Nassau baseball preview

Five times in the past six years, MacArthur has been a finalist for the Nassau Class AA baseball title. And five times the Generals failed to finish the run to the county crown, including last year's disappointing loss to Carey.

"In some years, there were teams better than us and we overachieved and reached the finals," MacArthur coach Steve Costello said. "And in other years, we were supposed to be in the finals and qualified. It's frustrating when you don't win it all but it doesn't take away from the achievement of winning to get there."

Traditionally, MacArthur is one of Nassau's top Class AA programs. The Generals have won 121 games in the past six years. This is the year they'd like to bring home the hardware. They haven't won a Nassau title since 1994, when the Generals went on to state glory.

The Generals will have to do it without Jesse Tuozzo, who earned last year's Diamond Award, given to Nassau's top pitcher. Tuozzo is out for the season with an arm injury.

Losing Tuozzo will leave a void in the Generals' rotation. How it impacts the team will determine if they have what it takes to win the county crown.

"It forces everyone else to fill that void," Costello said. "Jesse had as much talent as anyone on the Island as far as pure stuff."

Costello, who notched his 360th win this week, will turn to a pitching rotation that includes Joe Chiaramonte, Kevin Roach and Frankie Ziegler. The offense will be anchored by Will Cheshire, a .397 hitter last season, and Nick Kaywood, who led the team with 28 RBIs.

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The battle for the Class AA title should include Calhoun with a loaded lineup that has outfielder Tom Viverito, third baseman Robbie Rosen and pitcher/first baseman Frank Trimarco, who was 6-1 a year ago and can hit with power. Massapequa, Plainview JFK and Oceanside also will be in the Class AA title mix.

In Class A, Division won its 12th county crown and eighth Long Island title but graduated a ton of experience and will be young this season.

Clarke has its deepest team since 2009, when it qualified for the state tournament. The Rams' Chris Appell, a shortstop/pitcher, is as good as they come in Nassau. Appell will be joined by pitcher Joe Fusco and catcher John Fogarty as they look to win the school's 16th league title in 17 years.

The other perennial Class A contenders will be Plainedge, Island Trees, Garden City and Wantagh.

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In Class B, Oyster Bay, the two-time defending Nassau champion, returns hard-throwing staff ace Joe Siringo and catcher Mike Maloney to make another run at the state crown.

"We've lost in the last two Long Island championship games," said Siringo, who has a 19-1 record. "This is my last shot to win it all."