Laughter, tears and memories highlight Mid Mon Valley All Sports Hall of Fame ceremony
Lanny Frattare, former Pirates announcer, was the toastmaster during the 24th annual Mid Mon Valley All Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony Friday in Monessen.
Holly Tonini
Don Bartolomucci, former athlete and 37-year coach at Beth-Center and Brownsville, gives his acceptance speech after being inducted to the Mid Mon Valley All Sports Hall of Fame during the 24th annual ceremony Friday night in Monessen.
Phil Hughes, Charleroi High School athlete alumnus, gives his acceptance speech after being inducted to the Mid Mon Valley All Sports Hall of Fame during the 24th annual ceremony Friday night in Monessen.
Scott Nedrow, former Ringgold High School basketball player, gives his acceptance speech after being inducted to the Mid Mon Valley All Sports Hall of Fame during the 24th annual ceremony Friday night in Monessen.
Holly Tonini
The Mid Mon Valley All Sports Hall of Fame 2017 inductees from left are Joe Salvino, Scott Nedrow, Daryle Ruby, Joe Margoneri, Phil Hughes and Don Bartolomucci.
The Mid Mon Valley All Sports Hall of Fame held its 24th annual induction ceremony Friday night at the sold-out St. Spyridon Hellenic Center in Monessen, and it featured plenty of laughter, tears and memories.
Former Pirates announcer Lanny Frattare was the toastmaster, and he kept the crowd laughing throughout.
The first inductee honored was Don Bartolomucci.
After a stellar playing career at Brownsville and then Waynesburg, Bartolomucci began his coaching career which spanned 37 years and included head coach gigs at Beth-Center and Brownsville.
“This is very humbling and totally unbelievable,” Bartolomucci said before thanking former coaches and players and then talking about his family. “Your greatest accomplishment is your family and my kids and grandkids are successful and that is all I can ask for.
“I am truly, truly honored and my family is my greatest achievement.”
The second inductee was Phil Hughes, and the former Charleroi star was emotional.
“I give all glory to the Lord,” said Hughes, who graduated from Charleroi with school records on 3,217 yards and 257 career points, before crediting his teammates. “It is such a privilege to be among the elite but I didn’t do it by myself.
“I could go on and on but I won’t because I am tearing up.”
Former Major League Baseball pitcher Joe Margoneri was next and he shared how nervous he was.
“I am 87 years old and so nervous right now,” he said before talking about the parallel of his baseball career with being with his wife Helen, whom he has been married to for 63 years and counting
He received roaring laughter when he said, “When I was young and was about to pitch a game, I saw a brunette sitting in the stands and it worked me the hell up.
“My life started with her the same time as baseball, and now we have five kids, 13 grandkids, and 11 great-grandkids.”
Margoneri talked about how, when playing and then when in the military, he would sometimes write Helen a week’s worth of letters and mail one a day because at times he was too busy to write.
“I admitted to her recently that I did that,” he said. “And she told me that she did the exact same thing to me.”
After Frattare went into the crowd to introduce Helen, he asked her what she would have told her husband to say, and she gave the line of the night.
“That I love him and always will.”
After the thunderous applause died down, Frattare introduced former Ringgold and Pitt basketball standout Scott Nedrow.
“What an incredible honor it is to be with all of you tonight,” he said while fighting back his emotions. “This induction is for all of those who taught me, guided me, played with me and especially my family.
“My parents taught my brother, my sister and me to always take pride in your work and finish what you start, and to respect everyone, but fear no one.”
Nedrow talked about his 1973 Ringgold basketball team.
“Our five starters and top sub all received Division I scholarships in either basketball, football or track,” he said. “And four of the starters and Coach (Fran) LaMendola are now in the Hall.”
Former Bellmar High School and Pitt basketball standout Daryle Ruby followed.
“The highlight of my career was playing in Madison Square Garden and Lord knows that (his wife) Nancy has given me direction for 52 years,” he said. “My son always says that when good things happen to you, life is good.
“This is one of those times.”
The last inductee was current Monessen boys basketball coach Joe Salvino, who has led Monessen to six WPIAL championships, two PIAA crowns, 20 section titles and 626 wins.
“I congratulate my fellow inductees, and it is a great honor to be inducted with you,” he said. “This honor is not just about me though, as it is about all of my coaches, all of my players, and anyone who made it possible.”
Salvino credited former Monessen teacher, principal and coach Randy Marino, a current school board director, with getting him into coaching before thanking his kids and finally his wife, Toni Lynn.
“Randy was the one who asked me to coach when he, Phil Pergola and a few others started a middle school league,” Salvino said. “And of course, I save the best for last and that is my wife Toni Lynn.
“I thank her for all she does, her support and her dedication to me coaching.”
MMVASHOF Chairman of the Board Dennis Stitch was awarded the Hall’s Appreciation award, and he made sure the night was about the inductees and not him as he spoke less than 30 seconds.
“I appreciate the award and thank Roberta Bergstedt and Tom Evans for nominating me,” Stitch said.
Scholar-athletes honored during the event included Belle Vernon Area’s Sophia Yantko, Bentworth’s Josh Hughes and Autumn Zgorliski, Brownsville’s Alie Seto, California Area’s Nathaniel Luketich and Jenna Miller, Charleroi Area’s Carter Riskey and Jessica Day, Elizabeth Forward’s Ryan Lee and Madison Ambler, Monessen’s Justice Rice and Tori Cooper, Ringgold’s Dalton Holt and Olivia Warner, and Yough’s Jack Cleary and Olivia Miller.
Also honored were WPIAL champions from the area, including California Area’s Ashley McIntosh, who won gold in the 300 intermediate hurdles, the Monessen basketball team, the California Area baseball team and the Belle Vernon Area softball team.