Ten minutes after the National Football League's draft last Sunday, Ryan Fletcher of Glen Cove (GCHS Class of '97) signed with the San Francisco 49ers. Ryan will be reporting to the rookie 49ers mini camp on Thursday, April 25 and then he will travel back to Hofstra University to graduate this May with a degree in psychology.

Ryan is a defensive tackle and the captain of the Hofstra Pride football team. This latest achievement comes on the heels of an impressive football career he launched in Glen Cove High School. As a "Big Red" player Ryan garnered multiple All County honors. He was the Nassau County champion in wrestling, All County shot-put and discus thrower and All County defensive tackle in football. Ryan was tapped for the All Long Island designation, one of Glen Cove High School's first after a long drought, and he was the runner up for the Martone Award as Nassau County's outstanding offensive lineman.

The boys' varsity lacrosse team had a busy week, playing 2 1/4 games. On Monday, the Big Red traveled to Friend's Academy and came away with a 14-7 victory.

Eight different Big Red players found the net, with Joe Kopito leading the way with four goals. Trailing 3-1 in the second quarter, the Big Red kicked it into gear and scored five goals in four minutes to take a 6-3 halftime lead.

The GC defense dominated the third quarter, with goalie Dan Bellissimo stopping five of the six shots taken on him. The defensive quartet of Ben Lowell, Mike Puertas, Drew Beisler and Jeff Ogelsby formed an impenetrable wall in front of Bellissimo that the Quakers could not crack.

Brian Fugazy had three goals and four assists on the day, Jason Lindenbaum added two goals and two assists, Dom Bocchino had two goals and one assist, Jason Lee and Chris Corbin each had one goal and one assist, Marcus Bianconi added the last goal, and James Robbins contributed one assist.

On Friday, the Big Red got in 1/4 of their game with Elmont, before lightning postponed the contest. GC was up 6-2 in the game, as Chris Corbin and Brian Fugazy teamed up for the first two GC goals. Fugazy then assisted Dom Bocchino and Corbin assisted Joe Kopito on the next goal. Kopito would score the fifth goal on an assist from James Robbins, and Robbins would add the sixth before the game was suspended. Stay tuned for the completion of this game.

Saturday wasn't the Big Red's day as they fell to Locust Valley 18-6. James Robbins led the Big Red scorers with three goals, and Jason Lindenbaum added a goal and two assists. Also scoring for the Big Red were Joe Kopito and Chris Corbin, while Brian Fugazy and Dom Bocchino added assists. Goalie Dan Bellissimo had 19 saves in the loss. The Big Red now stands at 5 1/4-2 and looks forward to three more games this week.

Glen Cove varsity baseball team after coming home from their annual spring trip to North Carolina opened their league schedule winning four out of five games highlighted by beating the Blue Dragons of Levittown Division two of three games. Opening up the big showdown week was the Big Red's version of the big unit, Craig Hansen. Craig did not disappoint the fans or the five pro scouts that were at the game with a five hit shutout beating the Dragons 5-0. This was Craig's fourth consecutive shutout extending his scoreless string to 29 2/3 innings. He also had 13 strikeouts.

Leading the way on the offensive side was Londell Wheelets leading off the bottom half of the first with an opposite field homer and Donnie Daniels with two RBIs.

After dropping game two to the Blue Dragons, the series came back to the home of the Big Red. Getting the nod on the hill was senior Guiseppe Galizzi and again he showed great poise and pitching know-how by stepping up with a 3-0 shutout in the biggest game of the year to date. He kept the Blue Dragons off balance all day mixing up his fastball and sharp breaking curve ball. Guiseppe held Levittown to three hits to record his first shutout of the season.

Again starting the offense was Donnie Daniels leading off the second inning with a double to center followed by a RBI double to left center by Tommy Monahan. After two miscues by the Blue Dragons Glen Cove had a 3-0 lead which was all Guiseppe needed.

The Big Reds next home games will be on Saturday vs. West Hempstead at the Big Red field at 11 a.m. and that night at 7 p.m. the Big Red battles neighborhood rival Locust Valley at City Stadium. Come on out and see some good high school baseball.