Thursday, May 9, 2013: Toro leaves Bishop Ford to coach at PSAL school

   Leading off today: Mike Toro, suspended as coach while Bishop Ford was rolling to a Federation Class AA championship in girls basketball this winter, resigned from the CHSAA school and has been hired to run the girls program at Medgar Evers of the PSAL.

   Toro told the New York Daily he was hired May 1 as a volunteer assistant. That's a technicality due to PSAL rules requiring coaches to be teachers in the public school system. But the paper said Toro will have full reign over the program and will be allowed to bring in his own assistants, according to Medgar Evers AD Keisha Lewis, who will be listed as the team’s official head coach.

   “He’ll have full control of the program, developing it, along with my guidance,” Lewis said.

   Toro, 25, and two ADs were suspended by Bishop Ford officials in February for possibly having given improper financial assistance to student athletes. A spokesperson for Bishop Ford said the school didn’t have an update on the investigation or a comment on Toro’s hiring.

   Ferraro will retire: Carl Ferraro is retiring from his jobs as football coach and physical education teacher at Pawling next month, The Poughkeepsie Journal reported Wednesday.

   Ferraro, 58, won 175 games at Highland and then Pawling, when he coached since 1986.

   “I really enjoyed being with the kids and being with the people,” Ferraro told the paper. “(Pawling is) a small community. Everybody got along. People tried to help each other. We never had the most stuff or the greatest facilities, but the kids made the best they possibly could with what we had.”

   Friars win showdown: The state's top-ranked Class A and B teams in girls lacrosse faced off Wednesday, with St. Anthony's racing to a 3-0 lead and beating Garden City 11-6.

   Senior midfield Maggie Bill, a four-year starter and North Carolina recruit, scored four goals and added an assist.

   It's the third straight year the two Long Island powers have met.

   "It's only been a few years but I think it's a rivalry because we know what a great team they are," St. Anthony's Coach Corinne Lomangino told Patch.com.

   Wild afternoon in Wellsville: A suspect in a burglary interrupted a varsity softball game while eluding police, only to be subdued by a Wellsville football player who body-slammed him.

   Police charged Christopher D. Jackson, 34, of Friendship, with resisting arrest, second-degree burglary, third-degree assault, fourth-degree criminal mischief and two counts of petit larceny, according to the Wellsville Daily Reporter. He was arraigned in Wellsville Village Court and ordered held in lieu of $25,000 bail.

   Police said Jackson was wanted for questioning and took off toward Quackenbush Field after spotting police. Alarmed parents gathered young children and coaches

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pulled both teams off the field midway through Wellsville's softball game vs. Cuba-Rushford as Jackson ran toward a nearby wooded area.

   Wellsville coach Dennis Karns said three Lions football players ran into the woods, then one came out and yelled “we got him.” The players involved were not identified.

   “Those kids could have lost their lives, they didn’t know if the guy had a gun," Karns said, "but they saw other kids were in danger and something went off in their heads and they went and took care of it. They have a gift. They acted on an instinct of courage, that is complete bravery."

   New team, same league: Mohawk and Ilion, which will merge districts to become Central Valley Central School next fall, will remain in the Center State Conference for at least one more year, The Observer-Dispatch reported.

   The school had held talks regarding membership in the Tri Valley League, which has lost four members since 2011, before opting to stay put. “I think everybody would like the Tri Valley to be more solidified,” Ilion AD Bob McCann told the paper. “We’re in our own personal upheaval. We’re hoping to buy a year here and see what the environment is like around us.”

   Milestones: Olivia May hit two home runs for Elmira Notre Dame in 22-0 softball win over Newfield on Wednesday, giving her sole possession of the school record with 25 for her career.

   Carly Zimmerman scored four goals during a 21-6 win vs. Spencerport on Tuesday to surpass 200 tallies for her lacrosse career. Zimmerman added five assists in the winning effort.