Massapequa Little League team honored with parade

Massapequa celebrated its Little League heroes in grand fashion on Wednesday.

The Massapequa Coast baseball team was honored with a parade for winning the Metro championship and becoming the first Long Island team since 1978 to reach the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa. 

The parade also recognized two other championship teams from Massapequa — the Massapequa International Little League state softball champions (12-year-old division) and the Massapequa Coast Little League state baseball champions (11-year-old division).

The three teams rode on the beds of trucks down Park Boulevard in Massapequa with hundreds of members of the community holding signs, flags and enlarged photos of the young athletes.

“It was cool seeing the entire town wanting to support us,” Massapequa Coast star pitcher Joey Lionetti said. “It was very cool.”

The players were escorted by police, fire trucks and a pipe band. Oyster Bay Town Supervisor Joseph Saladino and Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman spoke and conducted a ceremony at the end of the parade route.

It’s been a hectic week since the 12-year-old baseball players returned from Williamsport. After being featured on ESPN multiple times throughout the summer, they became celebrities in their hometown.

“I go into stores and stuff and people are like, ‘I saw you on TV, I saw you on ESPN,’ ” said Lionetti, who threw a no-hitter in the Mid-Atlantic Regional championship game to help the team advance to the World Series. “It’s just been great.”

The 11-year-old team won its second straight state championship and has a chance to follow in the footsteps of the 12-year-olds next summer if they can earn a trip to Williamsport.

“It would be great,” said Jackson Henchy, 11. “We’d get to be on TV and show our skills.”

The Massapequa International Little League softball team won the first state title in league history. And it didn’t come without some adversity. The team had to win three straight games in the double-elimination tournament following a 13-3 loss to Pittsford to win the state championship. They did so, including defeating Pittsford twice by a combined score of 27-1 in the finals.

“We had to work together to win because nobody wanted it to end,” said Imogen Eaton, a pitcher. “We just came together and it was a cool thing.”

The softball team combined players from the Massapequa and Plainedge school districts. Many of them only knew each other as opponents before the tournament.

“We just bonded so quickly,” catcher Kayla Gately said. “We were only a team for 45 days and we made history.”

Now that the celebrations are over, Lionetti and his teammates will have to head back to school for the first day of class on Thursday.

“I’m looking forward to being with my friends," Lionetti said, "and when they say ‘I saw you on ESPN,’ it’s really cool.”