Westhampton Beach Honors Former Student, Baseball Player Gianni Mongelluzzo

Nearly two years to the day after his death, Gianni Mongelluzzo, a Westhampton Beach High School alumnus and former baseball player was honored by the school district and its varsity program on Saturday morning. Mongelluzzo’s family threw out a memorial first pitch prior to the Hurricanes’ game against Rocky Point, and then unveiled a marble bench and plaque under a tree in front of the high school.

Mongelluzzo was driving a 1996 Chevrolet Corvette when he crashed into a pole on Old Country Road near Lewis Road in East Quogue just before 9:30 a.m. on June 1, 2019. His death occurred just a year after graduating from Westhampton Beach High School, where he was a member of the school’s National Honor Society, and having just finished his freshman year at Clemson University in South Carolina.

Mongelluzzo’s immediate family — his father Michael, mother Zelda, brothers Frank and Michael, and sister Ava — were all on hand Saturday morning, along with many more family and friends, former teammates, and school and community members, who gathered at the varsity baseball field behind Westhampton Beach Elementary School to honor and share their memories of Mongelluzzo.

His youngest sibling, Ava, took the ball for the memorial first pitch and threw a strike to Westhampton Beach senior Jack Halloran, who prior to the pitch, gave the family a gift on behalf of the baseball program.

Gianni’s father, Michael Mongelluzzo, thanked the community for its outpouring of support throughout the family’s grieving process, which included Saturday morning’s first pitch and unveiling.

“From day one, Gianni really was the kind of kid who always had a smile on his face,” he said. “He was also very, very competitive, loved school, loved his teachers. But the community itself he always called it paradise. And not because of the big houses, or the cars or anything, but he really did call it paradise and he felt that way because of the people in it.

“At 15, when he said it to me, I said, you know what? My job is done,” Mr. Mongelluzzo continued. “If you think it’s paradise out here then the job is done and you understand what it is to be in a place like that.”

Gianni didn’t play baseball at Clemson and instead focused on his bioscience studies, where he was learning to become a doctor.

“Gianni liked baseball, he loved being educated, and that was the important part,” Mr. Mongelluzzo said.

Westhampton Beach Athletic Director Kathy Masterson said this year will mark the first year of both the Gianni Mongelluzzo Memorial Scholarship and the C.J. Andrews Memorial Scholarship — the last of which is named in honor of another Westhampton Beach student-athlete, a golfer, who died at a young age. The plan, Masterson said, was to honor Mongelluzzo last baseball season, but it was pushed back due to the pandemic.

“Both scholarships are based on two young men who left us way too early on their attributes and contributions to the Westhampton Beach programs, whether it be baseball as well as golf,” she said. “Gianni had an infectious smile that did light up a room. He was one of most kind kids I’ve ever met in my career as a teacher and athletic administrator.

“It’s one of those questions that you want to ask God as to why. Why?” Masterson added. “This kid had his whole life ahead of him and he was taken so tragically. Never said a bad word about anybody. Handsome devil. It’s amazing how this community comes together, always for any cause that happens, but especially when tragedy hits.”

Tom Hoare coached Mongelluzzo the entire three years he was on the varsity team, and outside of being a very talented baseball player, which he certainly was, Hoare said, there was a lot more to Mongelluzzo than just baseball.

“First and foremost, and this is not cliché, he was a great teammate,” he said. “He truly was, in terms of everything he did — preparation, leadership, he was so good with the younger guys. And during those years, we took up some of those younger guys. I remember having Ryan Miller and Jack Halloran playing over there and doing a great job, but he was really great with the younger guys.

“And he was our ace on the mound and played outfield. Good bat. Real good bat. But beyond that, because he was a very good player and the ace of our staff on some good teams, but what stands out is not that, it’s his smile on his face when he came to practice every day,” Hoare continued. “Day in and day out, the best part of coaching really is the practice, and he would just bring like joy to the practice. It was great.”

Thousands of people, Mongelluzzo’s father said, showed up to his son’s funeral at R.J. O’Shea Funeral Home in Hampton Bays to pay their respects that Town and County Police had to help direct traffic. To that point, his son is the only former student, Mr. Mongelluzzo said, who has a similar stone and tree in his name that was planted at Westhampton Beach High and in the middle of Clemson University, as well.

“He went there for one year, touched a lot of people,” Mongelluzzo said of his son. “He loved hard and people knew his essence, his pureness, and that’s what you can ask for as a father. You can live a long time and do nothing or live a short time. When losing a child, it’s the hardest thing. I can’t explain what it’s even like. You never get better you just go on.”