Finley Baseball Resumes Winning
The J. Taylor Finley Middle School baseball team has resumed its winning ways, compiling an 8-3 record this past spring under head coach Tom Tantillo. The 19-player Falcon squad was led by Jake Freitag, Kevin Pimentel and Dean Sheridan.
Tantillo said the team was comprised of “great kids. They loved the game and were very respectful and lots of fun.” The coach concentrated on developing solid fundamentals in all aspects of the sport, along with good defense and timely hitting.
Finley had been widely regarded as one of Suffolk’s finest junior high school teams for decades, before hitting hard times as a string of coaches came and went. Tantillo, a science teacher at the school, is bringing stability and new enthusiasm to the program.
Freitag, an eighth grader, has a “great attitude,” Tantillo said, adding that he’s a “team player” and “great hitter.” Freitag can field and he can pitch, too.
Pimental, a talented seventh grader, displayed fine hitting, fielding and pitching skills. Sheridan is another eighth grader with a “great attitude,” Tantillo said. He “handles himself great under pressure [and is a] great pitcher and hitter.”
After losing two of its first three games, Finley won seven of its final eight contests, including a last inning victory over Smithtown, which at the time was 6-1.
There was a time when 100 players would routinely try-out for the Falcon squad. But, that was before the explosive growth in the popularity of lacrosse, the establishment of a second lax team and the creation of a middle school track team. Now Finley baseball has to compete for players and quickly perfect their skills.
This year’s team was captained by Thomas D’arcy and in addition to Freitag, Pimentel and Sheridan, the roster featured James Byrnes, Joseph Cacciato, Alex Castillo, Fabian Cubides, Christian Defeo, James Ferraolo, Brent Filippini, Justin Fleiss, Andernee Lopez, Jack McCarthy, Kevin Montefusco, Daniel Moya, Lee Reiver, Jake Ryan and Michael Senia.
Ten players who were seventh graders this past spring are eligible to return in 2010. Tantillo said he wants to continue to work on Finley’s fundamentals, defense and pitching next year and hopes to “find more time to work one-on-one with the pitchers.”
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