NORTH HAVEN, Ct. - Strong performances at the Top Prospect Games and Future Games helped Michael Anquillare fulfill a life-long dream with a college commitment to play baseball at Stony Brook.

“I started talking to (associate head) coach (Jim) Martin in the middle of May and we talked every week leading up to the Top Prospect Games and Future Games,” the North Haven junior said. “I performed well at each, especially the Future Games, and I committed two days later.”

The sixth-rated first baseman in the 2022 New England class was particularly pleased with his showing in Pennsylvania at the Future Games.

“I thought my skill set was up to par,” noted Anquillare. “The (Stony Brook) coaching staff has a lot of faith in me. They liked my game play and I had a couple big hits. I showed them I was ready to compete at the next level.”

Anquillare points to his ability to take advantage of the shutdown of high school sports in March with benefitting his recruiting process.

“I’m a two-sport athlete but once the virus ended hockey season and cancelled the spring, I used the opportunity to get into baseball,” Anquillare explained. “I’m fortunate to have a cage in the backyard and a lot of time went into weight training. I was eager to play with Trevor Brown in the summer and after the PBR event in Clinton coach Trevor sent out a video to Stony Brook. He knew they were high on my list with good baseball and academics.”

Fordham, Northeastern, Sacred Heart, UConn and Seton Hall were other schools in conversation with the 81st-ranked New England junior.

“I’ve always wanted to go to a school in the northeast so my family could see me play,” noted Anquillare, who lives a little more than two hours from the Stony Brook campus.

Family has been a big reason why the 17-year-old has been on a journey to play at the next level.

“It’s always been my dream to play college baseball since I started taking baseball seriously at six-years-old playing with elite teams,” Anquillare reflected. “As I improved I thought about the major leagues but the first step is college baseball.

“My father played baseball at Fordham and I wanted to do what he did. When I was really young I loved to play baseball and ice hockey. He pushed me and said if I wanted to keep working we would, so we started amping it up every day going to the cages to hit. Then we built a cage in the backyard.”

A grandfather and uncle also play baseball in college at the University of North Haven.

“I grew up watching baseball on TV and loved going with my family to all the local facilities around to improve my game,” Anquillare said. “I’ve been incentivized to play and started getting better. It was a lot of fun.”

By eighth grade Prep Baseball Report started making a major impact.

“I was invited to the Junior Future Games at Grand Park,” Anquillare reflected. “What a great experience. That’s when I began to open myself up to Prep Baseball Report, I think it’s the best there is out there. The rankings help motivate kids to get better and to work hard.”

Improvement has been the end result for the 5-11 185-pounder, who had an exit velo of 100 at the Future Games in August and was 3-for-6 at the plate, highlighted by a base hit off of Thomas White, the top-ranked 2023 player in the country.

“It was crazy facing an athlete like that,” Anquillare said of batting against the hard-throwing southpaw from Phillips Academy Andover. “He was signing autographs after he played. He’s special.”

It has Anquillare striving to continue bettering his game.

“I’m more aggressive in the box and on defense I’m more aggressive on the field trying to showcase myself making plays I didn’t think I could make,” Anquillare said of where he has improved. “Seeing all the great pitching like at the Future Games has helped me learn to hit better and in the process prepare in the offseason accordingly.”

Anquillare knows where the focus in making his game will be next.

“I feel my running is one of the things I need to keep working on,” Anquillare admitted. “I ran a 7.22 60 and think I can get that down. Another thing is my arm strength can get better ... and I need to work on my accuracy. With hitting I can be a tad more aggressive and go after more offspeed and learn to hit pitches that are foreign to me like the splitter and knuckleball.”

A 4.2 student at North Haven, Anquillare believes he can be a big help to the America East Conference program.

“I’ve always been a really good leader, someone other kids can look up to and be a role model for,” Anquillare related. “I hope to bring that to Stony Brook and some other places in the future.”

An outfielder in addition to first baseman, Anquillare was grateful with every aspect in his recruitment.

“Thanks to the entire Prep Baseball Report staff, Trevor, my father and mother, uncle, relatives and teammates for helping me,” Anquillare said. “A couple of my buddies had committed before me and to see how excited they were and to join them feels so good. It’s unreal to know I’m going to be a D-I athlete in a couple of years.

“I have a brotherhood already with guys at the Stony Brook community. What a relief to know I don’t have to worry about where I’m going and can go out and get ready to go on to the next level.”