WALK-OFF WIN ‼️ Will Rudolph singles to left, scoring Peter Link for the walk-off win #WeAreSHU ⚾️

In all my years of broadcasting, I'd never gotten emotional on air until tonight. It was impossible to hold back the tears. Jack Piccione of Tappan Zee lost his father suddenly last Sept. 1. Matthew Piccione died of a heart attack minutes after playing pickleball with friends. He was 51. Over the last three years, I got to know Matthew Piccione fairly well. One day back in 2023, he asked coach George Gaine for my number so he could call me just to say thank you for calling out Jack's contributions during Tappan Zee's championship run. Jack was a role player who averaged maybe 5 points a game as a freshman. But he started and never came off the court. "I know he doesn't score a lot of points," Matthew Piccione said. "But you are one of the only people who appreciates what he does for the team." Matthew Piccione kept a very low profile at games and reinforced in his son to be the emodiment of all the things that make Tappan Zee basketball different than any other program in the state. Play unselfish. Defend. Be coachable. Defend. Draw charges. Pass. Sacrifice for your teammates. And, of course, defend some more. Nobody in the history of Tappan Zee basketball since I have been covering has ever played that role better than Jack Piccione. He's the best best defensive player in the program and is on an elite level of players I've been around in Section 1. When Matthew died in September, I worried about Jack. I wondered what his senior season might be like. The person most responsible for instilling and reinforcing the values that made Jack great was now tragically gone. Tonight, Jack Piccione scored 5 points in the Section 1 Championship game. FIVE. Yet not only did his team because of his performance, I had the honor of handing him the MVP Trophy to prove it. In the final 90 seconds of the game, I shared the story of Matthew Piccione and his passing. You will hear the emotion in my voice. It's genuine, not because of any relationship I had with him. You just can't be a sports parent and not relate to loving your child and always wanting what's best for them. Because here's what I am going to tell you. And I really want all parents to read this and remember it: Your kids' youth - not just athletics, but all of it - is short and it's precious. You don't get this time back when it's over. It goes way too quick. And some don't even get to see it to the end. You have a choice: You can spend this period of their lives stressing about how many points they score, what awards or accolades they receive, begging people to vote in the online poll for Player of the Week, emailing the coach and complaining about playing time or lamenting the number of shots they get in a game. Go ahead. You can make all of that important for yourself and your child. Trust me, you won't be alone in doing so. Or you can do what Matthew Piccione did. Sit in the stands and enjoy watching your children compete. Teach them that it's team above all else, stress what it means to sacrifice and ensure them that, when you do those things and have success, the feeling of hanging a banner will far exceed any of the personal accolades think are important. And, sadly, God might choose that you won't be around to see it all anyway. Matthew didn't get to give his son a hug after he won tonight. And Jack didn't get to see the pride in his father's face. Think about that. If you are a parent, try to put your child in Jack's shoes. If God forbid your child was confronted with the same tragedy, you'd want them looking back on this sacred period of their lives the way Jack will forever recall them with his dad. Tonight was complete validation for Jack Piccione and all of the things his father always told him. Jack scored 5 points and won the MVP on his way to becoming the most decorated basketball player in Tappan Zee history. Nobody has ever won more in a TZ uniform than the most unselfish player they've ever had. He wouldn't trade his career with anyone, either. Take a moment to listen to myself and Pleasantville coach Nick Bonura from tonight's @SportsEngine broadcast of @TZeeAthletics @TZhoops

I am not ashamed of my journey. My life will be a testimony. But if I could offer a word of advice to any freshman, sophomore or junior athlete in high school it would be to just listen bro. All them adults in your life not just talking to talk. They been here longer. They done bumped they head already. They trying to save you from doing the same thing. Do not make the mistake of thinking your talent alone is enough. It’s not. Talent open doors. Character and grades keep you there. And if you already messed up, if your GPA not where it should be, if your name been in rooms for the wrong reasons… don’t quit. Keep digging. You can climb out the hole the same way you dug it. Class of 29, 28 and 27 hear me. Take your grades serious.
Choose who you hang around wisely.
Protect your name. Word spreads fast if you a crash out.
Respect authority. Nobody riding for you like your parents and coaches.
Work hard when nobody clapping. Do not wait until senior year to lock in. That GPA do not lie. I’m still figuring it out myself. I’m struggling but I know God got me. Be intentional.
Lock in early. Pray. Show up ready to work. I’m learning the hard way that my future is being built in the small decisions I make today. Start now.

Trevor Dimmie was a legendary running back for Sleepy Hollow in the 1990s. Never feel like he gets his due. And I’m not just saying that because we’ve become friends. Dimmie just played at the wrong time with Harrison and Sammy Maldonado running the section. Always overshadowed, even until now, despite the yards and jaw-dropping highlights. Thanks to tremendous school and community pride, it has killed Dimmie to see the Sleepy football program struggle for most of the last two decades. A moment like tonight never seemed realistic. Now he’s a coach for his alma mater - and he’s with his nephew is Brayden Richardson, who broke one of Sammy’s seemingly untouchable records. So the tears streaming down Dimmie’s face tonight wasn’t about the win. It was a football lifetime in the making. Dimmie and Sleepy Hollow are going to the Dome.

Sleepy Hollow and Glens Falls on the field ready for the Class B State Semifinal. @sleepy_football coach Anthony Giuliano talking with his brother, @FoxLaneFB Andrew in pregame.

Congratulations to Logan Mammola and Jackson Carrol. Named to 2025 4th Team and 5th Team All NY State! Go Foxes!🦊 @foxlanebaseball @foxlanefanzone @BCSDNOTES @FoxLaneFB

Final: Fox Lane wins the Section 1 Class AA Baseball Title. @foxlanebaseball beats Mahopac 4-2 in the winner-take-all final at Purchase College. First title for Fox Lane since 2006 Jackson Carroll with a CG win with 6Ks. PJ Stonsby a two-run double. Andrew Diaz homered.