Coach Carlesi 1967 – 2025

alt="Coach John Carlesi smiles as he watches his players at Florida Spring Training, 2013."
Coach Carlesi
(Victoria Santora via Facebook)
Hi everyone. I’m Coach Carlesi’s niece/goddaughter. I’m the one who makes the end of the year videos for him. Im not sure if some of you have heard, but it is with heavy heart that I regret to inform everyone of his sudden passing on Sunday morning. He died peacefully in his sleep. He was such a wonderful man and always spoke so highly of his ball players. He loved coaching you all and baseball was his life. He was like a father figure to many of you, and I cannot imagine how you all will feel after hear this.

Obituary for Coach Carlesi | Tribute Wall

In Memorium

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Coaches Matt Hahn, John Carlesi, and players inspect a side section.

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Julian Michaels and Varsity Coach John Carlesi

Julian Michaels and Varsity Coach John Carlesi

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Coach Carlesi's words of wisdom

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Coach Carlesi

Coach Carlesi

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L-R Coach John Carlesi, Art Horowitz ('53), Joe Levine ('54) at Pier 40.

L-R Coach John Carlesi, Art Horowitz ('53), Joe Levine ('54) at Pier 40.

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Coaches Carlesi and Hahn

Coaches Carlesi and Hahn

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Back: Tom Dyevich '77, Lou Digilio '76, Jeff Shikowitz '77, Bill Sablesak '76; Front: current Coaches Matt Hahn, John Carlesi

Back: Tom Dyevich '77, Lou Digilio '76, Jeff Shikowitz '77, Bill Sablesak '76
Front: current Coaches Matt Hahn, John Carlesi

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Kyle Yee, Evan Lubin, Coach Hahn, Coach Carlesi, Thomas Dorante

Kyle Yee, Evan Lubin, Coach Hahn, Coach Carlesi, Thomas Dorante

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Coach Carlesi, Nick Kalantzopoulos - 2015 Alumni Game

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Coach Carlesi takes in the action.

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Coach Carlesi

Coach Carlesi

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L-R Coach Carlesi, Demos Sfakianakis, George Kistios, Jack Haggerty

L-R Coach Carlesi, Demos Sfakianakis, George Kistios, Jack Haggerty

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Coaches Carlesi and Hahn consider comeback strategies

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Coach Carlesi gesturing to left field

Coach Carlesi "New rule, when I'm playing left field anything over my head is an out."

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Coaches and Players gather before the game.

Coaches Carlesi and Hahn review the ground rules.

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Coach John Carlesi
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Always in our hearts Coach Carlesi and Coach Hahn

Rest in Friendship, Coaches Hahn and Carlesi

Peglegs Draw 14th Seed. To play Bayside Commodores in First Round

After a successful 9-5 league record, The Stuyvesant Peglegs have been awarded a first round home game against the Bayside High School Commodores. In their only meeting of the season, the Peglegs were victorious, 5-0, behind a powerful pitching performance from ace William Rickens.

Rickens was dominant on the hill, as the pitcher rang up 16 strikeouts in the victory. MinJoon Kim homered to left field, scoring two runs in the top of the seventh to ice the game.

Hopefully the Peglegs can work more magic and secure a second-round playoff birth to cap off a fantastic season.

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Stuyvesant Peglegs Knocked Out of Playoffs by Beacon Demons

After Beacon scored 4 runs in the bottom of the second inning, the Peglegs flipped the game on its head in the top of the third, scoring five runs on one hit to take a 5-4 lead.
The biggest blow in the inning was a single by Axel Riess after a 6-pitch at-bat that drove in two.

The Demons added two more in the fourth inning to take the lead for good.

Riess led the Peglegs with two hits in four at bats.  Jacob Mui, Riess, and Jared Virasami each drove in one run for Stuyvesant.
The Peglegs were patient at the plate, chalking up 8 walks in the game led by Mantas Kempinas, Kenny Harkin, and Virasami who each had two walks.
Adrian Veto and Riess each stole multiple bases for Stuy..

