Friday, Aug. 5, 2016: Lacrosse sharpshooter heading to IMG Academy

   Leading off today: After scoring 104 goals this spring for Gowanda/Silver Creek, Chase Scanlan will play his junior lacrosse season at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla.

   The news was reported by the Dunkirk Observer.

   IMG is a boarding school for elite athletes preparing for Division I college and professional sports careers.

   Scanlan helped Gowanda/Silver Creek reach the Section 6 Class C championship game, and he was the leader of a Panthers offense that averaged 17 goals a game. Connor Fields of Bishop-Timon St. Jude holds the presumed Western News York record for goals in a season with 129 in 2013, followed by 108 in his senior season. Zed Williams scored 101 for Silver Creek in 2010.

   Scanlan's exploits last spring included scoring 14 goals in a game.

   Scarsdale shakeup: Four Scarsdale head coaches with nearly 80 years of experience among them have either been fired or resigned over the past few weeks, The Journal News reported.

   Jim Mancuso (ice hockey), David "Doc" Scholl (baseball) and Dave Scagnelli (softball) were informed that they are not being re-appointed to coach. Additionally, Brendan Curran resigned as boys lacrosse coach.

   Mancuso, Scholl and Scagnelli all declined to comment.

   Superintendent Dr. Thomas Hagerman declined to discuss the departures, saying "employment law prohibits us from discussing individual disciplinary or non-renewal information with others, including the press.

   "What I can say is that all coaching assignments are made on an annual basis. Going forward, under (athletic director Ray Pappalardi's) leadership, we will have clear, consistent and high standards for all coaches, as well as a solid annual evaluation process to monitor their performance. These factors will determine annual appointments or reappointments."

   Entering his second year at Scarsdale, Pappalardi previously spent eight years as AD at Edgemont.

   Mancuso spent 25 years as the hockey coach. Scarsdale won Section 1 championships in 2014 and 2015, advancing to the NYSPHSAA semifinals each year.

   Scholl and Scagnelli spent 24 and 26 years, respectively, in the coaching ranks.

   SIA makes quick hire: Nicole Sarcone has been selected to replace Rose Bruno, who recently stepped down as girls basketball coach at Federation Class A champion Staten Island.

   Sarcone coached the junior varsity at Notre Dame Academy on Staten island the past two seasons.

   "She met all the criteria that we were looking for during our interview process," AD Mike Mazella told The Advance, "and we are confident that she is the perfect candidate to continue the momentum our girls' program has generated over the last few years and guide us to even greater levels of success."

   Ludden adds MLB experience: Former Major League Baseball pitcher John Johnstone will be the new coach at Bishop Ludden next season.

   Johnstone, 47, is a 1987 Ludden graduate who's replacing Ted Klamm, who left to accept the coaching job at Westhill. He played parts of eight MLB seasons beginning in 1993 with the San Francisco Giants, Florida Marlins, Houston Astros and Oakland Athletics. His career was shortened by a back injury resulting from a car accident.

   Johnstone previously coached sub-varsity teams at Baldwinsville.

   "I'm very excited to go back to Ludden," Johnstone told Syracuse.com. "Obviously, being an alum, there are a lot of things that happened for me in baseball right on that field. Going back and coaching these kids will be a surreal moment for me."

   Oswego update: There will be football at Oswego this fall, but whether it's at the varsity or the JV level appears

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destined to be a bit of a game-time decision shortly after practice starts this month.

   Superintendent Dean Goewey told Syracuse.com school officials want to see the number of participants, the grade level of the participants and their skill level before decision whether the team should play a varsity or JV schedule.

   Oswego cut football along with several other sports this spring due to budget concerns. A state grant of $150,000 and local fund-raising have allowed the district to restore some activities.

   Goewey said the school board passed a resolution Tuesday to reinstate football. Coming off an 0-8 season and with uncertain participation numbers even before the budget woes, the decision between playing varsity or JV will be a "safety first" call, Goewey said.

   The varsity team is scheduled to open Sept. 2 at New Hartford.

   More uncertainty: While Oswego's opponents wait to see if they'll need to try to pick up a game at the last minute, Port Washington in Section 8 is trying to fill several open dates.

   After being outscored 291-51 and losing six players to concussions last season, Port Washington is playing an independent varsity schedule this fall to avoid a fresh dose of Conference 1 mismatches on top of a 2-21 record since 2013.

   Despite a healthy BEDS figure of 1,218, the school has been fielding fewer than 30 varsity players in recent seasons, hindered by the lack of a youth program in town.

   With that as the backdrop, AD Stephanie Joannon has lined up five games but is trying to fill open dates the last three weekends in October. Making it more challenging, she hopes to add two home games in order to accommodate homecoming and another school event.

   "We need to play teams that are more like us competitively," she said. "Again, not about the wins and losses, but more about having a chance in a game."

   ADs seeking a game can email her at sjoannon@portnet.org.