Clarke baseball coach benched

More than 20 Nassau baseball coaches showed up to support Clarke coach Tom Abruscato during the Rams’ 14-12 league win over Division on Monday afternoon.
   
Abruscato was serving the first of a four-game suspension, as the Rams begin a campaign to defend their 2009 Long Island Class A championship. The ban was imposed by the Nassau Athletic Council, after it determined Clarke violated a code that bars high schools from playing unsanctioned teams.
   
The council learned that during a trip last spring to Virginia, Clarke played against a team consisting of home-schooled students.

   
Nassau Athletics Executive Director Todd Heimer said the situation was “brought to the attention” of Section VIII last June, but wouldn’t reveal the source.
   
“The penalty of four conference games was discussed at length by the athletic council,” Heimer said. “When any high school team leaves the state, it must abide by New York State rules.
  
“I have a lot of respect for Clarke’s baseball program and the job Tom does.”
   
Though the East Meadow School District appealed the council’s decision, the suspension was upheld.
  
Kerry Gant, the district’s director of health, physical education and athletics, would not comment on the specifics of the ruling and the charges.
   
“The East Meadow School District is in full support of Tom Abruscato,” said Gant, also a member of the Nassau Athletic Council. “The kids are in good hands in his absence. We look forward to putting this in the past. Tom is a stellar coach, and always stood up for we he believed in.”
   
The suspension does not effect Abruscato’s position as a physical education teacher at Clarke. Assistant coach Mike Meittinis is filling in for Abruscato until his scheduled return on Tuesday when the Rams host
Wantagh at 4:45 p.m.
   
Abruscato butted heads with the athletic council in the past. He was a vocal opponent of the county’s ability grouping format that based league alignments and schedules on teams’ talent level. The Council nixed ability grouping starting in 2011, and is phasing back into an enrollment-based format.