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AN ANTON MEDIA GROUP SPECIAL
ANTON SPORTS • SEPTEMBER 25 - OCTOBER 1, 2019
SEPTEMBER 25 - OCTOBER 1, 2019
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Mets Pitcher Steven Matz Paralympian Michael Brannigan Giants Linebacker Jake Carlock
(Photos courtesy of the New York Mets)
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SEPTEMBER 25 - OCTOBER 1, 2019 • ANTON SPORTS
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ANTON SPORTS • SEPTEMBER 25 - OCTOBER 1, 2019
Marvelous Mr. Matz
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SPORTS
Mets southpaw reflects on first 100 MLB starts
BY JOSEPH WOLKIN
jwolkin@antonmediagroup.com
W
hen Steven Matz was an 8-year-old, he already knew who his Suffolk County baseball rival was: Marcus Stroman. The future MLB starters squared off in a little league battle, with Matz taking the mound. “I remember he was the big name in our league,” Matz, who is wrapping up his fifth year as a starting pitcher for the New York Mets, said. “We were playing in the 9-year-old division, and we had to play him. I was pitching against him and he hit a grand slam off me. He says he doesn’t remember, but I sure do. He was the big dog back then.” Stroman went to Patchogue-Medford High School, while Matz was the star of Ward Melville High School’s baseball squad. However, the dynamic duo played with the Paveco Storm travel team throughout their middle and high school years. Until early August, they had gone several years without playing on the same team. But that changed when the New York Mets made a deal with the Toronto Blue Jays to acquire Stroman, reuniting the Long Islanders at last. “To be reunited with him at this level of the game is not only cool, but it’s rare,” Matz said. The two battled each other in an unforgettable 2009 Suffolk League duel, with Matz striking out 12 batters in a one-hitter, while his future Mets teammate had 14 K’s in a three-hitter. Matz’s Ward Melville team won, 1-0. Now, Matz just made his 100th MLB start, with Stroman nearing No. 150. Though Matz and his wife Taylor no longer reside on Long Island during the offseason, the Stony Brook-born pitcher is always thinking of the impact he can make on New York. “I’m pretty happy with where I’m at,” Matz said. “I’m doing different stuff every day to make myself better. As far as doing stuff differently, I need to keep improving. My main goal is to get better every time I go out there.” Away from the field, Matz spends his time working on his charity, Tru 32, which he created in 2016. Inspired
(Photos courtesy of the New York Mets)
by the Mets’ 2015 playoff run, winning the National League pennant race to play in the World Series, Matz knew it was time to give back. “My agent sat me down and we wanted to get some initiatives going, specifically, community outreach,” Matz explained. “I was talking to him and he saw my heart is with first responders. He said, ‘Let’s get this thing started.’” So as Matz began his first full MLB season, the Tru 32 program began. Thirty-two first responders head to Citi Field for a Mets game, and they have a chance to not only get an autograph from their local hero, but chat with him as well. “The biggest thing is just showing my excitement, appreciation and honor towards them and what they do,” he said. “They are the true heroes of our community. It’s very surreal that they would be excited to want to see me.” When deciding how he could give back to the community, Matz knew exactly what to do. He was just 10 years old when the terror attacks of 9/11 occurred. As Matz worked his way to the top level of baseball, he quickly grasped how important the sport is to New York’s bravest. “It was seeing what happened, seeing what those guys had to do, seeing what they sacrificed and what their families had to sacrifice as special people,” Matz said of the years after 9/11. This year, Matz had the honor of a lifetime. He was the man to step onto the mound on Sept. 11. Uniform No. 32 would be pitching in front of an emotional crowd. During the pregame ceremonies, Matz admittedly had some jitters, which is rare for someone in his fifth year of professional baseball. But this was a special evening, one he will never forget. “It was difficult as far as emotions while pitching,” Matz said. “I have to try to keep those things separate. It’s such a special day in New York. After that first inning, I definitely calmed down a bit.” And Matz certainly calmed down, pitching a gem against the Arizona Diamondbacks. The southpaw threw six shutout innings, including seven strikeouts, one of his best outings of the year.
