Ward Melville
Kyle Brennan Living Out Dream To Coach at The Professional Level
(Photo Credit: James P. McCoy/Buffalo News) by Justin Joseph Not every athlete gets the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to coach the sport that they love at the next-level. Kyle Brennan, 25, got his chance on February 1st , when he was hired by a professional baseball team, in the Houston Astros system, to become a Minor League Player Development Coach at the Advanced-A level. “I was obviously ecstatic,” Brennan said regarding his initial reaction to the job offer. ”I texted my family first and then afterwards Tom Downey [who] is the Phillies scout I knew for years. He has been pulling for me to get into pro baseball for a while now,” Brennan said. Brennan began to really get serious about baseball in high school, where he played for Ward Melville. In high school, Brennan served as a capt...
Ward Melville Remains a Championship Contender Entering 2020
by Tony Genualdo Max Nielsen strikes out 18 batters to send Ward Melville to the Suffolk County AA Finals ! pic.twitter.com/RtJrqe4y4p — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 31, 2019 Ward Melville’s run to the Suffolk County title game last year was just the latest in a string of successful seasons for the Patriots of League I. Connetquot would win the championship over Ward Melville in three games, but Coach Lou Petrucci said that he couldn’t have been prouder of his team. “Our kids learned to play in some amazingly energetic and competitive environments,” said Petrucci. “They well exceeded our expectations.” Among those kids from last year were Matty Maurer and Brady Doran, two players who were dominant at the top of the batting order for the team. They would set the tables for fello...
Up Next Powered by The Yard Sports Academy: Charles West
(This is the sixth installment of our popular ‘Up Next’ Series in which we spotlight the next wave of superstars on Long Island. Previously, we have featured Jayden Stroman, Liam Stemmler, Paul Napolitano , Sadier Vicioso and Matt Gileno. None of these players have appeared in a varsity game, but we are confident that they will soon. The series is Powered by The Yard Sports Academy, which you can check out here.) Charles West, aptly named for a left-handed pitcher, didn’t waste his time this summer facing competition that would be helpless against him. He chose to go the more challenging route–pitching a year up–against competition that would provide more of a challenge. The end result was that they weren’t very successful either–as the 14-year-old...
Where Are They Now: A.J. Nunziato
It may be hard to believe but Ward Melville wasn’t always a baseball powerhouse. In fact, before there was Max Nielsen and Ben Brown and Anthony Kay and Steven Matz there was many dormant years. From 1975 until 2004 they did not qualify for a postseason appearance and the school was most notable for their lacrosse program and famous comedian graduate Kevin James and NFL punter Todd Sauerbrun. That all changed in the mid 2000s. Between a strong core of players and the presence of Lou Petrucci in 2007, the program soon became a perennial contender. A.J. Nunziato, a shortstop who grew up idolizing Derek Jeter, wanted to change the culture of the program and get the focus back on baseball. “We didn’t necessarily get along with the lacrosse players,” said Nunziato. ̶...
Anthony Kay Promoted to Big Leagues
It was just four years ago the Long Island baseball community was celebrating the promotion of Ward Melville 2009 grad Steven Matz to the big leagues with the New York Mets. While it is north of the border, Ward Melville 2013 grad Anthony Kay joins the exclusive club of Long Island natives to get the promotion to The Show. Kay, 24, was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays just before the July 31 trade deadline along with Simeon Woods Richardson for Pat-Med 2009 grad Marcus Stroman. After a very difficult first start with Triple-A Buffalo (4.2 IP, 9 H, 7 R, 3ER), the southpaw has bounced back in a big way. Overall, his numbers with Buffalo are stellar. He has thrown 36 innings, allowing 10 ER (2.50 ERA), with 39 strikeouts while allowing just 33 hits. His walks, 22, are a little high but with hi...
Q & A With Frankie Collora
Ward Melville has a habit of grooming pitchers in beasts. Frankie Collora might just be the latest to join that list. With an improved velocity in the mid-to-upper 80s and command of three offspeed pitches, he promises to be a problem for League I hitters next year. He announced his verbal commitment to SUNY Cortland, so I spoke with him to get a better understanding about his decision and what makes him tick. Here’s what he had to say… Who are your biggest role models in life and why? My biggest role models are definitely my parents because I’m an only child with a limited size family so I’ve always looked up to my parents and they’ve led me on the right path ever since I was little. Who are your favorite players in Major League Baseball and why? I used to lo...
