By Vinny Messana of Axcess Baseball

In a move that is likely to reverberate throughout Long Island baseball, Paul Parsolano will be the new Head Coach of St. Anthony’s, where he was previously an assistant from 1995-2007. In fact, the last time St. Anthony’s won the CHSAA title was in 2000, when he was on staff. He is also credited with the rapid ascension of Franklin Parra from obscurity to being drafted by the New York Mets in the 11th round this past June.

Parsolano had been the pitching coach of St. Joseph’s College since 2014, where he helped break their drought of winning the Skyline Conference championship in 2016. They also won it in 2018, in large part to his pitching staff. Here are some facts since he took over.

2 Conference Championships (2016, 2018)

2 Regular Season Championships (2015, 2017)

61-21 (.714) in Conference since 2014

Conference ERA since 2014 2.59

Conference Fielding PCT since 2014 .970

2017 Pitching Staff Led Conference in ERA (1.17), K (96), BAA (.204), BB Allowed (35), SHO (8), Hits Allowed (100), Runs Allowed (34)

2017: Pitching Staff ranked 4th in Nation in Shutouts in 2017 led by Brandon Lubrano who ranked 6th in Nation in ERA

2016: Ranked 2nd in Nation in Hits Allowed Per Nine Innings and 3rd in Nation in Shutouts

2 Top-15 wins in the past two years (Oswego  in 2018 and Johns Hopkins in 2017)

Simply put, he is wildly popular and considered among the best pitching coaches in the region. Pitchers have routinely seen improvement under his tutelage.

So, what does this mean for the landscape of Long Island baseball in the near future?

First off, it means the addition of another well-respected Head Coach in the Catholic League. He joins Brian Anderson (St. Dominic) as a first-year Head Coach in the league, one year after Dan Luisi joined Holy Trinity and just a couple years after Casey McKay joined St. John the Baptist.

I fully expect this to have an immediate impact on the standings. I believe St. Anthony’s will face St. Dominic in the CHSAA finals this season.

Furthermore, I expect this to have an impact on enrollment in the school as more parents will choose to have their son play for one of the aforementioned programs.

As for St. Joseph’s College, they will recover but there’s no sugar-coating this loss. Parsolano is as well-respected and impactful of an Assistant Coach as you can possibly have. Quality players were drawn to the program because of the potential impact he could have and the relationship they have with him. Look no further than the addition of Anthony Papa and Joseph Murphy last year, who were clearly capable of playing at the Division-I level but opted to stay home and win a conference.

“Pars and I over the years became brothers, I wish him nothing but success and happiness. We will be friends for life. His stories and quotes will live with the program forever. Shake a leg and your not wrong. Memories we will have forever!!!! Greg Naccari also will be a life long friend,” said St. Joseph’s Head Coach Rick Garrett.

Huge hire for the Friars, who immediately improved their chances next season.