Blog | Sports: The Hot Corner

The Long Island Ducks today announced the signings of outfielders Lew Ford and Reid Gorecki along with infielder Dan Lyons, bringing their roster total to seven players. Ford returns for his third season with the Ducks while Lyons comes back for a second year on Long Island. Gorecki will make his Atlantic League debut.

“We are excited to bring back Lew and Dan while adding Reid to our club,” said Ducks president/general manager Michael Pfaff, in a statement. “Lew and Dan were big contributors for us last year, and Reid will add Major League experience to our lineup.”

Ford spent the entire 2011 season with the Ducks, compiling a .318 batting average, 10 home runs and 45 RBI in 72 games. Following the season, he was named a second team Atlantic League All-Star. The outfielder also spent the 2009 campaign on Long Island, finishing second in the league in batting with a .330 average while clubbing 10 homers and 55 RBI.

The Texas native played five seasons with the Minnesota Twins from 2003-2007 and owns a career .272 average with 32 home runs, 80 doubles, 10 triples, and 47 stolen bases in the big leagues. His best season came in 2004 when he batted .299 with 15 homers, 72 RBI, 31 doubles, and 20 stolen bases, leading the Twins to the American League Central title. The 35-year-old was originally drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 1999 MLB Amateur Draft.

Lyons returns to the Flock after having a strong all-around season in 2011. Offensively, he hit .283 with 40 RBI, 44 runs, and 12 stolen bases, while in the field, he compiled a .971 fielding percentage and showed tremendous range at shortstop.

Drafted by the Washington Nationals in the 14th round of the 2007 Major League Draft, the 27-year old spent the majority of the 2010 season with Potomac of the Carolina League compiling a fielding percentage of over .960. Prior to starting his professional career, Lyons spent two seasons playing shortstop for the University of Minnesota and was only the fourth Minnesota shortstop to field .950 or higher since 1970.

Gorecki joins the Ducks with nine years of professional baseball experience. He reached the Major Leagues during the 2009 season with the Atlanta Braves, collecting three RBI and six runs in 31 games. The Queens native picked up his first Major League hit and RBI on August 19 in a 15-2 win over the New York Mets at Citi Field.

The 31-year-old last played in 2010 as a member of the New York Yankees organization, splitting time with Double-A Trenton and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He combined to hit .254 with five home runs, 45 RBI, 25 doubles, and 20 stolen bases in 107 games. In his pro debut with the Single-A New Jersey Cardinals, the outfielder led the New York-Penn League in triples (13) and runs (55), earning league All-Star honors. Gorecki was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 13th round of the 2002 amateur draft.

Hofstra senior goalie Andrew Gvozden has been selected as a candidate for the 2012 Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award. Gvozden is one of 20 candidates selected who excel both on and off the field.

An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.

To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence – community, classroom, character and competition.

Gvozden, a native of Millersville, Maryland, was a USILA All-America honorable mention in 2011 after leading the nation in goals against average (6.00 GAA) and placing third in save percentage (.602). He was also named to the All-Colonial Athletic Association second team. The 2012 Pride co-Captain, who will be starting for his fourth year, has a 26-9 career record.

Gvozden maintains a 3.47 GPA in Entrepreneurship (Business) with a minor in Information Technology. He’s a three-year member of both the Hofstra Dean’s List and Hofstra Athletics Academic Honor Roll, as well as a three-year recipient of the CAA Commissioner’s Academic Award.

Gvozden is a team leader in community-relations activities and has been cited for excellence at The Program leadership exercise. Gvozden has served as a team leader in volunteer efforts for Holiday Magic for underprivileged children (2008-11), Long Island Coalition for the Homeless’ Walk for the Homeless (2008-11) and the Firefighter Stephen Siller World Trade Center Tunnel-to-Towers Charity Run (2010-11). He’s also a Hofstra University academic tutor.

Lowe’s, an official Corporate Partner of the NCAA, will announce the Senior CLASS Award® winner during the 2012 NCAA Division I Men’s Lacrosse Championship, which will be held May 26 and 28 in Boston.

The Long Island Ducks announced this week the signing of infielder Ray Navarrete, who becomes the fourth Duck to sign in 2012. He returns for a franchise record seventh season with the Ducks and 13th in professional baseball.

“We are excited to have Ray join us for another season,” said Ducks president/general manager Michael Pfaff, in a statement. “He has been a great player for our franchise, and we hope to see him assist our drive to the championship this season.”

Navarrete begins the year as the Ducks’ all-time franchise leader in hits (719), home runs (112), RBI (420), runs scored (485), and doubles (174), and he remains just three games shy of tying Justin Davies for the most games played in franchise history (637). He has been selected to play in the Atlantic League All-Star Game a team-record four times and was named the 2009 Atlantic League MVP.

The 33-year-old clubbed a team-high 27 home runs in 2011 (second in the Atlantic League), totaled 79 RBI (sixth), and scored 86 runs (third). Navarrete also finished among the top five in games played (122 – second) and at-bats (492 – second). His efforts led to him being voted the “Best Long Island Duck” in this year’s Long Island Press “Best of Long Island 2012” awards.

Navarrete is a career .282 hitter over 1,320 professional games and has reached as high as Triple-A with the New York Mets organization in 2006. The New Jersey native was originally signed as a non-drafted free agent by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2000.

Considering the New York Islanders may one day call Brooklyn home, they may as well start playing there as soon as possible.

Long Island’s favorite hockey franchise wil play the first-ever NHL game at Barclays Center on Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2012 when they take on the New Jersey Devils at 7:30 p.m.

The preseason game will mark the first hockey event at Barclays Center, the new major sports and entertainment venue, which will officially open on September 28 with the first of multiple JAY-Z concerts. The game will also mark the first NHL game to be played in Brooklyn.

“We’re extremely excited to play the first NHL game in the new, state-of-the-art Barclays Center,” Islanders General Manager Garth Snow said in a statement.  “We already have some of the most passionate fans in the league supporting our young team, and we are looking forward to expanding our base into Brooklyn.”

“We feel Brooklyn is an untapped hockey market that offers the Islanders with an exciting opportunity to grow its fan base,” added Barclays Center CEO Brett Yormark. “Barclays Center will also afford current Islander fans with great accessibility, as the Long Island Rail Road and nine subway lines will come directly to the arena at the Atlantic Terminal transit hub.”

Stony Brook women’s lacrosse head coach Joe Spallina has been named the head coach of the Long Island Lizards men’s lacrosse team, a member of Major League Lacrosse (MLL).

Coaching the Lizards will be in addition to his duties as a coach at Stony Brook, and he will not miss any Seawolves practices or games since the MLL season runs from the end of April to the end of August.

“I am very excited to be able to lead the Long Island Lizards, a very proud and storied lacrosse franchise,” he said in a statement. “Although my first priority is to be the head coach of the women’s lacrosse team at Stony Brook, I look forward to working with the Lizards to achieve great success in Major League Lacrosse.”

Spallina previously served as an assistant coach for the Lizards over the last two seasons. In 2010, he helped lead the Lizards to the MLL championship game.

In his first season at Stony Brook and will have 13 returning letter-winners and 14 newcomers during the 2012 season, including four transfers from Adelphi, which he led to three consecutive NCAA Div. II national championships and had an overall 73-2 record.