Team Support on Display in Levittown as Baseball Teams Nab Titles

Hempstead Turnpike is the geographical divide that separates the Levittown School District into north and south, with Division Avenue and MacArthur high schools on opposite sides of the community.

While a geographical divide may seem to encourage rivalry between district sports teams, history and community pride only fueled and encouraged members of the high schools’ varsity baseball teams to support each other as Division Avenue clinched the Nassau County Division A Championship and MacArthur took home the Nassau County Division AA Championship.

Superintendent of Schools Dr. Tonie McDonald said she is extremely proud of the way the two teams supported one another during the county playoffs. The two teams scrimmaged against each other every Friday afternoon to bolster their skills and stay sharp prior to games with opponents.

“What was most impressive was that after each county championship game, the players stood on the sidelines to cheer for the other team,” McDonald said. “That is what Levittown is all about, and those are the values we teach our students.”

Keith Snyder, the district’s director of physical education, health and athletics, explained that the support of the other school’s team stems from the boys’ involvement with Little League sports and dates back to the post-World War II era, when veterans developed the Levittown Little League program. Since then, baby boomers have adopted baseball values and the philosophy has perpetuated throughout the years.

“Levittown became, and still is, a baseball town,” Snyder said. “There is a baseball-and-apple-pie attitude here. There is still a healthy competition between the two varsity teams, but they both bleed Levittown.”

MacArthur High School baseball coach Steve Costello explained that there are strong ties among the coaches, who disseminate the values of baseball and team support amongst the two teams. Both coaches Costello and Tom Tuttle, as well as Division Avenue High School assistant coach Ray Weidlein, are Levittown alumni. In addition, Costello and Tuttle played for baseball coach legend Doug Robins, whose values of sportsmanship still resonate today.

“Being a part of the baseball program is like being a part of a family tree,” Tuttle said. “When you have been active with the Little League program, it creates an atmosphere of support on the high school teams.” Costello explained that since the two high school teams do not compete in the same division, there was sufficient time to attend each other’s games.

“Most of these boys have known each other through Little League and through competition on other sports teams,” he said. “These are the bonds that keep us together.”

CAPTIONS:

1: The DAHS Blue Dragons won the Nassau County Class A Championship

2: The MacArthur High School Generals won the Nassau County Class AA Championship game.

Photos provided by Levittown School District