Hauppauge baseball heating up at the right time
Hauppauge's Matt Neglia shows off his pitching motion before a game against Rocky Point on Tuesday, March 26, 2024. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.
In search of its first county title since 2000, the Hauppauge baseball team is rolling.
The Eagles (15-2, 13-2 Suffolk League V) have built an identity that centers on winning games in a number of ways, which could prove helpful in the playoffs.
“We’ve found different ways to win, and we haven’t even exactly played our best baseball yet,” Hauppauge coach Josh Gutes said. “So I feel like we’re kind of peaking at the perfect time, also. You want to be as hot as you can right around playoff time, and I feel like that’s the way that we’re going.”
Gutes, in his 10th season, said this year’s team is Hauppauge’s most talented since the 2015-17 run that featured three straight league championships.
The pitching is led by star senior righthander Matt Neglia. A St. Thomas Aquinas commit, he is 6-0 with a 0.93 ERA and 41 strikeouts in 30 innings.
“Matt is an absolute game-changer,” Gutes said. “To go far in this thing, you need a guy like Matt, and we’re fortunate to have him.”
Gutes praised Hauppauge’s lineup depth, and the team already has had defining moments such as Mike Oliveto’s walk-off grand slam against East Islip. The Eagles won, 10-7, after trailing 7-2 in the sixth.
“I think there’s full confidence one through nine,” said John Margolies, a senior third baseman and pitcher and fellow St. Thomas Aquinas commit.“Anybody can get the job done at any time.”
The Eagles, who clinched at least a share of the league title with Friday’s win, believe they have what it takes to make a deep run in the Class AA playoffs, which begin May 14.
“We pretty much talk about it all the time,” Neglia said. “We think game to game, but we always have the goal in the back of our mind to know where we want to go.”
Bellmore JFK eyes crown
Bellmore JFK took a massive step toward its first conference title since 2013.
The Cougars (9-2-1 AA-III) won two of three games against South Side this past week, tying the Cyclones (9-2-1) atop the conference standings.
“The series was tremendous,” Bellmore JFK coach Mike Gattus said. “We try not to look too far ahead, but the kids all had the feeling that this was a really big one for us.”
Freshman identical twins and Duke commits Ryan and Derek Yormack have been outstanding, boasting — naturally — identical .450 averages. Derek also has a 1.15 ERA and 41 strikeouts in 18 1⁄3 innings. Jack Finkelstein (1.62 ERA in 26 innings) and Zach Adelstein (1.35 ERA in 26 innings) also have been stalwarts on the mound.
Bellmore JFK is aiming for its first county title. Said Gattus: “It’s been a dream with this group.”
Ben Dickson joined Newsday’s high school sports staff in 2023 after graduating from Maryland, where he covered several of the Terrapins' teams.
