MVP Baseball
How Brendan Ott Refused to Let Injury Define His Career
by Tucker Terranova In baseball and in life, everything can change in an instant. Brendan Ott knows that better than most. It was January 18, 2024 – a date he won’t forget. The recent St. Anthony’s graduate had just wrapped up a Thursday afternoon workout and joined some friends for a pickup basketball game. Basketball had always been part of his DNA – a passion that rivaled even his love for the diamond. Then came a move he’d made a thousand times before, but this time, something felt off. Ott heard a crack in his knee. At first, he shrugged it off, thinking it was nothing serious. He tested it, bent it, walked on it. No sharp pain. No swelling yet. He went home thinking he’d be fine. But by that night, the pain worsened. The swelling grew. A long weekend of worry followed. On Monday, he ...
Up Next Powered by Ken Kortright State Farm Agency: Connor Bletsch
(Editor’s Note: This is the 20th installment of the popular “Up Next” series in which we highlight the top underclassmen on Long Island. Previously, we featured Dylan Weinstein, Jaxson Torres, Richie Roberts, Joe Maxwell, Dom Muccia, Logan Lamberson, Fred Klauck, Jake Ostertag, Mason Gatchalian, Jagger Franco, Evan Frangas, Ryan Matson, Dylan Frers, Aidan Dobrie, Tyler D’Amico, Lucas Sweeting, Shea Corona, Van Johnson & SJ Garneau. You can read them all by clicking here. Special thanks to Ken Kortright State Farm Agency for sponsoring this year’s series.) Connor Bletsch (John Glenn 2027) displaying his raw power pic.twitter.com/EsVeOUPTpf — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) March 10, 2025 In what was a difficult season for John Glenn HS in 2024, there was a silver lining ̵...
Up Next Powered by State Farm Ken Kortright Agency: Tristan Garcia
Top 4: plenty of action in this game – a 2-R single by Tristan Garcia and North Babylon opens up a 9-4 lead pic.twitter.com/829aNslIGO — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) March 31, 2023 It is rare that you see a high school freshman conduct himself with the maturity of a senior. By all accounts, Tristan Garcia is that type of person. He was also talented enough to start all 23 games and bat .395 for a playoff team in Suffolk Class AA, then continue that success right into the travel ball circuit with MVP Baseball. He batted .394 with six doubles, 16 RBIs and went 6-1 on the mound with a 1.93 ERA and 34 strikeouts. Garcia is an exciting player and will be a major part of the North Babylon Bulldogs core for the next three seasons. That is bad news for opposing teams. I spoke with hi...
Up Next Powered by State Farm Ken Kortright Agency: Tucker Brown
(Editor’s Note: This is the twelfth installment of the Up Next Series in which we highlight the top underclassmen on Long Island. Previously, we featured Everett Zarzicki, Brian Brower, Stellan Zangari, Ryan Bush, Bryce Cutrone, Justin Ortiz, Colin Raymond, Jagger Adamo, JD Duffy, Chris Sultana, Matt Zambriski. Special thanks to State Farm Ken Kortright Agency for sponsoring this year’s series.) It’s not often that a freshman is called up with two weeks left in the season and winds up winning you a playoff game. That’s exactly what happened with Hauppauge as freshman infielder Tucker Brown came up against Hills West RHP Ryan Muskopf and hit a go-ahead two-run single up the middle to break a 6-6 tie. Hauppauge held on to win by the score of 8-6. Hauppauge freshman Tu...
Up Next Powered by State Farm Ken Kortright Agency: Ryan Bush
(Editor’s Note: This is the fourth installment of the Up Next series in which we highlight the top underclassmen on Long Island. Previously, we featured Everett Zarzicki, Brian Brower and Stellan Zangari. Special thank you to State Farm Ken Kortright Agency for sponsoring this year’s series.) Since 2017, Commack has turned into the premier baseball program on Long Island. Much of that is due to the culture that the late head coach Bryan Bonin instilled, as the Cougars won a County Championship in his first season at the helm and followed that up with another in his final season in 2021, and in the first two seasons under Matt Salmon in 2022-’23. Besides the great culture that Bonin helped instilled, they have a tremendous pipeline of talent that’s on par with the be...
