes is the reason they were so successful on the field. It doesn’t hurt, however, that they...
GAME RECAP: St. Anthony’s Holds Off Kellenberg, 3-2, to Advance in NSCHSAA Playoffs
by Tucker Terranova Farmingdale State College hosted the NSCHSAA Quarterfinal Round on Sunday afternoon featuring two matchups between the top four seeds in perhaps Long Island’s most historic and competitive conference. The latter of the day’s action showcased the No. 2 Kellenberg Firebirds and No. 3 St. Anthony’s Friars duking it out for the right to advance to the semifinals. The two rivals met twice in the regular season with Kellenberg sweeping the season series. However, they knew this was a different team than the one they faced in April. St. Anthony’s entered the playoffs as the hottest team in the conference, boasting a 7-1 record in the month of May. They maintained their momentum today, edging out Kellenberg in a gritty 3-2 victory. “We’ve had a good mindset all season but put ...
GAME RECAP: Sean Atkinson Fires Six Shutout Innings in Holy Trinity’s 7-0 Win over Kellenberg
by Max Edelman FINAL: Holy Trinity 7 – Kellenberg 0 Sean Atkinson tosses six scoreless innings, and Holy Trinity shuts out Kellenberg at home. pic.twitter.com/xlI4yO1X85 — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 30, 2024 Sean Atkinson’s six shutout innings helped the Holy Trinity Titans cruise to a 7-0 shutout home victory over the Kellenberg Firebirds in a Catholic League matchup. The Titans only allowed four hits in the contest, and scored two runs in the first inning and never looked back en route to victory. On the mound, Atkinson was dominant. In six innings of shutout ball, Atkinson struck out six, only walked one and allowed only four hits. Atkinson was also a threat at the plate, as he went two for three with a double and a RBI. Atkinson was one of two Titans to collect mu...
GAME RECAP: Jimmy Ernst Has 3 Hits & 4 RBIs in Kellenberg’s 13-3 Win
by Aaron Diaz Here is Jimmy Ernst as Player of the game for the Firebird’s. Ernst went 3-4 with multiple RBI in today’s game against Chaminade. pic.twitter.com/YatiqhkkZH — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 18, 2024 The Kellenberg Firebirds beat the Chaminade Flyers in a 13-3 game on Wednesday, April 17 in a rainy day slugfest for the Firebirds. The Firebird’s relentless offense stopped the game in the bottom of the sixth with the mercy rule in effect. Catcher Jimmy Ernst propelled Kellenberg from behind the plate and from the batter’s box going 3-4 with four RBIs in the game. “Everything was working,” Ernst said. “The Pitchers were hot and the bats were hot. We put the ball over the plate and hit the ball to move guys over.” Even though Kellenberg would get t...
Kellenberg Returns 16 Players From 17-Win Team
by Max Edelman Despite a strong season for the Kellenberg Firebirds in 2023, which saw the team finish with an overall record of 17-8, the Firebirds ultimately fell short of their goal of winning a Catholic League championship. Although the ending wasn’t ideal, head coach Pat Miles, who is entering his 4th year as the head coach of Kellenberg’s varsity team looked back on what he believed was a strong season for his team. “We had a really good season.” Miles said. “We won a playoff game against St. Dominic’s in the losers bracket which sent us to a game against St Anthony’s. Unfortunately for us, it was the only time we lost to them last season. Obviously, 17-8 is a great season, not what we wanted, but that’s how we wrapped it up.” The big loss for Kellenberg comes in the form of An...
Steven Hardiman On Overcoming Adversity to Become a College Pitcher
Steven Hardiman (Kellenberg 2022) was recently named Hampton Collegiate Baseball League’s Pitcher of the Week. The Bentley southpaw went six innings for the Southampton Breakers, allowing two unearned runs, two hits and one walk with 8 strikeouts as his team clinched a playoff berth. For the season, he struck out 30 batters over 24.1 innings. While every athlete faces some type of adversity along the way, most of those hardships pale in comparison to what Hardiman faced. When he was just five years old, he had an ABC tumor in his right femur bone that caused a multitude of problems. He broke his femur bone three times, needed two rods, four screws and a plate put in his leg which necessitated five surgeries. The doctors told his family they didn’t know if he was going to be abl...
Q & A With Blue Chip Collegiate League Player of the Week Kenny Hirschfeld
Kellenberg has been a consistently strong program over the past several years. The highlight was certainly the back-to-back CHSAA Championships in 2016-2017 but they also made it to back-to-back finals in 2021 and 2022 where they ran into Chaminade both years. One of the man contributors on those teams was catcher Kenny Hirschfeld, who is now at New Haven. Kenny is playing in the Blue Chip Collegiate League where he was named Player of the Week after batting .500 with 2 doubles, one HR, 7 runs scored, 4 RBIs and he threw out 2 runners. I had a chance to speak with him and here’s what he had to say… Can you discuss your decision to attend New Haven and how you’e enjoyed your time there? One of the reasons why I chose the University of New Haven was because I knew that the ...
GAME RECAP: Nicholas DelVecchio Goes 4-for-4, Gabe Klarikaitis Pitches Well, Holy Trinity Wins 5-3
Nick DelVecchio went 4-for-4 with an RBI and 2 runs scored out of the leadoff spot for Holy Trinity in the 5-3 win over Kellenberg @GCsports pic.twitter.com/0Lpb3v7ZAx — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 26, 2023 Coming off yesterday’s 2-1 loss at the hands of Wake Forest-commit Andrew Koshy, Holy Trinity knew they needed to do some home cooking as they look to play for a bye in the NSCHSAA postseason. The Titans wasted zero time, putting up two runs in the first inning which was already more than they were able to compile in the previous game. They did not look, and they were able to capture the critical 5-3 win against first place Kellenberg to split the series. Kellenberg sent junior Matt Reiter to the mound against Holy Trinity’s Gabe Klaritkaitis. After a scoreles...