Busy Week of College Commitments
With the conclusion of the summer season typically comes a flurry of college commitments as players decide where they’d like to continue their baseball playing career and college coaches ready to solidify their next crop of incoming players. This year is no different as the passed weak has featured several players announcing their verbal commitments. Here’s how it went down. Gavin McAlonie (Miller Place) – Molloy College Quick Hit: Raised his stock significantly beginning with his 4-for-4 performance against Shoreham-Wading River back in late April when Aidan Crowley was going for his fourth consecutive no-hitter in front of a huge crowd. Since then, he proved he is an impact player every step of the way especially with his in-game performances with Body Armor. He also th...
Max Nielsen Captures the 52nd Carl Yastrzemski Award
Max Nielsen strikes out 18 batters to send Ward Melville to the Suffolk County AA Finals ! pic.twitter.com/RtJrqe4y4p — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 31, 2019 When he was in sixth grade, Max Nielsen remembers going to the Ward Melville varsity baseball games watching Anthony Kay star for the Patriots. That was in 2013 when the southpaw was dominating Suffolk County hitters and leading the Patriots to the Long Island Championship. Six years later, it was Nielsen who was the key piece to the Patriots claiming the League I title and making a deep postseason run once again into the semifinals of the Suffolk AA postseason. They won the league title four of his five seasons on varsity. The hard-throwing Nielsen was the recipient of the coveted Carl Yastrzemski Award, which is given an...
Connetquot Captures Suffolk AA Championship
Connetquot is the 2019 Suffolk AA Champs ! They will face Massapequa in the Long Island Championship on Saturday pic.twitter.com/DVn38w3IzF — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 4, 2019 When Connetquot made a deep postseason run into the Suffolk AA Final Four last season, many felt that they had overachieved. Everyone except the players, who felt they should’ve won it all. One year later, they have climbed the mountain top and captured the AA County Championship for the first time since 2015. They did so with a 14-1 victory against No.1 seed Ward Melville and ace Max Nielsen. The T-Birds and their high-octane offense had been held in check in Game 1 by Ryan Hynes, but defeated Ethan Farino yesterday. They faced UCONN-commit Max Nielsen, who was coming off an 18-K master piece o...
Connetquot Forces Decisive Game 3 With 5-4 Victory
Derek Yalon comes up huge with back-to-back strikeouts with runners on 2nd & 3rd. Connetquot leads 5-3, bottom 6 pic.twitter.com/V9reqOFBQ0 — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 3, 2019 In front of a packed house and facing elimination, Derek Yalon came up huge with a six-out save to allow Connetquot to force a decisive Game 3 of the Suffolk County AA Finals, with a 5-4 victory. The T-Birds hung on by the skin of their teeth in a game in which they committed seven errors, but stranded the tying run in scoring position in the seventh inning as Ward Melville threatened to come-from-behind. The first inning featured the most action in the game as the Patriots came out of the gate hot scoring three runs (two earned) against Joey Savino–the top prep pitching prospect on Long Isl...
Max Nielsen Fans 18 in CG Shutout to Send Ward Melville To Suffolk AA Finals
Max Nielsen strikes out 18 batters to send Ward Melville to the Suffolk County AA Finals ! pic.twitter.com/RtJrqe4y4p — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 31, 2019 With a trip to the Suffolk AA Finals on the line, Ward Melville LHP Max Nielsen delivered the game of his life. The UCONN-commit struck out a school-record 18 batters in an 8-0 victory over West Islip to advance to host No. 3 Connetquot in a best-of-three series beginning tomorrow. After allowing the first two batters to reach base in the top of the first, a caught stealing and two strikeouts allowed him to escape unscathed. Facing 6’5″ RHP Anthony Cinquemani, the Ward Melville offense wasted no time. Matt Maurer doubled on a shallow pop up to left field, Ethan Farino was hit by a curveball and catcher Anthony ...
