Best of the best in local high school sports: 23 events that ring out old year and ring in new
January 4, 2024 at 12:05 a.m.
New Year's Eve has come and gone, but the memories linger on of the year that was because 2023 was very much a year like no other for Port Chester and Blind Brook high school sports.
Those memories went well beyond the wins and losses because of the significance of what happened, from Blind Brook canceling its football season for safety reasons stemming from the lack of players coming out for the team to Port Chester adding lacrosse to its regular sports schedule because of increased student-athlete interest in the sport.
Blind Brook pitching ace Andrew Rogovic, a Northeastern University commit, led Section One with 113 strikeouts in just under 53 innings with an earned run average of 0.78, allowed just six runs the entire season, hit 92 miles per hour on the radar gun, finished the year 7-1 and was named the League and Section Pitcher of the Year. He still has another season to play for the Trojans.By File Photo
In between, there were lots of highs and lows during those Ws and Ls including several firsts as well as league and sectional championships for both schools in sports including baseball, basketball, soccer, track and field, volleyball, tennis, lacrosse, wrestling, bowling, swimming, cheerleading and more.
It was a year that produced a veritable galaxy of All-Stars, the local glitterati including Ram and Trojan standouts ranking right up there with Westchester's best student-athletes.
And it included highlight reels and milestone events the students involved won’t forget as long as they live.
Here is a highly selective list of 23 of the most memorable scholastic sports events of 2023 and the Port Chester and Blind Brook student-athletes who made them so unforgettable.
1. FEET ACCOMPLI: Rams graduated football All-Star quarterback Colin Taylor won Port Chester's first sectional title in 23 years, capturing the Section One outdoor T&F long-jump title with a leap of 23:9, breaking Sammy Parker's longstanding school record dating back to 1976. Taylor became the first Ram T&F athlete to qualify for the Nationals since All-America distance runner Anthony Smith in the late 1970s. Taylor also ran the 100 meters in 10:9 and became the first Ram to be named Westchester's outstanding T&F athlete by the Westchester T&F Association.
2. 'THE ARM' SPEED: Blind Brook pitching ace Andrew Rogovic, known locally as "The Arm," pitched one of the greatest games in school history, striking out 19 of 21 batters in the Trojans’ 2-0 playoff win over Croton. Rogovic, a Northeastern commit, led Section One with 113 strikeouts in just under 53 innings with an earned run average of 0.78, allowed just six runs the entire season, hit 92 miles per hour on the radar gun, finished the year 7-1 and was named the League and Section Pitcher of the Year. He still has a final season coming up for the Trojans. 
Kayleigh Heckel, one of the greatest basketball players in Port Chester history, transferred to Long Island Lutheran to enhance her college recruiting prospects, became the point guard on a team that was ranked as high as number one in the nation, and signed to play for the University of Southern California next year.
By File Photo
3. THE LOST STAR: Kayleigh Heckel, one of the greatest basketball players in Port Chester history, transferred to national prep school powerhouse Long Island Lutheran to enhance her college recruiting prospects, became the point guard on a team that was ranked as high as number one in the nation, and signed to play for the University of Southern California next year.
4. PASSING NOTE: John D'Inverno, better known as JP (John Paul), was the only local player to make the All-State football team. He is one of the best wide receivers in Blind Brook history and the player who led the Blind Brook team to the sectional semi-finals for the first time in 30 years. He was selected as the school's best male athlete and graduated with a scholarship to play Division One football for Sacred Heart University.
JP D'Inverno was the only local player to make the All-State football team. He is one of the best wide receivers in Blind Brook history and the player who led the Blind Brook Trojans to the sectional semi-finals for the first time in 30 years. He graduated in 2023 with a scholarship to play Division One football for Sacred Heart University.By File Photo
5. LAX FAX: The Rams first-ever lacrosse team moved up from the club level to play its initial junior varsity season under its guiding force Paul Santavicca, a former LAX All-American at Yorktown who played college lacrosse for Marist, became a math teacher, turned around a losing Port Chester football culture, won a League Coach of the Year award and stepped aside to spend more time with his family while also concentrating on building a lacrosse program from the ground up.
6. OFF THE GRID: Blind Brook Athletic Director Kimberly Saxton wanted to keep the Trojans football program alive after only 10 to 12 players turned out for the first practice. Because she was concerned about player safety, she canceled the season and proposed a merger with nearby Hastings-on-Hudson so interested BB players would get a chance to compete. But the proposed merger was turned down for bureaucratic reasons by Section One. Saxton is still trying to resurrect the grid program, realizing that mergers take time, so she has proposed a new merger with five possible candidates: Hastings, Irvington, Putnam Valley, Port Chester and Edgemont. And is waiting to see what Section One decides this time around.
