Best guess? Maybe a million.
That’s how many dollars last week’s unfortunate development may have cost the Suffern senior baseball star.
With the Major League Baseball entry draft less than a week away, Aviles left the mound after throwing just 12 pitches, several reportedly in the 93-95 mph range, versus Mamaroneck on Wednesday in the Section 1 Class AA semifinals. Less than 48 hours later, Aviles was diagnosed by Yankees team physician Dr. Christopher Ahmad as having a partial tear of the elbow ligament in his throwing arm.
"You just see how fragile the pitching arm can be," Brian Aviles, Suffern's pitching coach and the player's father, told The Journal News. "A week ago you're planning a draft party with a pretty good idea that he could go in the first round, or maybe the supplemental first round. Now he could go on the third day."
That could easily be a seven-figure difference when it comes time to negotiate a signing bonus with whichever of the 30 major-league clubs selects the 6-foot-4 right-hander. The book on Aviles used to read that he has good baseball savvy and the potential to develop three major-league quality pitches after working out some relatively minor flaws in his delivery. It seemed to add up to being one of the first 50 players taken, a relatively rare honor for high school players in the Northeast.
Now, the report on him starts and ends with what Ahmad and any other doctors who examine Aviles report back to their respective clubs while the draft is in progress June 7-9. Teams began calling Brian Aviles within hours of the injury; Tampa, Toronto and Boston are among those that were seeking to have their own doctors examine the young star or be given access to his MRI results.
Major-league players have made it all the way back from partial tears, with or without surgery. Aviles’ course of treatment would likely be determined by the organization that selects him. By the way, Suffern scored a 3-0 triumph against two-time defending state champ Mamaroneck as Nick Kulbaba threw 6 2/3 innings of two-hit, two-walk relief. The effort snapped Mamaroneck's 18-game postseason winning streak and led to one of the better quotes of the spring season.
"It's my fault," Mamaroneck coach Mike Chiapparelli said. "I got them all ready to hit a 92 (mph) fastball and we come in and get a 70 (mph) changeup all day."
Robbie Aviles, Suffern
File photo by John Meore
Boys tennis: Court rules the court
New Rochelle junior Jeremy Court earned the singles title in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association tennis championships with a 6-3, 6-4 verdict over Quinton Vega of Beacon in the PSAL at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows.
Court fought back from a 4-1 deficit in his semifinal to eliminate Josh Levine of Cold Spring Harbor 7-6 (4), 6-2 to assure himself of top NYSPHSAA honors before beating Beacon for the Federation title.
In doubles, Kyle Rosen and Jordan Kaufman of Byram Hills earned the championship with a 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 win against Austin Kaplan and Ben Fife of Scarsdale.
Girls lacrosse: State fields completed
It’s not often that Long Island schools play Sunday contests. When they do, though, it’s generally a sign that fans should be paying attention. And that was the case in girls lacrosse.
Long Island reps have won seven of nine classes in the last three NYSPHSAA state tournaments in Cortland, and they’re submitting a slate of 2010 reps that looks up to the task of extending the domination.
Shoreham-Wading River (17-2) advanced to, and won, the last three state Class C crowns by beating Manhasset for L.I. bragging rights. The Wildcats made it five straight wins over the Indians in the state quarterfinals with an 11-9 victory as Megan Gersbeck put up three goals and an assist, and eight teammates posted single goals.
Garden City has won Class B four straight years and 10 times since the tournament began in 1995. It would be hard to pick against the Trojans (19-0) following a 17-7 romp against a two-loss Rocky Point squad. Garden City raced to an 11-2 lead at the half and got six goals from Mikaela Rix, four from Shannon Mangini and a hat trick plus three assists by Caroline Tarzian.
Class A defending champ Farmingdale from Nassau County punched its return ticket to the semifinals as Melanie Raso scored four times in a 13-9 win vs. Bay Shore as the Dalers rallied from a 5-3 deficit. Though just a relatively modest 13-4 this spring, Farmingdale has outscored its three playoff opponents by a 49-22 margin.
Football: A starry afternoon in Syracuse
Two interceptions returned for touchdowns in the final 6:23 wrapped up the Downstate squad’s 36-7 victory Sunday in the first Empower New York State High School Football Classic.
Lewis Edney (New Rochelle) and Jawara Dudley (Long Island Roosevelt) returned the interceptions 50 and 56 yards, respectively.
On the other side of the ball, the Downstate team relied on a tried-and-true formula of having Dan Scalo throw to fellow Monroe-Woodbury (Central Valley) seniors Pat Laird and Jared McFarlin for big numbers. Scalo, the game MVP, finished 8-for-10 for 106 yards and a TD to each of the West Point-bound wideouts. Scalo also ran 10 times for 34 yards before an estimated crowd of 2,800 at the Carrier Dome.
Laird made four catches for 77 yards, including a jump-ball 18-yarder from Scalo in the second quarter for the game’s first points. McFarlin made three catches for 80 yards, including a 24-yader from Scalo on the first play of the fourth quarter for a 19-0 lead.
Linebacker Clay Harris (Rush-Henrietta) was a bright spot for the Upstate team with two tackles, three assists and a 33-yard punt return.
The honor roll
* The National Wrestling Coaches Association has named South Jefferson's Pat Conners its state and Northeast Region Head Coach of the Year. Conners' teams are 328-72-2 in 17 seasons with 11 Section 3 championships. Last season's squad went 31-0 in duals. As a wrestler at Baldwinsville, Conners won two Section 3 titles at 177 pounds in the mid 1980s.
* The first of the spring player of the year awards from Gatorade was announced, with Lakeland right-hander Jon De Marte being tabbed as New York's player of the year.
John Schiano, who has written about high school sports in western and central New York for more than 25 years, covers New York for MaxPreps. He may be reached at
