Congratulations to the Long Island Hellcats 11U baseball team on winning the North Shore Fall Baseball Championship this fall. The team completed a successful season by rolling over North Shore 10-3 and Bayville 11-3 in the playoffs. The boys began their baseball season in the spring and played continuously right through the end of November.

The Fall 2007 team was led by the pitching of Joseph Minstron, Max Manos, Michael Garcia and Mr. Robinson along with stellar fielding by Andy Galgano, Steven DiSalvo, Matt Drexler, Ryan Curran, Sean Flynn and catcher Berkely "Piazza" Golon. At the top of the order, the hitting and feisty base stealing prowess of Cassidy Exum and Pat Crowley set the table for Joseph Nunziata and Josh Hausman to drive the runs home. Hausman was always pulling double duty as catcher and team comedian. "You could always count on Josh to get a laugh out of the boys, especially when tension in the dugout was running high," said Coach Andrew Galgano

"The team worked very hard this year, beginning with taking part in the indoor speed and agility training in January and most boys playing in two simultaneous leagues since the spring. "We are very proud of how this team has progressed," said Coach Curt Exum." This was the first time these boys played on 75' bases getting a new experience with both leads and balks. It was certainly a great learning experience for the pitchers, base runners and the coaches. According to Coach Gus Nunziata, this group of boys made coaching easy as they were always committed to the game, willing to listen and learn, and most importantly, always respectful to the coaches and each other.

The LI Hellcats plan to begin their 2008 indoor training clinics in January. The clinics will include speed and agility training as well as instructional clinics utilizing professional baseball coaches as well as ex-major league players from the New York/Tri-State area. The goal for 2008 is to expand each player's knowledge of the game as well as improve their skills for the upcoming spring season. The highlight of the 2008 season will be the Hellcats' participation in a week-long baseball tournament at the All Star Village in Cooperstown, New York as the team was selected to play there in August. The Cooperstown Tournament is one of the premier baseball tournaments in the Northeast with participating teams coming from all over the U.S. and Latin America. Good Luck Hellcats and keep up with the hard work. Continue to make Long Island Proud!