Mike Gattus
Levittown: How Do They Do It?
(Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in March 2025) by Patrick Duryea There’s not many more exciting spectacles then when a large crowd gathers at a high school sporting event. Baseball games will have a tough time rivaling football unless it’s a championship or the crowd consists of scouts watching the next draft pick. But in Levittown, when two of their high school’s square off, “sold out crowd” is an understatement. The storied history of the town is matched evenly with a rich tradition of baseball success at their three schools: Division, MacArthur, and Island Trees. The history of all three schools is filled with winning coaches, championships, and Long Island baseball heroes. All within one town this has created incredible rivalries and atmospheres over the yea...
GAME RECAP: Yormack Dominates as Bellmore JFK Tops Carey to Return to Class AA Finals
by Tucker Terranova Final | Carey 2, Bellmore JFK 5 The Cougars take Games 3, clinching their second consecutive trip to the Nassau Class AA Finals and a matchup against Garden City. pic.twitter.com/BjppKxV1Rm — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 26, 2025 Pitchers like Derek Yormack don’t come around often. That’s why, when Bellmore JFK head coach Mike Gattus handed the sophomore right-hander the ball in a do-or-die game three with a trip to the Nassau County finals on the line, he knew exactly what he was getting. “Derek was special today—as he’s been for us all year and in his career,” Gattus told Axcess Baseball after the game. “We had all the momentum possible after game two, and he carried it on.” Yormack delivered 5.1 innings, allowing five hits and two runs while striking out ...
Coming Off Appearance in County Finals, Bellmore JFK Hungry to Take Next Step
Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s series by Max Edelman Entering his seventh season as head coach of the Bellmore JFK Cougars, Mike Gattus brings a team loaded with talent into the 2025 season. After a season where the Cougars were able to win their league championship, they fell just short of their ultimate goal, losing in the county finals. “Last season we were the Conference AA III champs.” Gattus said. “We won the conference and earned the two seed in the Nassau County Playoffs. We beat Manhasset in the quarterfinals and then defeated Carey in the semifinals in a great three game series. But then lost to Division in the county finals.” Although the team fell short, only three members of the Bellmore JFK 2024 team graduated, with Jack Fi...
Up Next Powered by State Farm Ken Kortright Agency: The Yormack Twins
Sat down with Ryan & Derek Yormack at Bellmore JFK’s winter workout. The twin brothers both committed to Duke University as 8th graders @BellmoreJFK @CoachGattusJFK pic.twitter.com/Jq92EC7kRv — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) January 28, 2024 One wears New Balance, the other wears Adidas. That’s the only way Bellmore JFK coach Mike Gattus could distinguish between twin brothers Derek and Ryan Yormack when he first met them. You can’t begrudge him, either, as the identical twins look the same in every regard. While they may look and act the same, their play on the field is different from nearly every other kid their age. Most 8th graders aren’t like Derek and Ryan Yormack. As 8th graders, the twins shocked the Long Island baseball community by both committing to D...
Bellmore JFK Primed for Big Season After Hot Finish to 2023
It’s hard not to be optimistic about the direction of Bellmore JFK baseball following an incredible finish to their 2023 season in which they recorded their highest win total (13-7-1) since their Nassau Class A County Finals appearance in 2016 under coach Eric Passman. Mike Gattus, who took over in the Spring of 2019, has built the program back up to being a contender. After getting swept in their first series last year against Garden City, they showed resilience – first taking two of three against a strong South Side team, before rattling off 9 conference wins in a row. Ultimately, they finished with a playoff loss against Bethpage which ended their season, but they did have a taste of postseason success as they defeated Long Beach. They graduated 8 seniors from last year̵...
Bellmore JFK Looking to Return to Postseason for Third Straight Season
by Brian Honka Bellmore JFK will look to improve on last season in which they went 9-8-1 in conference play which was good enough to give them a playoff spot for the second year in a row. They were eliminated in the playoffs by Clarke. The team will look to fill the gap left by Zach Ganca (FDU-Florham) an All-County OF. Another player that the team will be looking for production to replace is Matt Cohen, an All-Conference player. This year’s team will be relying on plenty of returning players that had key contributions last season – many of which are seniors. Alex Goldstein won 3 games on the mound, struck out 28 batters and compiled a .385 OBP at the plate. Anthony Firriolo batted .372 with 17 hits on the season. Nick Pizzirusso batted .287 with 9 RBIs and 14 hits. Grayson Go...
Led by 7 Seniors, Bellmore JFK Looking to Return to Playoffs
by Daniel Lopes After a 6-10 season that landed Bellmore JFK a playoff spot, head coach Mike Gattus is excited to see what the added year of experience will bring to his team. Last year, the team was made up of mostly underclassmen who were able to get plenty of at-bats and innings at the varsity level. “We had three sophomores consistently in the starting lineup. One of our better pitchers who started every week for us was a freshman last year, and the lineup was mostly composed of underclassmen,” Gattus said. “I was pleased with the work that my guys put in, and I really look forward to this upcoming season.” While the team did receive plenty of contributions from underclassmen, they did lose multiple seniors from last years’ team, with outfielder Jake Sherman, pitcher Sam Ostroff, catch...
Bellmore JFK Confident in Group of Three Seniors to Lead Team
by Ben Diamond With spring sports starting to make their return, Mike Gattus, Bellmore JFK baseball’s varsity coach, like every other coach, needs to come up with a plan to prepare for when his team is able to come together. The cancellation of last year’s season left Gattus’ squad with a hole left by departing seniors. These seniors were a big part of the leadership on the team, and he says that their presence will be missed. “We had four seniors leave us last year, the core of that group was our All-Conference first baseman, pitcher, and outfielder Chris Costaro”, Gattus said. “He will sorely be missed not only for his bat, but for the leadership he brought to the team”. To fill the hole left by last year’s seniors, this year’s seniors, as well as the younger players on the t...
