The University of Miami recently updated the baseball tributes at Alex Rodriguez Park and Sachem alum Neal Heaton’s plaque is looking pretty nice in all its orange and green glory.
Heaton is one of just 11 players or coaches in Miami history to have a jersey number retired. He wore No. 26 from 1979 to 1981 before he departed the university to play Major League Baseball.
Heaton, who graduated from Sachem in 1979, also has his No. 16 retired at Sachem and is the only baseball player in the school district to have a uniform number retired. He one of just five athletes all-time in Sachem history to have a uniform number retired.
Known as “The Heater,” Heaton still holds almost all major pitching records at Miami, including single season wins (18), career wins (42), and strikeouts in a game (23), season (172) and career (381).
Aside from the University of Miami Athletics Hall of Fame, Heaton is also an inductee of the College Baseball Hall of Fame, Sachem Sports Hall of Fame and the Suffolk County Sports Hall of Fame.
A local fixture, Heaton gives pitching lessons at All-Pro Sports Academy in Bellport, N.Y. He threw out the commemorative first pitch at Sachem’s annual Tim Crowley Memorial Baseball Tournament last month.
Heaton also starred on the football team and was a key cog on the 1977 and 1979 Suffolk County championship teams as a record-setting wide receiver. He is also is a special group of athletes at Sachem to be a part of county championship team in two or more sports (1979 baseball, 1978 and 1979 football).
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-Words by Chris R. Vaccaro