Baba Tranghese Scholarships awarded to two ELHS seniors

Date: 6/1/2010

May 31, 2010

By Courtney Llewellyn

Reminder Assistant Editor



EAST LONGMEADOW -- The Baba Tranghese Sandy Koufax Memorial Baseball Tournament recently completed its ninth year, with Southwick winning the A Division and Wilbraham taking the B Division titles.

Three scholarships were also given out on the East Longmeadow High School (ELHS) varsity diamond before the final game of the tournament as well. Two ELHS seniors were given the Baba Tranghese Scholarships, and a player from Chicopee earned the Alan Gorfin Scholarship.

"We've always given the Baba awards to seniors from East Longmeadow High School," Mark DiFranco, one of the organizers of the tournament, said. "They're given not necessarily to the best players but to those who do the most."

Bill Bathel, another organizer, said scholarship criteria are the characteristics that molded the lives of both Tranghese, who started the baseball tournament nine years ago, and umpire Gorfin: courage, integrity, honesty, responsibility and fair play.

This year's winners of the Tranghese Scholarships were Mike Ahmed and Rob Mack of ELHS; Dan Asselin of Chicopee won the Gorfin Scholarship.

Ahmed, a shortstop and a pitcher, will be attending College of the Holy Cross this fall. "It's great to be thought of in this way, especially in Mr. Tranghese's name," he said.

"I'm excited. I know this is a really big deal for an East Longmeadow player, and it will definitely help me in college," Mack added. An outfielder and a catcher, Mack is currently the designated hitter for ELHS. He will be attending Catholic University.

Asselin, a center fielder and a pitcher with the Chicopee Pacers, said it was an honor to be recognized as a good person and as a good baseball player as well. He'll be attending American International College.

Funds for the Tranghese Scholarships come from the Baba Tranghese Sandy Koufax Memorial Baseball Tournament. The Gorfin Scholarship is funded by donations from the umpires who work the tournament.

"The kids winning these scholarships played in this tournament," Bathel explained. The Sandy Koufax League is for players ages 13 and 14. "Baba always wanted to give something back [to these players]. It started with just giving them T-shirts."

Albert "Baba" Tranghese passed away four years ago, "but what he did for this tournament and for East Longmeadow will live on forever," Bathel said. He added that the scholarship honors Gorfin in the same way.