Long Island's Tommy Reifler, Mike Gunning and Theo Farynick are the veterans of Binghamton baseball
These three past All-Long Island high school players are now fifth-year teammates on Binghamton Universitys baseball team. (From left) Theo Farynick, Mike Gunning and Tommy Reifler. Credit: Communications, Binghamton Athle/John Hartrick, Senior Assoc. AD
Tommy Reifler never thought he would play five years of college baseball at Binghamton.
Mike Gunning and Theo Farynick did not have five seasons at three schools — with the possibility of a sixth year — in the cards either.
But no matter the journey, the 2019 Newsday All-Long Island selections have arrived at the same destination. Reifler (Garden City), Gunning (Rocky Point) and Farynick (Cold Spring Harbor) are all key players for Binghamton this spring. Reifler and Gunning outfielders and Farynick is a relief pitcher.
“I consider COVID a blessing in disguise that I was able to get another year of baseball out of it,” said Reifler, Newsday’s 2019 Nassau Player of the Year. “But it’s been an incredible experience. So five years has been awesome, and to do them all at the same university has been truly a grateful experience for me.”
Reifler, who has started every game in centerfield this season, is one of hundreds of athletes across several NCAA sports who have utilized the “COVID year” — the additional season of eligibility that spring 2020 and fall and winter 2020-21 student-athletes received after their seasons were interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Reifler, a first-team all-conference selection last season, batted .365 with an .884 OPS and 29 RBIs. He is batting .281 with 11 RBIs this season.
Gunning initially attended Lafayette, where he transitioned from a position player to a pitcher at the end of his freshman year. He suffered an injury during his sophomore year, though, and gave up pitching. He transferred to Herkimer College as an outfielder and batted .360 with 10 homers and 40 RBIs for a team that won the NJCAA Division III World Series.
“It’s been an interesting journey with all that stuff for sure,” Gunning said. “Did not expect anything like this to happen.”
Gunning hit .285 with 18 doubles and 31 RBIs for Binghamton last season and started all 50 games (37 in rightfield and 13 as a designated hitter). The All-Long Island second-team selection has been even better this season, batting .306 with 13 homers, 32 RBIs and a 1.064 OPS. He has one year of eligibility remaining but is unsure if he will use it.
Like Gunning, Farynick has another year of eligibility remaining but is undecided about taking it. Farynick went to Richmond as a freshman, pitching 4 ⅔ innings before the pandemic canceled the season 17 games in. He then transferred to Bucknell where he threw just 2 ⅓ innings in 2021 and missed the 2022 season because of Tommy John surgery, which granted him a medical redshirt year. He came back in 2023 and pitched 33 ⅔ innings for the Bison.
“I didn’t picture any of this happening,” Farynick said. “The injury and then COVID. … When I committed to Richmond, in my head I was going there for four years and doing everything. But it’s truly been a blessing to be able to go to these different schools. Going to Bucknell, meeting so many people.
“I never thought this was possible, but it’s turned out to be a blessing.”
In his first season at Binghamton, Farynick is posting the best numbers of his career: a 1.32 ERA and 13 strikeouts in 13 ⅔ innings.
While Gunning and Farynick have decisions to make, Reifler, who has exhausted his eligibility, will end his baseball career after the season and has a job lined up at Deloitte. Gunning is getting his undergraduate degree in human development this spring and would get a Master’s in social work if he returns. Farynick is obtaining his Master’s in business administration and would look toward a potential graduate certificate next year.
Binghamton, pegged as the preseason favorite in the America East, is 13-19 overall and 3-9 in conference play. The Bearcats will have to win May’s conference tournament, which they are hosting, to make their first NCAA Tournament since 2022.
Reifler, Gunning and Farynick are the most veteran of a collection of Long Islanders at Binghamton, which also includes seniors Justin Rosner (Farmingdale) and Eric Madenberg (Great Neck South), junior Nick Roselli (Division) and freshman Tim Hennig (Wantagh).
“There’s a bond that exists,” Reifler said. “We drive each other to and from Long Island when we’re going home for the holidays and whatnot. Even when we get a new freshman in that’s from Long Island, we kind of just take him under our wing. So it’s definitely a brotherhood being from Long Island baseball.”
Ben Dickson joined Newsday’s high school sports staff in 2023 after graduating from Maryland, where he covered several of the Terrapins' teams.
