(Editor’s Note: This is the seventh part of a 10-part series in which we re-visit the careers of some of the top players in Long Island history. Previously, we featured James Bailin, Jeff Tyler, Jake Thomas, Luke Stampfl, Nick Trabacchi and Thomas Roulis. Special thanks to Prime Performance for sponsoring this year’s series.)
In what remains their only County Championship in program history, Sachem East defeated Smithtown in the Suffolk Finals at Baseball Heaven by the score of 5-3. That Sachem team was a powerhouse, compiling a record of 24-5, despite it being the first year of the school.
A major reason for their success was the presence of senior catcher Billy Aguiar (now Alvino). He batted .575 (12-for-19 in the playoffs) with 7 HRs, 17 doubles, 44 RBIs, 35 runs scored and 2 only strikeouts. He is widely regarded as one of the top catchers of this century on Long Island and wound up having a terrific collegiate career at High Point University and played five years of pro ball. Following his career, he was on the fast track of college coaching before a freak incident severely impacted his cognitive abilities.
But first let’s hop in a time machine and take it back.
The Early Days
Billy was born and raised in Holtsville, NY. He is the older of two children, his younger sister is a very talented individual who was a State Championship in field hockey and also played softball. She played both at Elms College and is now a teacher.
Alvino was a jack-of-all-trades when it came to sports as he played hockey, basketball, soccer, volleyball and baseball. In fact, he played basketball, volleyball and baseball through 10th grade before he chose to focus on baseball.
He recalls playing on the SYAG Braves for George Barile and playing two years up when he was just a kid.
A few years later, his father would coach his travel team, the Long Island Angels, which was comprised of kids from Sachem and Smithtown. Naturally, that was a very talented group. He only recalled one particular player from the team and that was Chris Hervey who would go on to become an All-State player for Smithtown and played 4 years at Indiana University and is now a National Crosschecker for the New York Mets.
Ultimately, he went to play on the first Long Island Titans team coached by Eric Joyner, who would go on to become a Long Island Championship winning coach at Newfield. Alvino stated that every kid on that team played Division-I baseball.
By the time he was in 8th grade, there was a strong consideration to call him up to varsity. It would’ve been an unprecedented move for the program, and they opted to have him play JV that year.
Sachem High School
When Alvino began HS, he was at Sachem and played for legendary coach Bill Batewell.
“I had the opportunity to play varsity under coach Batewell as a freshman. He had a huge impact on me as a high school player.”
Alvino mentioned that the team that year was the most talented of his 4-year career. They had future MLB draft picks Mike Parisi (Manhattan) and Kevin Fitzgerald (Stony Brook).
While they reached the playoffs for each of his first three seasons, they were “unable to get over the hump” come playoff time.
Following his junior season, the students found out that they would be splitting Sachem into two high schools (North and East) depending on district lines. Alvino was sent to Sachem East.
“I had mixed feelings about it – I wanted to play for Batewell and felt he wanted to end his career with my class,” he said.
Around this time, Alvino had been generating tons of interest from colleges. He had participated in the Empire State Games twice – which is very unusual for a player to be on the team more than once. He also participated in East Coast Pro at UNC-Wilmington and the Area Code Games at Long Beach State.
As one of the top catchers in the class, he recalls the recruiting process being “intense” and being “inundated with phone calls and letters.”
The first call he took was from UCONN, but there were many, many others – he kept a notebook to write down the names of the school and the coach he spoke to. He recalls speaking to almost all the big schools on the East Coast – and he had narrowed it down. Vanderbilt was on that list along with High Point University in North Carolina.
“Really it came down to what I wanted – I realized at a bigger school you’re just a number and they want to get you for the least amount that they can. I wanted to play right away. High Point University had a revamped program, they were bringing in a ton of good recruits and were coached by Sal Bando Jr, whose father played in the big leagues for 15 years and was a part of the 1972-1974 Oakland A’s dynasty.
He decided that High Point University was the right fit for him.
Sachem East was a powerhouse in the 2005 season, although they did so without a home field. They played their games at Baseball Heaven. Alvino recalls their season starting against Smithtown and their leadoff hitter, Billy Neubauer, hitting a home run which led to a three-game sweep.
“The rest was history.”
Neubauer wound up leading Long Island in home runs with 13 and played four years at Adelphi University.
Coach Kevin Schnupp also recalled the bus ride to the game where he address his team before the game.
“I told the guys, look, they’ll be a first hit, a first run, a first RBI – and eventually a first home run in Sachem East history. Billy stepped up and led off the game and got all of those.”
He also mentioned LHP Nick DeMeo (9-0, record, batted .500) and Tom Meaney as two other critical players to their success. He mentioned that Meaney was an outstanding catcher that caught the third game of the season, moving Alvino to third. Meaney came into Schnupp’s office after the game and told him he would move to right field because the team was at their best with Alvino behind the dish. Meaney wound up playing 4 years at Division-I UMBC.
