Continued on

Pitching duo lead Chaminade in championship bid

Continued from Page 3 April 6 a particular highlight.

Both Gatti and Downing attribute a lot of their improvement over the past year to playing off season ball with Next Level Baseball, an amateur program based in Farmingdale that helps develop lots of top Long Island talent.

“It was just a big boost to me to play with all the talented kids that go there,” said Gatti, who chose Dayton over Villanova and Sacred Heart. “You play tournaments with top players and coaches who just do so much for you.”

Downing said he and Gatti are both motivated to repeat as CHSAA champions, and go further this year. After two COVIDaff ected seasons, there will be the chance for Chaminade to play for a state championship this year. With 13 other college signees on the squad, the Flyers certainly have a great chance.

“We have a lot of talented guys who’ve played together for a while and we want to go out on top,” Downing said. “We all have confi dence we can do it.”

Hakimi challeges Peirez for school board E.W. sportswriter Bock book honored by mag

Continued from Page 1 Continued from Page 2 agendas” in the district over the past year.

“Students of every caliber, whether in advanced courses, general education, or special education deserve a path to success,” Hakimi said. “We should be grooming the next generation of doctors, lawyers, educators, and entrepreneurs, not social justice warriors.”

Hakimi also called for transparency among the board to properly inform district stakeholders about what is occurring throughout the schools and said he can off er an “on the ground perspective to administrative policies.” He also noted the increased tension at recent Board of Education meetings, saying he will help mitigate confl ict between administrators and parents if elected.

“Recent School Board meetings have become increasingly hostile and contentious, causing a rift within our wonderful community,” Hakimi said. “If elected, I will bridge the disconnect between parents and the schools. I recognize the need for parental involvement in a child’s education, as well as the need for transparency from the administration and the faculty.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE GREAT NECK SCHOOL DISTRICT

Great Neck Board of Education Trustee Donna Peirez is running for re-election against challenger Emil Hakimi.

The election will also include a $261.4 million budget for the 2022-23 school year that the board adopted earlier this month. azine.

The venerable publication published a list several weeks ago of the Top 100 Baseball Books ever written, and the Mullin collection was among them.

“I was fl aggergasted, stunned and thrilled,” said Bock, who retired from full-time sportswriting in 2004. “The books on that list are incredible, so to be included among that, is very exciting. I think Mullin would be thrilled too.”

Bock said the book shows Mullin’s whimsical sense of humor.

“One of the interesting things about him, a brilliant thing, was he would sign every cartoon with 26 pen strokes, and all but two were horizontal,” Bock said. “I don’t know how he did that, but it was unique.”

Baseball has fallen behind football and basketball in popularity in the U.S., but Bock said he hasn’t lost his passion for it.

“I don’t like them putting that runner on second base in extra innings, and about 100 other things they’ve done to baseball over the years,” Bock said. “They shouldn’t tinker with the sport. But I still absolutely love it. I watched a few innings of the Mets game today, and just the whole package of baseball, the green grass, the players, all of it, is still so wonderful to me.”

Bock keeps busy these days writing a few times per week for New York SportsDay, and still does presentations from time to time over Zoom.

“I love that I can still feed my passion for baseball, and sports,” Bock said. “People have asked why do you still write. I say it’s because that’s what I like doing the most. The experience of sitting down in front of a computer and writing, I still love it.”

Visit us daily for more local news www.theisland360.com