2004 Inductees

Marty Apostolico excelled in football and swimming as both an athlete and coach.  He played three years of varsity football at Wilmington High School, serving as co-captain and was named lst team All-State end in 1949. He also was a three-year member of the varsity swimming team and 1950 captain and placed fifth in the National Swimming Championships at Princeton University. During 1950-51, he played varsity football, basketball and baseball at West Nottingham Academy and served as captain of the football team. Marty attended the University of Delaware from 1951-55. As a three-year varsity football player and starter at end he received 1954 All Mid-Atlantic Conference honors. Marty was also a four-year University of Delaware swimming starter, anchoring the 1954 record setting freestyle relay team where he set a pool record in the 50 yard freestyle in 1953. He coached University of Delaware freshman football in 1955. As coach at Pittsburgh Central Catholic High School 1958-67, he established a varsity swimming record of 74-16. As head football coach 1960-66 his record was 47-18-3. His team was undefeated in 1964 (10-0) and named the number one team in Pennsylvania. Marty was Area Coach of the Year in 1961` and 1964. He was named Lay Teacher of the Year for the entire Diocese of Pittsburgh in 1963. At Dickinson High School he was head football coach from 1967-1981 achieving a record of 92-45 and an overall high school record of 139-63-10. He was named State High School Coach of the Year in 1972 and 1980 (State Division I Champions 1980), and named Delaware Coach of the Year by the National Football Clinic. He served as President of DIFCA 1974-75 and 1976-77 and served as Vice President DIFCA 1973-74.

Hal Bodley is a nationally prominent Major League Baseball writer for U.S.A. Today who has covered the sport since 1958. He authored two baseball books including “The Team That Wouldn’t Die”, an account of the 1980 Philadelphia Phillies championship season, and “Countdown To Cobb”, the story of Pete Rose’s pursuit of the Major League record for base hits. He covered 38 World Series baseball games, 37 baseball All-Star games, as well as five Super Bowls and four Olympic Games competitions. He received the “Best of Gannett” Award in 1982 for baseball coverage; has served as national baseball analyst for CBS and co-host of the network’s weekly “Inside Pitch” Sunday night national radio show. Hal was a baseball analyst for Cable News Network from 1988-1991 and co-host of NBC-TV’s baseball pre-game show in 1987; currently does the “Around the Majors” segment for the Philadelphia Phillies television network. Before joining USA Today, he was sports editor and columnist for the Wilmington News-Journal where he was elected “Delaware Sportswriter of the Year”, a record 12 times. He is considered the most honored sportswriter in Delaware history with 26 National and Regional writing awards, including the Headliners Award for his coverage of the 1972 Munich Olympics. He is the founder and former president of the Associated Press Sports Editors Association; twice served as Philadelphia Chapter President of the Baseball Writer’ Association of America and was elected to two terms on the organization’s Board of Directors.

Nicholas Bucci was the first selection by the Wilmington Sportswriters and Broadcasters Association as Delaware’ Athlete of the Year in 1949. Nick was considered by many to be the most versatile athlete ever produced by Claymont High School, winning a school record total of 13 varsity letters in football, basketball, track and baseball from 1947-1950. He was the first two-time first team selection to the Delaware Journal Every Evening All-State football team; he won the state football scoring championship in 1949 with 149 points, 25 more than runner-up Ron Waller, who later starred with the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams. His 149 points were 59.6% of the team total of 250 points. He led Claymont to an unbeaten, untied football season in 1949 and tallied 293 points averaging 18.6 points per game. He set two records, most points scored (293) and most touchdowns (23) scored during his Claymont football career. He also passed and punted and was considered both his team’s best blocker and best tackler. Nick won the 1949 Delaware State 100-yard dash championship in a then record of 10.4 seconds. He was recruited for football by Division I colleges and universities at North Carolina, Florida, Yale, Cornell and Delaware.

A.J. English was an outstanding athlete and basketball player at Howard High School from 1983 to 86. He received two first-team All-State honors, was a leader on the Howard High 1985 state championship team, and distinguished himself as Howard High’s all-time leading scorer. He was 1986 Delaware High School “Player of the Year”, 1986 McDonald’s All-American, 1986 Gatorade All-American, and 1986 Converse All-American. A.J. attended Virginia Union University from 1986 to 1990, averaging 33.4 points per game his senior year. He was NCAA 1990 Division II “National Player of the Year”, and was the nation’s leading scorer in 1990. A.J. further demonstrated his athleticism by being designated two-time CIAA Slam Dunk Champion. He played for the NBA Washington Bullets from 1990 to 1992 and was selected as the overall 37th pick (2nd round) of the 1990 NBA draft. He also played for the Portland Trailblazers during his NBA career. English played in 70 games, averaging 8.8 points per game 1990-1991; and played in 81 games, averaging 10.0 points per game 1991-1992. He averaged 9.9 points per game during his two season NBA career. He participated in other professional basketball games during the period 1991-2001, the Continental Basketball Association 1993-1994, and the United States Basketball League 1998-1999 finishing third in free throw shooting percentage. In 1999-2000 he played in the International Basketball League which included Italy, France, Spain, Turkey, Greece and Poland.

