Tuesday, June 5, 2018: Grezinsky returning to girls basketball sideline

   Leading off today: Retirement is overrated, which just so happens to be a word never associated with girls basketball teams Ed Grezinsky previously coached.

   Grezinsky stepped down in 2014 after bagging his 15th straight PSAL championship at Murry Bergtraum and had steered clear of the sport since.

   That changed in a big way Monday with the announcement that Grezinsky will take the helm at Archbishop Molloy in the CHSAA's incredibly competitive Brooklyn-Queens league. The news broke when he represented Molloy at the CHSAA girls basketball scheduling meeting.

   "I enjoyed retirement and I like what I do but I saw the job was available and it seemed interesting," Grezinsky told NYCHoops.net. "The school is a very good school academically and it just seemed interesting to me."

   Grezinsky will be replacing Scott Lagas, who left the Stanners after last season to become head coach at Division II Mercy College. The vacancy attracted more than just casual interest, though Molloy AD Mike McCleary admitted to being surprised when Grezinsky reached out to inquire.

   "Ed applied for the job and I have to say I was a little surprised that he was interested, but we were certainly happy that he was," McCleary said.

    • Former Bishop Ludden girls basketball star Carm Petrera has been hired to coach the Gaelic Knights next season, AD Gallagher Driscoll announced. She replaces Nicole McManus, who left the position in the spring after a falling out with the school's administration.

   "It's nice to go home," said Petrera, who previously assisted Sue Ludwig at Westhill and Eric Smith at Cicero-North Syracuse. "It's a pretty unique way to start your career. When you can go home it's kind of a no-brainer."

   Petrera graduated as the school's all-time leading scorer in 1996 with 1,434 career points (a mark broken by current senior Danielle Rauch) and won four sectional titles.

   The comeback kid: Adam Xiao lost on the third playoff hole a year ago in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association boys golf championship and seemingly shot himself out of contention Sunday with an opening-round 76 at Cornell's Robert Trent Jones Golf Course in Ithaca.

   He teed off on Monday six strokes off the lead and putted out at the end of his round as the state champion.

ADVERTISEMENT

   The Manhasset junior shot a 4-under-par 67 to finish at 1-over 143 and become the first player from Long Island to win since Sayville's Jesse Fitzgerald in 1996.

   "When I came back up this year, it still stung, not being able to have won it last year," Xiao said. "To gain eight strokes on the leader to finish the job this time feels really good."

   He won by two strokes over first-round leader Matt Ferrari of Croton-Harmon, who closed with a 75. McQuaid's Jack Bailey was another shot back to finish third.

   "I made some mechanical adjustments and that really helped," Xiao said. "I came in knowing anything can happen at Cornell's course, so I had to try something new."

   Xiao, who won his third consecutive Section 8 title last

NYSPHSAA boys lacrosse brackets NYSPHSAA girls lacrosse brackets NYSPHSAA baseball brackets NYSPHSAA softball brackets Past years' brackets

month, opened his day with a birdie in the third-to-last group and kept rolling from there. "I hit a great tee shot to start the day and that got me going," he said.

   Ferrari began his second round three shots ahead of the field. He fell behind for the first time with a bogey at No. 10 but regained the lead with a 20-foot birdie putt at No. 12.

   "That putt kind of calmed me down and I thought it gave me a cushion," Ferrari said. "I didn't know Adam would get to 4-under par. I was shocked. Then I knew I had to birdie the last two but it didn't work out."

   The day's top six finishers earned spots in the Federation tournament on the Bethpage Black Course next Sunday.

   MLB makes Torres a 'tweener: Beacon right-hander Lenny Torres Jr. was selected by the Cleveland Indians in the 41st slot of the Major League Baseball draft on Monday.

   Torres was taken in the Competitive Balance Round, a series of compensatory picks between the first and second rounds of the three-day draft.

   Torres, who struck out 85 batters in 41 innings with a 0.68 ERA this spring, committed to St. John's University but said that he plans to sign with the Indians and begin his pro career. Under MLB guidelines, he is in line for a signing bonus of about $1.7 million.

   LeMoyne College junior right-hander and New Rochelle native Josiah Gray was taken by the Cincinnati Reds in the second round with the 72nd pick.

   The draft continues Tuesday with rounds 3-10. The final 30 rounds will be conducted Wednesday.

   Phippen repeats: Ichabod Crane pitcher Calista Phippen has repeated as Gatorade's New York player of the year in softball.

   She is the first back-to-back recipient in the sport since Bay Shore pitcher and shortstop Lauren Bettinelli in 2000 and '01.

   The senior right-hander, who has signed with Marist College, will lead her team into the NYSPHSAA Class B semifinals this weekend. At the time of her selection late last week, Phippen owned an 18-1 record with a 0.06 ERA to go with a .500 batting average and 17 runs batted in through 19 games. She fanned 299 batters and walked 10 in 122 innings.

   For her career, she has 1,160 strikeouts.