Experience leads VSN to playoffs

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Valley Stream North baseball has done a lot of winning over the past few decades, which is why a 5-13 record in 2016 felt like a major disappointment for the program. This spring, the Spartans completely flipped the script, going 9-6 in conference play and getting back to the postseason for the fifth time in the last six years.

“We’ve been a fixture in the playoffs since the year 2000, and I expect to be in the playoffs every single season,” VSN coach Phil Sanfilippo said. “It felt good to get back, and it was nice to do it with the exact same group of kids who weren’t able to do it the previous year. We got a little healthier and a little better at different things, and it was nice to completely turnaround our record.”

Normally such a large turnaround for a club is the result of several roster changes. The Spartans, however, saw an increase in wins using a lineup nearly identical to the one they had the year before.

“The additional experience and health that we had this year was a big part of our success,” Sanfilippo said. “Danny Keane and Tom Graziano are two of our main infielders, and we had neither guy available to play the field last year. Getting those guys back healthy really stabilized the defense, and just led to a much better season.”

North’s offense also was quite productive, scoring nine or more runs in eight different games. Keane, Anthony Collura and Jon Caluori all had terrific seasons at the plate. The Spartans also benefited from having three quality starting pitching options, in Caluori, Nick Casatelli and Jalen Bertie. Bertie was one of the club’s most improved players, posting an ERA in the low twos.

After a memorable regular season, North saw its postseason come to an end in a hurry. The Spartans loss to Garden City in their Class A playoff opener, then were eliminated by Mepham the following day.

The matchup against the Trojans proved to be the team’s biggest heartbreak. North came back from a 5-0 deficit, only to see Garden City reclaim the lead late.

“We did a good job competing with Garden City,” Sanfilippo said. “We were down five runs and it could’ve easily become a blowout. Instead we came back versus one of the best pitchers in Nassau County. It was a courageous effort, we just came up a play or two short from winning the game. The Mepham game we just really didn’t have it. Our starting pitcher wasn’t really at his best, and the game just kind of slipped away from us.”

Sanfilippo believes his program will have a good chance to continue its winning ways next spring, even with a quite different roster makeup.

“It’s going to be a different type of team,” he said. “Hopefully it’s a team built around pitching and defense. We do bring back a lot of very capable pitchers for next year.”