Mamaroneck Baseball Ready to Go For Three

Mamaroneck may be the two-time defending Class AA state champions, but the baseball team has a totally different look heading into this postseason.

When the Tigers clinched their fourth straight league championship last week with wins against White Plains and New Rochelle, they didn't use a single starter from last season.

"They've never made any excuses about who we have and who we don't, they just go out and play," coach Mike Chiapparelli said.

The new lineup includes junior pitcher/first baseman Scott Hagan, who's hitting .500 with 17 extra-base hits in 60 at-bats. He leads the team in runs scored (30), RBI (26), home runs (6) and doubles (9) and walks (15).

Another starter who has really stepped up is Dean Chiapparelli, a junior middle infielder who is batting .394 with 25 RBI and 28 runs scored and 14 steals in 14 attempts.

Between them, Hagan and Chiapparelli have produced 51 runs, an average of more than 2.5 a game.

Sophomore Matt Mezansky is another quality addition. He is hitting .424 with 27 runs scored, and like Chiapparelli, is a perfect 14-for-14 stealing bases.

Jacob London (.487), Richard Dropkin (.421), Jordan Zelin (.391) and Andy Sickles (.367) are also among the regulars that make Mamaroneck one of the area's most dangerous offenses.

That's not even counting Sam Gruppo, the only returning starter from last year's championship team. The senior captain got hit in the eye on a bad hop a few weeks ago, but he was the designated hitter in the team's last regular-season game and should be back in the middle of the lineup for the postseason.

Also coming back is Bobby Gross, who was 4-0 with a 1.14 ERA before missing the past month with elbow tendonitis.

Greg Denyssenko (4-1, 3.46 ERA) Scott Hagan (3-0, 2.28) and Sam Wallach (2-1, 2.70 ERA) have led a well-rested staff. No one has thrown more than 32 innings this year.

Mamaroneck (16-4) opened the season with losses to Florida schools Coral Springs and Miami Christian before racking up 12 straight wins. It suffered a rare league defeat against Scarsdale, but closed with four straight league wins against Mount Vernon, Saunders, White Plains and New Rochelle to clinch its fourth straight league title.

The Tigers closed the regular season with a loss to upstate power LaSalle. Now the team is focused on defending its state title.

Mamaroneck, which is ranked 13th in the state, will be seeded third in the sectional tournament and will host No. 19 East Ramapo in the first round on Friday.

Even though most of the players are different, they expect everyone's best shot.

"I just think the kids have a big target on them, and I think they went out and did a really good job to be 16-4," Chiapparelli said. "Everyone in the world wants to beat the two-time defending state champ."