Leading off today: It looks like we have our first frantic finish of the 2015-16 high school sports year.
Hamburg rallied from a 3-0 deficit with 15 minutes remaining to finish tie Grand Island 3-3 in boys soccer Saturday.
Justin Hoffman scored twice and freshman Gabe Masterangelo connected from 40 yards out to salvage the tie for Hamburg, which started third-string goalkeeper Tucker Reynolds due to an injury in warm-ups.
Nice start: Shenendehowa pitcher Ian Anderson earned the save for Team USA in a 5-1 win over Mexico at the Under-18 World Championships in Osaka, Japan.
The right-hander struck out five and allowed one hit in 3 1/3 innings of work. He entered the game with the bases loaded and Team USA holding a 3-0 lead. He hit the first batter he faced before working out of the jam.
Anderson, a rising senior already committed to Vanderbilt and projected as a high MLB Draft pick next spring, was recently named the Baseball America Pitcher of the Year at the Perfect Game All-American Classic Awards Banquet in San Diego. A day later, Anderson competed in an all-star showcase game, striking out two in a scoreless inning to help cement his selection to Team USA.
Anderson was 6-1 with a 0.66 ERA and 91 strikeouts in 53 1/3 innings for Shenendehowa last season.
Hazing incident? The mother of a Susan Wagner junior varsity player says her son was injured with a broomstick during a non-football related incident at the program's camp last week.
The unidentified women told The Advance her son disclosed the episode after returning home from the five-day camp upstate and may not be the only one injured.
"My initial concern was over a football injury," she said, stopping short of calling the incident hazing. "I've learned a lot the last couple of days. More families are involved. The school is investigating; I don't know if there's any outside investigation. I hope it's not just inside the school; this should be investigated thoroughly."
Independent sources confirmed to the paper that an incident did occur, but school Principal Gary Giordano did not respond to the paper's email. Co-AD Scott McBratney also did not respond.
A source familiar with the situation said that two varsity assistants had been fired, but the paper was unable to confirm that development.
Back to school: Dwayne "Tiny" Morton's taste of college coaching proved to be short-lived, and the former Abraham Lincoln boys basketball coach is headed back to his full-time job as a middle school math teacher after one year as a Seton Hall assistant, the New York Post reported late Saturday.
Morton and Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard declined comment, but the announcement is expected Monday, the paper reported. "It was definitely his choice," a source told the paper, referring to Morton.
Morton, 44, was highly successful at Lincoln, winning eight city championships and three state Federation crowns while rolling up more than 400 wins in 19 seasons.
Veteran assistant Kenny Pretlow replaced Morton as the coach at the Brooklyn high school.
