Neal Heaton
Neal’s Knowledge: What Should a January Throwing Program Consist Of?
A pitcher should be treated like a race horse–carefully groomed and you cannot accelerate that process. When a pitcher picks up the ball for the first time in January, they haven’t pitched off a mound for over two months. I tell my pitchers before I see them on the mound they should have done a bit of long-tossing. You should not be going from inactivity to a mound. I took a lot of precautions to stay healthy in my career, and for that reason I landed on the DL only once–and it was a freak accident during BP while running sprints. Here are some crucial steps young pitchers should be following in order to avoid injury and be at their best by the time the season comes around. You should not be lifting heavy weights at all once you start throwing from a mound. Doesn’t matter how strong you ar...
Touching All the Bases-Making Sleep Part of Your Game Plan
by Brendan Duffy, Sr. Certified Sleep Educator –RPSGT When the Tampa Bay Rays began Spring Training this season, they arrived to the ball field later in the day. Based on their collaboration with sleep specialists, the move to a later start time was meant to help the players increase their sleep time and improve their practices. Instead of 9:30 AM, the players reported at 10:30 AM. This is not something new as the New York Yankees and other professional teams also have done this in the past few seasons and the Yankees start even later –at 11:30 AM! So why the changes? The MLB teams and other teams in the NBA and NHL have finally realized that sleep quality and quantity is an important part of their training. It is the foundation of their training on top of which they add the additional n...
Jason Diaz: What I Am Thankful For
(Editor’s Note: Jason Diaz is a 2019 graduate of Kellenberg HS. He fired a CG shutout of St. John the Baptist to clinch the CHSAA championship earlier this year. He has a fastball that sits 90-91 MPH and tops at 93 MPH. He is committed to the University of Miami. The following words are his own.) Thanksgiving really brings out the positivity in people and it makes me think about what I’m thankful for. To me baseball is the greatest thing on this earth and it’s not even close. What kid growing up didn’t want to throw a ball as hard as they can and what kid didn’t want to hit bombs over the fence? The game of baseball has showed me that success isn’t just given to you and it makes me thankful for when the times are tough because it just encourages me to ov...
Neal’s Knowledge: How to Approach The Recruiting Process
By Neal Heaton One of the things people always ask me is–“how did you get noticed by the University of Miami?” Well, things are very, very different than they were in 1978. First off, the school only recruited from the list of the top 25 or so players in the country and I was fortunate enough to have had a good enough junior year that I was on their list and they found me. For the average Long Island baseball player, though, that may not be an option. On the bright side, there’s so many more resources available to you in 2017 than I had coming out of Sachem HS in the ’70s. So here is my advice given my years of experience involved in this baseball community on how you can pick which college you want to attend based on your baseball ability and your academic prowess without wasting your tim...
Will Kennedy: Why I Committed to Hofstra
Editor’s Note: Will Kennedy is a 2019 LHP from Smithtown East. He plays his summer ball with the HDMH Titans. After a terrific summer season in which he went undefeated, he also dominated down in Fort Myers, FL where I watched him throw 4.2 shutout innings with six strikeouts in a victory. He committed to Hofstra University last Friday. The following words are his own.) The recruiting process started for me when Titans recruiting coordinator Tom Downey met with me and my family to go over what I needed to do to prepare for being recruited. He advised to me to figure out a major I was interested in, how far away I was willing to travel for college, and when I should be taking standardized tests. He also outlined how important my GPA would be in getting aid from schools. He was very in...
Neal’s Knowledge: The Season is Over–Now What?
(Editor’s Note: Neal Heaton is our Pitching Analyst. He spent 12 seasons in the Major Leagues as a LHP for several teams. He was named to the National League All-Star Team in 1990 for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was the No. 1 overall pick in the 1979 MLB Draft out of Sachem HS. He opted to attend college at the University of Miami, where he set several program records and was named to their Hall of Fame in 1993. He is now a Pitching Instructor at All Pro Sports Academy in Bellport, if you’d like to book a pitching lesson with him you can email Kate@AllProSportsAcademy.com) For many players the 2017 season has come to an end. Now what should you do? Now is the time to give your body a much-needed break. When I was in the big leagues, I always took a two-week break after the seaso...
