St. Pius X claims first Archdiocesan softball title
The varsity softball team from St. Pius X School (Broomall) recently won its first Archdiocesan Tournament championship.
St. Pius swept four games in the tourney, which included 16 teams, outscoring its opponents, 363. Three of the four wins were by shutout.
In the championship game, Annabelle Donato (four innings) and Bailey Mattson (three innings) combined to blank St. Charles (Bensalem) as St. Pius X earned a 6-0 decision.
Maria Patterson hit a three-run homer in the third inning of the title contest, and Brooke McKeown and Kerri McCallum were the other hitting leaders. St. Pius X also played outstanding team defense throughout the tournament.
Among the other members of the team were Morgan Kane, Rachel Scheb, Ally Varela, Meghan Scheb, Gianna Pagliotti, Gabby Gray, Alessia Favacchia, and manager Alex Quartapella.
Mike Scheb, Dan McKeown and Dawn Gray were the team’s coaches.
The Legends, a softball team made up of players from Delaware and Chester counties who are at least 60 years of age, recently won their fourth consecutive Ches-Del League playoff championship.
The team was sponsored by Optimum Physical Therapy of Media and West Chester.
The Legends defeated the Patriots in the championship series, winning 10-4, dropping a 10-2 decision, and then claiming the deciding contest, 9-3. Bob Shemonsky of Chester Springs was the team’s manager.
Jim Singel of Lionville pitches and is among the leading hitters, and Gary Zimmerman and Rob Giacomucci were newcomers to the team for the 2017 season. Among the other members of the team were Mort Tirnauer, John Spangler, Carl Chan, Jack Feehoff, John Herr, Tom Daley, Marti Breisblatt, Dave Irving, Frank Podrebarac, Charlie Harvey, Joe Boutin, and Gary Blair.
Anyone interested in participating in the league during the 2018 season can contact director Joe Morgan at morgan15twin@comcast.net or call 610-812-4002.
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 is that of Villanova University coaches Gina Procaccio and Harry Perretta.
Procaccio, a two-time Delaware County cross country champion as well as a state champ in the 800-meter run at Sun Valley High, earned AllAmerica honors in indoor track and was a member of an NCAA champion 4 x 800-meter relay team while competing for Villanova.
She has coached a pair of NCAA Division I championship women’s cross country teams at ’Nova, and twice has been named national coach of the year. Procaccio will be among those attending the Sports Legends Museum’s Sports Cavalcade of Stars luncheon at 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 16. Tickets are $25, and only 100 will be available. Anyone purchasing a ticket will receive a 2017 Sports Legends of Delaware County card set.
For reservations, call museum curator Jim Vankoski at 610-909-4919.
Perretta, an All-Catholic basketball player at Monsignor Bonner High, is about to begin his 39th season as head women’s basketball coach at Villanova. Last season, he became the 14th Division I women’s basketball coach to earn 700 career victories. Perretta has coached the Wildcats to the postseason in 14 of the last 17 years and is Villanova’s alltime winningest basketball coach.
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 AfricanAmerican elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
This week, Roger Zatkoff, 86, of Detroit was among those making a donation to the statue fund. Zatkoff was an All-Big 10 player at the University of Michigan and played linebacker in the NFL for the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions, earning All-Pro honors in 1954, 1955 and 1956. He was a member of the 1957 Lions team, which won the NFL playoff championship.
Vankoski continues to look for sponsors for individual cards in an Emlen Tunnell card set. Sponsorships cost $200 and will be tax-deductible.
For additional information, visit www.sportslegendsofdelawarecounty.com or www.emlentunnell.com.
The Sports Legends Museum has received for display a Villanova University football jersey from the 2009 season, when the Wildcats won the FCS national championship.
The jersey was donated by Haverford High graduate Andy Talley, who retired at the conclusion of the 2016 season after serving as Villanova’s head football coach since 1985.
The museum is open from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday through Friday and 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Saturday. Additional information about the museum’s displays can be found at www.sportslegendsofdelawarecounty.com.
Registration is open for tryouts for the Horizon Field Hockey Club’s 2018 indoor teams.
Tryouts will be held Saturday, Aug. 26, at Westtown School, with the U14 session beginning at 11:30 a.m., the U16 session at 1 p.m., and the U19 tryouts at 2:30 p.m.
U12 tryouts will take place in September.
The tryout fee is $30. For additional information or to register, visit horizonfhc@gmail.com.
Brian McKinney of Swarthmore, a 1995 graduate of Devon Prep, is beginning his first season as the school’s varsity soccer coach.
Brian Rogers of Wayne is the school’s new varsity golf coach, and Matthew Dimaio of King of Prussia will coach the school’s first middle school golf team.
McKinney is a former eighth-grade soccer coach in the Ridley School District and varsity head coach at Marple Newtown High. Rogers has been head golf coach at Temple University and Gwynedd Mercy Academy.
Dimaio is a graduate of Devon Prep, the University of Scranton and Villanova Law School.