“Nothing will ever replace the memories you make with your high school teams.”
Though rainfall curtailed Saturday’s homecoming parade segment of the festivities, Hauppauge High School was still able to welcome back a welcomed storm of familiar faces on October 1.
Dellecave Award-winning Stephanie Peragallo (‘12), pioneering former athletic director Kathy (Jackson) Cooney (1979-1996), swimming and track record-holder turned Triathlon champion Caitlin Dowd (‘08), lacrosse standout Sam Llinares (‘12) and 6:39 mile race-walker— yes, that’s 6 minutes and 39 seconds to walk, not run, the mile – Robert Williams (‘99) were all honored for their exemplary athletic accomplishments in the High School auditorium that morning.
Former lacrosse coach Jerry “Goody” Goodfellow and 2004-2010 varsity baseball assistant Mark Giardino (Hauppauge ‘00, ‘10 Hall of Fame inductee) were each on-hand to introduce a pair of athletes, back-to-back.
Interestingly enough, these student-athletes also happen to be longtime best friends.
“I remember these four guys, all four of them, they were always together,” Giardino spoke of Class of 2010 graduates Zachary Losco, Richard Akapnitis, Steven Dill and Matthew Reistetter. “For me, I don’t think there was team morale from one sport to another like there was then. Those guys pulled for each other unlike any class I’ve been around.”
“Zack Losco – wooo!” Goody humorously quipped at the podium as he readied to present a well-earned plaque to whom he fondly calls “Mr. Most.” The 4-time All-County selection across football and lacrosse set just about every program record during his All-American lacrosse career before taking his talents to UPenn of the Ivy League.
“I remember seeing Zack and his partner Richie Akapnitis, long, long after lacrosse practice had ended,” Goodfellow recalled, “and I was driving out of the parking lot on my way home. There was Zack, dodging, ‘shaking and baking’ on the field, shooting on Richie Akapnitis in the cage– putting in the overtime.”
After warmly thanking the district and his family— including wife, Bridget, and son, Seamus— during his speech, Losco, much like the rest who took the stage that day, congratulated his fellow inductees. “Just looking through the program, it’s incredible what you’ve done. You guys are extraordinary, you guys all deserve this, and I’m so fortunate to be in this class with you guys.”
Through reminiscing about the “devastating” county championship loss that ended all three of their Hauppauge baseball careers, and rattling off the endless statistical accolades accrued by his two players, Giardino consistently hammered home “character” as what separated Dill and Reistetter from the rest. “Steven and Matt were the best of friends in high school, and they remain close today,” Giardino said of the pair he admits were “more like little brothers to me, than I was their coach.”
“I bring this up because this is a testament to the type of person Steven was, and the player and teammate he was.” Giardino noted the 2-time All-County football, 1-time All-County baseball, and 1-time Academic All-County basketball selection “was good enough to start at catcher at Harvard,” but “had a hard time seeing playing time at his best position here because of Matt.”
“Most kids would maybe find a different school to go to. But this is where Steven’s maturity and leadership skills shined brightest. Steven not only learned a new position, he thrived at first base. He does not have a selfish bone in his body.”
On the 4-time All-County, 2-time All-State and 1-time All-American Reistetter, Giardino highlighted the former Eagle, Hofstra and triple-A reaching Washington National (2013-2020) backstop’s most impressive accomplishment: his ability not to let personal blows define him.
“I was in absolute awe of Matt as a high school freshman,” Giardino said. “Not only was he the best player in our league, but he was able to set the distraction of real life aside. Matt tragically lost his father [Eric Reistetter, Hauppauge ‘82, Athletic HOF Class of ‘07] as a freshman and his girlfriend Courtney [Tomkin, the inspiration for the first of now Island-wide annual “Kicks for Cancer” soccer events] a couple years later.”
“As Winston Churchill once said, ‘when you’re going through Hell, keep going.’
Matt did just that.
