Bob Ambrosini, legendary Connetquot HS baseball coach, dies at 69

Robert William Ambrosini took his love of sports and channeled it into a legendary high school coaching career. His passion for baseball and his knack for being a master motivator helped establish him as the winningest coach in Suffolk County history.

Known to many as Ambro, his 602 career victories stand as the record for the county. He led the Thunderbirds to 20 league titles, seven Suffolk and four Long Island crowns and two state championships in his 33 years at the helm. In 2018, the school renamed the varsity baseball field in his honor.

Ambrosini, of Ronkonkoma, died on Tuesday after becoming ill while working on his winter home in Weston, Florida, according to his son Dominick Ambrosini. He was hospitalized at the Cleveland Clinic in Weston for several weeks and suffered from minor strokes and an autoimmune disease that led to kidney failure, his son said. He was 69.

"He battled from the first day he went into the hospital on September 29," said Dominick Ambrosini, of Florida. "He exuded toughness his entire life. And he was the toughest guy in his final moments. He never complained, just battled. He was on dialysis two weeks ago and struggling to breathe and I was running my fingers through his hair and trying to comfort him, thanking him for everything in my life. He suddenly woke up, winked at me and said, ‘I love you, son.’ Now, I can see him wink at me in that bed and say, ‘I love you, son’ every morning for as long as I live."

On June 18, 2018, Ambrosini, who survived kidney cancer in 2010, was joined by current and former players in a ceremony that named the field in his honor. The scoreboard bears his name and career accomplishments.

"Bob Ambrosini will always be synonymous with Connetquot because he is Connetquot," said Mark Dellecave, the former director of athletics for the Connetquot Central School District, who retired in 2019. "He was a student-athlete in the district, taught here, coached here and was a staple in the community. He was recognized for his accomplishments in our school’s Hall of Fame, the Suffolk Sports Hall of Fame in 2002 and ultimately our field was named in his honor."

Ambrosini was born on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. His family moved to Ronkonkoma, where he would excel in baseball and football at Connetquot. He once pitched and won three games in four days, leading the T-Birds to the Suffolk semifinals in 1970.

He graduated in 1970 and accepted a full baseball scholarship to Adelphi University, where he graduated in 1974 with a bachelors of science degree in Physical Education.

He was married to his wife, Catherine Gangone, for 47 years. Their love story began with a dispute at third base.

"We met during a sandlot baseball game when he was 12 years old," Catherine recalled. "I was umpiring third base and called him out and he said he was safe. It was our first argument. The next time we met, I was down at Lake Ronkonkoma and he came down with his friends and tried to throw me in the water. I pulled his head back and thought to myself, 'Wow, nice eyes.' We’ve been together ever since."

They were married in 1972 and started a family. Ambrosini would turn down a baseball opportunity in Italy to accept his first job as a physical education teacher in Connetquot.

They would have three sons — Bobby, Anthony and Dominick — and built a life around Ambrosini’s perennial baseball powerhouse. Sons Anthony and Dominick would go on to play professional baseball.

"My dad was my guy," Dominick said. "He taught me that nothing is given to you. You will learn to succeed even when the odds are against you. That was what he taught me and that is what his legacy will always be to me. If you want something in life, you go get it. No excuses."

Ambrosini retired in 2007 after 34 years as a physical education teacher but continued to coach baseball until 2017, winning his fourth Long Island championship in 2015.

"He helped mold me into the man I am today," said Anthony Carbonaro, a 1995 Connetquot graduate. "He brought out the best in guys. I had the privilege to play for him, coach alongside him with the varsity team and work with him professionally in middle school."

Carbonaro was one of hundreds of former players who flooded Facebook pages and Twitter in an outpouring of affection for the coach.

"He was a no-nonsense coach," said Rob DiLello, the MVP of Connetquot’s Long Island title team in 1986. "He was a father figure to all of us. We all had good fathers, but he was like a second father."

Many opposing coaches took to social media to send condolences and reminisce about old times.

"Bob Ambrosini was one of the most cordial, classy and consistent coaches," said former Newfield baseball coach Sebastian ‘Al’ DeMartini. "He was a true professional, a credit to the coaching and teaching profession. He was a terrific human being."

"We scrimmaged Ambro under the lights at Baseball Heaven in 2015 on the first eligible day," said Hauppauge coach Josh Gutes. "He treated me like I had been there for 20 years. He spoke to me like we had known each other forever."

Anthony Ambrosini said there’ll never be another like Ambro.

"He taught us by example the value of hard work, good judgment, courage and integrity," Anthony said. "Some say I am on the quiet side. I say I have been in awe for 42 years. I am in awe because Ambro is my Dad."

Ambrosini also is survived by his brother, Albie Ambrosini of Sebastian, Florida; sister, Geri Fehmers, of The Villages, Florida; son, Robert, of Port Jefferson and a granddaughter.

A wake will be held at Moloney Funeral Home in Ronkonkoma on Tuesday from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. There will be a funeral service on Wednesday at 10 a.m. at St. Joseph's Church on Church Street in Ronkonkoma.

By Gregg Sarra

gregg.sarra@newsday.com@Gregg_Sarra

Gregg Sarra is Newsday's high school sports editor and has been on the beat since the mid-1980s.