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NEW YORK
SPORTS DIGEST
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OCEANSIDE HAS ALL THE MAKINGS
Andy Morris and the boys feel very confident that they will repeat last year's performance when they turned in a banner season on the baseball field at Oceanside High School.
Last spring they won the Nassau County and New York State championships, the first such State title in the history of the school. They posted a 26-2 record and are the top ranked team in New York State.
"Expectations are very high," Coach Morris said "And most everyone is back. Pitching is our strong point. We have three top pitchers in Nick Conte, Bill Weitzman and Brendan Springstubb."
Last spring they combined for a perfect 22-0 record.
"We also hit very well,"Morris continued before the start of the season. "We return our two through eight hitters in our lineup."
Brendan Harrington, Jon Kouri, and John Jata are the top offensive threats. Kouri topped the team in home runs as a sophomore.
"Besides our pitching and offense, our other strengths include team speed and aggressiveness on the bases," added Morris, who brought up five players from last year's 12-8 Junior Varsity team. In addition, another strength is a very good outfield.
"The key to the season is a matter of getting our players to say focused, and perform up to par on the field."
GRECO TO PLAY MAJOR ROLE
FOR SOUTH SIDE
Coming off an 11-11 overall record
and losing only four players through graduation, South Side High School's
varsity baseball team seems to be the favorite to win its
conference.
And Steve Smaldone, in his sixth year as varsity coach feels very confident that the boys can pull it off once again.
Heading the roster is Paul Greco, a senior shortstop, who was Most Valuable Payer of the Conference last year.
Greco batted .445, scored 23 runs, and drove home 20 runs. In addition, he also pitches.
"He's a great defensive shortstop," Smaldone said. "Shortstop is his favorite position. He makes difficult plays look easy. We hope he steps it up a little bit this year."
Greco, who earned all-County honors last year, as well, worked out during the off season and played summer ball, has a personal trainer.
In addition to Greco, South Side also returns juniors Ron Letteri, who plays second base and pitches, and pitcher John Henkel; sophomore Mike Abrot, a third baseman and catcher, and seniors Jack Montague, a catcher, and outfielders Dan Grossman and Gerry Ferrara.
Ambrot, Henkel, and Letteri all earned all-Division honors on last year's 10-7 league team.
These players seem to be very talented, according to the coach.
During the off season or summer, they played for "outside" teams.
Smaldone promoted seven players, led by Kev Fitzer, Anthony Bruno and Pat Feehan, from its 15-2 Junior Varsity team.
"We are solid defensively at all our positions," Smaldone said. "Our pitchers have come through when we need it. Hopefully we can score some runs. We have a great group of kids. For us to have a successful season, it has to be a team concept. No one individual star can do it all. It's all teamwork."
ACTION HEAVY AT BASEBALL ACADEMY
Rick Garrett, baseball coach at St. Dominic's High School in Oyster Bay, along with Ken Noe, Phil Andriola, and Mike Dieguez own Clutch Hitting Baseball and Softball Academy in Plainview. It is open 3:00 pm to 10:00 pm Mondays through Fridays and 9:00 am to 10 pm Saturdays and Sundays.
Garrett has some of his students working at Clutch Hitting. They include senior pitcher Mac Tni, junior outfielder Mark Bitter and senior centerfielder Tim Collins.
ALL-STATE CATCHER SEEKS SAME HONOR
P.J. Antoniato, Eric Fierro, and Steve Guliano are expected to pace the Levittown Division varsity team during its possible drive toward the Nassau County title. This trio earned all-County honors last year.
Antoniato is a good all-around player, can hit, play defense, and pitch. When he's not on the mound he plays shortstop.
Guliano can pitch, and play third base and short stop. He can hit, play good defense, has speed, and is extremely strong.
Fierro, all-State catcher as a sophomore now is a senior. He is an excellent defensive player, and has been the top hitter for the team the last three years.
KENNEDY RELIES ON TWO KEY FRESHMEN
Last year Plainview Kennedy High School finished with a 14-7 record and tied with Baldwin for the final playoff spot. Baldwin defeated Plainview in the three game series thus advancing into the second season.
"We came close to winning the County championship on two occasions since '94 as we advanced into the semi-finals," Coach Mark Colleluori said. "We've been a playoff team twice in eight years."
Now Plainview wants to get back into the playoffs again.
Two ninth graders -- Mike Rutcosfky and Jason Appel -- are doing very well on the varsity. The former plays second base and bats leadoff in the lineup. The latter is a pitcher and right fielder.
"He has speed on the base paths," Colleluori said. "in fact, both of them are getting on base and doing well."
Other key players include Adam Shatkun, a pticher-outfielder, Mike Harris, who plays the same two positions, second baseman tom Falcone, Brian Cipolla and Stu Juarez.
Shatkun, one of three seniors, will be playing college ball at Binghamton next fall; Falcone will be seeing action at Sacred Heart; and Harris will be donning a uniform for Rhode Island.
"Harris is right up there and is one of the best players in the County," the coach said.
Cippola, a sophomore catcher, has looked very good during the season. He is continuing on his batting of last year when, as a designated hitter, he batted .465.
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