Baseball field at Stotzky Park to be renamed for longtime coach, Jeremy Savio

“I didn’t know anything about this, so I’m thinking it was supposed to be a surprise,” Riverhead Little League President Jeremy Savio said when asked about a proposal to rename Field 5 at Stotzky Park in his honor.

If so, it wasn’t a very well-kept secret: the proposal was discussed at a Town Board work session last week — a meeting that was also was televised. 

Either way, Riverhead Town Board members were in support of the proposal.

Supervisor Yvette Aguiar said the board had received a recommendation from Jason Kwasna, who is also a member of the Riverhead Little League board. 

Mr. Savio has been a coach for the town’s Little League since 2014, and its president since 2017. 

“We talked about this briefly last year at the opening ceremony,” Mr. Kwasna said at the Town Board work session Thursday. “He’s done so much.”

In addition to coaching, Mr. Savio is also the district administrator for Little League. 

“I oversee 14 leagues on the East End of Long Island,” Mr. Savio said. “I just love baseball. Just being around the kids and having fun with them makes it worth while.”

Three of Mr. Savio’s children have played in the league over the years, with the youngest playing last season.

“When Jeremy took over Little League many years ago, they were having some issues,” Councilman Tim Hubbard said. “They were losing players, enrollment went down and it was around this time that lacrosse was starting to get big around here. But he not only brought it back , but he made Riverhead Little League stronger than it’s ever been.”

Mr. Savio works as an electrician at Brookhaven National Lab, and is a member of Riverhead’s recreation advisory committee. 

How much longer does he plan on coaching Little League? 

“I don’t know,” he said. “I’m just going to keep on doing it and maybe one day, it’ll come to a time when I say, ‘yeah, I’m good.’”