Sachem East got to the playoffs and defeated Northport, Connetquot and Copiague to advance to the County Championship. In the game against Copiague, they squared off against David Collado who was the Carl Yastrzemski Award winner. Many people felt that Alvino was the more deserving player.
All Alvino did was hit a go-ahead home run to left field which proved to be the game-winning run. Additionally, for only the second time in his high school career he took the mound and recorded the final 6 outs to notch the save.
The final out? None other than Collado on a strikeout.
In what is one of the great “what if’s” in Long Island baseball history, Sachem North was on the verge of beating Smithtown and would’ve advanced to make an All-Sachem County Championship. They were unable to close it out, however, and Sachem East faced Smithtown at Baseball Heaven in a best-of-three.
Against Smithtown. Sachem East would win both games of the best-of-3 – by the scores of 5-1 and 5-3 to capture the Suffolk County Championship.
They advanced to the Long Island Championship against East Meadow at Stony Brook University. Nick DeMeo pitched a complete game, striking out 8 and was backed once again by Alvino who hit a home run. Sachem East won by the score of 5-1.
They would advance to Binghamton for the New York State tournament. In the first game, they defeated Thomas Webster by the score of 3-2 in extra innings. It was a terrific game, with their SS coming through with the clutch hit. Nick DeMeo won his 9th game of the season, going the distance. Coach Schnupp noted “he was adamant about not coming out of that game and getting it done with his boys.” DeMeo wound up attending Pace and is now playing for NYPD’s baseball team.
Having played in the early time slot, they had to wait for the other semifinal game to be complete. Coach Schnupp noted they tried everything they could to stay hydrated between games. Naturally, Alvino started both games behind the dish and DeMeo went and played 1st base.
Ultimately, their dream season was cut short in the NYS Finals by RC Ketchum by the score of 3-1. Chris Daniels fired a complete game for the win, after throwing 4 innings in the semifinals earlier in the day.
Once they arrived back home, Coach Schnupp recalls it being 3am and Billy was on the back of the bus, on his hands & knees, picking up sunflower seeds one by one.
“Here’s a kid that was a possible draft pick, going to college on a full scholarship. That’s the type of person he is.”
Despite the loss, it was an amazing inaugural season for Sachem East – who is still looking for that elusive second championship. Coach Schnupp had the following to say about that team.
“They were loaded and they were hungry. I knew a lot of those guys from coaching them back in 8th grade. They were all tough kids. I was getting married that year and I spent a lot of my wedding money on helmets, uniforms and other equipment for the team. We didn’t have much,” he said.
Schnupp was a first year coach and handled a tough situation perfectly, as he had to navigate the challenges of a 1st year program that didn’t have a home field. In fact, due to the weather, he noted they didn’t even have a scrimmage or outdoor practice before Opening Day. And they managed to have 3 All-State players and come one win away from immortality.
For whatever reason, Alvino was not drafted despite having interest from a few teams. It was off to High Point.
High Point University
Alvino had the opportunity to start as a freshman at High Point. He sat the first game against Bethune-Cookman before starting and getting the game-winning hit in the second game. He kept that momentum rolling as he batted. .290 with 3 HRs and 29 RBIs. He was named Louisville Slugger’s Freshman All-American team.
That summer he played in Danville, IL. in the Central Illinois League.
After having similar levels of success during his sophomore and junior seasons, he took his game to another level during his senior season of 2009. Alvino batted .400 with 3 HRs, 47 RBIs and struck out only 4 times in 210 at bats – which was the best rate in the country. He was named a semifinalist for the coveted Johnny Bench Award – given to the top backstop in Division-I baseball. He was named first team All-Big South and his 84 hits ranked second all-time in program history.
While the team never did win the Big South Conference, they did defeat No. 4 ranked UNC – the first time they had beaten them since 1976. He had the go-ahead double in that game.
Shockingly, the 2009 draft came and went without Alvino’s name being called. He noted that he gets that question a lot, and the only justification he can theorize is that there wasn’t a ton of social media in those days and the big scouts were spending more time at the other powerhouse schools in the area to get looks at more of the players that will be populating pro ball.
“It’s about being a big fish in a big pond, but I do wonder if I had stayed local and gone to a St. John’s or Stony Brook would the crosschecks have taken notice,” he said. Regardless, he continued to train because there was a very good chance he’d still be given the opportunity to play pro ball.
A few teams called, specifically the Detroit Tigers and Toronto Blue Jays and he decided to sign with the Tigers.
Pro Ball
Alvino was assigned to the Gulf Coast League, which he said “is not the life you dream of” referring to the hot climate and long days of travel facing the same few teams. Fortunately, he was only there for a few weeks before being promoted to High-A with the Lakeland Flying Tigers. He played 13 games with them to end the season, batting a respectable .268 to go along with outstanding defense.
