Carle Place High School's varsity baseball team accomplished something that no other boys team had ever done, a New York State championship! The baseball team joins six field hockey teams ('83, '85, '86, '87, '89 and '90) and two girls volleyball teams ('95 and '97) as one of nine Carle Place High School teams to earn a NYS championship. Six other teams also progressed to the championships but lost in the finals, including the '97 baseball team.

This year's baseball team compiled an impressive 22-5 overall record and was the three-time consecutive defending Long Island Class 'C' champions. However, this year, the Frogs became a "B" classification team and not only won the Conference B title, but also their first Nassau County and Long Island Class 'B' championships.

The 2003 baseball team did rewrite many of the individual and team statistics in the school's proud baseball history. The overall team batting average was .391 and their on-base percentage was an astounding .473, with a slugging percentage of .635. The team hit a school record 46 homeruns with Billy Simpson (15), Mike Miele (11) and Evan Shanahan (10) accounting for 78 percent of that total. All three of these outstanding players earned All-County and All-New York State honors.

The Frogs' pitching staff compiled an amazing 2.13 ERA and Simpson, Shanahan and Miele pitched 84 percent of the 174 total innings pitched during those 27 games. Senior Billy Simpson, heading to the University of South Carolina on a full baseball scholarship, led the staff with a phenomenal 0.65 ERA in 75.1 innings pitched. Not only did Simpson lead the team in pitching, he also led the team in almost every offensive category, doubles (10), homeruns (15), total bases (107), walks (19), RBIs (60), BA (.576), OBP percentage (.649) and slugging percentage (1.163). Simpson only struck out four times in 92 at bats.

Junior Mike Miele also posted some outstanding offensive numbers. Both Joe Silva (.405) and Evan Shanahan (.432) both hit over .400 for the season. Silva did an exceptional job behind the plate and handled the pitching staff extremely well.

But the success of this year's team goes well beyond the power hitters and pitchers previously mentioned. The steady play of the experienced outfield (Miele, Sterlacci, Schnabel and Furci), matched a consistently improving infield (Stellato, Twibell, Carbone and Simpson/Shanahan), enabling the Frogs to capture their first NYS championship in baseball. The team also had numerous key players who stepped up and contributed to the success of the team, including Garry Clay, Dan McGovern, Chris Conlon, Matt Williams and several other JV players who were promoted to the varsity for the playoffs, including Bryan Offermann, Matt Musumeci and Brian Hackett.)

The Frogs saved their best play for the NYS championships held in Binghamton. The Frogs didn't let the rain bother them and won an impressive 9-1 victory over Medina High School (Section VI) that took two days to play. The Frogs hit a total of three homeruns with Miele, Shanahan and Silva all connecting off the Mustangs top pitchers. Simpson pitched a very solid game and earned his 11th win on just two hits (11-0 record of the year).

Later that afternoon, the Frogs needed to play an almost perfect game against the number one team in New York State: Marlboro High School (23-0). But the Frogs were up to the task. Evan Shanahan (tournament MVP) pitched a great game giving up just five hits and retiring the last eight hitters consecutively. Simpson spotted the Frogs a two-run lead with a 400-foot shot over the leftfield fence. After Marlboro tied the score in the third inning, Mike Miele hit the game-winning homer that scored the third and final run for the Frogs.

The defense played outstanding and the Marlboro team fell to the Frogs 3-2. This was probably the most exciting baseball game in the school's long accomplished history.

Below are the team award winners:

Billy Simpson:

Most Valuable Player, Nassau County's Diamond Award winner (most outstanding position player in Nassau), All-County and All-New York State honors.

Collin Twibell:

Charlie Ottina "Mr. Hustle" Award, All-Conference honors.

Matthew Sterlacci:

Most Improved Player, All-League honors.

Evan Shanahan:

Coach's Award, All-County and All-New York State honors, Tournament MVP.

Mike Miele:

Clutch Player Award, All-County and All-New York State honors.

Joe Silva:

Clutch Player Award, All-Conference honors.

Nick Carbone: All-League honors.

Coach John Schneidmuller:

All-Long Island Coach-of-the-Year.

Congratulations to the 2003 Varsity baseball team for a job well done!