In wrapping up the season Coach John Carlesi had this to say, “Despite the loss, I am so proud on how this team handled itself this season and in the playoffs, making it to the second round.  At the beginning of the season, all the coaches agreed we might be a .500 team from what we saw in preseason play. With the loss of 11 seniors in 2023, many of this year’s players did not get much playing time last year, if any.
Boy, were we wrong!!
Not only did this team play better than expected but they beat two of the elite eight teams going into the quarterfinals, one of them ranked 3rd in the city. Not only was it a win but a shutout. “

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Stuyvesant Defeats Walton in Nail Biter at the Pier

The Peglegs defeated the Wildcats on Wednesday after trailing 5-0 in the third inning.
In mounting their comeback, Kenny Harkin and Axel Riess each collected two hits for Stuyvesant.
Adrian Veto, Andrew Choi, Riess, and Jared Virasami each drove in one run and the Peglegs racked up 6 walks along the way.

Stuyvesant was down 6-4 in the bottom of the sixth inning when Virasami tripled, scoring one run, and Choi singled scoring two runs.

Virasami came in to pitch in the top of the seventh, giving up just a walk and no hits.
The game was started by Mantas Kempinas (4.0 IP, 8H, 6R, 3ER, 1BB, 8K) while Jasper Yu-Dawidowicz came in in relief (2.0 IP, 1H, 0R, 0ER, 4BB, 0K)

 

The Peglegs play next on Friday,May 24 at 3:30 PM against Beacon.

Please come out to support your Peglegs!

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Stuyvesant Gets Revenge on Midwood Behind Strong Outing From Mantas Kempinas. Final 5-3.

Mantas Kempinas had another strong outing on the bump for the Peglegs yesterday. The righty had a rocky start, giving up a pair of runs in the first but then settled down making it through 6 solid innings of work. Kempinas allowed 3 runs on six hits while striking out 10 Hornets.
The bats were silent for the first 3 innings though they squared up a lot of balls just to be hit right at Midwood’s defense. The balls started to find holes and the Peglegs put up 5 spot in the 4th.
Andrew Choi and Axel Riess started things up in the 4th with back to back singles. Mantas followed up with another single scoring the Peglegs first run.
Jared Virasami followed up with a walk and then Kenny Harkin came through with a huge go ahead single, scoring 2 more runs. Stuyvesant added some insurance runs on a bases loaded balk and a Charlie Winer single.
Jasper Yu-Dawidowicz came in to shut the door on the Hornets in the top of the 7th.
The Peglegs finished the regular season with a 9-5 record, almost guaranteeing a home playoff game next Wednesday.
All of the coaches are particularly proud of this team because the pre-season did not look very bright. These boys over met expectations to the fullest and they should be very proud of themselves.
The split against two of the top 5 teams in the city should be a memory they don’t forget.
And to have so many alumni show up yesterday made it an extra special win. Love you guys!!
Seeding for the playoffs will happen sometime Sunday and we will post the standings. Right now, Stuyvesant holds sole position in 3rd play in our division.
Great job boys!!
So proud of you!!
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Strong Hitting Wasn’t Enough To Overcome Errors In the Field that Lead To 4-3 Lost to Midwood.

Even though the Peglegs collected 8 hits to Midwood’s 5 the Peglegs left a lot of men on base and count not get the big hit.
Andrew Choi and Mantas Kempinas each collected two 2 on the day and Jared Virasami was fantastic on the mound. Virasami struck out 10 Hornets while giving up 4 hits and 3 runs over 5.1 innings.
The Peglegs had men on base almost every inning but Midwood pitchers would get out of jams.
The Peglegs are now 8-5 on the season with only 1 game left. With yesterday’s lost Stuyvesant fell out of contention for a top 10 stop in playoff seeding but with a win tomorrow there is a high possibility that we keep a top 15 seed and having a home game for the first round of the playoffs.
Next and final regular season game is tomorrow at Pier 40, game time is 3:45pm.
Come cheer on the boys!!