see MATZ on page 11B
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SPORTS
Road To The Squad
Local prospect goes from pursuing teaching to practicing weekly with the New York Giants BY CHRISTOPHER BIRSNER cbirsner@antonmediagroup.com
J
ake Carlock remembers watching his older brother playing football back when he was just a preschooler. It was the moment that football permanently entered his life. “I got started playing it with all my best friends growing up,” said Carlock, a Babylon native. “We grew up in a football town, so we wanted to win the town a few games and we tried it out. The community is real tight.” Carlock graduated high school with slightly more than 100 kids in his class. It was such a tight knit community that it felt like the whole town would come to games. And who wouldn’t when your team has a couple of players bound for Division I colleges? “[The community] is real supportive,” said Carlock. “Every time I go home, I say hi to people and everyone
reaches out to me. The principal, the Carlock had a phenomenal 2018 school’s athletic director, all of those at LIU, racking up 67 total tackles, guys I’m close with.” 11 pass breakups and three fumble Carlock went on to play at Stony recoveries as the team’s premiere Brook at the Football Championship defensive back. He was named Subdivision (FCS) level before Northeast-10 (NE10) transferring to LIU Post, which Conference Defensive Player played Division II football. of the Year and garnered first However, Carlock didn’t have team All-NE10 honors. He his love for football like he helped lead the team to a used to. NE10 championship and “I couldn’t really find my he began to catch the eye motive at Stony Brook,” said of scouts at the pro level. Carlock. “I decided to pursue “I kind of knew something education at LIU. I put my was going to happen after I dream of going to the NFL graduated,” said Carlock. in the rearview mirror “I met with a bunch to focus on of teams school. But before the the season draft. I took over was in and I did talks well.” with Jake Carlock is from Babylon High School and LIU Post. He is now a practice squad member for the New York Giants. multiple (Photo by Matthew Swensen/New York Giants)
teams to join them. I wasn’t too positive, but I had a good feeling.” On the final day of the 2019 NFL Draft in April, during the seventh and final round, Carlock was surrounded by family when he got a call from the New York Giants. They offered him a roster spot. “That was a really cool moment for me and my family,” said Carlock. Just like the adjustments he has made his entire career, Carlock once again had to deal with the speed change at the professional level. However, he feels like he dealt with that well, even in a transition from defensive back to linebacker. “I thought it was more fun than anything,” said Carlock. “But it is hard work. Camp is no joke. You got to get in here and get ready to work. You have to bring it every day because someone is going to try to take your job. It has been a cool experience for
see CARLOCK on page 12B
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ANTON SPORTS • SEPTEMBER 25 - OCTOBER 1, 2019
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SEPTEMBER 25 - OCTOBER 1, 2019 • ANTON SPORTS
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10B SEPTEMBER 25 - OCTOBER 1, 2019 • CAMPS & SCHOOLS
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HALL OF FAME
Joe Lapchick Character Award Winners
BY MARCO SCHADEN mschaden@antonmediagroup.com
T
he Joe Lapchick Character Award Foundation had its annual luncheon on Sept. 20 at the Yale Club in New York City. They presented three new honorees as the winners of this year’s Character Award; broadcaster Verne Lundquist, University of Connecticut Women’s Basketball Associate Head Coach Chris Dailey and former Georgia Tech Men’s Basketball Head Coach Bobby Cremins. Founded in 2008, the Character Award is given to those in the college basketball realm who demonstrate honorable character, like former St. John’s and New York Knicks Head Coach Joe Lapchick. Lapchick was the premier center of his time in the 1920s and 30s, playing for the Original Celtics in New York City. After his playing career, he coached St. John’s from 193647 and 1956-65, winning Coach of the Year twice and the NIT four times, then considered to be the national championship unlike in present day. Between his two stints at St. John’s came his eight consecutive winning seasons with the New York Knicks where he took them to the NBA Finals three straight years finished with a 326-247 record. He also signed Nathaniel “Sweetwater” Clifton to the Knicks, one of the first African-American players in the NBA. “[The players] all revered him, all respected him,” St. John’s alum Kevin Reed, who helped in putting a stature of Lapchick in front of Carnesecca Arena, said. “His reputation in New York, he was the dean of college coaches. Incredibly well-respected
Joe Lapchick was the premier center of his era before becoming head coach of St. John’s and the New York Knicks.