In 2010, he played with the West Michigan Whitecaps, which he noted was a good experience as they draw pretty good attendance.
“I was getting in a little bit of a groove,” he said. Unfortunately, the first significant injury he suffered was a fractured wrist by a pitch. That caused him to miss some time. He also sustained an even worse injury as he was apart of a collision at home plate which left him with 2 herniated discs in his back and he lost 3 teeth.
On the flip side, he did have some great experiences in pro ball including getting to catch all of Justin Verlander’s spring training bullpens in 2011 when he was in big league camp. He got to go to dinner with Verlander and he stated he is “class all the way.”
Ultimately, Alvino was released in 2011 by the Detroit Tigers.
He chose to play Independent Ball which he did from 2011 to 2013. His first manager was Hall of Famer Tim Raines, while he played for the Neward Bears. He would also play for Jim Leyritz the next season and played alongside Jose Canseco’s twin brother, Ozzie.
Overall, he played parts of 5 seasons in pro ball and got to live out his dream while doing so.
The Next Chapter
Alvino chose to go back to school to get his masters. He did so at Manhattanville College and received his masters in Sports Business Management. He was able to join the baseball program as the grad assistant.
“This opened the door for me in terms of learning everything. After the 1st year, I said this is something I want to do,” he said. He called up Brian Peters, who was his hitting coach in college, who was the assistant coach at the University of Pittsburgh. He notified him that the volunteer assistant position would be opening up the next year and suggested that he put in for it.
Alvino coached his second season with Manhattanville before leaving to take that role at the University of Pittsburgh.
In his first year, he was in charge of the catchers. He noted that he was fortunate to coach their catcher, Alex Kowalczyk, who was a “tremendous talent” and was drafted in the 12th round of the 2016 MLB draft by Texas.
The next year, he was promoted to Recruiting Coordinator and worked with the catchers and OFs. He worked with Manny Pazos who was signed as an undrafted FA by the Seattle Mariners. He also recruited Kellenberg LHP/OF Chris Cappas who would go on to be named to the ACC All-Tournament team as a freshman.
What happened next paved the way for the next iteration of his coaching career/life journey.
While throwing BP during March 2018, he was struck in the head with a hard line drive. He noted there was a welt on his head but he wasn’t overly concerned at that time. The concern was ticked up when he continued to get headaches and he went to the emergency room the following Monday. He was diagnosed with a concussion.
Unfortunately, it was not a standard recovery as Alvino noted that things seemed off.
Knowing that he was not himself, and also that Pittsburgh would probably be bringing in a new coaching staff after the season, he decided to take a job at Nova Southeastern in the fall of 2018 – a Division-II powerhouse in Florida.
When he came home for the winter break he noticed that he was always tired, he didn’t want to be around people, he was sensitive to light and just struggling overall with memory.
He decided to go back to Nova Southeastern but he told the head coach about what he was experiencing and he noted it was time to take care of himself. He left and went home. The team did not know the severity of what he was dealing with for a few months after.
Alvino had a battery of testing done, including for cancer, by a specialist.
The doctor informed him what he was experiencing was post-concussion syndrome.
“I asked her when I can get back to work. She told me ‘I don’t think you understand the severity of this.” Alvino’s concern level increased significantly when he was at his parents house and wound up on the floor and couldn’t get up.
He went back to the specialist for an emergency meeting and told her, “alright I’m yours,” meaning he was ready to do whatever type of therapy was needed to rehab himself.
He spoke to the team at Nova and he called it “helpful” to keep them up to date with his situation. The symptoms had really impacted him to the point that he regressed to a third grade reading level and couldn’t balance on one foot for more than one second at a time.
Through physical therapy he started gradually improving. What really helped was brain test called EEG (electroencephalogram) which is used to detect brain abnormalities such as tumors, inflammation, bleeding or head injuries. It can also diagnose and monitor serious conditions.
Alvino noted he did about 40-60 sessions and it had a tremendous impact.
“It showed me exactly what was going on.”
Over time, he has improved substantially to the point that he is now able to work 10-12 hour days and he said he’s “better than I was before.”
He now works at JJGNP in Miller Place where he is an EEG technician and General Manager of the practice.
“I tell people all the time, the beauty of it all was that it was the best-worst thing that’s ever happened to me.”
During his recovery, Alvino has since gone on to get married and have his first child. He also bought a house in the same development he was raised in.
“I’m learning who I am outside of the game of baseball.”
He has slowly gotten back into the game of baseball. He helps out at CatcherMTRX, giving catching instructions to young ballplayers. He noted that he’s “looking forward to getting his feet wet in mentorship” and his goal is to “get involved at the high school level.”
His larger life goal is to advocate for young kids to take care of their brain health, stating that “most people do not take care of themselves and I would like to incorporate sports into this.”
While Alvino’s legacy at Sachem East HS will live on forever, he has his sights set on having an impact on a much greater scale.
