Friday, October 2, 2026
In the midst of a five-game losing streak after a 9-0 start to league play, 22nd-year Seaford baseball coach Mike Milano is hoping a bye week can reset the team as it looks to salvage a playoff spot.
The Vikings (9-5 in Conference A-2) have a break from the league schedule this week before closing the regular season with a three-game series against North Shore. Seaford is coming off suffering a three-game sweep against unbeaten Plainedge followed by two lose losses to Wheatley last week.
“We're excited about the next week to make some adjustments for our last series against North Shore,” said Milano, who scheduled some scrimmages to keep the team fresh during the bye week. “We're going to take it as a chance to try some different things, move some players around, and see what's our best team going into the final three and hopefully the playoffs.”
Seaford got off to the strong start in large part due to the hitting of junior second baseman Dylan Alt, who is hitting .435 with three home runs. Alt, who also pitches, registered four RBIs on a triple and two singles in Seaford’s 10-0 win at Locust Valley on April 17.
“Dylan is a big, tall, right-handed hitter with a lot of versatility,” Milano said. “He’s just a really, really level headed ball player and he's doing really well.”
The Vikings also posted a 10-0 win at home against Locust Valley on April 16 in which senior third baseman Jason Berthel went 3-for-3 with three RBIs. Seaford outscored Locust Valley by a combined score of 31-1 in the dominating three-game sweep.
Seaford opened the Locust Valley series with an 11-1 win on April 15 in which junior pitcher Tom Apollo recorded 10 strikeouts over six innings. Apollo, a reigning All County player, has been the ace of the pitching staff with a 1.31 ERA and 37 strikeouts so far this season.
“He has been great,” said Milano of Apollo. “He lost a tough game against Plainedge and he lost a tough game against Wheatley, but he did not pitch poorly in either game and we just were facing teams that were more prepared those days.”
The rest of the pitching staff has featured a combination of Alt, Luke Walsh, Jordan Cassuto. Alt has recorded 20 strikeouts in 18 innings of work.
Walsh, a SUNY Maritime commit, is among five Seaford seniors who will be competing on the collegiate level next season along with Berthel (University of Bridgeport), Rob Grzelaczyl (Farmingdale State) and Brendan Draude (University of Valley Forge). The senior group has championship experience from leading Seaford to the Class B title in 2023.
Milano, who picked up his 300th career win this season, credits assistant coaches Charlie Menges and Mike Sweeney with being an instrumental part of the program’s success. Menges has been the hitting coach under Milano since 2017 and Sweeney guides the pitching staff.
Seaford concludes the regular season with a series against North Shore with games on May 12, 13 (home) and 14 all at 5 p.m.
