The winds of change are blowing through Levittown.
That’s because after a long and storied career, Steve Costello, the Generals baseball coach since 1993, has turned the reigns over to a former player Frank Ziegler, who was elevated after serving as an assistant coach since 2020.
The teacher passes the torch to the student.
“I played for him and I coached with him,” Ziegler said. “I learned a lot from him so being able to get the chance to step in and try to continue that legacy is exciting.”
Ziegler points to the approach to baseball, dealing with the players, how a coach handles himself and the blueprint for success in running a successful program as far as knowledge that he picked up from Costello.
“It’s a larger investment in the kids and the community,” Ziegler said. “It runs deeper than just baseball which I think was a big takeaway from Coach (Costello).”
Last season, MacArthur finished with a record of 14-8 including a season-ending 7-6 playoff loss to Garden City in the first round of pool play. The Generals saw the Trojans again to start their 2026 season as MacArthur dropped three hard-fought, one-run games to Garden City 2-1, 6-5 and 2-1 during spring break.
This season, the Generals feature a young team that includes just one senior, third baseman Matt Kerr, in the starting lineup.
“Matt Kerr is a great leader for us,” Zieger said. “He’s a great defender. He plays third base but if we needed him to go play shortstop, he can handle it.”
Kerr hit .455 (5-for-11) in the season-opening series against Garden City. Junior catcher Gio Arganese hit .556 (5-for-9) while sophomore shortstop Brian Kalinowski went 3-for-7 with a double, a pair of runs scored and a .500 OBP.
On the mound, the Generals expect to get a lot of innings from junior Steve D’Ornellas and sophomore Colby Crzelaczyk. In the April 7 opener against Garden City, D’Ornellas tossed six innings. In game three of the season last Friday, Grzelaczyk allowed 1 earned run and struck out 5 over 7 1/3 innings.
Also in game three, junior Connor Schmidt got the start at first base and had an RBI double.
Other players to watch include junior right fielder Ethan Shapiro, junior designated hitter Brayden Labonte, junior second baseman Tyler Neal, junior leftfielder Avery Acquaviva, and junior center fielder Tom Walsh, MacArthur’s leadoff hitter.
The Generals are optimistic they can return to postseason play and do some damage.
“We like what we have in terms of our players and our ability,” Ziegler said. “The goal, of course, is to make a run as far and as deep as possible into the postseason.”
The Generals have a three-game set this week against Hewlett, concluding Friday on the road at 5 p.m.
There may be a change in terms of the lead voice in the dugout, but MacArthur is taking a business-as-usual approach as they enter a new era of Generals Baseball.
