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Mostly Cloudy A celebration of Long Beach High School baseball
Long Beach High School baseball has been taking the field for quite some time. This Saturday, just how long they’ve been around — now 100 seasons — will be celebrated.
Long Beach High School Varsity Baseball and Softball teams will be conducting clinics for Little Leaguers on May 4 at noon at Long Beach High School. Additionally, at 1 p.m., there will be a showing of “The History of Long Beach High School Baseball,” celebrating its 100th year in the high school gym.
Finishing up the celebration, at 2 p.m., a ceremony commemorating this occasion will be held as alumni from past teams will be welcomed back. This will be prior to the varsity team’s game against Mineola.
The school’s varsity team gathered at the recreation center fields last year for “Long Beach Baseball Day,” along with Long Beach baseball alumni, to acknowledge their 99-year history. There were speeches from the alumni, Head Coach Jason Zizza and Andy Hayes, the president of the Long Beach/Lido Beach Little League.
The day was surely about the past and current teams, but it was about the future teams as well. When that morning’s Little League parade finished up at the rec center, the varsity team held a clinic, teaching the fundamentals of the game to the younger kids. Coaches were there, but the players led the charge.
Throughout the clinic, the team was raising money — not for themselves, but for the Nassau/Suffolk Autism Society. There were raffle tickets for baskets with gifts including beach needs, food and treats, apparel and gift cards. The grand prize was four tickets to a Yankees game in August.
In all, the team raised $2,170 for the organization last year.
“It’s all player-driven,” head coach Jason Zizza previously said of the clinic last year. “The Long Beach High School varsity baseball players are the coaches at the clinic. We feel that it’s a great way for the team to connect with the community and show our faces and have that peer mentoring going. Our players really enjoy working with younger kids.”
