Saturday: Bonomolo To Enter Nanuet Hall of Fame

Nanuet Sports Hall of Fame 10th Annual Dinner is this Saturday and five are being inducted:

• Rob Veltidi 1965
• Dick Berich 1968
• Ray Perez 1968
• John Hassler 1968

PETER BONOMOLO

• Football, Basketball & Baseball
• Class of 1969

Sportswriters dubbed him “the little dynamo” and “the Maury Wills of the PSAL.” At a diminutive 5-foot-6, he had speed to burn and a hankering to showcase it. “The coaches allowed me to steal whenever I got on base,” says Peter Bonomolo, and steal he did: 14 times in 1968, 20 more in ’69, both league-leading and County record-setting marks.

 Pete was much more than a demon on the basepaths, however. A two-time, first-team All-County second baseman, “Green Light Pete” batted a robust .340 his senior year with 17 hits, 18 runs scored, 10 RBI and a whopping .539 on-base percentage – 34 times in 63 trips to the plate. His junior year he reached base safely 27 times in 47 at-bats (.574 percentage), scored 15 runs, slugged a grand slam, and turned 18 double plays. Paced by Pete and the All-County battery of catcher Dick Berich and pitcher Ken Wegman, Nanuet finished third in the PSAL in 1968 with a mark of 8-6 – the first winning record in the program’s history.

Pete also earned second-team All-Metropolitan Area honors from the New York Daily News and was voted Most Inspirational Player by his teammates. Those teammates included second-team All-County choices Ed Walkley and Steve Riegert, Anthony Magnetti – an All-County first-teamer in ’69 – Greg Little, Joey Vitiello, Bob Sharpe, Jim Rinaldi, Kirby Varacalli, Norman Roth and Craig Mandel.

Pete attended George W. Miller School through fifth grade and moved on to Nanuet Junior-Senior High School in sixth. By ninth grade he was refining skills he would later display on varsity squads in all three seasons. He earned nine varsity letters and started on eight of those teams. In football, Pete was a two-way starter at quarterback, flanker and defensive back, and helped engineer a stunning 17-7 upset of undefeated Tappan Zee in the ’67 season, knocking the Dutchies out of the running for the PSAL title.

Another highlight from the 1967 campaign was a fourth-quarter, two-point conversion pass to fellow Hall of Famer John Hassler that clinched a 13-13 tie with Goshen. Pete was protected by a veteran offensive line that included Steven DiGiovanni, Matt and Mark Vaccaro, Michael Kushner and Al Drake. Hassler anchored the defensive front line along with Ken Thorn, Steve Riegert, Alan Veltidi, George Wagner and Phil Kennedy, and Pete patrolled the defensive backfield with Jimmy MacRobbie and fleet-footed Thad Wilson. Chuck Holland was Pete’s varsity coach for three years and Rich Loughlin was his freshman coach.

Pete’s three-sport prowess was duly acknowledged with the Jerry Leo Memorial Scholarship award for 1969. He later went into the family deli business, helping his father, Peter, operate the Valley Cottage Deli for 27 years. While living in Valley Cottage, Pete served as Nyack High School freshman and JV boys’ basketball coach for 20 years under head coach Gary Gray. During that stretch the Indians made two State final fours and advanced to the State championship game once, losing in overtime.

Pete, who is 60, moved to southern New Jersey from Valley Cottage almost 10 years ago and now runs the kitchen and café for “an award-winning natural foods market” called Black Forest Acres in Hamilton Square, N.J. He lives in Bradley Beach, N.J., with his wife, the former Patti Baccaglini, his high school sweetheart to whom he’s been married 41 years. They have two daughters, who were both athletes at Nyack: Cara, 40, a soccer and lacrosse player whose husband, Jamie Furey, is also a former Nyack athlete; and Megan, 37, who played basketball and softball. The Bonomolos also have two granddaughters, whom Pete calls “future Nyack athletes” – Caitlin, 8, and Keira, 5.

“I grew up with four sisters but my dad was an athlete in high school so were all my uncles and I had a lot of cousins to play with. Playing quarterback at 5’6’’ wasn’t easy but luckily for me I had good running backs to hand the ball off to a lot of times. Dick Berich was a big part of that. I got on base a lot. I was fortunate enough to walk a lot and be quick enough to beat out a lot of choppers and such. For the small community that we were the games were always packed. The football games on Saturdays and the same for basketball games on Friday nights. Not  just for those sports, even for wrestling matches. And it wasn’t just the student body but the whole town, it was really a good thing.”

*Biographies Courtesy of Jamie Kempton of the Nanuet Hall of Fame Committee.