3 storylines for Long Island high school baseball season
St. Anthony’s players after defeating Holy Trinity in 2024 CHSAA baseball final, and the Friars would love to repeat. Credit: Howard Simmons
There are three major storylines heading into the season, and the excitement of two high-profile draft prospects has the high school baseball world abuzz.
1. Jayden Stroman and Nick Frusco
The first is the return of Jayden Stroman to Patchogue-Medford. The journey has taken Stroman to three different high schools, and he ended up right where he belongs in his senior year — at home.
It’s hard to measure the net gain found along the way in Stroman’s quest for the best possible fit in high school, academically and athletically.
While the destination continued to change, the work ethic remained constant.
“I’ve taken something valuable at every stop along the way,” he said. “There has been a lot of growth in baseball, the classroom and in myself — lots of maturity through learning.”
Stroman’s measurables are quite intimidating. The 6-1, 205-pound righthanded shortstop/pitcher has bumped his fastball to 97 miles per hour. He runs a 6.43 60-yard dash and his exit velocity from both sides of the plate is 101 mph.
“We’ve never seen an athlete like Jayden, and we’ve had some great ones,” Patchogue-Medford coach Anthony Frascogna said. “He throws in the upper 90s with a [Dwight] Gooden-esque curveball. We’re excited to see him play.”
The other blue-chip prospect is Nick Frusco, who never left Miller Place. He just lit up the north shore of Suffolk and has such a high ceiling that he may never step on the Clemson University baseball diamond.
He’s not just your big-boy 6-5, 220-pound pitcher. He’s an extremely coordinated athlete with all the measurables that get you drafted in the first few rounds. He struck out 81 in 39 1/3 innings as a junior.
“He’s a competitor and just takes over a game,” Miller Place coach Joe Mancini said. “Losing is not an option for him. He battles out of tough situations. He never gives in and every at-bat is going to be a challenge.”
Lefthanders are hard to come by. Lefthanders that sit in the low 90s and command a four-pitch repertoire, including a slider, changeup and newly worked curveball are rare. His 17-mph bump in velocity in the past three years has him pumping 94 mph.
Don’t be fooled by Frusco’s 4-3 record as a junior. He went head-to-head with Kings Park ace Hunter Colagrande in two of those games. Colagrande won the Yastrzemski Award presented to Suffolk’s best player and is pitching at Stony Brook University.
2. Can St. Anthony’s repeat?
The CHSAA has been ultra-competitive for the past decade with five league champions. The baseball is fantastic, old school with the wooden bats, dominant pitching and teams forced to play solid defense in what are mostly low-scoring games.
Can St. Anthony's repeat as NSCHSAA champions? They may have enough punch to make it two titles in a row.
Friars junior ace Luke Coats went head-to-head with Jack Durso, one of Long Island’s top lefties from Kellenberg, and had a 3-2 win on Opening Day at the Moriches Athletic Complex.
The win propelled St. Anthony’s to a three-game sweep over Kellenberg and a sweet start in defense of the crown, the Friars' first title in 25 years.
“We've had three programs go back-to-back in the last 25 years,” said Ralph Dalton, the CHSAA baseball coordinator. “We have talent throughout the league and it's great baseball.”
The Friars rebounded from a 2-5 start by winning nine of the final 10 games of the regular season. They got hot in the playoffs, eliminating St. John the Baptist and Kellenberg. They stumbled against Holy Trinity in the winner’s bracket before coming back in the losers’ bracket to eliminate St. Dominic.
“We responded every time our backs were to the wall,” St. Anthony's coach Paul Parsolano said. “The season was a great character builder.”
St. Anthony’s swept the championship series over Holy Trinity and after an awful start, the Friars achieved the improbable finish.
The Friars return nine players committed to college, including Coats and junior first baseman C.J. Alfano, both headed to West Virginia. Seniors Anthony Carlo, Phil Mazzola and Alex Bono lead an experienced offense.
3. Teams to watch
East Islip (17-7) has the best rotation on Long Island. Seniors Thomas Costarelli and Jaden Schmidt and junior Lucas Patton are unmatched in Class AA. They’ll roll with pitching and defense but the challenge for East Islip will be to score enough runs to win a Suffolk crown.
Massapequa (19-5-1) has been the dominant program in Nassau Class AAA/AA for the past 20 years. For the first time since 2015, Massapequa failed to qualify for the Class AAA final. They scored three runs in 22 innings against Port Washington and were beaten in the semifinal round. The batting tunnels were packed through the offseason as coach Tom Sheedy and staff look to rebuild and get back on top.
Kings Park (23-3) dropped a heartbreaker in the state Class A final. They return a 1-2 punch on the bump in sophomores Everett Zarzicki and Dylan Frers. Seniors Vincenzo Buffolino and Anthony Lobasso lead a potent offense back to the Suffolk final.
Bellmore JFK (20-5-2) is looking to take the next step and win a Nassau crown. They lost in the Class AA final to Division. They have two of Long Island’s top players in the Yormack twins, Derek and Ryan. The duo is verbally committed to Duke and they combined for 59 hits and 56 RBIs — as freshmen.
Gregg Sarra is Newsday's high school sports editor and has been on the beat since the mid-1980s.