For the first time in nearly half a century, the varsity Flyers have a new head coach. Longtime assistant Patrick Kemp '04 takes the reins after former head coach Michael Pienkos retired at the end of last season. Kemp is leading a star-studded team with championship aspirations. 

"It is an honor to succeed such a legendary coach, especially since he coached my brothers and me," stated Kemp. When asked what he will take from coaching under Pienkos and his assistant, Jack Lyons, Kemp replied, "Optimism. Regardless of the situation, regardless of the score of a game, it's the confidence that they had that they would win."

During his tenure as head coach, Pienkos amassed 14 league titles and the 2022 New York State championship, a victory over Iona Prep at St. John's University. He led the Flyers to countless winning seasons and helped develop his players into college prospects. Currently, over 20 former Flyers are playing in college, including Nolan Nawrocki at South Carolina, John Downing at Seton Hall, and JJ Gatti at Dayton.

It will not be easy for Kemp to fill the shoes left by Pienkos, but this team gives him a great starting point. After a relatively disappointing 2024 season, one in which Chaminade went 14-11-1 and 9-6 in league play, the Flyers are optimistic about this season. They will be led by three senior captains: middle infielders Collin Anderson and Daniel Anicito, as well as pitcher Alex Stoyer.

"It's extremely humbling and an honor to be chosen to be a captain by the coaching staff," explained Anicito. "As Coach Kemp said, though, it's about the team, and we're establishing a culture where we hold ourselves accountable as a group."

"All of the captains before have played pivotal roles in the success of their teams, and alongside Collin and Dan, I know that we will also be pivotal in our success," added Stoyer.

The Crimson and Gold also feature four seniors named as Preseason All-Long Island selections by Axcess Baseball: Anderson, who is also the only returning All-League player, middle infielder Terence Bradford, third baseman Michael Gardner, and outfielder Danny Nawrocki.

The team includes 10 other seniors looking to take the next step: pitchers Ryan Sheehan, Kenneth Meliere Jr., Matteo Moscheni, Quinn Gillen, and James Downes, outfielders Connor Meehan and Colin Cashin, first baseman Jake Settanni, middle infielder Kyle Hyland, and catcher Dimitri Staphos. 

"Last year, we were reliant on senior pitching, so when you look at the senior pitching staff, we're looking for a big year out of those guys, but there are holes to fill at every position where seniors hopefully take that next step," reflected Kemp. 

The Flyers also feature a strong junior class that enjoyed plenty of success in the JV ranks. There are 11 juniors, with the headliners being pitchers Andrew Caramico and Carlos Pereira, outfielders Vaughan Steinert and Noah Kim, and first baseman Nolan Fernandez. Joining them are pitchers Luke Bartolo, Sean O'Connell, and Jack Pfeifer, outfielder Matthew Manopella, middle infielder Jake Madsen, and catcher Sebastian McEnaney. 

"I think there's going to be ample opportunity for everybody to contribute to this team and to this program," added Kemp. "It's all there for them."

The new additions to the team don't stop at just the players, however, as the coaching staff also received a full makeover in the offseason. Joining Kemp this spring are Joseph Romero, Straton Podaras, John Mazzello, and Edward Martin. Romero, a Chaminade alum and former pitcher at the University of Albany, will serve as the pitching coach after being promoted from the JV-B squad. Podaras, another Chaminade alum, played at Radford University before joining the farm system of the LA Angels; he will be a "breath of new knowledge" to the team, as Kemp put it. Mazzello will work mostly with the infielders, and Martin will serve as a volunteer assistant. 

After two non-league games to open the year, the Flyers will kick off the league slate against St. Francis Prep on March 24. With a number of balanced teams this year, the league will be up for grabs, making each game ever the more important. Noteworthy games and series are as follows: March 25 and 26 against Holy Trinity, April 1 and 2 against St. Dominic's, April 5 against Archbishop Molloy - the defending state champs, April 22 and 23 against St. Anthony's - the defending league champs, and May 6 and 7 against Kellenberg. 

The non-league schedule also features plenty of highlights. These include the season opener with Iona Prep and April 17 against Poly Prep, the number-one ranked team in New York by Perfect Game. 

In the season opener with Iona Prep, the Flyers fell short by a score of 8-6 despite nearly erasing a five-run deficit.

After falling behind 2-0 after an inning and a half, Madsen, in his first varsity at-bat, lined a triple to right field, scoring Cashin all the way from first and cutting the Iona Prep lead in half. 

However, the Gaels responded right away, as an RBI single by shortstop Julian Guzman (also the quarterback for the state-champion football team), an error, and a wild pitch by Caramico (on in relief of the starter Meliere) pushed the Gaels lead to four. 

The Flyers cut into the deficit in the bottom of the fourth.

In a 6-1 game, a two-out, two-run double by Anderson shrunk the deficit to three. The next hitter, Anicito, reached on an error by Guzman, allowing Anderson to score from second. 

The game stayed relatively even from there, as the two teams each scored twice more.

Devin Diaz contributed an RBI single in the fifth for the Gaels, making the score 7-4. The Flyers responded in the sixth thanks to another run-scoring hit from Anderson, but that was cancelled out when Luke Tran took Pereira deep for a solo shot in the seventh. The Flyers put themselves in position to tie the game in the bottom half of the frame thanks to knocks from Bradford and Fernandez - the latter driving in the former - but Brandon Stabile got Cashin to ground out to end the game. 

Shane Jevelensky earned the win on the mound for the Gaels, going three innings and allowing a run on three hits. Dylan Merola and Stabile also saw two innings each, with Stabile earning the save.

The Flyers utilized four pitchers in their season opener. Meliere, the starter, took the loss, giving up two runs, only one of them earned, over two innings. Caramico and Fernandez each went one inning, and Pereira soaked up the final three; he had a game-high five strikeouts.

Each team totaled 10 hits in the contest, with 12 different players registering a knock. Diaz went 4-for-4 for Iona Prep, while Cashin and Anderson each managed multiple hits for the Crimson and Gold. 

Despite the loss, Kemp was happy with his team's performance, but admitted, "I would have liked to get them a month from now."