West Islip
West Islip, Stony Brook Alum duels with Gerrit Cole in Yankees Intrasquad Game
Nick Tropeano on the mound for the Stony Brook Seawolves. Tropeano started the final Yankees intrasquad game before Opening Day next Thursday. Photo Credit: Stony Brook Athletics by Kenneth Fermin All eyes were on Gerrit Cole Friday night at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, N.Y. The pitcher who signed with the New York Yankees for $324 million this offseason took the mound for the final time before the 2020 Opening Day. While Cole impressed fans striking out the side opening the contest, the opposing pitcher matched the ace throwing zero’s on the scoreboard. West Islip High School (’08) and Stony Brook (’11) alum Nick Tropeano battled Cole on the pitching mound in the Yankees intrasquad game on July 17th. Tropeano, representing the ‘Bombers,’ gave up two singles and struck out three batters in...
OTD: Commack Captures First County Championship Since 1997
Commack does it!! They are the 2017 Suffolk Class AA Champions ! Commack 8, West Islip 6 WP: Jake Krzemienski pic.twitter.com/00g1i7pt9V — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 31, 2017 One week before the season, the Commack baseball team didn’t know who their Head Coach would be. This was a team coming off a 14-win season and a playoff run with arguably the best staff on Long Island. Three months later they are celebrating their first Suffolk County Class AA championship since 1997 after their 8-6 back-and-forth victory over the reigning Long Island Champion West Islip Lions. Senior Pete Theodorellis, who tied the game up at 6-6 in the sixth inning with a double off the fence–and fired 8.2 IP yesterday–never wavered in his optimism with this team. Even during that period of confusion ...
OTD: Jake Guercio’s Big Day Leads West Islip Over North Babylon
(Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared on April 14, 2018.) In a makeup game, the West Islip Lions defeat the North Babylon Bulldogs 15-6. Fordham-commit Jake Guercio went 3-for-3 with a three-run home run, three RBI and two stolen bases. West Islip improves to 6-2 while North Babylon falls to 5-3. Jordan Piht gets the win for West Islip while Evan Christopher earns the loss for North Babylon. “I don’t think the score was really indicative of the game,” says West Islip head coach Shawn Rush. “We had some big hits in some big spots…Any time you get out of North Babylon with a victory is a good day,” he added. West Islip got the scoring started early, with Jimmy Loeffler driving in Guercio on a RBI double. Senior Anthony Ippolito would drive in Loeffler on a double in the next...
Can West Islip Continue Their ‘Even-Year’ Trend?
Over the course of his tenure, Shawn Rush has established West Islip as the model of consistency in terms of Suffolk County baseball programs. Since 2008, they have captured four Suffolk County Championships and two Long Island Championships. Last season, they once again captured their league title and made a deep postseason run but ran into a terrific Ward Melville team led by the Carl Yastrzemski Award winner, Max Nielsen. “I’m pretty proud of the group – the seniors did a nice job,” said Rush. “The ultimate goal is to win a county championship every year but that’s not always attainable. We reached the semifinals, it was a disappointing ending but we just got beat. We faced the Yastrzemski Award winner and he showed why,” he said, referencing th...
Nick Tropeano Signs With the New York Yankees
The New York Yankees signed Long Island native Nick Tropeano to a minor league deal that includes an invitation to big league camp, according to Jon Heyman of MLB Network. It is a homecoming of sorts, as Tropeano is a 2008 graduate of West Islip and was drafted out of Stony Brook following an incredible 2011 campaign. His Stony Brook tenure was among the best in program history, as he was a two-time America East Pitcher of the Year. He was named All-American in 2011 when he compiled a record of 12-1 with a program-record 1.84 ERA. Which brings the question to mind; imagine if Tropeano was on the 2012 team? In any event, he is looking to get his career back on track following his 2016 Tommy John surgery which has been followed by two abbreviated seasons. In 2019, he compiled a 9.88 ERA over...
