Interboro great Scott remembered for his on- and off-field success
Tom Scott was an outstanding pitcher for Interboro Junior High teams that had 38 consecutive victories in the late 1950s.
He also pitched well at Interboro High and Princeton University. He was voted “most likely to succeed” by his Interboro classmates in 1962.
Scott died of a heart attack May 15 at the age of 72. He had served as dean of the College of Sciences at San Diego State University and was the school’s vice president of research before retiring in 2014.
At Princeton, he was a member of the Chapel Choir and was named to the Tigers’ baseball team of the 1960s. After graduation, he joined the PH.D. program in biological psychology at Duke University. He became a professor of psychology at the University of Delaware in 1970, and later was the school’s associate dean of Research and Graduate Studies.
Scott and his wife, Bonnie, a retired University of Delaware professor, would have celebrated their 50th anniversary in May.
“Ron Fricker, one of our teammates, reminded me that he was behind the plate for every pitch Tom threw from seventh through 12th grade,” Don Docherty, a retired Ridley School District teacher and one of Scott’s classmates, wrote after learning of Scott’s passing. “And also for the couple of years we played for Frank Witmer in the Senior EDCO League.
“I just stood in center field watching the grass grow. I never got much action with Tom on the mound. But as great a ball player as he was, he was off the charts intelligencewise. He was a gifted piano player, played trombone in the band, was on the Scott’s Hi-Q team, student council, math and science clubs, the chorus, the National Honor Society, and was captain of the rifle team. We hit the nail right on the head when we named him ‘most likely to succeed.’”
Docherty, who was an outstanding high school football official during his days with the Chester Chapter of PIAA Football Officials, recalled that Scott’s father was his Little League baseball coach.
“(Tom and I) always got together to do our study projects when we were in junior high,” Docherty said. “I was never accused of being a Rhodes Scholar, but I knew who to hang out with.
“I’ll always remember that with all of his accomplishments, you would never find a trace of arrogance or conceit in Tom. In inter-acting with all of us, Tom was just a regular guy. At our class reunions, he would get right into ‘remember when’ discussions. He was a true gentleman, a great athlete and a very good friend.”
The Interboro Bucs 8U Cal Ripken district baseball team won the recent Aldan Wood Bat Tournament.
The team is made up of players from Prospect Park, Norwood, Glenolden and Tinicum.
Among the members of the team were Justin O’Neill, Jaxson Munro, Cole Buckley, Phillip Salomone, Anthony Lascio III, Chase Norbeck, Sean Roseberry, Chase Allen Brandon Lockley, Nate Cartlidge, Chuck Gonzalez and Joel Sheridan.
Dan McCann, Anthony Lascio Jr., Marcos Munro and Mike Salomone were the team’s coaches.
Garnet Valley and Avon Grove met in the PIAA Class 3A boys lacrosse tournament earlier this month.
Avon Grove won the quarterfinal matchup and went on to beat Conestoga in double-overtime to capture its first state championship. Playing defense for Garnet Valley was Greg Reynolds. His cousin, Kevin Malone, was Avon Grove’s goalkeeper.
The Sports Legends of Delaware County Museum in Radnor is featuring one of the cards from its newest collection of top county sports figures each week on the museum’s website at www.sportslegendsofdelawarecounty.com.
The featured card this week includes Andy Matter and Ron Sheehan, the only wrestlers from Delaware County to win an NCAA championship.
Matter was an undefeated state champion at 154 pounds as an Upper Darby High senior (1968). He won three Eastern titles and a pair of NCAA championships at 167 pounds at Penn State University.
Sheehan, also an Upper Darby High graduate, won more than 100 matches at Bloomsburg University and was an NCAA Division II champion in 1974.
The Sports Legends Museum, which is located at 301 Iven Avenue in Radnor, is continuing its drive to raise funds to have a statue erected of Radnor High graduate Emlen Tunnell, a World War II hero and the first African-American elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Museum curator Jim Vankoski announced receipt of a large donation from the New York Giants, for whom Tunnell played from 1948-58 and for whom he coached for eight seasons following his retirement as a player.
Vankoski is seeking sponsors for individual cards in an Emlen Tunnell card set. Sponsorships cost $200 and will be tax deductible.
For additional information, contact Vankoski at 610-909-4919 or visit www.sportslegendsofdelawarecounty.com or www. emlentunnell.com.
Former University of Wisconsin men’s basketball coach Bo Ryan was head coach at Sun Valley High during the 1974-75 and 197576 seasons.
Ryan will be inducted into the National Basketball Hall of Fame at a ceremony in Kansas City in November. He is attempting to get in touch with the individuals who played for the Sun Valley teams he coached.
Players are asked to send their contact information to Jim Vankoski at vankoski21@comcast.net.
Among the awards presented at the recent Joseph Barrett Memorial AllStar Baseball Game was the Cakey Dougherty/Jumbo Faulkner Memorial Award, given in memory of Dougherty, an outstanding Delco Baseball League pitcher, and Faulkner, an all-star player who also served as Delco League president.
The 2017 award for outstanding high school pitcher in Delaware County was shared by Will Carey of Strath Haven and Springfield High’s Jared Morris.
Horizon Field Hockey Club will hold its National Festival Tryouts Friday, June 30, at Strath Haven High.
U16/U19 tryouts will begin at 4 p.m., and U/14 tryouts get under way at 5:30 p.m. Players are asked to wear a reversible pinnie with at least one white side. Cost is $25 per player. Additional information is available at horizonfhc@ gmail.com.
Tom Brazill, who has coached cross country and track and field at Chichester High, took part in a 75-mile bike ride to Wildwood, N.J., Saturday.
The ride was to raise money for research to fight ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease).
Brazill, a member of Family Strong Team, rode in memory of Pamela Brazill, who died and 2013, and V. Michael Fulginiti, who passed away in 2016.
Donations can be made by clicking the link to Brazill’s personal webpage on the ALS site at www.als-express.org/brazbik3.