Next Level Baseball Takes First Two Games of Tournament
Final: Next Level 4, Cangelosi Sparks 2 WP: Ryan Martin pic.twitter.com/oZMbw6KlOK — Axcess Baseball (@axcessbaseball) October 6, 2017 Strong pitching, great defense and a red-hot bat of Aidan Larkin (Chaminade 2019) was the key to a pair of victories today for Next Level Baseball. Game One Pat Cullinan got the start, but struggled with his command and was lifted with the game tied 1-1 with bases loaded and one out in the third inning. William Kennedy (Smithtown East 2019) came on in relief and put out the fire in a big way. He fanned the cleanup batter and induced an infield pop out from the following hitter. Next Level wasted no time taking the lead in the top of the fourth when Kennedy walked and stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Larkin hit a sac fly to medium-ran...
Q & A With Mike O’Reilly
(Photo Credit: Allison Rhoades/Peoria Chiefs) Before Brian Morrell was dominating Suffolk County Class A, there was Mike O’Reilly. The 2012 graduate of Shoreham-Wading River won the Carl Yastrzemski Award in his senior year, when he performed like a superhero and smacked two walk-off HRs in the playoffs and struck out 19 batters in the Long Island Championship game. It’s easy to forget as the years go by, but O’Reilly compiled a career record of 17-3 before going on to attend Flagler College. In 2015, he was named Peach Belt Pitcher of the Conference. He compiled a record of 7-3, with a 2.89 ERA and 94 strikeouts over 93.1 IP. He was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 27th round of the 2016 MLB Draft. Over his first two seasons, he’s actually taken his perfo...
Podcast: Neal Heaton On Winning the Hamptons League Championship
Our Pitching Analyst Neal Heaton came on the Axcess Baseball podcast to discuss his experience with the LI Road Warriors. They won the Hamptons League in their inaugural season.
Podcast: Discussing the Mount Rushmore of Long Island Baseball Players
We had two very special guests on the podcast today discussing the best seasons in Long Island baseball history. Gregg Sarra, 32-year veteran reporter for Newsday and Sal Mignano (583 career wins) together have seen plenty of talented players on the diamond. We discussed who the best of the best are.
Eric Callahan Lifts the Aviators Over the Road Warriors in Extras
Jonah Karp interviewing the two heroes from West Hampton’s 10-8 victory over the Road Warriors pic.twitter.com/Z2kFMloYPH — aXcess Baseball (@axcessbaseball) July 19, 2017 Fireworks were still going off two weeks after Independence Day. Didn’t hear them? Well then you weren’t in Westhampton Beach Tuesday afternoon. Eight balls were hit over the fence at Aviator Field, six of them by way of Aviators. Those six home runs set a new single-game record for the Westhampton Aviators, breaking the five home runs they hit on June 30 against the North Fork Ospreys last season. But the discrepancy in home runs does not tell the story of the game. As a matter of fact, the Long Island Road Warriors were an out away from winning the game. Let me take you to that moment… It’...
The North All Stars Win the Fifth Annual HCBL All Star Game
by Jonah Karp The best prospects of the Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League were front and center at Baseball Heaven on Monday. The North All Stars defeated the South All Stars 14-5, in what turned out to be a tale of two narratives. The South All Stars plated the first two runs of the game in the top of the second on three hits off of Patrick Clyne (LIU Brooklyn). But Neal Heaton’s squad quickly responded with a solo blast off the bat of Freddy Sabido in the bottom of the frame to cut the deficit to one. The score remained 2-1 until Dan Luisi’s team tacked on two more in the top of the fifth on two hits to extend the lead to 3-1. Then the narrative shifted. In the bottom of the seventh the North All Stars bats came alive. Eight players reached base. Nine players recorded hits. Six players...