From left: Chairman Jim McTighe, Chris Dailey and Geno Auriemma
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From left: Chairmen Jim McTighe, Bobby Cremins and John Roche
From left: Verne Lundquist, Chairmen Jim McTighe and Bill Raftery (Photos by Mary McTighe) and they all looked up to him.” Lundquist, a veteran broadcaster of golf, college basketball and football, was the first to receive his award. He was introduced by his friend and broadcast partner Bill Raftery. “Verne has accomplished so much,” Raftery said. “One of my favorite human beings, he has time for everybody. He shares his wit and knowledge. Extraordinary people, of which he is, have the ability to connect and get the gratitude for what he’s doing. He’s content, but is always ready for the call.” “I am so honored by this,” Lundquist said. “I almost don’t have the ability to express it. When I got the call from [Joe
Lapchick Character Award Foundation Chairman] Jim McTighe saying ‘the Lapchick Award would like to honor you with Bobby Cremins and Chris Daily.’ I knew what it stood for and what it represented.” UConn Women’s Basketball Associate Head Coach Chris Dailey has been with the school and Head Coach Geno Auriemma for 33 years. They have won 11 national championships together and Auriemma introduced Dailey for the award. “What this award is all about has nothing to do with recruiting, does not say anything about X’s and O’s,” Auriemma said. “The thing that everybody talks about when they meet Chris is the integrity she brings to everything that she does, the loyalty that she has for her friends, her family, her coworkers, her athletes that she is responsible for and the passion that she brings to her life. If Chris Dailey was not my assistant, none of what has happened at Connecticut would be even remotely possible. No one deserves this award more than Chris does.” “[The award is] a reflection of so many people that have been in your life, that have impacted you, to be honored with an award like the Joe Lapchick Award,” Dailey said. “It means a lot because of the people that were the past recipients, I recognize them and I know the excellence they stand for. Just to be in that group is an amazing accomplishment and award.” Bobby Cremins was known as one of the top recruiters in college basketball. This was evident by the quick turnarounds of his programs at Applachian St. and Georgia Tech; the season before he was hired, Georgia Tech went 4-23 and went winless in the ACC. He coached there for 19 years and retired in 2000 after winning the Naismith College Coach of the Year in 1990 and posting a 354-237 record at the school. “I want to thank the committee for this very prestigious award,” Cremins said. “Coach Lapchick was a true pioneer of our game, as a player and coach. He was the son of Czech immigrants, he had to go to work to help his family rather than go to college, but he kept playing basketball. It’s great that we continue to honor his legacy and I’m very proud to be a part of it.”
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MATZ from page 3B “I was honored that I got to pitch for the Mets on that day,” he said. “It’s an honor and it’s really special.” While the hometown hero isn’t guaranteed to return with the orange and blue next year, Matz is determined to end the year on a high note. He was a key member of the Mets’ 2015 playoff run, but he’s eager to pitch in the postseason once again. “2015 was something I got thrown into,” he explained. “It was my first year with only six starts, then boom, I’m in the playoffs. To go through the full grind of the season and then make the playoffs would be really special.” As Matz looks to remain a vital piece of the future of the Mets, he believes 82-year-old pitching coach Phil Regan is one of his keys to further success. “He’s really familiar with me and my mechanics because I had him in the minor leagues,” Matz said. “The main thing is he’s working on little adjustments here and there. His positivity, because he’s been in the game for so long, goes a long way for us.” All that matters for Matz, though, is making a difference. “I have to go out and keep doing what I’m doing,” he said. “I need to execute one pitch at a time and that’s it. I want to better myself in all areas. I want to be a better pitcher and a better person every day.”
