The annual Bryan Bonin Grand Slam Challenge served as a Chaminade takeover Monday night.

Yes, Flyers superstar senior Collin Anderson started at third base as the No. 3 hitter for the Nassau baseball all-stars against their Suffolk counterparts.

But eight rows above the field, in the Farmingdale State press box, was where the real magic happened.

Rising Chaminade seniors Thomas Gamba and Roman Brunetti were on the call for the 18th edition of the all-star game on the LI Sports Network on YouTube. Danny Anicito, who graduated from Chaminade earlier this month and was a captain and third baseman for the NSCHSAA finalists, was the public address announcer.

“I'm honored to be part of the game just because it's part of such a great cause,” said Brunetti, from Stewart Manor. “Bryan Bonin, from what I read, he was a pretty nice guy, a light in the community. I’m happy I get to be part of such a great event honoring such a great person.”

Bonin, the former Commack baseball coach who led the Cougars to the 2021 Long Island Class AA title, died at 33 in January 2022 after a battle with melanoma. Monday marked the third time the game has been played in his honor.

The trio learned about the opportunity through Pat Reichart, who runs the Chaminade sports media team, a club that includes broadcasting, social media, writing, podcasting and more.

Long Island Lutheran coach Shaun Manning, a 1996 Chaminade graduate and sponsor and event coordinator for the Grand Slam Challenge, reached out to Reichart about getting the students involved.

The club has grown from John Boccio and Henry Farber, two 2023 Chaminade graduates, to over 30.

“It fills my heart with such joy to see these kids succeeding,” said Reichart, a 2001 Chaminade graduate. “It blows my mind that this thing has sort of just mushroomed.”

Anicito, from Plainview, said: “It wasn’t really such a big deal my freshman year. There was only maybe three kids in it, to now it's way over 30 kids. [Reichart] is always here, putting in the time, the effort, getting materials, whatever we need. If we need something that would make our lives a little bit easier, he’s always there to help out.”

Gamba, from Garden City, has turned his experience at Chaminade into national success. Last August, he was a part of ESPN’s KidsCast for the MLB Little League Classic between the Yankees and Tigers.

Gamba and fellow Chaminade student Mike Saville filmed 10 episodes of the “Hockeyverse Matchup of the Week,” the NHL’s first animated show on NHL Network, this past season. He also filmed a Hockeyverse segment highlighting the top five goals from the Stanley Cup that aired on TNT before Game 4.

“It's pretty positive feedback,” Gamba said. “It's great to see because myself and Mike and the whole entire rest of the crew put in so much work, so many hours. It's really the first of its kind, and it's great to see it expand. I'm seeing my hard work pay off. They're giving me other opportunities outside of it, so it’s a lot of fun.”

Both Gamba and Brunetti are broadcasting for the Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League this summer. They are also attending Bruce Beck’s broadcasting camp next month.

Brunetti is also the Editor-in-Chief of Chaminade’s sports media team. He took first place in the New York Press Association's Better Newspaper Contest for one of his football game stories last fall.

Anicito is attending Purdue, where he will major in finance and minor in journalism.

He did PA announcing for some football and basketball games and has already reached out to the Purdue student radio station.

But on the microphone Monday, he had to put a little extra emphasis announcing Anderson.

“Absolutely,” Anicito said. “That’s my guy.”

Ahead of Monday night’s game, the Grand Slam Challenge added a home run derby for the first time. The winner? Sayville’s Andrew Law.

Law emerged from a six-man field that included Deer Park’s Kyle Coppola, Garden City’s Evan Cabral, MacArthur’s Nick Albert and pro prospects Jayden Stroman (Patchogue-Medford) and Michael Oliveto (Hauppauge).

Law, Albert and Stroman advanced to the second and final round. After a tie between Law and Albert, the former emerged in overtime to win the Orlin & Cohen Home Run Derby.

“This is an awesome event, so I'm just trying to have a good time,” Law said. “And it was just really great … great feeling right now.”