A lot of baseball talent has come out of local high schools, not just in recent years but stretching back decades.
As part of USA Today Sports’ commemoration of the country’s 250th anniversary, we’re asking readers to vote on who was the best of the best to play local high school baseball.
This poll, which will run until 8 p.m. on May 27 contains only 12 names when it could easily include 20 or more. Readers may also write in their own choices.
Capsule writeups below vary with statistics more easily available for players who played high school ball in more recent years.
The poll is grounded in players’ high school performances. Because of this, some players who went on to big league careers are not on the list. Not on the list is Ken Singleton, the former first round Mets draft choice (No. 3 overall in 1967), Orioles star and former Yankees announcer.
Playing for Mount Vernon, he launched a ball off the clock tower that’s behind the centerfield fence at Mamaroneck. That’s a 450-foot shot and he did this with a wooden bat. But, according to Singleton, who starred in basketball at Mount Vernon (Class of 1965), he didn’t get much playing time on the school baseball team. The three-time MLB all-star, who had more than 2,000 hits in the majors, received an athletic scholarship to Hofstra for basketball and also played baseball there. But he explained he was seen by pro scouts and drafted largely because of his play in a high-level baseball league in the Bronx. Thus, his absence.
Note: If you want to write someone in, please note what school he attended.
The choices
Chris Algozzino, North Rockland
His glory years were largely limited to high school, but Algozzino’s time on the diamond for North Rockland was, indeed, special. The southpaw finished his Red Raiders career a perfect 24-0. As a junior in 1992, he pitched a complete game as North Rockland claimed its first ever state championship in any sport in an 11-3 win over Lockport. The next year, he went 8-0 with an ERA under 1.. Batters hit just .190 off him and he struck out better than one per inning. Algozzino, who also hit .353 that final season, while also playing center field, picked up the win in the state semifinals. The Red Raiders went on to win their second straight state title. Twice named All-State, he was also 1993 NYSPHSAA Baseball Player of the Year and 1993 USA Today New York State High School Baseball Player of the Year.
Robbie Aviles, Suffern
Aviles, who suffered a serious arm injury his senior year at Suffern, was, nevertheless, drafted out of high school in the seventh round by the Cleveland Indians — that’s just how good he’d been. His senior year, the 2010 Suffern grad went 8-0 with an 0.68 ERA. He was Section 1 Pitcher of the Year and was also an All-American. He finished his Suffern career 25-3 with a 1.26 ERA, a perfect game, three other no-hitters and three one-hitters. Oh, and he struck out 275.
Ralph Branca, A.B. Davis High School, Mount Vernon
The high school may no longer exist but Branca’s photo now hangs inside Mount Vernon High School, the school into which A.B. Davis was folded. Stats are sparse on Branca but he pitched for Davis, then only for a year at NYU before making his Major League debut, so his success on the mound for Davis is undeniable. The righty pitched for 12 years in the majors. While his career was largely successful (he made three all-star teams), Branca’s best known for giving up Bobby Thomson’s Shot Heard ‘Round the World National League Pennant-winning home run in 1951.
Will Cunnane, Clarkstown North
Will Cunnane’s senior year of baseball in 1992 was a special one. The righty went 6-2 with a microscopic 0.38 ERA on the hill for Rams. But his entire time at North was pretty special. He graduated with school records in ERA (1.36), shutouts (five) and strikeouts (195) Undrafted, he was signed by the Florida Marlins as a free agent a couple of months after he graduated. He passed up an offer from NCAA baseball power Clemson. Cunnane went on to play for four Major League teams and had an eight-year MLB career.
Henry Davis, Fox Lane
Now, 26, the catcher was the first player taken in the 2021 MLB draft. He’d played for three years for the University of Louisville and, before that, was a standout at Fox Lane. The 2018 Fox Lane graduate was Section 1 Player of the Year as a junior and as a senior.. His senior year he hit .441 with seven homers, 32 RBI and 27 runs scored. He was first-team All-State both years.
Dave Fleming, Mahopac
The lefty hurler was regarded as a star even when pitching in local youth tournaments. He dominated on the mound at Mahopac and then at the University of Georgia before being selected by the Seattle Mariners in the third round of the 1990 MLB draft. As a senior in high school, Fleming was second-team ABCA/Rawlings High School All-American. His MLB career was little more than four seasons long, in part due to injuries. But he was third in 1992 in the Rookie of the Year voting. He won 17 games that season.
