By Dylan Butler
Norm Roberts isn’t the only Queens native to get a head coaching position this week.
Frank Haith from Jamaica was named the new head basketball coach at Miami, the school announced Monday. He replaced Perry Clark, who left the former Big East school last month.
“I am honored and excited to be the head coach at the University of Miami,” Haith said. “All the pieces are in place for this to be a very successful basketball program.”
Haith has been a Division I assistant coach for 16 years, spending the last three years at the University of Texas where another Queens native — Royal Ivey — helped lead the Longhorns to the Final Four in 2003.
“I don’t think that Miami could be getting a better family than the Haith family to lead their basketball program into the Atlantic Coast Conference,” Texas coach Rick Barnes said in a release. “People talk about work ethic, recruiting and leadership when they talk about coaches. What Miami will soon learn is they got the whole package.”
Haith, who grew up in a family of 10 children in a Springfield Boulevard home, also coached at ACC powerhouse Wake Forest, Texas A&M, Penn State and UNC-Wilmington.
Baseball
St. John’s 2, Notre Dame 1. Freshman Matt Tosoni and closer Craig Hansen combined to give up one run on seven hits, and Joe Burke and Eddie Schutz drove in seventh-inning runs for the Red Storm (18-11, 7-3 Big East), which split a doubleheader at No. 9 Notre Dame Monday afternoon.
Notre Dame 7, St. John’s 1. Sophomore Anthony Varvaro allowed a pair of runs in the second inning and fell to 4-1 in the opening game of the doubleheader in South Bend, Ind. Notre Dame (26-5, 8-2) put the game away with a four-run sixth inning.
Connecticut 6, St. John’s 2. The Huskies scored three first-inning runs off St. John’s starter Jim Wladyka to salvage a Big East doubleheader split last Thursday in Storrs, Conn. and snap the Red Storm’s six-game winning streak.
St. John’s 7, Connecticut 6. Anthony DeRosa’s sacrifice fly capped a four-run seventh inning for the Red Storm, which trailed 6-3 heading into the final inning in the opener of the doubleheader.
Queens College 11, Adelphi 5. Vic Pantopoulos, Vincent Garelick and Richard Rivara each drove in two runs for Queens (3-12, 2-6 NYCAC) in the nightcap of a doubleheader Saturday.
Adelphi 14, Queens College 9. Frank Alesia went 4-for-4 with six RBIs and belted a pair of Adelphi’s five home runs in the opening game of a doubleheader. Rivara hit a home run and drove in four RBIs for the Knights.
Softball
St. John’s 5, Seton Hall 1. Allina Sainz went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and Jessica Marical was 2-for-3 for St. John’s (17-15, 3-1 Big East), which swept a Big East doubleheader from Seton Hall Saturday in South Orange, N.J. Brittany Crouch picked up the win, allowing one earned run on six hits in 4.2 innings, while Bellerose native Courtney Fitzgerald earned the save, pitching 2.1 perfect innings.
St. John’s 7, Seton Hall 2. Christina Tucker belted a 10th-inning grand slam, Jo Sherlock hit a two-run homer and Fitzgerald went the distance, allowing one earned run on seven hits to improve to 8-1 in the opener of the doubleheader.
Reach Associate Sports Editor Dylan Butler by e-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 143.
