BROOKVILLE, N.Y. (Dec. 10, 2014) - On Wednesday, LIU Post Head Baseball Coach Mike Gaffney (Westbury, N.Y.) announced that nine future student-athletes have signed National Letters of Intent, and will join the program in the 2015-16 academic year.
 
"We are extremely excited to welcome in the 2015 LIU Post Baseball recruiting class, and very happy and proud they chose to be a part of our extensive baseball family," said Gaffney. "As a coaching staff, we are very excited to add not only the type of baseball players, but the type of student-athlete that LIU Post has become accustomed to adding to our already successful athletic programs. I believe this group of student-athletes are going to help take our baseball program to the next level."
 
The class includes three pitches, two catchers, two infielders and two outfielders.

Below are the words of Gaffney on each of the incoming players:
 
Anthony Papa, RHP, Division HS 
Anthony has been one of top high school pitchers on Long Island over the past couple of years. At this stage of his development, Anthony possesses the rare ability to throw any pitch for a strike. Along with his talent on the mound, he has the toughness and competitiveness that bring his talents to the next level. Coming from one of the top public school programs on Long Island, Anthony is used to a winning culture and will bring that winning attitude with him to LIU Post.
 
James Varela, RHP, Division HS
James was one of the most impressive pitchers on Long Island last summer. James possesses an arsenal of pitches that can silence lineups on any given day. Coming from one of the most succesful programs that Long Island has seen, he has the experience of playing in big games that matter. James has the fight and tenacity that give his team a chance to win any time he takes the mound.
 
Joe Piscitelli, OF, Division HS
Joe is one of the top hitters on Long Island going into his senior year. He has the uncanny ability to be able to square up the baseball no matter who the pitcher is. Joe is also one of the the guys who comes from Division High School, a Long Island baseball powerhouse, where we know he has been learning all the right things on and off the field. Joe, along with three other commits from Division, have helped lead the Blue Dragons to Nassau County titles. He knows how to win and that is one of the biggest reasons why Joe was so appealing to us, besides his baseball ability.
 
Jimmy Mendyk, SS, Plainedge HS
Jimmy stuck out the first time we saw him play a game this past season. He stands out whenever you watch him play because of his defensive wizardry. He can make the routine play, along with the play that no one expects him to make. Jimmy is someone who is going to eventually be a top of the order hitter and someone who will flourish under our staff because of his unlimited potential and willingness to learn. He is what we are looking for when it comes to performance on the field and off. 
 
Brian Kavanagh, RHP, East Meadow HS
Brian is the type of pitcher who just flat out knows how to get outs. Whether it is by spotting his fastball or throwing his multiple types of breaking balls, he is a guy who is going to find a way to win no matter what type of stuff he has on that particular day. Brian was also a standout football player while in high school. His athletic ability is off the charts and that only helps him in being successful on the mound. His winning reputation and mindset is what separates him from most and he will flourish while wearing an LIU Post uniform.
 
David Brehm, OF, Connetquot HS
David is a multi-tool baseball player, and at this stage of his development, that is something you don't come across too often. He has a plus arm from the outfield and plus speed on the basepaths. He is someone, who when you watch in a game, jumps out at you whether he goes 4-for-4 or 0-for-4. He is able to affect the game in ways that can't be taught. Besides all of this, like the rest of guys we are bringing in, he is the type of person you want representing our program and athletic department as a whole.
 
Sal Geraci, C/IF, Bayport-Blue Point HS
Sal is a flat out GAMER. While not tall in stature, he is someone when you get done playing against him, you remember his name and the way he plays the game. No matter where you put Sal in the field or the lineup, he is going to impact the team in a positive way. Every time we saw Sal play during the recruiting process, he stood out to us as someone we had to have in our program. Sal, like most of our commits, comes from a Long Island High School power. This past year, Sal helped Bayport-Blue Point repeat as State Champions and he was a big part of it being their everyday catcher. Sal has showed incredible enthusiasm since committing to us and he will help get us to the next level.
 
Ryan Dalton, C, St. John the Baptist
Ryan comes from one of the top programs in the area at St. John the Baptist. He is a plus defender across the board. While in the recruiting process, Ryan always found a way to stand out, whether it was behind the plate or offensively. He has the pedigree that we are looking for in a student-athlete, comng from a winning program and from a baseball family. While he has made incredible strides so far as baseball player, we are excited to see how much further Ryan develops as not only a player, but also as a person. As you can see, Ryan will fit in perfectly with the team we have now and the other guys we are bringing in.
 
Chris McLaren, IF, Cornwall Central HS
Chris comes to us from one of the winningest programs recently in the Hudson Valley. Chris stood out to us in a few different ways, one of them being his plus speed. He is one of the rare guys that is able to run a 6.7 60, but looks faster on the basepaths. Along with his great speed, he has some of the best hands we've seen while on the recruiting circuit this past year. While Chris hasn't reached his potential in physical development, he flat out knows how to hit, never giving in to whoever he is facing on the mound, always putting the ball in play and giving his speed a chance to affect the game. Above all else, Chris showed tremendous confidence in whatever was thrown his way and that was the thing that we love the most about Chris.
 
"As you can see, we are trying to bring in certain types of guys who are going to help our program on the field and off. All nine of our student-athletes who signed NLI's come from WINNING programs who know what it's like to win and don't accept losses as the norm. Hopefully with this group, all it does is add to the winning culture that we believe we are capable of. I'd like to thank our whole coaching staff for the effort that they put forth in being able to secure these outstanding student athletes."