43
Vandra wins Cassese Bocce tourney
By Greg Gulas
YOUNGSTOWN
With three team members approaching a combined 150 years of bocce experience, Cleveland’s Team Vandra won the initial Carmine Cassese Memorial 4-Person Bocce Tournament.
Their fourth member is a 23-year old who said he doesn’t mind learning from his elders,
Sunday at the MVR Restaurant, Vandra defeated local entry MVR Carmstrong, 14-9 for the title, posting an unblemished 6-0 mark.
The runners-up, who were 4-0 heading into Sunday’s competition, finished 6-2 in the double-elimination tourney.
Vandra earned $2,500 for their efforts while MVR Carmstrong was awarded $1,200 for their runner-up finish. Other Vandra team members were Renato Patete, Anthony Croce and Bruno Iannetta.
More than $10,000 was raised for a Youngstown State University scholarship in Carmine’s name and also for pancreatic research at the James Medical Center at The Ohio State University.
“Except for one team member, we’re all approaching retirement age so we are very selective about the tournaments that we play in,” Vandra captain Pete Melaragno said. “I knew Carmine Cassese for over 25 years and he was a first-class guy.
“We’ve played here before and because it is such a beautiful facility we wanted to make sure that this was one of our stops on our tournament circuit,” Melaragno said.
In June, Carmine Cassese died of pancreatic cancer.
“I had the foresight a long time ago to buy the land but Carmine had the foresight to expand our facility and make it a fun area for the many customers that visited the restaurant,” said Joe Cassese, Carmine’s father.
“Carmine made the courts and added the signage and through his efforts, this has become one of the area’s best bocce facilities,” he said. “If you follow bocce like we do, we’ll put our courts up against anyone nationwide and it is all because of Carmine and the hard work that he put into this facility.”
Forty-eight teams entered the initial competition with 12 other teams remaining on the waiting list. A memorabilia raffle was held with $7,000 distributed to the top 12 finishers.
Members of the runner-up MVR Carmstrong squad were captain Mike D’Altorio, Bob Gall, Pat DeChellis and Enzo DeChellis.
“It was truly an honor to play in this tournament, especially because it was in Carmine’s honor with the funds earmarked for two great causes,” D’Altorio said. “Carmine taught me how to play and call a game and especially the strategy involved if you wanted to be a successful team.
“Carmine was a competitor, but the camaraderie that was evident all weekend was something of which he would be most proud.”
Gary Scarmack, whose scoreboard took a little more than a week to assemble, called Cassese one of a kind, someone who made you feel right at home from the moment you first met.
“The scoreboard is just my way of saying thank you to a great human being,” Scarmack said. “His hospitality was second-to-none and to me, he was just a great human being.”
Patty Cassesse, Carmine’s widow, said the tournament was something that her husband would have been very proud to have been a part of.
“This was truly an unbelievable showing,” she said. “We all know that bocce was Carmine’s favorite and we’re blessed to have such great family and friends who took part in this great event.
“This will only grow and get better.”
Non-participants like Poland’s Joe Pompeo showed up to lend their support.
“I’ve known Carmine and his family for quite some time and this tournament was excellent for both the Mahoning Valley and the causes for which the tournament was held,” Pompeo said.