Early obstacles for Long Beach

If there’s value in a team facing its toughest tests early, Long Beach won the sweepstakes when this year’s baseball schedules came out.
Already forced to grapple with a pair of injured All-Conference returners, the Marines – whose nine wins last spring more than doubled the club’s 2021 total – travelled to Calhoun for two-of-three in May to face the reigning Long Island Class A champs in a Nassau Conference A1 season-opening series, followed by a three-game set against elite league foe MacArthur.
Though hard-pressed for headway against the powerhouse duo – at Herald press time both MacArthur and Calhoun remained undefeated – Long Beach, which managed to hand MacArthur its only blemish thus far in a 3-3 home tie April 3, flexed in its first game emerging from the gauntlet, scoring two runs late to make senior righthander Dylan Cantwell’s eight-strikeout, complete-game bid stand up in a 4-2 league win over visiting Hyde Park on Monday that boosted the Marines into the win column at 1-5-1.
With senior outfielder/lefthanded pitcher Jake Scafa debuting off the injured list in Monday’s victory – tacking on the Marines’ last run with an RBI hit against Hyde Park – and fellow All-Conference pick Daniel Defonte, a junior catcher, also expected back this week, Long Beach coach Jason Zizza said his club is poised to turn a big page.
“We had a couple challenging series to start the season, with two of our returning award winners still out with injuries,” Zizza said. “But we never make excuses. We used that challenge to gauge who we are as a team. We’re proud of how we fought and were able to manufacture runs, playing close against two exceptional teams.”

Added Zizza: “We’re happy with how our returners have performed, as well as some new guys who really stepped up.”
Along with team batting leader Jack Wachs (.462 average) – a returning senior third baseman – and junior returning outfielder Troy DeFrancesco, whose game-tying single Monday gave him a club-leading four RBIs, Long Beach has seen solid work from first-year-starting sophomores Matthew Hayes (RHP) and Patrick Henry (catcher) – battery mates on JV last season who have filled in nicely for their injured elders. Through two starts Hayes leads Long Beach with a 3.65 ERA.
“We’re giving [Hayes] the opportunity to win a spot; he’s done that,” Zizza said of his No. 2 hurler. “He believes he can get everybody out. That’s such an advanced treat at the varsity level for a sophomore. Both Matty and Patrick had big shoes to fill.”
Third on Long Beach’s staff, junior righty Christian Parisa has 11 strikeouts in two outings, with three RBIs batting in the No. 2 spot. His RBI fifth-inning single supplied the loss-averting, final run for Long Beach in its tie against MacArthur. Leadoff-hitting super utility Cian Cantwell and fellow senior Charlie Freitag (OF) also have helped buoy the Marines.
“The guys handled the beginning of this season well,” Zizza said. “We’re excited and positive about it. Our goal is not only to make the playoffs, but to go deep in the playoffs.” He added: “There’s a lot of wins yet to come.”