Constantine Cheung capped off his senior year of high school baseball by being awarded the 31st Michael Capozzi Award presented by the Nassau Baseball Coaches Association, which goes to a graduating senior who excels in academics, service, leadership and performances both on and off the baseball field.
“Constantine is everything that the award embodies and was well deserving of it,” Herricks varsity baseball coach James Bailin said.
Cheung said it was a “surreal experience” when he was given the Capozzi award in June. He was also named All-League on the same night.
Bailan said in his nomination letter that he pushed heavily for Cheung to receive the award, calling his player “respectful and dedicated.”
“To say that Constantine was a pleasure to coach would be a massive understatement,” he wrote. ” When you have a kid who starts and ends every day of the season with a handshake, a smile, and a genuine ‘Thank you, coach,’ you feel lucky to encounter a person like that.”
Cheung made his varsity debut in his junior year, becoming the team’s third starter. He said he went for pitching lessons after the season, which helped shape his game before his senior season.
Cheung pitched in relief during Herricks’ first game of the season against Valley Stream, but wasn’t a mainstay in the pitching rotation at that point. He said he spent the first few games of the season playing in the outfield.
Bailan said that as the team began to hit better after its first few games, he had Cheung focus more on his pitching after multiple solid relief appearances.
“Constantine was pitching better than anybody else anyway, so he became my No. 1 starter going into each week,” Bailan said. “There was nobody on the team that pitched as competitively as he did.”
Bailan said that since it was his first year coaching at Herricks, he didn’t find it fair to name team captains, but by the end of the season, he knew that Cheung was one of those leaders.
“I could easily say that Constantine was one of my captains because of the way he handled himself day in and day out on the field,” he said.
Cheung was also a multi-sport athlete at Herricks, serving as captain of the school’s volleyball and swim teams during his senior year.
He said he also heavily focused on academics, graduating with a 4.039 weighted GPA and having taken 11 Advanced Placement classes.
Cheung said he first picked up baseball in fourth grade, and around that same time, he began his music career. He has played at venues including Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center and was selected as an All-State cello player.
Cheung is now a freshman at Stony Brook University, studying mechanical engineering. He said he will join the school’s club baseball team and continue his music career as well.
Herricks High School’s baseball program went 2-17 during the spring season. Bailan said that although Cheung won’t be on the team next season, he expects to continue with the positive momentum that the award-winner helped create.
“If we can score some runs with kids pitching like they did this year, we’re going to win some games going forward,” he said.