Dr. Peter A. Grandell’s career as athlete, coach and administrator spanned more than a half-century, and  personified the storied sports tradition of Wilmington High School. The school’s football field was named after him in 1997 in recognition of his numerous contributions to the success of WHS student-athletes. He was selected the top athlete of his class at Wilmington High School while earning varsity letters in football, basketball and track. Pete led the WHS football team to the mythical city championship in 1937; scoring the first touchdown in the long football rivalry with P.S. DuPont High School.  He was inducted into the Wilmington High Wall of Fame. Before entering Mount St. Mary’s he starred in football and basketball during a post-graduate year at Archmere Academy. He served as Athletic Director at Wilmington’s West End Neighborhood House. As a college athlete, Pete excelled in football, track and boxing at Mount St. Mary’s College during the late 1930's and 1940's, where he set a then-school record in the 440-yard run and played a key role in the Mountaineers’ small-college football championship in 1941. When his college career was interrupted by World War II, he became an outstanding middleweight boxer while serving in the Marine Corps, winning the silver medal in the All-Armed Forces tournament in 1942. He served as director of Parks and Recreation for the town of Elsmere; coached the Turners Club girls track team and many other youth teams, and received numerous city and state accolades for his work with young athletes.

Sue Manelski - Kampert etched her name in the women’s basketball record books at the college and high school level before becoming a successful head coach. She holds the James Madison University women’s basketball records for career starts and assists; ranking as the school’s third all-time leading scorer. As a senior, Sue led JMU to a 22-7 record and a second place finish in the ECAC tournament. Sue was named JMU “Female Athlete of the Year” in 1984 and 1985. She was the only woman to be named basketball “Most Valuable Player” three times. Sue was named to the All-ECAC and Colonial Athletic Association's women’s basketball first team in 1984. She was named 1981 Delaware high school “Athlete of the Year”; selected to the Carnation Prep All-America women’s basketball team in 1981 and named Delaware women’s basketball “Player of the Year”. She was twice named to the first-team Delaware All-State team; played in three State Championship games, two in basketball and one in softball in her final two years at Padua, where she is the school’s all-time leading women’s basketball scorer and batted .502 in softball. As the head basketball coach at Ursuline, she is the only person ever to play and coach in a Delaware high school championship game. Sue served as assistant women’s basketball coach at the University of Delaware 1991-1996, and coached the girl's basketball team at Concord High School for five years, where her teams made the State tournament every year. She started the first all-female Delaware high school golf team at Ursuline in 2003.

Bill Kapa served more than 50 years as a coach, official and administrator. He was Director of Wilmington Parks and Recreation for 17 years and served 18 years as Chairman of the State Recreation Advisory Council. He was Fellow of the American Park and Recreation Society. Bill was CYO Executive Director 10 years and served as Director of the National Association of Catholics in Youth Services Agencies. He received the Pro Deo ET Juventute Medal in 1967. The St. Hedwig gymnasium was rededicated as the Kapa Memorial Gymnasium. Kapa was President and Director of the Wilmington Touchdown Club, charter member and President of the Delaware Sports Museum and Hall of Fame, and served eight years as Director of New Castle County Parks and Recreation. As an official, he was President of IAABO BOARD #11 (basketball) and President (four yrs) of the New Castle County Football Officials’ Association. In a 40 year officiating career Bill worked two State Football Championships, and five Blue-Gold football games.  He also received the Hallam-Robertson Award for outstanding contribution to the game of football. Bill worked seven years as a college football official and 17 years as a high school basketball official. As a Marine officer in the 1950s, he was player-manager of the league champion baseball team at the US Naval Station at Iwakuni Toriis. Kapa was a three-year baseball starter at Wilmington High School, batting .511 as a senior. As a freshman at Springfield College, he set a pinch hitting record (8 for 9), and played two years with Defiance of the Delaware Semi-pro Baseball League where he batted .398 and .355.

