Leading off today: Two guys who've been around the sport for a very long time kicked off their Section 3 baseball seasons against each other Tuesday when the Syracuse CSD team defeated Syracuse CBA.
Bob Southworth is co-coach of the combined Syracuse City School District team. Southworth is in his 50th season coaching scholastic baseball in Syracuse and has a record of 698-337.
Tom Dotterer coaches Christian Brothers Academy, where he is in his 36th season and has amassed a mark of 606-302. He sported a full CBA uniform including purple socks.
Both men are members of the Greater Syracuse Sports Hall of Fame and both are 79 years old.
Syracuse CSD defeated CBA 8-4 behind an 11-strikeout performance from pitcher Jeff Belge. (More on Belge later in this blog.)
Remember this name: Freshman Lyndsey Shaw is in her third varsity season with the Sayville softball team, and Tuesday's 16-4 win over Miller Place presumably was her best performance yet.
Though she stands just 5-foot-2, Shaw blasted three home runs over the fence and finished 4-for-4 with a walk and seven runs batted in. She hit a combined five home runs in her first two seasons on the varsity.
"I've gotten stronger and more mature at the plate this season," she told Newsday. "I just went with the pitch, tried to hit the ball hard, and made sure I stayed centered."
Shaw went the opposite way on the first pitch for a two-run homer that gave Sayville a 2-0 lead in the first inning. She highlighted a six-run third with a three-run shot to right-center and finished up with a line-drive solo blast.
Scheme alleged: The Securities and Exchange Commission revealed fraud charges late Monday against former NFL player Will Allen and a business partner, accusing them of running a $31 million Ponzi scheme.
The SEC complaint alleges Allen, a former Syracuse Corcoran star and Syracuse University cornerback who went on to a 10-season career with the New York Giants and Miami Dolphins, and business partner Susan Daub claimed to make loans to professional athletes who were short of cash.
Allen and Daub raised $31.7 million from investors but made only $18 million in loans to athletes through a business called Capital Financial, according to the SEC. The SEC says the two returned about $20 million to investors between 2012 and 2015 while receiving a little more than $13 million in loan repayments. The foundation of the SEC complaint is that the two allegedly used funds from investors to fill the $7 million gap and pay other investors.
"The defendants sold investors on the idea of lending money to pro athletes, but we allege that's not where a large portion of the investors' money went. As in any Ponzi scheme, the appearance of a successful investment was only an illusion sustained by lies," said Paul G. Levenson, director of the SEC's Boston regional office.
According to the New York Post, Allen and Daub allegedly raised $4 million from 24 investors last spring for an NHL player on the basis of a sham promissory note for $5.65 million and loan agreement never actually signed by the unnamed athlete. Even after the player filed for bankruptcy, Daub told investors the loan was "performing as expected," the suit alleges.
Allen retired from the NFL in 2013 with 15 career interceptions.
The race begins: The process for selecting hosts for future New York State Public High School Athletic Association final fours in basketball has begun. The