George Kirby, Rye
The 28-year-old lanky righty is in his sixth season in the big leagues and is a starting pitcher for the Seattle Mariners, who drafted him 20th overall in 2019 out of Elon University. His selection was no surprise. The Mets had drafted him out of Rye but Kirby, who didn’t lose a game from his sophomore through senior seasons as a Garnet, opted to play in college. He was named All-State three times in high school — twice first team. He was 7-0 as a junior and 6-0 as a senior. His senior year, he struck out 73 in just 43.1 innings and his ERA was 0.32.
Rick O’Keeffe, Yorktown
O’Keeffe owns a true might-have-been story with injuries derailing a very promising pro career, But people in Yorktown and neighboring towns still remember the big fireballer for his high school feats. O’Keefe was a 6-foot-6 lefty with a blazing fastball — throwing harder as a Yorktown senior in 1975 than many Major Leaguers were throwing. If he were on the mound for the Huskers, the stands were sure to include multiple MLB team scouts. He had a 27-7 record for the Huskers that included five no-hitters — one being a perfect game. Three of those no-hitters were in his senior season of 1975, when he struck out more than half the batters he faced and had an ERA of 0.40. He also hit. .426 with five home runs. Drafted straight out of high school, he was the 1975 No. 5 overall pick, going to the Milwaukee Brewers.
Sammy Stafura, Walter Panas
The 2023 lohud Westchester/Putnam Baseball Player of the Year was also New York Gatorade Player of the Year that season, which was his last at Panas. The Panther shortstop hit .516 in 2023 with 14 doubles, four triples, 11 home runs, 38 RBI and 50 runs scored. Besides power, he was also recognized for his speed and exceptional glove. Instead of going to Clemson out of high school, he signed with the Cincinnati Reds, who drafted him in the second round. The 21-year-old is currently playing High-A ball in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization.
B.J. Surhoff, Rye
If things had played out a little differently, Surhoff might have been a star for the Yankees. Surhoff, whose left-handed swing probably would have garnered him many more home runs than the 188 he totaled in the Majors had he played in the Bronx, was drafted by the Yankees in the the fifth round in 1982. The was after the Rye catcher hit .520 and was named All-State after receiving the same honor in football and basketball. But Surhoff decided to go to the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill for baseball, where he was All-ACC for three years and All-American for two. The Milwaukee Brewers drafted him with MLB’s first overall pick in 1985. Surhoff enjoyed a 19-year MLB career, during which while best known behind the plate, he also played outfield and first base. He finished with more than 2,300 hits.
Joey Vetrano, Lakeland
The 2019 New York Gatorade Player of the Year, who missed playing his senior year of high school due to the COVID-19 shutdown, was named Journal News/lohud Westchester/Putnam Player of the Year as both a sophomore and junior and might have done the unthinkable and three-peated if not for the shutdown. As a sophomore, he opened eyes both on the mound and at the plate. Pitching and playing first, the lefty was 9-0 on the mound with a 1.48 ERA and 88 strikeouts in 66 innings. He also hit 462 with nine doubles, nine home runs, 22 RBI and 29 runs scored. As a junior , Vetrano threw a no-hitter and went 9-2 with an 0.74 ERA and 93 strikeouts in 66.2 innings. He batted .442 with eight doubles, five triples, 11 homers, 34 RBI and 42 runs scored. Vetrano went on to Boston College, where he starred at first base and was taken by the LA Dodgers in the fifth round of the 2023 MLB draft. He currently plays with the Dodgers Double A Tulsa Drillers.
Walt Weiss, Suffern
The current Atlanta Braves manager and holder of a World Series ring from his playing time with the Oakland A’s, starred at shortstop for the Suffern Mounties. In honor of his contributions to that program and in honor of what he did post-high school in baseball, Suffern’s baseball field bears his name. Weiss, who was Rockland Player of the Year in 1982, was drafted out of high school in the 10th round by Baltimore that year but instead decided to go the the University of North Carolina. After a strong, three-year career there, he was again drafted, this time in the first round by the Oakland A’s. He was 1989 AL Rookie of the year and played for 14 seasons, winning the World Series with Oakland in 1989.
Nancy Haggerty covers sports for The Journal News/lohud.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Who’s the best all-time lohud baseball player? Poll presented by White Plains Hospital
Reporting by Nancy Haggerty, Rockland/Westchester Journal News / Rockland/Westchester Journal News
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