(Photos courtesy of the New York Mets)
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CARLOCK from page 4B
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sure and I’m loving it.” Carlock was with the team throughout the summer and got a chance to play in all four Giants preseason games. He never played many snaps, but he did get two tackles and a sack. However, his favorite moment was when he got an interception return for a touchdown against the stadium rival New York Jets. “Once I got my shot in the preseason, it was pretty cool,” said Carlock. “I ended up playing pretty well. Ended up making a couple of plays. Once you step on the field, it’s still football. The crowd is a little bigger, but it’s still football at the end of the day.” Unfortunately, like most undrafted free agents, Carlock was released by the team after the preseason. However, he was told to hang back because they were looking to add him to the practice squad. The NFL is allowed to have 10 players outside of its 53-man roster that consist of players that would come to practice every day but would not participate in the games themselves. “Right now, I’m working on being a long snapper and trying to perfect that,” said
Carlock. “And really, I’m just doing what they want me to do, give them a good look for whoever they’re playing each week and doing what I can to help them win on Sunday.” Carlock does everything but suit up for games. And veteran players like long snapper Zak DeOssie have taken Carlock under their wing to get him ready in case the team needs him in game action this season. “I do think I can play at this level,” said Carlock. “I don’t think they would keep me around if they didn’t think so too. I’m doing my part and staying ready for the games. I’ll be excited when it happens if I do get pulled up. But for now, I’m just doing my part. That’s what they brought me here to do.” Carlock’s advice to anyone that is pursuing football out of a small school is to keep working at it because it doesn’t matter where you come from. “I’ve heard it time and time again that it’s almost impossible to go from Babylon to the NFL,” said Carlock. “I’m still here. If you work hard, it doesn’t matter if you come from LIU or Alabama. If you want something, you can go get it. And here I am lining up next to guys who played at Alabama.”
Athlete Spotlight: Stacy Eager BY CHRISTOPHER BIRSNER cbirsner@antonmediagroup.com
Stacy Eager, a junior, had a standout season last year with the Chiefs, being voted onto the AllCounty bowling team and leading her Massapequa High School team to their first ever Nassau County title. She also qualified for the individual tournament. “I love playing for this team because of the connection we have with everybody,” said Eager. “We have so much fun laughing and bowling at the same time. It’s so great. I’ve made so many friends on this team even beyond my own grade.” Even though she prefers putting distance between herself and her opponents, Eager enjoys the close matches she has played in during the season, regardless of how stressful. She also has played well under pressure. In the county tournament, she averaged over 150 points to capture the victory. The only downside to getting the team title in addition to getting into the individual tournament is that Eager would have to choose between competing individually or with her team. She decided to stay loyal to her teammates and go to Syracuse with them, especially
Eager was voted to the All-County bowling team and helped her team win the Nassau County championship. (Photo courtesy of Massapequa High School)
with how exhilarating it was to win as a unit. “When we won, I was the last one to bowl,” said Eager. “Looking up at the board for my 10th frame and seeing how we already won, I just didn’t care about the last one. I still tried my hardest but I knew at that point everyone was crying behind me. I didn’t want to look. I wanted to finish the game.” With a bright future ahead, she will look to improve as a bowler while also encouraging others to join her team. “If there is anyone that wants to bowl, come join,” said Eager.
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Mikey Brannigan celebrates at the 2016 Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro.