Fred A. Mason was a four sport athlete at Howard High School in 1952-55, was selected All State in 1953 and set a state record in basketball as a senior scoring 66 points in one game – never going to the foul line. Mason played three years semi-pro baseball with Parkway starting in 1956 with a combined batting average of .413. He signed with the Milwaukee Braves in 1959, but was drafted and spent two years in the Army. In 1961 he was signed by the Phillies and played at Elmira, NY (1961), Miami, Fl (1962) and Spartanburg, S.C. (1963). In 340 games, Mason batted .295 with 190 RBIs and 110 extra base hits. He played on All- Star teams in 1962 and 1963. He returned to Parkway in 1964, batted a combined .359 over four seasons. Mason resumed his softball interest with Delaware Park’s fast pitch team in 1964, and switched to slow pitch when that game arrived in Delaware. His career peaked as player/coach for Delaware-CLIFCO softball team. They played along the eastern seaboard from 1987-88 with great success. Mason coached baseball at Brandywine College (now Widener), then went to Delaware Technical Community College where he studied and coached. He was inducted into the “Who’s Who’ of America’s Junior Colleges". He is a member of the Grassroots Softball Umpires’ Association and was Assignor for Board #11 IAABO basketball officials. Mason was inducted into the Delaware Amateur Softball Association Hall of Fame in 1999.

B. Gary Scott was a three-year letterman and two-way football performer at the University of Pennsylvania 1952-54, following an outstanding athletic career at P.S. DuPont High School. He was a recipient of the Philadelphia Maxwell Club’s major college football “Player of the Week” award for scoring both touchdowns in the Quakers 13-7 win over Penn State in 1953. His Penn football career came at a time when the Quakers played a major college schedule, including Notre Dame, Ohio State, Michigan, Georgia, California, Army, Navy and Duke. Gary was awarded the J. William White Memorial Scholarship for athletic and scholastic achievement. At Penn, he also earned a varsity letter in lacrosse. During his High School career, he won nine letters in football, basketball and track at P.S. DuPont 1949-51. He was selected as a second team All-State football running back. He was the 1950 state track champion in the 100 and 200-yard dashes, beating Bunny Blaney and Ron Waller. He was named Outstanding Male Athlete as a senior at P.S. DuPont. Gary was part owner and President of the Wilmington Blue Bombers, Eastern League professional basketball club during the 1960s. He coached youth league basketball in the mid 1970s and sponsored Naamans Little League baseball teams for many years. He served as President, Wilmington Touchdown Club in the mid-seventies.

Tom Silicato was inducted into the Reading Phillies Baseball Hall of Fame in 1995 and the Delaware Baseball Hall of Fame in 1998 after 13 seasons of professional baseball. Silicato had 11 seasons in the Phillies’ organization, playing in nine leagues, including three in Triple A. His lifetime batting average was .262 in 1092 games and 3,664 at-bats, with four seasons over .300. His base running resulted in 115 steals (five times, stealing home) with a success rate of 80%. He won the Rawlings Minor League Silver Glove Award for second basemen and was the 1972 All Double A second baseman with a batting average of .329 and a league leading six triples in the Eastern League. Silicato was selected for three All-Star teams. His career in Semi-pro ball included eight years as player/manager with Colonial Wallace and five years as Owner/Manager with Concord Packaging. As a player he hit .312 and as manager, had a record of 90-23. Silicato played varsity football, basketball and baseball at Salesianum in 1961-64. He was selected to play in the Blue-Gold football game in 1964, and received the school’s Alumni Achievement Award in 1995. In 1961, he was Delaware Bowling Association Class B – Men’s State Tournament Champion. He had games of 299 and 300 in 1986 in 1992  with a league bowling average of 212. Tom coached CYO sports teams for 20 years, was coach and administrator for Wilmington Optimist Little League and Director of MVP Youth Summer Baseball Camp. Silicato recorded a hole-in-one at Penn Oaks Golf Course on the 12th hole in 1994.

Barb.Viera’s 27 year tenure as head women’s volleyball coach at the University of Delaware is the longest in Blue Hen women’s athletic history. Her teams posted a record of 682-429-4 (.613), second only to baseball Coach Bob Hannah’s win record. Viera led teams to four post season national tournaments, twice to the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) and twice to the National Invitational Volleyball Championships. Her 1979 team won the Eastern AIAW title with a 35-18 record and set a record, 38 wins, while placing third in 1980. Since 1982, her teams posted a combined conference record of 99-47 (.678), including a 19 game win streak. Her teams never finished lower than 4th in the standings, qualifying for post-season play every year of her career. Viera was named “Coach of the Year” four times, 1986 in the ECC and 1992,94,96 in America East. She coached at the international level and took her teams to compete in Barbados, St. Lucia, Guatemala, Panama, Costa Rica, Argentina and Mexico. She was competition assistant at the 1996 Olympic Games. Viera authored two books and published over 30 articles. She received the Herm Reitzes Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2003. The volleyball court at the Carpenter Center is named after her as is the East Coast Volleyball Junior Olympic Championships. She was inducted in the University of Delaware Hall of Fame and the American Volleyball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2003, Delaware Volleyball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2002, and the Westport High School, Massachusetts, Hall of Fame in 1989.