Mount Morris - Tom Sardinia

Tom Sardinia was an amazing 3-sport athlete all 4 years of high school in football, basketball, and baseball. In football, he was the co-captain and starting running back who scored 4 touchdowns in his senior year. This was tied for the most on the team. He also threw one TD pass in 1954. That 1954 football team finished with a record of 5-1-1 and outscored opponents 134-41. He was also the captain of the 1955 basketball team who won both the Livingston County and Section Five Class B Championship that year. In that season, he was the second leading scorer at 17.65 points per game. Throughout his varsity basketball career, he averaged 15.8 points per game. In baseball was a leading member of teams which won 3 Livingston County titles in 1952, 1954, and 1955 and 2 Section V Championships in 1952 and 1955. The 1952 team finished a perfect 13-0 and the 1954 team finished the regular season a perfect 10-0, only to be upset in the first round of sectionals by Letchworth in a very tough 5-4 loss in 8 innings. In his senior year of 1955, Tom was the captain of the team which finished with a final record of 12-1 and Tom led the team in batting average with an amazing .609. This batting average is the 11th best in New York State history for one season. Overall, in the 1954-55 school year, the football, basketball, and baseball teams finished with a combined record of 33-3-1. Tom played a major role in all three of those teams. Additionally, in Tom’s 4 years on the varsity baseball team, the combined record of these teams was 43-4. After graduating from Mt. Morris, this man received a full football scholarship to Syracuse University. While at Syracuse, he was a member of the football team who played in the Cotton Bowl in 1957. Additionally, he played baseball at Syracuse University and was the team captain in 1959. He graduated from Syracuse in 1959. He also served two years in the United States Army as an officer. He went on to achieve a Masters degree in education from Canisus College in 1964. He taught school for five years and was an assistant football coach. After teaching, he pursued a career in the insurance business from which he is now semi-retired. Legendary coach Donald Chichester once said that this man was “The best athlete I ever coached.”