Riefienhauser, Castellitto commit to Iona
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- October
- 18
Mahopac’s two top arms this season are seniors C.J. Riefenhauser and Anthony Castellitto. And I have confirmed what I posted here yesterday, that both have committed to play ball at Iona.
I tracked both guys down and have written a story about it for The Journal News, which will likely run tomorrow. Ironically, Riefenhauser and Castellitto came to their decisions separately despite the fact that they are very good friends.
Riefenhauser said “it was a coincidence,” but that “it’s nice to know somebody going down there with you, especially somebody who’s one of your best friends.â€?
Both guys were all-section players last year. They combined for 12 of the Indians’ 16 wins. They will make Mahopac one of the the favorites to win next year’s Class AA championship, in addition to left fielder Pete Diresta, who committed to Albany earlier this fall.
I know many of you will be interested in what schools these guys looked at. So here goes:
Riefenhauser said he went on official visits to Sacred Heart, College of St. Rose, and Iona, and unofficials to Stony Brook and Maine. Plus, after making this decision he canceled visits to Southern Conn. State, Bryant and Albany.
OK, now on to Castellitto. His only visit was to Iona. He also had been in contact on several occasions with Fordham, Albany and Siena, but he thought Iona made an offer too good to refuse.
That’s all for now. I’ve been told there are a few final showcases this weekend and the rest of the chips should fall before that. I promise I’ll stay on top of it, so keep reading.
This entry was posted
on Thursday, October 18th, 2007 at 8:37 am by Josh Thomson.
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Josh Thomson has done some of everything since joining The Journal News in
March 2003. He began working for the Gannett weeklies during the winter of
2002 as a freelance writer. He joined the daily staff soon after and has
since covered various high school and pro sports. Away from sportswriting,
Josh lives in Westchester and spends his free time either with his
fiancee, Sarah, or expertly managing his various championship-winning
fantasy sports teams. He's visited 21 major-league baseball stadiums and
insists that Fenway Park and Wrigley Field are the best by far. Josh
graduated from Carmel High School in 1998, then went to Boston University,
where, in 2002, he received a degree in communications with a minor in
history. 
Jake Thomases has covered baseball, hockey, girls basketball, and girls soccer for the Journal News since arriving in 2003. He previously interned at The Poughkeepsie Journal while attending Vassar College. He is socking money away under his mattress to buy the Knicks, at which time he will trade Jerome James to Cleveland for a ham sandwich.
You aint tracking these two dudes down today…Carmel vs Mahopac in football and both play every down! These 2 guys have been together since birth. Iona got a steal.
Congrats to both fine athletes! JOSH- There’s a tournament at Baseball Heaven (L.I.) this weekend and next weekend is the Jupiter Fl. tournament (Perfect Game). Jupiter is considered the biggest showcase tournament of the Fall (pre-college commits)and a lot of the Hudson valley players will be there. Quite a few will be in Long Island this weekend as well.
Here’s the story I wrote for today’s paper about Castellitto and Riefenhauser.
HV Dad,
I was checking the rosters for the event in Jupiter and was disappointed that there are not many HV players going. I saw 5 on College Select, 3 on Team Ct, 2 on PG Steel and 3 on the S Troy/Youth Service team. Thought there would be more.
I would think many more HV players would be represented if not for football. A number of HV baseball players are also football players and it is difficult to leave the team in the middle of the playoffs.
Why did these kids settle for a chump school like Iona? Sounds to me like they weren’t as recruited as some led us to believe. They both could have done much better that a loser like Iona who doesnt even have a field to play on!
I’m sure they got a lot of money but come on now…Iona? wowwwee.
Too Bad…Congrats! You win the award for the worst comment of the year.
lmao josh that was a good one
Too Bad,,,,
How about (1) Quality of education, (2) Location, (3) Opportunity to play/contribute right away, (4) Coach, (5) Comfort, (6) Money….
Now we’ll just have to wait for baseball notes to fill us in. In cases like this someone with some college baseball/recruiting knowledge would have been nice.
