It wasn’t the perfect season for any Section 1 team. But it also wasn’t a bad one.
Five Rockland schools entered the playoffs with a winning record and another was .500.
The playoffs saw a No. 9 seed in Pearl River upset a No. 1 seed in Tappan Zee, which entered the postseason at 19-1, including two regular-season wins over Pearl River. Pearl River would go on to record another upset win before falling by a run in 11 innings in the Section 1 Class A semifinals.
While Pearl River got the longest playoff run of any Rockland team, the county’s top player was lefty hurler Kaleb Hetzel, who, incredibly, didn’t allow a single earned run all season.
Below is a capsule look at Hetzel’s season, his future plans and lists of the other 2026 Rockland all-stars.
Kaleb Hetzel
Rockland Baseball Player of the Year
School: Tappan Zee
Year: Senior
Positions: Pitcher/first base
Highlights: Hetzel, who’ll pitch next year for Div. I Stony Brook, was a huge reason Tappan Zee went 19-1 during the regular season. The southpaw did not give up a earned run in 53 innings He went 6-2 with a save, striking out 73 and walking just 11. He gave up just 16 hits and had a stellar .509 WHIP. Hetzel was also a big offensive contributor, hitting .394 with six doubles, two triples, two home runs and 26 RBI.
Coach of the Year
Mark Sanford, Tappan Zee
The rest of the Rockland all-stars
First team
P/1B ― Connor Buckley, Sr., Pearl River
P/INF ― Nick DeFelice SR, P/INF, Suffern
P/DH ― Quinn Miller, Sr., Clarkstown North
C ― Haris Cucaj, Sr., Tappan Zee
INF ― Justin Amodeo, Sr., Clarkstown South
INF ― Rob Spilotras, Sr., Nanuet
INF/P ― Luke Viviano, Sr., Clarkstown South
OF/1B/P ―Thomas Campanella, Sr., Tappan Zee
OF/P ― JD Santulli, Sr., Clarkstown North
Util/P ― Joe Moliterno, Jr., Nanuet
Second team
P ― Dylan Kim, Jr., Tappan Zee
P/OF ― Matt Purvis, Sr., Nanuet
P/INF ― Drew Wooster, Jr., Pearl River
C ― Chris Ariola, Sr., North Rockland
C ― Conor Mullin, Jr.., Clarkstown North
INF/P ― Nate Cantor, Sr., Nyack
INF ― Trevor Harrington, Jr., Nyack
OF ― Jake Lipson, Sr., Clarkstown South
OF ― Max Martinez, Sr., Nyack
Util/P ― Alex Koprowski, Sr., Suffern
Util ― Jack Kavanagh, Sr., Clarkstown North
Honorable mention
Devin Bierfeldt, Jr., P, Nyack; Harry Bonhomme, Fr., C/P, Suffern; Jayden Colon, Jr., C, Nanuet; Aiden Conti, Sr., P, Clarkstown North; Josiah Daniel, SR, 1B/P, East Ramapo; Andrew Demersky Jr., SS, Nanuet; Chris Demersky, Jr., OF, Nanuet: Ryan Downes, Sr., P, Pearl River; Anthony Duffy, Sr., P/OF, Nanuet; Ryan Edmonds, Jr. 3B, Nyack; Matt Feinmesser, Sr., OF, Tappan Zee; Danny Fitzgerald, Sr., OF, Pearl River; Nick Fleury, Sr., 3B, Tappan Zee; Brayden Gigante, Sr., 1B, Albertus Magnus; Luis Gomez, Sr., INF/OF, Pearl River; Jacob Herrera, Sr., Util, North Rockland; Jack Kiely, Sr., OF, Nanuet; Kenny Johnston, Sr.,, C, Clarkstown South; Jagger Lorenzano, Jr., 3B/P, Suffern; Nick Manganiello, Sr., SS, Tappan Zee; Anthony Marsico Sr., OF, Tappan Zee; Ryan Martorelli, Sr., 2B/P, North Rockland; Sean McGuiness, Sr., 2B, Albertus Magnus; John Carlos Morales, So, Util, East Ramapo; Blake Myers, So., INF, Nyack; Marco Reda, Jr., OF, Clarkstown North; Trevor Reim, Sr., Util, Clarkstown South; Danny Romeo, Jr., Util/P, Clarkstown South; William Sanchez Medina, Jr., OF, East Ramapo; Ronald Rodriguez, So., C, East Ramapo; Tino Sinishtaj, Jr., P/1B, Nyack; Chris Spataro, Sr., OF, Suffern; Nick Speckenbach, Jr., P/INF, Clarkstown South; Derek Sweeney Sr, OF/P, Clarkstown South; Madden Tyrrell, Sr., INF, Suffern; Jayden Vasquez, Sr., SS, North Rockland; Pat Walsh, Sr., 3B/P, North Rockland; Jack Wooster, Sr., 1B, Pearl River
Nancy Haggerty covers sports for The Journal News/lohud.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Tappan Zee’s Kaleb Hetzel leads list of Rockland baseball all-stars
Reporting by Nancy Haggerty, Rockland/Westchester Journal News / Rockland/Westchester Journal News
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By Nancy Haggerty, Rockland/Westchester Journal News | USA TODAY Network
