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Bay Shore baseball begins another county title chase under a new head coach

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By Michael Malaszczyk

Last season was a resounding success for Bay Shore, who took down a talented Connetquot team on the road in the Suffolk County Conference II semifinals before falling in the championship game to Huntington. 

With that said, it is a new era for the Marauders, who not only graduated several impact players but thery lost their longtime head coach, Mike Herbst, who retired following the season. He is replaced by Christopher Schiro, who was happy to share his thoughts on the upcoming season in an interview with Axcess Baseball.

“I would have loved the opportunity to be on board last year’s staff with the talent that they had,” Schiro said. “I did, however, take note of their journey while coaching in Uniondale, and can say they had a tremendous amount of talent and a successful year, falling just shy of a county title.”

Bay Shore, which opens the season March 30 against Half Hollow Hills West, saw a number of talented baseball players graduate last year, most notably league MVP Coltrane Calloway and Jason Ambos (he’s now playing college ball for Central Florida). Chris and Matt Rouleau were All-League, as was Darnell Guerrero and Ty Panariello, who transferred to Elev8 Academy in Florida.

Not only was that group one win away from a county title, they also won the Boys of Summer championship in 2020, which included some of the top high school programs on Long Island; the Marauders defeated Plainedge in the finals.

Despite those losses, Schiro feels confident his team is hungrier than ever this year, as it is made up of players who got to witness a team on the verge of winning the country championship.

“We are a very young team built of primarily juniors and sophomores with some key leadership from returning seniors,” Schiro said.

Players to look out for at Bay Shore in 2022 include pitcher Hayden Preston (‘22), outfielder Owen Price (‘22), infielder Cole Fesefeldt (‘24), infielder Jorge Rosario (‘24), third baseman Jason Carrion (‘23), and first baseman Liam Knapp (‘23).

Other seniors returning from last year’s successful run are Matt Brewer, Brendon Diem, and Brandon Soumakis.

Schiro said the ball club’s biggest strength is their work ethic. 

“This team’s strength, for sure, is their work ethic,” Schiro said. ”These guys put in serious work in the off-season and came into the first week ready to grind.”

Schiro wants his team to be prepared for any and all opponents, and said he is not overlooking any team, noting that “we are in a strong conference with loads of talent.”

While it is Schiro’s first year with Bay Shore, it is far from his first year coaching baseball.

“Baseball is everything to me,” said Schiro, who has coached baseball for 13 years. ”I am just happy to have the opportunity to share this game and my passion for it with this group.”

It may be a transitional year for Bay Shore, but they are a program you can never count out.

Feature image: Axcess Baseball

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