New Miss Buck Looks to be Strong Role Model

By Steve Svetovich

She is humble, kind, wholesome, sweet and caring. She is Dunmore High School senior Angelica Plappert—Dunmore High School’s new Miss Buck for the  2015-2016 school year.

Daughter of Robert and Victoria Plappert, Dunmore, Angelica said she felt “relieved, happy and excited” when learning she was chosen to be Miss Buck on April 2, 2015 and said that she will do her very best to represent Dunmore High School.

“This is very rewarding,” Angelica said. “As Miss Buck, I want to represent Dunmore High School very well and hopefully have the younger students look up to me as a role model. I hope we have a great year with all sports, cheerleading, academics and everything else.”

Soft spoken and polite, Angelica will be in her fourth year as a basketball cheerleader. She also plays varsity soccer and is a member of SADD and TACT clubs. Her best academic subject is English.

The DHS basketball cheerleading coach is Maura Dempsey. “She always tells us to do our best and try to give a good performance.”

Angelica said her parents taught her a lot over the years. “They teach me to never give up. They tell me to keep pushing and do my best,” she said. “My parents were very happy for me and proud when they found out I was Miss Buck. They felt I did my best and it worked out for me.”

Angelica’s dad is president of the Dunmore Sherwood Park Youth Association. He was recently a chairperson for the third annual Dunmore Summer Festival at Sherwood Park. And no doubt, Angelica’s parents are very proud of her accomplishments.

Energetic and positive, Angelica set a goal to become Miss Buck and did it.

She talked about her future goals beyond high school. “I want to go to college in the medical field. I am not sure where I will go yet, but I want to help sick people. It would be a good feeling helping them to get better.”

Angelica has a strong work ethic and does volunteer work in her spare time..The Dunmore senior worked this past summer as a lifeguard at Montage Mountain. Angelica also volunteers at the Saint Joseph’s Day Care Center in Dunmore.

The new Miss Buck said she loves country music and would like to see Luke Bryan in concert. Her hobbies include playing sports, cheerleading, working and friends. Angelica is really looking forward to her senior year at Dunmore.

“Dunmore has been a great experience for me. I want to make the most of every single moment and have a lot of fun in my senior year,” said Angelica. “I really look forward to representing Dunmore as Miss Buck. It’s going to be a great year at Dunmore High School.”

RailRiders Outfielder Moving Up Ranks

By Steve Svetovich

judge

Photo credit: http://www.milb.com/

Scranton Wilkes-Barre RailRiders outfielder Aaron Judge is one of several players who parent club’s general manager Brian Cashman does not show interest in trading.

Youth is becoming the name of the game for the New York Yankees, and at six foot seven inches tall, 275-pound Judge is a big part of it. At age 23, he is quickly moving up the ladder and continues to show progress in his game.

A 3-for-3 game in which he singled, doubled and homered Saturday, Aug. 22 in a 11-5 win over Rochester lifted his batting average to .251. He has eight homers, 16 doubles, 26 RBIs, 23 walks and six stolen bases in 45 games and 171 at bats for the RailRiders. He hit a go-ahead homer in a 2-1 win over Lehigh Valley the previous Wednesday. He also had his first 4-hit game for the RailRiders of the Class AAA International League  recently.

And all this after hitting .284 with 12 homers, 16 doubles and 44 RBIs in 63 games for the Trenton Thunder in the Class AA Eastern League earlier this year. He also had a .350 on base percentage and .516 slugging percentage for Trenton. He was promoted to the RailRiders in June.

Judge leads all Yankees minor leaguers with 20 homers at press time. He has 70 RBIs and 32 doubles in 108 minor league games this season at press time.

Born April 26, 1992 in Linden, California, he was adopted at one-day old by Wayne and Patty Judge, both teachers. Judge was a three-sport star athlete at Linden High School. He was recruited to play football, but chose baseball.

The towering right handed hitter was selected in the 31st round of the 2010 MLB draft, but decided to enroll at Fresno State. He played baseball three years for the Bulldogs in the Mountain West Conference. Louisville Slugger named him Freshman All-American . He was also the winner of the 2012 TD America Home Run Derby. Judge led the Bulldogs in homers, doubles and RBIs and was named All-Mountain West Conference in all three years playing for the Bulldogs.

The Yankees drafted Judge in the first round and 72nd overall in the 2013 MLB draft. He signed with the Yankees for a $1.8 million signing bonus. But soon after, Judge got a tough break. He tore his quadriceps femoris muscle while participating in a base running drill and missed the entire 2013 season.

He came back strong and made his professional debut with the Charleston RiverDogs in the Class A South Atlantic League in 2014. He hit .333 with a .428 on base percentage, .530 slugging percentage, nine homers and 45 RBIs in 65 games. He was then promoted to the Tampa Yankees in the Class A Advanced Florida State League where he hit .283, with a .411 on base percentage, eight homers and 33 RBIs in 66 games.

He began this season with the Trenton Thunder in the Class AA Eastern League. He was chosen to represent the Yankees in the 2015 All-Star Futures Game, and then came the promotion to the RailRiders three months ago.

The sprawling outfielder could be the New York Yankees starting right fielder in 2017. Current Yankees starting  right fielder Carlos Beltran, with 385 career home runs, a fabulous career and hitting .271 this season, has one year left on his current contract and is 38.

So don’t be surprised to see Aaron Judge roaming around in right field in 2017 on the hallowed grounds of Yankee Stadium. That is as long as the current progress continues and Cashman continues to value him.

Aaron Judge. Remember the name.

UNICO Inducts New Members

Dunmore’s Keystone Chapter UNICO National inducted three members at their August Picnic Meeting at McDade Park. Topics for the evening were the Columbus Day Bus trip to see the NYC Columbus Day Parade; the wine social at Maiolatesi Wine Cellars; and the Applebee’s Flapjack Breakfast benefitting the Keystone Warriors on Sept. 12.  

Chapter Inductions 8-20-15

Pictured from left are Mark McDade, PA II District Governor and Inducting Officer; Cathy Bianchi, Membership Director; new inductees Maria Zichettella, Beverly Shea and Jennifer Mecca; and John Mecca, Chapter President.