Thursday, October 1, 2026
Two narrow playoff losses last May provided plenty of fire for a veteran South Side baseball team for a deeper postseason run this spring.
The Cyclones with a largely young team last year reached the playoffs after a bumpy start to the season before falling to Division 3-1 and Carey 2-0 in the Class AA round robin tournament.
“We played two beautiful games and just missed that big hit,” said 19th-year South Side coach Tom Smith. “It’s fueled them to now have the expectations that these are the teams that they have to beat and it's definitely motivated them to work hard all year long.”
South Side began this season off strong entering the week at 5-1-1 overall and 2-1 in Conference AA-1 aided by a deep lineup that has produced four runs or more in all but one game,
Senior pitcher/shortstop John Pericolosi, a Stony Brook University commit, sets the tone as the leadoff hitter and went 2-for-2 with two RBIs in South Side’s 10-0 win against Long Beach on April 7. The top of the lineup also features senior left fielder Connor McNulty and senior Jack Boyens, who are hitting .450 and .474, respectively.
The Cyclones got an offensive boost this season with the addition of senior catcher/pitcher Charlie Lods, who transferred from Archbishop Molloy and is batting in the cleanup spot.
“He’s a big addition and added even more depth to our team that was already strong and has big expectations,” said Smith of Lods.
Sophomore outfielder/catcher Ethan Johnson was a key bat in allowing South Side to take two of three games from Long Beach last week with a .500 average and six RBIs. Junior AJ Magaraci has also added some punch as a lefty bat.
The South Side lineup has plenty of versatility with utility players who can play multiple positions in seniors Evan Wikle and Liam Conlon, and juniors Stellan Zangari and Derek Fessler.
The pitching staff is led by Zangari, a power pitcher who throws in the mid to upper 80’s and has struck out 20 in 14 innings of work. Conlon is the number two starter, who teammates call “the professor” due to his ability to spot the ball. Junior Ryan Solomon adds depth at the number three starter armed with what Smith described as one of the best curveballs in Nassau County.
The bullpen features juniors Matt Iannone and Ryan Bernabeu along with seniors Jack Kourtsounis, Braedey Miller. Lods and senior John Pericolosi are often turned to for closing games out.
“We built a deep pitching depth,” Smith said. “We've taken guys that played certain positions or were a backup in certain positions and we taught them how to pitch which adds to that depth.”
South Side concludes a three-game series with Bellmore-JFK on the road Thursday at 5 p.m. The Cyclones will then face New Hyde Park for three games next week which includes a home game on April 22 at 5 p.m.
