Leading off today: Long Island's winningest active football coach is no longer Long Island's winningest active football coach.
Tom Flatley, 75, has announced his retirement from Garden City after compiling a 264-44-7 record, 18 conference titles in Nassau County and five Long Island championships. He informed school officials of the decision Monday, Newsday reported.
"I enjoyed the on-the-field part, but not the off-the-field part," Flatley said. "It was getting tougher. It's a longer season and I was getting tired."
Clearly, though, the work was still getting done and Garden City remained competitive right to the end of the Flatley era despite his preference for low-key offseason workout programs. The Trojans went 9-2 in 2013 and 2014, with all four losses coming against unbeaten Long Island champion Carey.
Flatley was inducted into the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame in 2013, not for his win total but for his open-minded approach toward change to pile up those victories.
"Has any Long Island coach won championships with so many different offenses?" Garden City assistant coach Steve Finnell asked. "We won the (Long Island championship) using the veer, the power-I, the wing-T, the spread. To win with so many different looks is remarkable. Coach Flatley's ability to change and do what's best with his personnel was incredible."
More football developments: Veteran Monroe-Woodbury assistant Jim Hintze is expected to be appointed the school's head coach at the next school board meeting, The Times Herald-Record reported.
Hintze assisted Pat D'Aliso and Bernie Connolly for the past 27 years, helping build his alma mater into a Section 9 powerhouse with 10 sectional crowns and one NYSPHSAA championship since 1996.
Connolly stepped down in December after leading M-W to third Section 9 Class AA championship game appearances in his three seasons.
In Western New York, Eric Jantzi, who coached North Tonawanda to a NYSPHSAA Class AA crown in 2009, was appointed on Monday as Springville's head coach, Dave DeLuca tweeted. Jantzi joined the staff last fall as an assistant to Rob Valenti, who plans to stay on as an assistant.
Jantzi, a 1987 graduate of Springville, went 86-23 in 11 seasons at North Tonawanda, including leading the Lumberjacks to a 13-0 season in 2009 and two Section 6 championships.
Baseball progress: Hamburg won its Section 6 Class A qualifier over Olean 2-0 in eight innings on catcher David Edie's walk-off home run over the left-field wall.
Winning pitcher Cam Ringo struck out 11, walked three and allowed just two hits. He worked out of a bases-loaded predicament in the seventh with an inning-ending strikeout.