BY MIKE ADAMS
(Photo courtesy of USOPC and OIS Photos)
madams@antonmediagroup.com
O
n a humid Saturday morning, Mikey Brannigan, a Paralympic gold medalist, and the first ever runner with autism to break the 4-minute mile barrier, ran in the opposite direction around the track at John Glenn High School in Elwood. The world-class athlete was alone, save for the presence of his coach Sonja Robinson, who shouted feedback as he navigated the loop in retrograde for miles on end. Brannigan is headed to Dubai in November to compete in the 1,500-meter race at the 2019 World Para Athletics Championships. If he wins, he’ll become the three-time defending world champion for the event, and qualify for the 2020 Paralympics in the process. If Tokyo goes well, he has a strong shot at making Paris in 2024. To succeed in those foreign environments, Brannigan must adapt to countless unfamiliar stimuli. Routine is a crutch for athletes and people with autism alike, so Robinson had him running backwards in the outermost lane on that track in Elwood to break any lingering reliance on familiarity. “This wasn’t a hard workout, but it was a hard workout mentally,” Robinson said. “You can really get dependent on looking at the clock, so really feeling that rhythm and staying relaxed is hard to do.” The humble high school setting was a far cry from the Olympian venue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where Brannigan secured the gold in the 1,500-meter race three years ago. Brannigan, long established as a titan in the T20 Paralympic field for athletes with intellectual disabilities, claimed the gold medal with a final time of 3:51.73, 5 seconds ahead of second place. He waited for his soundly-beaten competitors to finish, and made a point of shaking each of their hands. Brannigan is a sportsman at heart because his early life made him so intimately familiar with the sensation of being an outcast. When he was diagnosed with autism at just 18 months old, doctors told his parents they should focus on getting him onto a waiting list for a group home. Growing up in Northport, Brannigan got his first taste of running as a reward in elementary school. When he would finish a certain amount
Mikey The
Mighty of classwork or do well on a test, he could run a perimeter or two around the school under the supervision of a teacher. That view of getting to run as a reward rather than a burden has never left him, even as his former hobby turned into the dominant force of his every waking moment. “Running is freedom,” Brannigan said. “It helps you release stress and makes you feel better. You feel good about yourself and you believe in yourself. Running is a great sport, it’s a passion I love. I don’t let the stress get in my head.” Brannigan was denied eligibility to compete in the NCAA for failing to meet their academic requirements. But he clawed his way to a spot on Team USA. Despite everything, he just kept winning. Mikey is Mikey something of a Brannigan test case for his T20 counterparts around the world, the first truly world-class athlete to succeed with an intellectual disability. That status comes with its fair share of difficulties and rough patches, most of which are left to be borne by Robinson and the rest of the Brannigan family. Many of those rough patches are financial in nature. Without somebody around to guide Brannigan, he can’t go out on his own for competitions or training. The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) pays for his basic needs during competition, but they haven’t come around to paying for a guide. It’s why the best runner in his field practices at an empty high school track. That need for accompaniment has led Robinson to become more of a
Brannigan runs towards Olympic glory
family member than a coach, by her own admission and the admission of the rest of the clan. She now lives with the Brannigans full time in their East Northport home. “If an athlete in a wheelchair comes to a facility, they build a ramp,” Edie Brannigan, Mikey’s mother, said. “Sonja is Mikey’s ramp, but they won’t provide for Sonja. They won’t even let her down on the track when he’s competing.”
Brannigan’s greatest achievements, far from overcoming obstacles or athletic glory, are felt in the impact he has on people everywhere. “We got mail from the mom of this kid David in Wisconsin,” Edie said. “The kid’s obsessed with Mikey, so they started letting him run when they go on walks. Then, she went to the town and started a handicap running club. She did all this work, but it’s a direct result of Mikey.”
Kristina Garcia: A Closer Look BY MIKE ADAMS
Madams@antonmediagroup.com
Great Neck South High School soccer star Kristina Garcia is one of Long Island’s top girls varsity soccer players. Let’s take a closer look at one of Great Neck’s top athletes. Garcia has soccer in her blood. Her family hails from El Salvador, and her father Guillermo was a defender on the country’s national team for years. Garcia is a stalwart for Great Neck South, scoring 17 goals while playing as an attacking midfielder last season. Outside of school, Garcia’s abilities have netted her invitations to ply her skills at elite soccer academies across the country and in France, home to the defending World Cup champions. Despite being just a junior, Garcia has already committed to play for Stony Brook University’s two-time defending conference champion womens soccer team. Garcia’s high school coach, Gary Neville, praised his
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Great Neck South’s Kristina Garcia is one of the best soccer players on Long Island. player’s fierce determination to win and strength of character even above her considerable skills with the ball. —Additional reporting by Alec Rich
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