Fox Lane’s 2021 No.1 MLB Pick Davis Debuts for Pirates

A.D. Thom Returns to Croton, Tigers Tab Catano as Grid Coach

By Ray Gallagher, Examiner Sports Editor @Directrays

When Henry Davis left Fox Lane High School for the University of Louisville back in 2018, anyone who had seen him play catcher for the Foxes knew full well that the driven All-NYS Davis would eventually emerge as the top prospect from a stacked Cardinal lineup and get drafted to play Major League Baseball #NoBrainer.

As he has since his days as a Little Leaguer, Davis set high goals for himself and his Fox Lane teammates in the spring of 2018.

“The goal for us is a state title,” he said at the time. “We know it’s never been done by a baseball team here but we have the talent and work ethic to do so,” he said before the season began, knowing full well that he would be preparing himself for the ultimate goal, a Major League Baseball career. Scouts careened to Fox Lane and then Louisville before following Davis all over the country.

Drafted No. 1 overall by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 2021 MLB draft, it didn’t take Hammerin’ Hank long before the Pirate brass could keep their top blue-chipper – since a 2011 draftee named Gerrit Cole – in the minors. So last Monday, Davis debuted for Pittsburgh where family members and Fox Lane Coach Matt Hillis were on hand to witness a dream come true after less than two years in the minors, where he needed just 421 at-bats to clout 24 home runs.

Davis didn’t disappoint, smoking a double down the left field line off Chicago Cubs veteran lefthander Drew Smyly in his first at-bat after walking up to Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Freebird.” #SoFreakinCool. The Pirates lost the game 8-0, which was Davis’ only concern.

“It was great. I just wish we had won,” the unassuming slugger told a dozen reporters after playing in right field, not behind the plate, where the Pirates have several legit prospects. “If I can help the Pirates win in right (field), I’m excited about it.”

Typical Davis. Reporters asked him how he was able to stay cool, calm and collected enough to take three straight pitches in his first career plate appearance.

“I felt pretty comfortable,” Davis said. “I worked really hard for this. I really trust my approach, whether it’s spring training or whatever level in the big leagues. Just try and have a good at-bat and help the team win.”

The Bedford-born Davis has always been about the team, according to Hillis.

“It was unreal to see him there,” Hillis said of Davis, who also raked his first big league home run later in the week. “Nothing could keep me away. He’s got that same insane work ethic, same team-first demeanor, same face, but he’s huge, jacked!”

And, he’s everything you want from a front man for your organization. #WelcomeToTheShow…

Former longtime Croton-Harmon AD Bill Thom was recently named the Interim Athletic Director for the Tigers, returning home to replace DJ Goldman after his brief stint along the Hudson River. Thom hopes to provide some much-needed stability for what has been a turnstile since he retired in 2016.

While the district puts out feelers for a full-time replacement for Goldman, Thom returns with rejuvenated vim and vigor, hoping to provide some dependable guidance while shoring up the Tiger athletic programs, including naming a new varsity football coach.

Croton has put a “Welcome Back Big Cat” pilot in the works, which means former Croton Coach John “Big Cat” Catano is set to return to the Tiger sidelines where he guided Croton to three Section 1 titles and two state final appearances between 2008 and 2011 during an 18-year run.

Can the Big Cat return the luster to a Croton football program that has struggled in recent years? We shall see beginning Week 1 when Catano hosts his former Hendrick Hudson squad where he starred as a player in his mid ‘70s heyday and was replaced as coach after a decent two-year run was followed by a rough 1-7 2022 campaign. Catano versus first-year Sailor Coach Cole Coyle on Sept. 9 #OhTheDrama…

Not as much drama in Briarcliff where sharp A.D. Chris Drosopoulus has tabbed former Putnam Valley and Kennedy boys’ hoops Coach Mike McDonnel as the 2023-24 varsity girls’ hoops coach. The Bears will now be under the tutelage of one of the more seasoned coaches in the region, and don’t say I didn’t tell you so when he announces an assistant coach that’s equally up to the task…

Greater Hudson Valley Baseball League action is heating up from western Connecticut to southern Westchester, Rockland and Putnam counties and all points in between. And since everyone has a camera these days, there’s no reason why moms and pops and other aspiring shutterbugs can’t share their shots with the masses within The Examiner coverage area, which includes athletics from as far south as White Plains to the Putnam/Dutchess border. Whether it’s candid, team or action shots, please send them along to rgallagher@theexaminernews.com for potential publication…

Kudos to the Mahopac Sports Association for continuing to call its Greater Hudson Valley Baseball League team the Indians, despite the fact that the school district opted to drop the longstanding moniker amidst pressure from New York State to withhold essential funding. Rather than put up a fight and prolong the seemingly inevitable, which many in town were hoping for, the Mahopac Board of Education and district bigwigs, along with the vote of high school students, chose the WolfPac, a hybrid name connecting the Wolves to the ‘Pac’, or Maho’Pac.

I suppose it had to be done, but I applaud the MSA for embracing tradition. Mahopac’s long history of paying homage to the early settlers continues in a lesser but noble form. The Indians must cease and desist but we’re all okay with the Devils, the Blackhawks, the Fighting Irish, the Vikings and the Seminoles? Such hypocrisy!