MAURO BROTHERS NOW ENSHRINED IN
NAVY BASEBALL HALL OF FAME.
By JOHN PITARRESI
(07-26-00) • MARCY, NY- Roger Staubach?

He's in the United States Naval Academy Athletic Hall of Fame.

Joe Bellino, another Heisman Trophy winner for the Midshipmen? David Robinson, the Academy's greatest basketball player ever?

Yes, they're in there, too, along with a lot of other outstanding athletes. There is believed to be just one set of brothers in Navy's Hall of Fame, however - Steve and Tony Mauro of Marcy, former baseball standouts for Notre Dame High School and Adrean Post in the Oneida County American Legion baseball league.

"I don't feel I put myself in the same category as them, but it tells me and my brother that we were able to accomplish in our era some of the great things they did in their era," said Tony Mauro, who was selected for the Hall of Fame last month.

Mauro was a two-time first team All-Patriot League infielder for Navy and made second team one season. He hit .432 with 38 runs and 39 RBIs his senior season in 1999, helping the Midshipmen to the league title and a berth in the NCAA tournament.

His selection completed a family double for the Mauros. Steve, a three-time All-Patriot League centerfielder, graduated in 1995 and was selected in 1996. He hit .373 with 30 RBIs as a senior for Navy's 1995 league champions, who also played in the NCAA tourney. He played most of that season with a torn ligament in his knee."These guys (Staubach, Bellino, Robinson) are legends at the Naval Academy," Steve Mauro said. "You're always in awe of who they were and what they contributed to the Academy. To even have your picture on the same wall is definitely an honor. They were the best at their sports that we had. It's an honor to be considered part of what they are part of."

"I'm pretty excited," Tony Mauro said. "It's a big accomplishment. It's nothing I set a goal to do. Looking back on it, it makes you feel good that you did something well and people noticed what you were doing."

Mauro said it was especially gratifying to join his brother in the Hall of Fame.

"Being in there with him, I guess it makes it more special for my parents (Sal and Michele)," he said. "It's never happened before; never been done. I'm more happy for them than I am for myself. They were so proud."

"It'll be there forever," Steve Mauro said. "It's an accomplishment. We're proud of each other that we were able to do it."

Sal Mauro said he and his wife are indeed very happy with their sons' success.

"I did not miss a game last year," he said. "I put 12,000 miles on my car going to Navy games. And we never missed an Adrean Post game." Longtime Adrean Post manager Mike Macchione appreciated the Mauros very much.

"They're great kids and it's a beautiful family; one of my all-time favorite families and two of the more talented players we've had," Macchione said. "They played in an era for us when there was a lot of consistency and a lot of talent.

"Tony was an outstanding hitter. I think he could hit at any level. Steve was a dominant player, a power hitter. He could break a game open at any time at all."

Tony Mauro is an ensign stationed at Little Creek Naval Amphibious Base in Virginia Beach, Va., and is the communications officer on the USS Tortuga, an LSD 46 amphibious warfare ship. The ship carries helicopters and amphibious vehicles with a crew of 250 and the capability of transporting 200 Marines.

Mauro will be assigned to the Tortuga until March of 2002. His minimum five-year Navy commitment runs through 2004.

Steve Mauro, a lieutenant, returned from assignment in Sicily last week. A civil engineer, he is now an assistant company commander for an Amphibious Construction Battalion(Seabees) at Little Creek. His five-year commitment to the Navy is complete, but he intends to remain in the service for now.