By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Section V Baseball inducted its 2023 Hall of Fame Class on Sunday afternoon during a pre-game ceremony at Innovative Field. Dave Brust (Cardinal Mooney/Monroe Community College/Ball State University), Rich Gill (Andover High School), the late Ed LaRock (Sodus High School) and Pete Palermo (McQuaid Jesuit/Monroe Community College/Jacksonville University) were honored prior to the Rochester Red Wings game with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Brust earned All-Greater Rochester Honors in baseball under the late Ed Nietopski at Mooney High School (1983-85), a fellow Section V Hall of Fame member. After high school, Brust garnered third team NJCAA All-American honors on the diamond while playing for H. David Chamberlain at MCC. He went on to Ball State University where he was a team captain and MVP for two years as well as an All-Mid-American Conference selection in 1989 when he hit .342 with 14 home runs and 36 RBI. Brust played three years in the Atlanta Braves’ organization including two under former Boston Red Sox skipper Grady Little. Currently the head coach at MCC, Brust has guided the Tribunes to three (2016, ’18 and ’19) NJCAA World Series appearances in his 10 years at the helm and has been named East District Division II Coach of the Year on three separate occasions.
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Gill’s Andover teams won 17 league championships and two sectional titles (1984 and ’87) during his 38 years guiding the Panthers. Gill’s 1984 team went undefeated and eventually won 32 consecutive games. Andover reached the sectional finals five times from 1983 to 1987. The Panthers went on to win six straight league titles from 2006-2011 under Gill.
LaRock led Sodus to seven Wayne County League titles and one sectional championship in his 27 years as head coach. The Spartans won 200 games under La Rock including the 1982 Class B crown. LaRock also served as head coach for the Sodus boys’ basketball team. Former assistant coach Tom Miller and niece Kim Stanfield accepted the honor for LaRock.
A team MVP in 1980 and 1981, Palermo logged an 18-3 record on the mound while hitting .391 for McQuaid. He went on to pitch a year at Eckerd College before transferring to Monroe CC and then Jacksonville University where he was an All-Sun Belt Conference selection in 1985. A 7th-round selection of the San Francisco Giants in 1983, Palermo signed with Baltimore in 1985 and spent four years in the Orioles’ organization. The right-hander eventually pitched for Bravos Leon of the Mexican League. Palermo served as a volunteer assistant coach with McQuaid from 2010-2015.
The 2023 class is the 11th in Section V Baseball Hall of Fame history. The HOF can be seen in a first-base breezeway at Innovative Field.
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