7. NO QUITTERS: Despite the grid season being canceled, die-hard Blind Brook football players continued to practice on their own anyway with talented seniors like Robby Carey and Eduardo Almeida still hoping to attract college recruiters. Those with another year of eligibility like Carmine Casino and Charlie Hammer keep their collective fingers crossed that the new merger will be approved in time for the next fall season.
8. HOOP-LA: Port Chester's high-scoring Dominican Republic junior transfer Guillermo (Memo) Zabala made the clutch shot of the year with a buzzer-beating three-pointer that gave the Rams a last second home 56-53 win over crosstown rival Blind Brook. Zabala went on to become one of the highest scorers in Section One, was named to the All-Conference team and is just about the only Rams offensive threat during the current winter season.
9. HEADS UP PLAY: Trojans soccer ace Martin Otero sent a free kick almost 35 yards into the box stocked with Trojans directly in front of the goal line in their playoff opener. Nico Palacios soared into the air like the basketball player he also is and came up with a perfectly timed header that netted the goal that gave the Trojans a win for the ages.
10. GETTING THEIR KICKS: Nico Palacios made the All-Section soccer team, Martin Otero made All-League. And across town, the Rams also scored in the soccer All-Star selections with Ramaul Morgan being named to the All-Section squad and Nick Tellez receiving Honorable Mention. The All-League Rams included Jonathan Bautista, Julian Lopez and Christian Antunez. The All-League Trojans included Joaquin Otero and Eli Zimmerman while Tomakazu Yamano and Luka Kuk received Honorable Mention.
11. NO POOLING: Although Blind Brook doesn't have a pool or its own swim team, senior Sydney Goldberg nonetheless made the All-Section swim team in the breaststroke competing for a merged Rye/Rye Neck/Blind Brook squad. She also qualified for the state competition in that event and as a member of the intermediate relay team.
12. HEART OF GIANT: Rams senior running back, defensive linebacker and co-captain John Delcid was Port Chester's Heart of a Giant Award nominee. The award is sponsored by the New York pro football Giants and New York Presbyterian Hospital and is designed to honor players from the tri-state area who have overcome all kinds of adversity. Johnny D is also one of the top hurdlers and sprinters on the Rams T&F team.
The 2023 Port Chester High School JV lacrosse team included more than 40 players. The team moved up from the club level to play its initial junior varsity season.By File Photo
13. CLOSE CALL: The Lady Trojans soccer team lost a playoffs heartbreaker in double overtime to Bronxville, but five BB players nonetheless made the All-League team: Kayleigh Curran, Alexandra Maniscalco, Veronica Pallotta, Jordan Sternschein and Anna Vnenchak. Brava!
14. WILD SIDE WALK: The baseball Rams won the school's first Greater Hudson Valley Fall Baseball League Championship with a last inning rally that included the Rams loading the bases on a clutch base hit by Bryan Sachs, a double by John (Tommy) Tomassetti and an intentional walk to Josh Virella. That intentional walk turned out to be a big mistake because the pitcher couldn't find the plate after that, issuing the game-tying walk to Scott Sullivan and the winning walk-off to eighth-grader Adam Castaneda (the first 8th-grader called up to the varsity by head coach Sean Burke). So you might say the Rams won that title with a walk on the wild side.
15. LADIES FIRST: Jenna (Pro) Provenzano was named the Lady Rams’ best female athlete, captaining the basketball and softball team, starring in volleyball and playing in Port Chester's nationally-ranked marching band. Jordyn Shohet was her Blind Brook counterpart, co-captaining the Lady Trojans lacrosse and basketball teams and excelling in softball.
16. THE BOY BESTIES: Colin Taylor tied with Rams triple threat Mike DeCrescenzo (football, basketball, track) for the Port Chester boys’ best athlete award. The top Trojans included Ethan Taerstein, a co-captain of the Blind Brook league championship lacrosse team who won the school's male sportsmanship award, and Jake Vnenchak, who batted over .500 during the regular season, was the best hitter and one of the best pitchers on the Blind Brook league championship baseball team, made the All-Section team and was named Conference Player of the Year.
17. NO KIDDING: Eighth-grader McKayla McLoughlin became the first-ever female quarterback of the Port Chester modified football team, started as point guard for the varsity basketball team as a seventh grader, swims for the elite Badgers swim team and is a budding lacrosse star. Other Port Chester Middle School wunderkinds range from Laila Builes, who has won international age group jiu jitsu titles and competes against all comers as a lightweight on the Rams varsity wrestling team, to Julianna Luzzi who led the Lady Ram volleyballers in assists.
