At the 2021 Italian-American Baseball Foundation award ceremony on Dec. 2, “Disco” Dom Scala was honored with the Achievement Award. Originally from Brooklyn, Scala played at St. Francis Prep, Williamsburg, before attending St. John’s University, Jamaica. He later served as the New York Yankees bullpen catcher from 1978 through 1986. Most recently, he was the head baseball coach at Adelphi University, Garden City, L.I.
Todd Rochelle, a senior guard on the St. Francis Prep, Fresh Meadows, boys’ varsity basketball team, has committed to Bryant University, Smithfield, R.I. In his last full season for the Terriers, the team captain averaged 14.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game.
Pope and the Polar Bear
On his honeymoon in Italy, New York Mets star first baseman Pete Alonso and his new wife, Haley Alonso, met Pope Francis in Vatican City.
The following cheerleading teams won their archdiocesan regional championships:
- Xaverian H.S., Bay Ridge: large varsity non-tumbling division
- McClancy H.S., East Elmhurst: small varsity non-tumbling division
- Francis Prep, Fresh Meadows: large junior varsity division
Archbishop Molloy H.S., Briarwood, is hosting a one-day, four-game basketball classic in honor of the late local high school hoops scout Tom Konchalski. St. Francis Prep, Fresh Meadows; Xaverian H.S., Bay Ridge; and Archbishop Molloy are the diocesan teams participating.
Konchalski, a daily communicant at Our Lady Queen of Martyrs in Forest Hills, was known throughout the Diocese of Brooklyn as a consummate gentleman who produced the renowned High School Basketball Illustrated newsletter – a vital resource for college hoops coaches up and down the East Coast. He died Feb. 8 at the age of 74.