What Are The Biggest Storylines of 2020 (High School)
(If you haven’t registered for our upcoming Martin Luther King Day College Showcase, please do so by clicking here.) We spent much of the past week recapping the biggest stories of 2019 but now the calendar has flipped to January and that means no more looking back. College baseball is just 6 weeks away and high school baseball is right around the corner as well. Players are gearing up for the season and now is the time to preview the upcoming season. First we look at the high schools and see what the major storylines are. Here it goes: Can West Islip’s ‘Even Year’ Success Continue? This is a pretty amazing phenomenon. West Islip captured the Suffolk County Class AA Championship in 2014, 2016 and 2018. Maybe there’s nothing to it, or maybe they are due for ano...
Mike LaDonna Commits to Palm Beach State
Final: West Islip 5, North Babylon 4 (13 Innings) WP: Brad Battaglini (5 IP, 1 R) Mike LaDonna: Wall-off sac fly pic.twitter.com/ogXGg6gd4Q — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 24, 2019 One of the most consistent pitchers on Long Island over the past two seasons was West Islip RHP Mike LaDonna. The hard-throwing RHP was a key cog in the Lions’ incredible 22-game win streak in 2018 that culminated in another Suffolk Class AA Championship. He also had a dominant 2019 season in which the Lions made it back to the Final 4 but ran into Max Nielsen and the Ward Melville Patriots. LaDonna also won the Boomer Esiason Award, given to the top QB in Suffolk County after an incredible season in which he threw for 19 TDs and ran for 21 TDs, but lost to Lindenhurst in the Suffolk II title ...
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 ...
Suffolk AA Postseason Primer
May has been an exciting time for the local college baseball teams. We’ve been treated to some great conference tournaments and this past weekend was no exception. The only downside–if any–is that high school coverage has had to take a back seat to events like the Skyline Conference tournament, ECC Tournament and the East Regional. This has limited my time covering the local high school teams but today begins a clean slate–the postseason. There will be no shortage of compelling match ups this week. Additionally, it doesn’t appear weather will be a major factor this week (knock on wood). Remember last year the terrible downpour that caused the games to be suspended on Tuesday and cancel all of Wednesday. We don’t need that. I’m going to go over a fe...
Mike LaDonna Delivers Walk-Off Sac Fly In West Islip’s 13 Inning 5-4 Win
Final: West Islip 5, North Babylon 4 (13 Innings) WP: Brad Battaglini (5 IP, 1 R) Mike LaDonna: Wall-off sac fly pic.twitter.com/ogXGg6gd4Q — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 24, 2019 With their backs firmly against the wall in the seventh and 13th innings, West Islip did what only they are comfortable doing and that’s battling back from behind. They came back from deficits of 3-0 and 4-3 to win 5-4 in 13 innings against League 4 rival North Babylon. “We grinded today,” said winning pitcher Brad Battaglini. “We had a lot of opportunities and couldn’t really push a run across but we got the “W” today,’ he added. The reigning Suffolk AA Champs are comfortable with the uncomfortable and unflappable even in the stickiest of situations. ...
Predictions For Suffolk Class AA
The beautiful thing about traveling around to indoor facilities in the winter is that it gives me a chance to see how kids have evolved since last season. Since the Long Island Championship last June, players had additional opportunities to improve their game over the summer and increase their strength over the winter. I feel like with all that being said, I have a pretty good feeling as to who the top players and teams are across Long Island. Today, we will focus on Suffolk Class AA, where many of the top players in our region reside. From a scouting perspective, I’m looking forward to see how those select few players answer the bell and attempt to be this year’s version of Franklin Parra and Logan O’Hoppe on draft day. From a journalistic standpoint, I’m excited t...
Who Are The Top Remaining Uncommitted 2019s Available?
Randall Alejo, RHP, Pat-Med One theme that I have found common with Pat-Med players is that they are always wired a certain way. They are never fazed by the pressure spots, even when they are not necessary “supposed to be there”. Prime example: May 19, 2017, Pat-Med is ranked No. 14 and playing against No. 3 Hills East. It’s not just the ranking, but the fact that they were playing on the road and facing Vanderbilt-commit and Axcess Baseball‘s No. 1 ranked prospect on Long Island, Matt Hogan. Alejo outpitched the future Carl Yastrzemski Award winner and shocked the baseball community with a huge upset. Now a senior and named to our Pre-Season All-Long Island list with his 88 MPH fastball, Alejo has a chance to be an All-County pitcher. For a contemporary comparison,...
