8 athletes, 1 team inducted in ORR Hall of Fame

Matthew Bernat
Jun 16, 2015
Miguel Brito excelled on the basketball as a student at ORR. Brito and several others were recently named to the school's Athletic Hall of Fame. COURTESY DAN WHITE

Miguel Brito graduated from Old Rochester Regional High School in 1966 after setting 10 basketball records. That included two games where the former Mattapoisett resident scored 41 points by himself.

The newly inducted ORR Athletic Hall of Fame said lessons learned on the court set him up for success throughout his life.

“Growing up in Mattapoisett, there was a set of values that everyone was expected to follow and a strong community,” Brito said. “That really prepared me to go off into the world and take on some important things. I’ve had a lot of great opportunities.”

On Saturday night, Brito was one of eight individuals and one team enshrined in the Hall of Fame, which marked its fifth anniversary.

The lead founder and CEO of Philip’s Academy Charter School in Newark, New Jersey, Brito said his interest in education and sports was fostered at ORR and continues to this day.

He recently signed a three-year contract to continue leading the academy where the focus is on educating children from low-income families in Newark using a multifaceted approach.

“While we’re giving kids a good academic education, we’re also paying attention to nutrition and overall wellness,” Brito said. “It’s a tough city, there’s incredible crime, but we’re trying to change kids’ lives.”

He’s also served as the director of English as a second language for the U.S. Embassy in Portugal and has more than 25 years of coaching experience at schools in Rhode Island, New Jersey and Massachusetts.

At ORR, Brito excelled in several sports, including football and golf, earning an MVP award for the latter team.

But on the basketball court he was unstoppable.

During the 1965 and 1966 seasons he led the now defunct Narragansett League in scoring. As a junior he averaged 18.6 points per game and upped that number to 22.3 during his senior year.

Twice during his high school career he scored 41 points, once against Nantucket and another time against Somerset.

After graduation Brito played basketball as a freshman at UMass Amherst.

On Saturday, he attended the event with his wife and three children. Brito said his kids, two sons and a daughter, were skeptical of their father’s athletic past.

“They don’t really believe I was a great athlete,” he joked.

Brito credited the school’s coaches and his mentors for creating an environment for students to excel.

“It makes me happy to be able to return and say thanks more than anything else,” he said.

Read on for more information about Hall of Fame inductees.

Miguel Brito excelled on the basketball as a student at ORR. Brito and several others were recently named to the school's Athletic Hall of Fame. COURTESY DAN WHITE
As one of ORR’s first standout three-sport athletes, Bill Garcia played football, basketball and baseball from 1961 to 1965. Starting in ORR’s first ever football game as a freshman, Garcia played running back on offense and safety on defense. He knocked down what would have been the game-tying touchdown pass in the end zone to secure a 7-0 Bulldog victory in the 1964 Cranberry Bowl game against Wareham High School. Garcia was a three-year varsity starter on the basketball team. He was captain of the 1964 Baseball Team as well.
Bill Knapton ('71) was a co-captain, an MVP and a powerful running back for the Bulldogs. He led his team to many victories, including a 14-0 victory over Wareham in the 1970 Cranberry Bowl. Knapton dominated on the track where he broke records, earned MVP honors, and won the Kenneth Monteiro Memorial Award and the Lester S. Texeira Athletic Award. With 187 points, he eclipsed the school points record held by Peter Trow. Knapton won 27 of 31 events that spring and joined Trow representing the state of Massachusetts at the Junior Chamber of Commerce Track Meet in Minneapolis. He lives in Mattapoisett with his wife, Karen. Their two sons attend Bridgewater State, both having distinguished themselves in ORR athletics as well.
The 1997 girls soccer team had an impressive record of 23 wins and 1 loss season record, which included matches against larger Division 1 schools and 17 shutouts amongst the 24 games played. The team allowed 7 goals throughout the entire season, outscoring opponents 95 to 7 and going further in the state tournament than any other South Coast Conference soccer team ever. The 1997 soccer team was the league champion that year as well as each of the prior three seasons, amassing an unprecedented four year record of 75 wins, six losses and five ties. Coached by Rory McFee, the team was led by captains Kate O’Shaughnessy, Kate Ostenberg and Sarah Borque.
Jack Eddy coached at ORR for 30 consecutive years from 1971 to 2001. He coached a record 69 ORR athletic seasons, 39 of those varsity seasons along with 30 junior varsity seasons in three different sports: baseball, basketball and cross country. In baseball, he coached six years of junior varsity (1971-1976) and 23 years of varsity (1977-1999), capturing six league championships and 18 tournament qualifications and amassing an overall record of 320 wins and 175 losses. In basketball, he coached 24 years of junior varsity (1971-1994) and six years of varsity (1995-2001) with five tournament qualifications and an MIAA South Sectional Championship in 1999. In cross country, Jack led the program for 10 seasons.
Jason Antonio ('95) excelled on the basketball court and on the football field. A four-year varsity starter and captain of the Bulldog basketball team, he broke Antone Mello’s record as the school’s all-time leading scorer and was named a South Coast Conference all star three times, a “Standard Times” all star three times, and a “Boston Globe” all star three times. On the football field, he played wide receiver and defensive back on the 1994 Super Bowl team. He was voted “most athletic” by his peers. Antonio went on to be the leading scorer on the UMass Dartmouth basketball team during his junior and senior years. He scored well over 1,000 points during his college career and was chosen MVP of the 1998 Little East Conference tournament. He is a high school teacher and football coach and lives in Fall River with his family.
Jeremy Medeiros ('93) was one of ORR’s most gifted, all-around athletes in the 1990s.  Co-captain in both football and baseball, he was a three-sport all star in football, baseball, and indoor track. His coaches referred to him as a “natural hitter” in both football and baseball. As a safety on the Bulldog football team, he anchored the defense with his tackling skills, while in baseball he completed his entire junior season without a single strikeout. As a tailback, he rushed for a single season school record 1,303 yards and was named to the “Boston Globe’s” All Star Team. Medeiros, his wife Kristen, and their two children reside in San Diego.
Josh Bender ('97) is widely considered the most dominant shot put thrower in ORR track and field program history. He holds the school record in the shot put (59’ 8.5”,) was a seven-time South Coast Conference champion and a six-time Eastern Massachusetts Class D champion. He won the Massachusetts all state shot put title three times, was New England champion his junior year and runner-up his senior year, was a Loucks Games champion, and placed seventh in the Indoor National Scholastic Meet his senior year. His dual meet shot put record was 42-0 during his sophomore, junior and senior years. He also threw the discus 156 feet and competed in the 100 yard dash. Bender is an alumnus of Penn State University and a member of the Penn State Varsity Club as a shot put and hammer throw athlete.
Kate Bauer Souza ('78) was a leader in high school girls’ sports in the mid to late 1970s as a four-year varsity starter in both volleyball and softball. She was a league and “Standard Times” all star three years in a row. During her volleyball career she brought her team to numerous victories. In 1977, the Lady Bulldog team was ranked as the No. 1 seed in the Division I tournament. She continues to contribute to ORR athletics as the 29-year coaching veteran for the field hockey team, as well as a former softball and volleyball coach.
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