Sachem
Legendary Coach Bill Batewell Passes Away At Age 79
(Photo Credit: The Sachem Report) When a legendary member of the Long Island baseball community bases, we mourn together. One of the most successful and longest-tenured coaches on Long Island, Bill Batewell, passed away this week at the age of 79. He was currently the head coach of Bellport HS, but made his impact on the Sachem community. He began his career as a JV coach in 1970 and became the varsity coach in 1975 and held that position until 2004. During that time, he led Sachem to 452 wins and county titles in 1979 and 1987, which remained the only two in school history until 2011. During his tenure with Sachem, Neal Heaton and Mike Parisi went on to become big leaguers. Additionally, more than 20 of his former players went on to become head coaches. This may be even more impressive th...
Neal Heaton: What Should A January Throwing Program Consist Of?
(Editor’s Note: Neal Heaton is a 12-year MLB Veteran pitcher. He was the No. 1 overall pick in the MLB Draft and is in the University of Miami’s Hall of Fame. He now gives pitching lessons at 365 Athletics in Bellport, NY. The following words are his own.) 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 spr...