“Instead of quitting or making excuses, which no one would have blamed him for, he persevered. His family supported each other like nothing I’ve ever seen and so did this community. Watching Matt perform on the baseball field and in the classroom thrive despite adversity was nothing short of amazing.”
Reistetter, Akapnitis and Dill expanded on the life lessons sports taught them, and the knack the Hauppauge community has shown for coming together, in an exclusive group interview with The Messenger afterward.
“The biggest thing for my situation: sports was the biggest outlet I had to disappear from real life,” Reistetter said. “It gave me something to focus on when I had major events going on that could steer me in different directions. It was a way away from the world when the world could be cruel.”
Citing sports’ ability to instill selflessness and resilience in young athletes that all of life, not just sports, will be spent being a part of teams, Dill urged, “It’s not about you.”
“To piggyback- you’re 100 percent right,” Reistetter agreed. “You don’t walk around the hallways saying, ‘I’m gonna be a Hall-of-Famer.’ That’s just a byproduct of what you did for many years. This is about a team. This is what the team is doing, and this is what you have to do.”
Akapnitis, three times All-County between football and lacrosse, is considered the best goalie to come out of Hauppauge. Goody said playing all four years at a Division I program (Manhattan College) is all the evidence needed to back this claim. Reflecting on his athletic career that also included varsity wrestling and JV basketball – the final team he and his three best friend honorees all appeared on together, Akapnitis remembered wondering the night before football’s county championship loss if it would be worse to lose in a blowout or in an “absolute heartbreaker.”
“Lucky for me, I got to experience it both ways,” he remarked, the wounds of both clearly still fresh over a decade later.
Each member of this quartet lost the county championship in their anchor sport in the same week. When they left their homes for Division I college life months later, a wakeup call of lacking intra-team camaraderie awaited them– until one decided to flip the script, and the rest followed suit.
“I remember being a baseball player [amidst brush-ins with the lacrosse players] at Hofstra, and at one point I asked, ‘why is this West Side Story?’ I was like, ‘no– we are going to be friends.’ And we ended up being friends with all of them.”
Dill and Akapnitis’ wives, Francesca Bove and Jessica Hucke – both Hauppauge ‘12 alums – agree the four “truly deserve” the honor they have been bestowed.
“We knew the boys for a really long time. We know how special their friendship is. Now being married [to two of them], we still see them together all the time, and see how special it still is. They are all hard workers, and we’re so happy for them!”
Reistetter’s girlfriend, Lauren DiNapoli, of North Babylon, added, “When I first met Matt, I heard so much about Hauppauge, in addition to so many stories of the memories he’s had there. I never understood it until I experienced it for myself. The number of people who came up to Matt alone [afterward] was heartwarming. The words that his coaches and teachers said about him… I’m so proud of him and the person he is today!
“My wife and I were living in Chicago, but as the pandemic was happening, we decided we were going to move back, and doubled down on buying a house,” Dill, also a second-generation Hall of Fame inductee after father, Paul, was selected in 2017, shared during his induction speech.
“As we started thinking about where we wanted to put down roots, and where we wanted to live– It’s hard for me to.. top Hauppauge in any way. It’s given me everything I have in life. And I’m super appreciative of it. And there’s nothing I want more than to raise a family here and have my kids go through the same experiences I did.”
Needless to say, it was an emotional day. Bellyaching laughter was often followed by tears of both joy and sorrow. Parents, grandparents, wives, husbands, children, coaches, teachers, past and current athletic department heads, training staff and more were rightfully thanked across the board.
From the 1950s, when the gymnasium started hanging up championship banners that would give generations of student-athletes something to work toward and fight for- to the current day, where entire hallways alongside and beneath the gym now more closely resemble walking museums, the Hauppauge community has celebrated its victories just as fiercely as it’s rallied together to mourn its losses.
The Messenger congratulates all of Hauppauge’s 2022 Athletic Hall of Fame inductees, and wishes them and their families the best of luck during their future endeavors beyond the field.
Once an Eagle, always an Eagle.
