Sayville catcher Shane Meehan wins Carl Yastrzemski Award as Suffolk's top player
Sayville's Shane Meehan accepts the Carl Yastrzemski Award at the Suffolk high school baseball All-Star banquet at East Wind Long Island in Wading River on Wednesday. Credit: Kathy M Helgeson
Shane Meehan is no stranger to being honored. After all, that is typical for his kind of baseball player — someone whose bad days are better than most players' good days.
But Wednesday night's Suffolk County Baseball Coaches Association dinner was different from the typical league and county awards that he is used to. This was not just another trophy for the case; it was a historic milestone he had chased since his freshman year.
Meehan, a senior catcher who graduates from Sayville on June 26, was named the 58th annual Carl Yastrzemski Award winner: an honor bestowed upon the best player in Suffolk, voted on by the county’s coaches.
“I’ve had this one circled for a long time, and it’s a dream come true,” Meehan said. “I think I’ve wanted this ever since I found out what the award really meant. As I went into high school, I saw some guys win it, and it became a dream from that point on, and to be in the position to win it now is incredible. I’m extremely grateful.”
He is the first player in the Golden Flashes’ history to win the award. He helped lead them to a Suffolk League VI championship this year and an 18-6 overall record, batting .486 with a .557 on-base percentage. He had four doubles and four home runs with 25 RBIs, scored 28 runs and stole 12 bases.
He caught every inning for his team each of the last two years and took plenty of potential runs off the board for Sayville this season. He threw out eight of 20 attempted base-stealers for a 40% caught stealing percentage, and also picked off five baserunners.
“Shane is as deserving as any player this year,” Sayville coach Joe Esposito said. “He was our leader in every aspect of the word. He plays with great confidence and has great respect for the game … He is a special kid with a bright future on and off the field. Tremendous character and true role model for the younger guys coming up in the program. We are really going to miss him.”
Though Meehan’s high school tenure is over, his Long Island baseball career will continue. He is committed to play Division I baseball at Stony Brook University next year in the Coastal Athletic Association.
The proximity of Stony Brook from his home in Sayville — roughly a 30-minute drive — had a great influence on his commitment choice.
“I think the coaches there were coaches that believed in me, and I felt that throughout the recruiting process,” Meehan said. “Of course, it’s a dream to have your parents and family live so close that they can come and watch you play, whenever they want. I’m very grateful to be so close that they won’t miss much baseball in the future.”
The award, nicknamed “The Yaz,” has forecast successful futures for several past winners, 11 of whom have made the Major Leagues, with the most recent being Ward Melville’s Steven Matz, who won it in 2009 and is currently pitching for the Tampa Bay Rays.
“For something that seems so difficult to do, it’s important to have examples of success stories of people who were in a similar position that were able to make it,” Meehan said. “It’s important that the work doesn’t stop. I’m just going to keep my head down and keep pushing, and hopefully I can match at least half of what they’ve done.”
Mike Anderson is a high school sports reporter who has covered 12 sports so far at Newsday. He was the sports editor of Stony Brook University's campus newspaper for two years.
