Massapequa baseball's John Neary leads program to 2nd straight Nassau title
The Massapequa team piles on in victory after defeating Port Washington for the Nassau Class AAA baseball championship on Friday, May 29, 2026 in Farmingdale. Credit: Dawn McCormick
After an error allowed Massapequa to tie the score in the third inning, John Neary walked to the plate with two outs and the bases loaded.
The No. 9 hitter changed the game.
Neary scorched a line drive to center to plate Mikey Smar and Joe Genova, giving top-seeded Massapequa a two-run lead in its 5-3 win over No. 5 Port Washington in Game 2 of the Nassau Class AAA baseball championship series Friday night at Farmingdale State.
Neary went 2-for-3 with a walk and two RBIs to lead Massapequa to its second straight county title and 19th overall. Neary’s big swing gave Massapequa a 4-2 lead. The senior went 4-for-5 with four RBIs and three runs scored in the series.
“I wanted to be that guy. I wanted to get those runs in,” Neary said. “There was definitely a huge momentum shift on that error. Gavin Weiss worked a great at-bat to get a walk in front of me. Then we got some runs in and held the lead.”
Sal Apap took the mound with two outs and two runners on with two outs in the bottom of the fourth. The senior picked up a strikeout to get out of the inning.
“That’s exactly what Sal does,” James Alonso said. “He’ll get put in a tough position and he gets out of it. Our whole bullpen can do that. It’s awesome.”
Apap struck out three and allowed one run on 41 pitches in 1 2/3 innings of relief and set the table for Alonso, who struck out three in 1 2/3 innings to earn his second save in as many days.
“I’m not sure Sal has thrown 30 pitches in an outing all year,” coach Tom Sheedy said. “Sal was great. He really gutted it out at the end. He was that bridge that got us to James. And at that point, we’re feeling pretty confident.”
And when Alonso struck out the final batter he faced, he was mobbed on the mound by his teammates.
“It was great,” Alonso said. “I mean, it hurt. But it was great. Best part of the season by far.”
Alonso and Massapequa (22-3-1) will look to create more memories when they face the winner of Connetquot/Commack in the Long Island Class AAA championship game at 3 p.m. on Saturday, June 6 at Middle Country Athletic Complex.
Jake Wilbur went 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBIs and Leo Schindler went 2-for-3 with an RBI for Port Washington (12-13-1).
Matt Lindsay is a high school sports reporter who joined Newsday in 2022 after graduating from Stony Brook University.
