Typically when a team starts four sophomores in any given year, it’s rebuilding year. Especially when there’s only three seniors, as Oceanside had in 2017.
That was not the case, as shown by their 17-5-1 record.
What was the secret?
Those four sophomores all stepped up to the challenge and performed exceptionally well. First baseman Chris Siklas (.353 AVG), OF Leo Alvarez (.365 AVG), 3B Austin Vlahakis (.321 AVG) and 2B Jake Lazzaro (.305 AVG) were all major contributors as opposed to inexperienced sophomores.
Lazzaro, also an All-County WR on the football team, played so well he received an athletic scholarship from St. John’s on the basis of his incredible series against Massapequa.
Head Coach Mike Postillo called him “lightning fast” and he will slide over to SS to start this season.
Another major contributor to the offense was three-year starter Dylan Judd is committed to UMASS-Amherst and was critical in handling their talented pitching staff; which segues to their strength of the team.
Postillo is very confident in the pitching staff, as they are fortunate to be returning they entire staff.
Anchoring the staff is Diamond Award finalist and Tufts-commit Brendan McFall, who was named Axcess Baseball’s MVP of the conference. He was sensational, compiling a record of 7-1 with a 0.93 ERA with a 1.08 WHIP.
Joining him is the hard-throwing NYIT-commit Matt Carey who was 4-1 with a 1.30 ERA and 1.13 WHIP. Rounding out the rotation is T.J. Thorne, record of 5-1 with a 0.87 ERA and 0.97 WHIP. That is outstanding production from a rotation, and they are all back.
Additionally, they have closer Ryan Powers still in the fold.
Postillo noted that typically he would count on a pitcher with as much promise as Noah Eisel (who sat 79-80 MPH with a devilish 73 MPH knuckleball at the Prep Baseball Report LI showcase last week), but his staff is talented enough that they might not rely on him.
He will play second base with Lazzaro moving to SS.
They were right at the finish line last year, losing 2-0 and 2-1 to Massapequa in the semifinals on a walk-off hit in the 11th inning by Chris Wasson.
Chris Wasson rips walk-off single to send Massapequa to the Nassau County Class AA Finals ! pic.twitter.com/bZJmKM6U0t
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 25, 2017
This year, the league will have the same cast of characters–Massapequa, Farmingdale, Syosset, Hicksville, Freeport and Port Washington.
