Rob Christensen
Coming off 15-3 Regular Season, Smithtown East Looks to Replace 11 Seniors
Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s series by Max Edelman ‼️ Andrew Amarando comes through with a walk-off single in the bottom of the 8th to send Connetquot to the Suffolk AAA Finals against Sachem North ! ‼️ pic.twitter.com/PDbUi3eFqt — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 28, 2025 A spectacular regular season ended with a premature postseason exit for the Smithtown East Bulls in 2025. Head coach Rob Christensen, who is entering his fifth year as the head coach of the Bulls, summed it up: “It was excellent and disappointing.” Christensen said. “We went 15-3 in league play and won both of our non-league games. We were the three seed but ultimately lost to Sachem North in a tough game, and Connetquot walked us off to end our season.” Last y...
Sunday Spotlight: Sean Fanning
In a cruel twist of fate, Smithtown East had their 2024 and 2025 seasons end via walk-off. By the same team. In the same inning. With the same pitcher on the mound. That pitcher, Sean Fanning, certainly deserved better after compiling a record of 10-0 entering his start on Wednesday at Connetquot. He was a major reason that the Bulls captured the League III title with a record of 15-3 during the regular season. He was named League III MVP, All-County, All-League and the Gold Glove winner for 1B. He fired 31 straight scoreless innings at one point. In fact, the Fannings combined for 17 of Smithtown East’s 20 wins as his twin brother, Tom, went 7-1. The entire Smithtown East varsity team has been playing together for several years – it’s a big reason why they’ve been ...
Led by 12 Seniors, Smithtown East Ready to Make Another Postseason Run
Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s series by Joe Bello Final: Smithtown East 5, Hills East 0 WP: James Lanflisi (6.2 innings relief, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 9 Ks) Ciminiello: 1-3, 3B, 3 RBIs Smithtown East clinches postseason berth pic.twitter.com/3g30UNRryz — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 7, 2024 Rob Christensen is entering his 4th season as varsity head coach for Smithtown East. After a strong 2024 season, Christensen and his team are looking forward to the upcoming season. “2024 was a great season,” Christensen said. “We felt like we finally hit our stride in the final two weeks of the season, leading into playoffs. The team played extremely well down the stretch, taking the momentum into the playoffs. The losses were heartbreakers, but ...
Smithtown East Plans To Go Back To Their Winning Ways In 2024
by Mike Merolle Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s season preview series. Smithtown East took a step back in 2023, missing the playoffs with a record of 5-14. In 2022, however, Smithtown East was the Suffolk Conference II champions and reached the Suffolk County Class AA Finals. In his third season as head coach, Robert Christensen looks to flip the script this season. “Every season is a fresh start where we have to bring the lessons learned from the previous season to a new group of guys,” Christensen told Axcess Baseball. “Anytime a season ends, you reflect on how the season was, what worked well and [what] didn’t work, what do we need to get better, who graduated, and who can step in to help us the following season.” From the past two ye...
Smithtown East Defeats Hills East, 7-2, Remains Undefeated at 6-0
Final: Smithtown East 7, Hills East 2 WP: Ben Kennedy (5 IP, 2 R, 4 Ks) Matt Wild: 3-for-3, RBI double Kurt Schneider: 3-for-3, double, HR Smithtown East improves to 6-0 pic.twitter.com/u6414gOpL0 — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 18, 2022 It takes contributions up-and-down the lineup if you have championship aspirations and that’s exactly what Smithtown East has been receiving thus far in 2022. The Bulls have raced off to a 6-0 start, thanks in large part to an offense that has been outstanding so far. They defeated Hills East, 7-2, led by 3-for-3 performances from both their leadoff batter, Matt Wild, and their seventh place hitter, Kurt Schneider. Their starting pitcher, Ben Kennedy, showed toughness through five innings of work – escaping a bases loaded jam in th...
Rob Christensen Takes Over For Smithtown East in 2022
By Michael Malaszczyk 2022 could very well be the year that Long Island baseball finally breaks free of the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Coach Rob Christensen, the new head coach of Smithtown East’s baseball, seems to agree. “Last season was everyone’s first season at the varsity level due to Covid,” said Christensen. “This experience should definitely benefit us for the season.” Smithtown East has nothing to be ashamed of in terms of how last season went considering the circumstances; they made it to the playoffs before ultimately losing to Northport. Christensen himself has many years of experience in the game of baseball; he was an assistant coach at Smithtown East for eight years and learned the ropes of coaching from former coach Ken Klee. “I learned an incredible amount...
