Axcess Baseball's Podcast

On this episode, we are joined by Molloy assistant coach Mike Cruz. He has a wealth of knowledge in the Strength & Conditioning space so we are discussing how athletes can stay in playing shape despite the mandatory quarantine even if they have no equipment in their home. We also discussed Molloy's brief 2020 season, why he thought they had the makings of a successful team and what the coaching staff told them after the NCAA decision came down. We also discussed his playing career at Division HS, Nassau CC and SUNY Oneonta.

On this episode, we are joined by Richie Ciufo, senior SS at Brown University. He is also a 2015 graduate of Pat-Med. Richie is a player that was effected by the NCAA's decision to end the 2020 season on March 12 due to the spread of COVID-19 (coronavirus). He only had the opportunity to play 12 games in a season in which he was named captain and was on the radar of several MLB teams. We discuss how he found out about the decision, what happened in the immediate aftermath and what his plans are now. We also discussed his time at Pat-Med, the workload of an Ivy School student-athlete and his musical career.

On this episode, we are recording from The Cage in Riverhead, NY with special guest Larry Izzo. He is a longtime MLB scout and Long Island native. He has worked for the Mets for the past 18 years and drafted Ward Melville LHPs Steven Matz and Anthony Kay. Before that he worked for the Montreal Expos, Arizona Diamondbacks - when they won the World Series - and the Texas Rangers. He sheds some light on some commonly asked questions in scouting such as how hard lefties need to throw, whether catchers need to show pop to get drafted, what a SS looks like at the pro level and why it's difficult to draft a college closer. Great insight from a 38-year veteran in the scouting game.

On this episode we are joined by Tyler Badamo, who was a 24th round pick of the New York Mets in 2014 out of Dowling College, following an All-American season. He wound up pitching 261 innings over four seasons in affiliated ball, most recently playing with the Long Island Ducks in 2018. We had a very candid conversation about the state of Major League Baseball, the recent changes that baseball has tried to implement in the Atlantic League and the changes that they should make, especially allowing players to express their personalities more. We also discuss losing a parent at a young age, and how you can overcome that and channel your adversity into aggression on the mound.

We are joined by Long Island Baseball founder Anthony Passalacqua. He discusses his upbringing and being a two-sport star at East Islip before transferring to Stony Brook Prep. He starred on the gridiron at Wagner before transferring to Erskine College in South Carolina. He faced several obstacles in terms of injuries but also ulcerative colitis while he was going through his senior season but still posted outstanding numbers. He wound up getting asked to play in the Italian Professional Baseball league for three years. Ultimately, he took a career in the world of finance before starting the Long Island Baseball organization, which has been growing every since.

On this episode, we are recording from Kellenberg HS with head coach Chris Alfalla. He has been the head coach since 2003. He has led them to four Catholic League championships. He also graduated from there in 1994 and played four years across the road at Molloy. We close the book on their 2019 season, preview 2020 and reminisce on their spectacular 2016-'17 run. They will open up the 2020 season again St. Dominic.

On this episode, we are joined by Kings Parks HC Andrew Abreu. It is his first year at the helm - previously he was an assistant at Harborfields under Casey Sturm. He is a 2014 graduate of Dowling College, where he was part of the team that was just six outs away from reaching the Division-II College World Series. He describes that bittersweet feeling of coming just short. He also discussed our time as teammates at Centereach HS where he was part of their last postseason appearance 2010. We preview the upcoming season and discuss how he built trust with his players in just four months.

On this episode, we are joined by Longwood Head Coach Ryan McSherry. He is entering his fifth year. We recap their 2019 season in which they finished with a record of 18-8. They lost in three games to Connetquot in the Final 4 of Suffolk County AA. They graduated some key seniors such as Kyle Rausch, Matt Encizo, Jose Matos, Steven Murphy and Jake Dannenberg but they return two Division-I players in ace Tommy Ventimiglia (Stony Brook) and 1B James Myler (Bryant) and several other key pieces such as Brian Monaghan and the Classie brothers. We preview 2020 and discuss the future of the program.

Rob is the ultimate example of The American Dream. The Massapequa native had a brilliant idea to replace chewing tobacco with bubble gum while he was sitting in the bullpen of a minor league game with the Portland Mavericks. His business partner, Jim Bouton, loved the idea and they were able to sell the distribution rights to Wrigley. It's been 40 years, the brand is still selling millions of dollars worth of product per year. It is now manufactured in Akron, NY. Rob is an affable person that enjoys it as much today as he did in 1980. He also tells some great stories about his time pitching Massapequa to the Little League Championship, pitching in the Junior College World Series with Nassau CC in 1969 and being at Cornell at the same time as Christopher Reeves (Superman).

On this episode, we are joined by special guest Andrew Ammazzalorso. He began The Keeping Smiling Foundation when he was a senior in high school after losing his father to pancreatic cancer. He graduated from Kellenberg in 2017, we discussed his memories from that historic season. He is now a sophomore at Nassau CC. We discussed his plans for the future with the foundation, how much time he spends on building up the social media accounts, MLB players that have contributed and our partnership with them for the 2020 season.