5 storylines for Long Island high school baseball season
Ryan, left, and Derek Yormack of Bellmore JFK baseball. Credit: Peter Frutkoff
With the start of the 2026 high school baseball season, here are five storylines to follow across Long Island this spring.
1. Which Catholic team will win it all?
Recent history suggests the Nassau-Suffolk CHSAA is either St. Dominic’s or Kellenberg’s to lose, considering that the Bayhawks won the regular season and the Firebirds won the league tournament last year. However, it could be more wide open, as six NSCHSAA teams won at least 11 games and finished over .500 last year, and all of them return major pieces.
Chaminade may very well have a staff ERA under 3.00 this year, and St. Anthony’s may not be far behind. Holy Trinity, St. Dominic and Kellenberg have the bats to combat the Flyers and Friars. St. John the Baptist returns a deep, disciplined lineup, led by shortstop Keegan McElligott, and gets back two premier players in lefty Aidan Casey and second baseman Ethan Schmutz.
“It’s the toughest league to win on Long Island, for sure,” St. Dominic coach Joe Fusco said. “This is probably the most parity that we’ve had in the league since I’ve been here. It’s going to be an extremely exciting year in the league. I think that anybody could beat anybody on any given day.”
2. Aiden Ruiz’s future
Long Island’s top draft prospect is ranked 36th on MLB.com’s current list. At 18 years old, the switch-hitting shortstop from The Stony Brook School has options. He can go to Vanderbilt, where he is currently committed, and experience NCAA life in the NIL era. Or, if he likes where he is drafted and what that team offers him, he can sign with it and forego college.
The better he does this season, the more interesting that eventual decision will be.
3. What will Babylon do for an encore?
Babylon is Long Island’s only defending state champion. It went 22-3 and ended the year on a 14-game winning streak to win the state Class B title. It returns starting pitchers Owen Killeen, Jake Ostertag and Connor Cavaliere, as well as catcher Ethan Meinken, outfielder Eli O’Farrell and utility player John Stricoff (.280 average, .438 on-base percentage, 15 steals).
The Panthers also added freshmen pitchers Dylan Sini and Mason Koch — the nephew of former major-league reliever Billy Koch — as well as sophomore infielder Austin McElroy and junior pitcher Jonathan Basile to the mix.
4. Popular-themed games bring out the best
Some programs schedule non-league games to serve as a conduit for community bonding. Teams across Long Island will choose themes with the purpose of honoring or promoting a cause, which often brings the surrounding community together, such as Harborfields’ "Corey’s Promise" game or Sayville’s "Salute the Troops" game.
Though these games do not count toward postseason play, they tend to matter to the players just as much as the league contests.
“There is that natural buzz whenever there’s notoriety to a game like that that’s going to make any competitor yearn for that moment,” Harborfields coach Ian Schneider said.
Harborfields won its emotional "Corey’s Promise" game over Cold Spring Harbor last season. "Corey’s Promise" is an annual non-league game between the two programs to honor the late Corey Phelan, a former professional pitcher with the Philadelphia Phillies who died of cancer in 2022.
Phelan was a 2020 graduate of Harborfields, while Cold Spring Harbor is coached by his father, Chris. Chris Phelan returned to Cold Spring Harbor as the varsity baseball coach after a 12-year hiatus, which will make this year’s "Corey’s Promise" game on April 11 a little more special.
“It’s such an important day,” Schneider said. “It makes you realize how someone like Corey can bring so many together and make such an impact.”
Sayville will host Westhampton on April 28 for its Salute the Troops game.
5. Can the Yormack twins outdo themselves?
It is hard to outdo a combined .535 average, 14 home runs and 63 RBIs, but that is the bar that Bellmore JFK’s Yormack twins — Derek and Ryan — set last season. Derek also pitched to a 0.42 ERA and threw a no-hitter with 17 strikeouts. Ryan clubbed 10 of those homers. And they did that as sophomores.
Mike Anderson is a high school sports reporter who has covered 12 sports so far at Newsday. He was the sports editor of Stony Brook University's campus newspaper for two years.
