The crack of the bat is being heard across Mastic-Shirley ball fields thanks to sports leagues organizing athletic opportunities for hundreds of local kids. Recent weekends saw opening day pageantry on display as teams in bright uniforms and hats showed off their colors to adoring families and fans.
Young athletes are playing ball under the auspices of the Mastic Sports Club and the Tri-Hamlet Sports Club, two organizations driven by parents and community volunteers who believe in the combined benefits of athleticism and teamwork.
“We couldn’t do this without the commissioners, coaches, schedulers, and everyone else who make this work,” said Gene Mona, the Mastic Sports Club’s president. The organization offers baseball, softball, soccer, basketball and special needs programs for over 500 children every year. At its opening ceremony, the club took a moment to honor the memory of Sal Napolitano, nicknamed “Dirt,” who was active in the league for many years after its founding in 1961. “Sal had been around longer than dirt in helping kids live up to their fullest potential through sports,” said Mona, who has been active with the club for the last 22 years.
The Brookhaven Town-owned ballfields where the teams play are named for Chuck Ziegler, a league founder who dedicated himself to local youth sports for many years. The teams also play at a soccer complex in Yaphank and have traveling teams that compete against Center Moriches, Longwood, Patchogue-Medford and other leagues.
Over at Tri-Hamlet Sports, President Mark Smothergill and his team have been organizing sports for local youth for the last 13 years. He noted the excitement as young players move up from the little league distance from the pitcher’s mound to home plate and between bases where they’re allowed to take leads and attempt to steal.
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Mastic Sports Club officials with the family of Sal "Dirt" Napolitano, a longtime
leader in providing local youth opportunities to play ball. The league made a presentation of a home plate-shaped plaque in his honor.
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“When he was 12, Dakota said his dream was to play for the Mets, which I thought was probably not realistic, but I was going to do everything I could to help him,” Smothergill said. “I got involved and normally, local baseball was traditionally a spring sport—by July 4th, you're done. It's kind of hard to get better that way, so I started the first summer league around here and then a fall league.”
Dakota was hands-on with his dad learning his skills as a ball player and also working to prepare the fields. The father and son built a field at Robert Miller Park in Mastic Beach from scratch and he was involved in many aspects of running a league. Though he was a good player, Dakota never got to play for the Mets, but did get an opportunity to work with the Ducks minor league team as a groundskeeper. Opportunities arose, and Dakota now proudly works for the Mets helping take care of their fields, a dream come true thanks to a local sports club, but not necessarily in the way he had originally planned.
“He works crazy hours, but found something he loves,” the proud dad said. “He always wanted to be involved in baseball and he absolutely loves it.”