Josh,
I agree “Too Bad” is the “Winner” ...I’m not sure that there is even a close second!
College BB Fan:
Pat Carey is building from the Bottom Up, he is a Class Act and these are 2 competive kids who will get a chance to contribute right away ! Pat is looking for Student Athletes who will help him build a program…not a quick fix(aka the juco route)
Iona….build a field and they will come…The resources are there and back behind the old Dorms cries for a Baseball Field…Congrats to these kids…they must be Good Students because Iona’s Baseball Money is coming mostly on the Academic side !
ps. Too Bad, take a look around the New York Metro Business Community, Wall Street Etc. and you’ll see how many IONA winners there are ….
College BB Fan,
I just looked at it also. South Fl. Bandits have one but you are correct. I am surprised as well. I do know that some teams in our area shared rosters with other teams and that limited spots. Unlike East Cobb, Jupiter is an 80 team tournament.
Iona is a great school and Pat Carey is a young up and coming coach. They play a competitive schedule. “TOO BAD” these are tennage kids you are talking about. You are an insensitve jerk and have no idea what you are talking about. A degree from Iona College is the goal.
Congratulations to both of these young men and to PJ. Coach Maloney should be proud. Coach Carey is thrilled. He told me there may be one more local suprise.
Baseball Notes, the area behing the old dorm (Rice Hall) has already been approved for the building of a softball field. The area not nearly large enough for a baseball field. Iona should partner up with the city and build a first class facility down at city park where it could be shared during the summer months with the Robins. This would also create a first class facility for the HS sectionals. New Rochelle HS had the new field built at Davis scholl and it’s been one problem after another. (Great job they did on the football field at New Ro).
Great post by Baseball Notes. Carey will turn that program around. The campus is beautiful. The school is a good academic school. Congratulations to Riefenhauser and Castellitto on making a good choice. The school could help the program immensely if they build a field and stop spending money on that cow pasture at Salesian. In addition to a winning program, a first class facility will go a long way in getting players to Iona. I am confident that the winning will come under Coach Carey, the school has to do their part and find a field. Congratualtions again to CJ and Castellitto and good luck at Iona.
They will never BUILD a field on ampus again. They have no room and property values in the surrounding area are just too high. “Notes” took a shot at the Oval but must never have seen how small it is and how strong the neighborhood association is. There best bet is city park but I don’t see it happening.
Coach Carey is trying very hard to buid. If he is to be successful, he needs the school behind him. It;s tough to compete when your program is not fully funded. Others are getting the 11.7 scholarships or close to it. Coach is working with around half that. Makes it tough to find a kid for decent dollars. He’s been smart and is chasing not only players with talent but those who also excell in the classroom. The scholl does give out nice dollars in academic aid which when blended with a few $$$ in baseball money makes the packages attractive.
GO Gaels!!!!
Does anyone know how the rest of the recruiting class for Iona is this year ? With one good season they will be knocking his door down with recruits.
Congratulations to Riefenhauser and good luck to him this season at MHS & next year at IONA.
“Too Bad” – I’m glad so many others have put you in your place & highlighted your ignorance. You should be ashamed!
Rief is a talented student-athlete who, I assure you, was widely recruited from an array of D1 schools. His decision to attend and play at IONA was a sound one that took all aspects of his college experience into consideration. Thanks, Josh, for the positive press!
Rief will only be at Iona for 3 years anyway. He will be drafted. I better get good tickets from him when he makes it all the way.
TOO BAD,,
As a baseball player at Iona college who has played against both of these kids from Mahopac last year in the White Plains tournament I can assure you that they have been recruited by plenty of D I schools. Also they have made a great choice Iona is a great school and Pat Carey and Coach Mann are great coachs Coach Mann will definately make these two kids better pitchers. I also assure you it doesnt matter what field we play on this team works as hard as anyteam out there. They made a great choice and will be very happy with Iona as a school and as a baseball program. Too Bad maybe you should rethink some of the things you just said and if i might add one more thing.. Where did you play college baseball at. Thanks Josh for letting this guy know how great his reply was