By Tim Parry
It wasn’t that much of a surprise that Matt Iannazzo turned down the Norwalk High School quarterback job to pitch this fall for the Bayside Yankees baseball team. And once he secured a Division I baseball scholarship, he was able to return to the gridiron and help the Bears have one of its best records in recent memories.

Iannazzo turned down scholarship offers from Quinnipiac and Fordham, and will pitch starting this fall for the University of Pittsburgh.

“Both those schools wanted me to pitch and hit, but Pitt was offering me a chance to concentrate on pitching,” Iannazzo said last month after pitching a 5-2 win over Darien. “It’s such a different atmosphere and a different program that I was going to capitalize on that opportunity.”

Though Iannazzo stands just 5-foot-9, Pittsburgh head coach Joe Jordano thinks the lefty is the real deal.

“After pitching against some of the best hitters in the country last summer, Matt will be ready to step in and pitch right away for us,” Jordano said when Iannazzo signed his letter of intent in November. “We expect Matt’s competitiveness and the fact that he has three above average pitches to help him become a consistent winner at the collegiate level.”

His high school coach, Angelo Bruno, agrees.

“He’s a competitor, he’ll battle you right to the end,” Bruno said. “What makes him so successful is that he gets the most out of his ability. He loves to play the game and you need that passion to get to the next level.”

For Bayside last summer, Iannazzo was 4-2 in 10 starts and had a 2.57 ERA. He struck out 55 and walked 21 in 51.2 innings.

Thirty of Fairfield County’s finest football-playing scholar-athletes were honored April 10 by the Ralph DeSantis chapter of the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame. Also honored at the dinner at Continental Manor in Norwalk were the head and assistant coaches of the year in the SWC and FCIAC, as well as two officials of the year.

Three players received $500 scholarships to be used towards their college education as well: William Bass (Bassick), Richard Holmes (Danbury), and Chris Payne (Wilton).

Wilton’s Tim Eagen was introduced as the FCIAC’s coach of the year by his mentor, Tom Fujitani, who he served under as an assistant coach for several years, and thanked his assistant coaches and the Warriors’ booster club for its efforts in helping to build a top-notch program. Ridgefield’s Kevin Callahan introduced one of his former players, New Fairfield’s Andy Buchsbaum, as the SWC’s coach of the year.

Carl Cairo (Greenwich) and John Pereira (Pomperaug) received their league’s respective assistant coach of the year awards.

The scholar-athletes honered were:

• William Bass, Bassick
• Nick Verderosa, Bethel
• Chris Green, Brien McMahon
• Kenneth Cobb, Bridgeport Central
• Steven Moss, Brookfield
• Jeffrey Farrell, Bunnell
• Greg Passineau, Canterbury
• Richard Holmes, Danbury
• George Rhein, Darien
• Matthew O’Laughlin, Fairfield Ludlowe
• Thomas Marx Jr., Fairfield Warde
• Jonathan Meyers, Greenwich
• Scott Hickling, Joel Barlow
• Victor Ciancetta, Masuk
• Chris Lemoine, New Canaan
• Patrick Cassidy, New Fairfield
• Jonathan Henion, New Milford
• Eric Puffer, Newtown
• Cyprian Oyomba, Norwalk
• Patrick Purrell, Notre Dame-Fairfield
• Stephen Barton, Pomperaug
• Tyler Strittmatter, Ridgefield
• Michael Dinihanien, St. Joseph
• Jason Zins, Staples
• Justin Shumyhora, Stratford
• John O’Leary, Trinity Catholic
• Jameson Cherilus, Trumbull
• John Midy, Westhill
• Dylan Hannum, Weston
• Chris Payne, Wilton

Also honored were a few unsung heroes of the game, the referees. Without them, of course, the games wouldn’t count in the standings. Bob Seirup, who has been working with the Fairfield County Football Association for 54 seasons, was honored as its official of the year. Bill Vasutro was the Colonial Football Association’s honoree.