First Posted: 8/10/2013
Peggy Burke will receive the Sam Falcone Award and three local athletes will be honored at the induction ceremony of the Luzerne County Sports Hall of Fame, John Louis Popple Chapter this evening, Sunday, Aug. 11 at the Ramada Inn in Wilkes-Barre.
Three local athletes to be inducted are: Dominick Cassetori, William Noone and James Pizano.
There will be a cocktail hour starting at 4 p.m. Dinner will take place at 5 p.m. followed by the induction ceremonies.
No tickets will be sold at the door.
Burke founded the Greater Pittston Food Pantry. In 2008, she was named The Sunday Dispatch’s Person of the Year and in 2010 she received the Wyoming Valley Woman’s Club Woman of the Year.
Cassetori ranks as the winningest tennis player in the Wyoming Valley. After many wins in the valley and Middle States competition, he played No. 1 singles for the 1986 National Runner-Up 4.5 team from Scranton.
Cassetori has won 11 season-ending Wyoming Valley Grand Prix Championships, a title given to the person who has the most tournament wins for a season. He has ranked in the top-20 in Middle States and held the No. 1 spot in Lehigh Valley singles three times.
From 2003 to the present, Cassetori has been a teaching pro at Kingston Indoor Tennis and is respected as one of the best pros in the district.
While rushing for 1,863 yards and 27 touchdowns his senior season at Wyoming Area, James Pizano was named to the first-team All-State and was selected to play in the Big 33 Classic in 1993. Pizano played for the Warriors from 1990 to 1993 and finished his career with 4,086 yards and 63 touchdowns.
After receiving a full scholarship to the University of Massachusetts, he was a four-year letter winner for the Minute Men and holds the UMass record for the longest run from scrimmage. In his senior year, UMass won the 1998 Division I-AA National Championship.
While growing up in Pittston, William “Bill” Noone attended Seton Catholic High School where he was a three-sport MVP in soccer, basketball and baseball.
In 1990, he was a member of the Greater Pittston American Legion Wyoming Valley League champions. In
Noone pitched for Wilkes University and was a member of the MAC Championship baseball team and was named MAC Freedom League MVP. He had a career record of 17-7 with 215 strikeouts in 195 innings and a 3.14 ERA.
In 1995, Noone was a Killer Bees Award Finalist in the Open Male Division. He went on to be a 37th round draft choice of the Philadelphia Phillies. In 2005, he was inducted into the Wilkes University Sports Hall of Fame.