By Steve Svetovich
Anthony Donato is among a group of 10 individuals being inducted to the Northeastern chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame.
The elite 10 will be inducted during the 33rd annual Induction Ceremonial Sunday, Oct. 4, at 5 p.m. in the DeNaples Center at the University of Scranton. Donato is being inducted as a football and track coach.
At Dunmore High School, Donato was a UPI All-State wide-receiver in 1971. He was a Scranton Times All-Regional and All-Scholastic wide receiver. He was the Scranton Times athlete of the week for track and was the conference scoring champion in 1972. He earned a PA Conference championship at East Stroudsburg and was inducted into the East Stroudsburg University Hall of Fame in 2014.
He spent five years as an assistant football coach at Dunmore High School and 13 years at North Pocono High School. He led Abington Heights to its first Big 11 football title during his two years there as head coach. In his six years at North Pocono, he won both the Lackawanna League and Eastern Conference football titles.
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The other inductees include Ed Bugno, James Burock, Wayne Lydon, Heather Gallagher Raley, Kathleen Klein Prindle, Cal Urso, Greg Legg and Bob Gilbride. Scranton Times sports writer Marty Myers will receive the Service Award.
Ed Bugno is being inducted for football. The West Scranton graduate received the James “Hookey” Reap award twice. He was an All-Scholastic wide receiver in 1975 and was the first receiver in NEPA to be named first-team All-State receiver by the UPI and AP in 1975. Bungo was first-team All-Scholastic in football, baseball and basketball. He was PSAC All-Conference second-team in 1976 and 1977 and first-team in 1978 and 1979 as a wide receiver at Bloomsburg.
James Burock is going in for baseball. He was undefeated for three years with 21-0 record as a pitcher for Valley View High School. He was first-team All-State and All-Conference and Regional Player of the Year in 2000 and All Regional in 2000 and 2001. Burock was a Heisman finalist and four-year starter at Old Dominion where he was All-Conference 2002-05. He was ESPN Academic All-American, All-State Academic and was drafted by both the Cleveland Indians and Colorado Rockies.
Cal Urso is receiving the honor for his performance as a baseball coach. He played basketball for Throop High School where he was the Northern Division leading scorer in 1969. He was an All-Regional selection. Urso was baseball coach for 32 years at Mid Valley High a School where he recorded 321 wins and won three Lackawanna League titles, 10 Northern Division titles and three District 2 AA baseball titles.
Wayne Lydon is being recognized for his performance as a baseball, track and football star. He is one of the fastest athletes to ever come out of this area. He was All-State and All Regional and a defensive player of the year as a defensive back for Valley View High School in 1998. He was a district track winner in the 100 and 200 meters and state qualifier in the 200 meters. Lydon was drafted by the New York Mets in the ninth round in 1999. He made five all-star teams from A to AAA ball to the Independent League. He batted .263 and stole 595 bases in his 13-year minor league career. He was a part of three league title teams in the minors for the Mets. He was on the Mets 40-man roster two years and was called up once. His time with the Mets lasted one day as he was sent down when Cliff Floyd came off the disabled list. He stole 87 bases in 2002. That was one short of leading the entire minor leagues. Lydon was named Baseball America’s best base runner three times.
Greg Legg is going in for baseball. Legg played six years with the Scranton Wilkes-Barre Red Barons. He is the only player to have his number retired. He played parts of two seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies compiling a .409 batting average during his short stays. He has been in the Phillies organization for 33 years, 13 as a player and 20 as a coach or manager. Legg has coached or managed at Lakewood, Reading and Allentown and currently manages the Clearwater Threshers. He holds a fundraising dinner each year in NEPA to raise scholarship funds for local athletes.
Heather Gallagher Raley earned her spot in the Hall of Fame for swimming. She was a record holder in seven of 10 events. She was a two-time district champion in the 100-meter freestyle and in 1999 won the District 2 title in the 100-meter butterfly. She earned a spot the PIAA states in 1998 and 1999. At Gettysburg, she was an All-American in 2001 and 2002. She holds the record in the 100 free and 400-meter medley relay and was captain as a senior. Raley was twice Academic All-American, six times Conference Centennial Academic Honor Roll and eight times Conference Centennial All-American selection.
Kathleen Klein Prindle will enter the hall as a coach and swimmer. She was a four-year letterman at Scranton Prep and was inspired by her grandmother Julie Holleran Igoe, a 1983 Hall inductee. She trained elite swimmers in 17 countries for the Olympic Games, USA Senior/Junior Nationals, Commonwealth Games and multiple International championships. She was three times a US Olympics Trials coach preparing eight athletes in 2008 Beijing games resulting in two Olympic winners. Prindle founded Learn-to-Swim programs in NEPA, Florida and New Jersey and made 11 straight state championship appearances as a South Florida high school swimming coach.
The late Bob Gilbride is being honored as a coach. He won 168 games, including five division titles and one Diocesan title, as basketball coach at Holy Rosary High School. He was five Lackawanna League Southern Division titles and 14 Lackawanna League divisional titles as basketball coach at Scranton Central High School where he compiled 481 wins. Gilbride won five Lackawanna League titles, nine Southern Division titles, 11 Class AA titles and two district titles as the baseball coach at Scranton Central. He won titles in parts of four decades from the 60’s through the 90’s.
Finally, Marty Myers spent 10 years as a sports reporter and editor for the Wayne Independent in Honesdale. He has been a sports reporter for the Scranton Times for over 20 years. He was inducted into the Wayne County Sports Hall of Fame in 2010. He received the PIAA District 2 McGladric Award for contributions to high school sports through journalism.
Tickets for the event are $40. Contact Bob Walsh at (570) 346-2228, Jerry Valonis at (570) 498-9461, or Alice Foley at (570) 346-5796. For advertisements, contact Tom Dougherty (570) 346-9991.