(Editor’s Note: It was yet another successful season for the West Islip Lions. They captured their third Suffolk County Class AA Championship since 2014. They had a 22-game winning streak prior to being defeated in the Long Island Championship by Massapequa.
One of the main reasons they were able to have such an incredible season was the performance of junior Mike LaDonna. He was the winning pitcher in the County Championship against Eastport-South Manor, showing off his mental toughness and fastball with a complete game effort. Following the season, he announced his commitment to Division-II NYIT to play for Frank Catalanotto. Not content, he went out and led the football team to within a few years of a County Championship against regining Div-I LIC Champs Lindenhurst.
I had a chance to speak with him and here’s what he had to say…)
The football season is fresh in your memory. What are your thoughts on coming so close to defeating Lindenhurst?
This football season was definitely one to remember. It was my last year of playing football and I left it all on the field. We had such a special group of kids I’ve been playing with my whole life and nothing will ever break us apart. But that game was tough because we fought so hard and battled until the end but it wasn’t our night and things didn’t go our way and we got beat after being up 10-0.
West Islip baseball once again had an amazing season–winning the Suffolk Class AA title. At what point did you realize it was a successful season and what was your best memory from the season?
This past baseball season was great. We had such a great group of kids and everyone loved each other–we all just click, we had chants that had to do with a comedian and it just made it even more fun for us winning and having fun is the best part about this sport.
The point I felt this team was going to do special things was when we went on a 22-game win streak and nobody was stopping us everything was clicking we were all hitting, making no errors in the field and our pitching was even better–keeping us in games and also shutting teams out.
My best memory from this season was definitely winning the county championship–those game were all so close and the energy from those games were crazy. Bobby DiCapua pitched the first game and he did unbelievable, then the second game
I was pitching that game and I knew if we won we were county champs and I loved that. I got that game because the build up for that was great and the final pitch I struck the kid out and we won and I threw my glove into the outfield and we all went nuts and made a dog pile and it was the best moment of the season.
In your opinion, what does Coach Rush do so well that allows West Islip to be so successful ?
Coach Rush is such a great coach and knows the game of baseball so well–he is so smart on the field and likes to take risks as in double steals or doing squeeze plays, he doesn’t care he just wants to get runs on the board to give us a better chance of winning the game. He also tells us to win the week he says you win two out of three games that’s great but we always want to win all three.
Can you tell our audience about your experience with the college recruiting process and how you decided to commit to NYIT?
The college recruiting experience was great but I was actually going to go to a school in Florida and my parents were going to move out there with me, but then Coach Frank Catalanotto called me and told me he would love for me to come down to the school and show me around and that’s what me and my family did. We loved it, the baseball field was great and I also loved all the coaches there. As soon as we were done looking at the field and going around the school I just wanted to be there with them because Coach Frank and I have such a great connecting with each other because he has been my hitting coach for about 4 years and he turned my hitting into elite and he knows so much about baseball and all the coaches there do, it is just the best place for me to go.
Who have been the biggest influences in your life?
The people who have had the biggest influences in my life are my parents. They brought me up playing baseball when I was 5 years old and ever since then I loved it. My parents will do anything for me, they will get me the best trainers for baseball to make me better and it wouldn’t matter the cost because they just want the best for me and watch me achieve my goals.
Who is your favorite player in Major League baseball and why?
My favorite baseball player is Derek Jeter. I grew up as a Yankees fan and Derek Jeter was the best shortstop on the Yankees and I played shortstop so I always looked up to him and watched videos of Derek fielding ground balls and also watched
him hit. Derek is also my favorite baseball player because he left everything out on the field going after everything, running into bleachers and will do anything to make his team better and also win and that’s the same way I am–I will do anything to help my team win.
What do you plan on working on this winter to improve for the baseball season? What are your goals for the season?
This season I started working out at a gym called Xceleration. They are going to get my arm stronger, make me faster and also build up the muscles in my arm that are weak. This baseball season coming up, my goals are to have a really good regular season, make it to playoffs, go to counties, win counties and go back to the LIC (where we lost last year) win that and go to states and get a ring for this senior class and for our coaches.