Levittown resident and Division Avenue HS graduate Shawn Fagan, who was a member of Division's undefeated 1996 state championship team as well as the 1995 team that lost in the state championship game, is now in the major league spring training camp of the Toronto Blue Jays.

Shawn, who attended Penn State after graduating Division, was drafted in the 12th round by the Blue Jays in the summer of 2000. He signed right after being drafted and was assigned to the Blue Jays New York Penn League team at St. John's University. Shawn didn't stay at that location very long though because his play got him promoted to the Blue Jays South Atlantic League team located at Hagerstown, MD, where he excelled again.

Shawn again excelled the following year when he was promoted to the difficult Florida State League team where he hit .306 and was second in the league in on-base percentage. Last season, Shawn again was promoted to the Blue Jays double AA team in the southern league. After he posted another strong season, Shawn was invited to play in the fall Arizona league where only four top players from each professional organization are invited to play.

This spring, Shawn teams up with an ex-East Meadow resident Marc Connor who is the Blue Jays Major League pitching coach, after spending several years in the same capacity with the New York Yankees and Arizona Diamond Backs. Marc attended Chaminade HS and later Manhattan College. He also played summer baseball as a youth in Levittown when he played for the nationally famous Levittown Giants, coached by Levittown's own Dom Montiglio. This Giant team won the national championship in 1977 and finished second in the nation in 1975 and fourth in 1978.

Division wishes Shawn tremendous success this coming season, wherever he winds up assigned for the season. Other Levittown players in pro ball are Randy Leek, with the Los Angeles Dodgers, who is coming off a tremendous season in Double AA last year; and Chris Flinn of Division, who is presently is spring training with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. In another odd circumstance ex-Island Trees star Bill Evers is the manager of the Triple AAA team for the Devil Rays, after many years of coaching pro ball with the Yankees and Giant organizations.