18. BBVB UPS, DOWNS: Lady Trojan volleyballers Fernanda Julian and Oriah Rosenfeld made the All-Section team, Ella Rosenfeld made the All-Conference team and Julian and the Rosenfelds made the All-League team. Julian, you may remember, was the League Player of the Year in 2022 when the Lady Trojans won the school's first-ever VB conference title, finished 18-4 on the season and Gina Carlone was the League Coach of the Year after going 2-17 the year before. Carlone warned the girls how difficult it would be to repeat as champs. It was, and they didn't. But not for lack of trying. And Julian did rack up her 1,000th career assist while Oriah Rosenfeld recorded her 500th kill.
19. GOTTA HAVE HEART: Rams football high scorer John Pauletti, a junior who battled multiple health problems, including a mysterious heart ailment, was the team's raging bull, the main offensive threat with his power runs up the middle and a strong defensive presence as linebacker, never more so than in the "Rain Bowl" against Ramapo, a 26-24 Port Chester win played in a steady downpour. Pauletti scored two touchdowns and made the game-saving tackle that stopped a two-point conversion with time running out, one of four two-point conversions the Rams stopped throughout the game.
20. ON THE RUN: Noah Becher, Danny Keilman, Will Jaffee and Corey Biller sped their way onto Blind Brook's first-ever 4x100-meter relay to qualify for the national Nike T&F Championships in Eugene, Oregon, with Jason Arnett replacing Becher on the mile relay. Quite a feat! Enough to earn rah-rahs from Lady Trojans All-League cheerleader selections Hailey Mallah and Ava Muoio and speedy All-League tennis players Carly Heinberg and Zoey Possick.
Port Chester's high-scoring Dominican Republic junior transfer Guillermo (Memo) Zabala was one of the highest scorers in Section One during the 2022-23 season, was named to the All-Conference team and is just about the only Rams offensive threat during the current winter season.By File Photo
21. ON THE MARQUEZ: Port Chester's sophomore Venezuelan import Santiago Marquez, a triathlon competitor, was the only Ram distance runner to make the All-League cross country team. He is also the best swimmer on the Rams resurgent swim team. His sisters Chantal and Chenoa are also among Port Chester's best in both sports. Which is not entirely surprising because they come from a long line of ocean swimmers and mountain bike riders back home in Venezuela.
22. LARIZZA WINNERS: Blind Brook basketball team senior co-captain Eli Zimmerman was the MVP of Port Chester's Louie Larizza Memorial Basketball Tournament which the Trojans won for the first time in early December. Zimmerman scored 20 and 24 points in Blind Brook's wins over Edgemont and Rye Neck. He and junior co-captain Noah Brookman both made the All-Tournament team as did the Rams’ Memo Zabala who averaged more than 30 points per game although the Rams lost a deuce in the tournament that honors a former Ram hoops great who died too young.
23. COMING, GOING: Veteran Rams and Blind Brook coach Manny Martinez retired after 34 years of coaching, including a long stint of Manny being Manny as the Blind Brook coach who turned around a losing Lady Trojans basketball culture and has spent the past five years trying to do the same thing with the basketball Rams at Port Chester where he is winding down a 36-year career as an educator as well. Manny has also coached T&F, soccer and tennis and finished his career by leading the Lady Rams tennis team to their first league championship, his blue-collar team having to win a close final doubles game in the last set against Woodlands to remain undefeated.
But in the ongoing coaching cycle, Port Chester has two new coaches who excelled as college athletes and are already making a difference. They are debuting Lady Rams volleyball head coach Stephanie Costabile whose team made it into the playoffs for the first time in ages and Rams swim coach Colleen Cahill who turned around a losing Lady Rams culture and is now trying to do the same thing with the already improved Rams team. Costabile starred in VB and soccer at Mitchell College in New London, Conn., and Cahill swam for Fordham/Marymount.
There's plenty more that happened in 2023, from Blind Brook's Michael Berman Annunziata and Seth Low being recruited to play college LAX for Clark and Muhlenberg, respectively, to the emotional motivating ploy of Rams head football coach Chris Halstead surprising his team with new black uniforms before their homecoming game, a tough win over Poughkeepsie, to former Port Chester Youth Baseball League shortstop great Kevin Francella of Rye Country Day School signing a national letter of intent to play Ivy League baseball for William and Mary.
So, yes, 2023 was a year like no other in Port Chester and Blind Brook scholastic sports history. But now it's time to ring out the old and ring in the new with best wishes to you and yours for the new year. And may 2024 be a great sports year as well for Port Chester and Blind Brook.
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