The Section IV Athletic Hall of Fame has recently announced it’s latest induction class. Among the names on the list were two Chenango County standouts, Steven “Joe” Alger (Norwich, 2001) and Mark Delello (Bainbridge-Guilford, 1975). Both were officially inducted this past Saturday, Feb 27, at the Floyd L. Maines Arena in Binghamton.
•Alger earned eight varsity letters during his four years in Norwich, including three in football, two in basketball, two in track and field, and one in baseball. He was a league, as well as county all-star in three of these four sports; football, basketball and track.
In football, Alger was the all-around package. He could do it all; rush, block, carry, anything and everything. During his junior year, as running back for the Purple Tornado, Alger rushed for 985 yards and nine touchdowns. Following that up as a senior, He ran for 1,080 yards, along with eight touchdowns. He finished his high school career with over 2,000 rushing yards, averaging 7.6 yards per carry.
When it came to basketball, Alger was looked up to as a leader. In just two seasons of varsity play, he scored 515 career points, averaging 11.7 per game, while also pulling down 172 boards and picking up 59 steals.
Alger’s experience as a multi-sport athlete definitely helped when it came to the track team. He placed second in Section IV in the 100-meter dash in both his junior and senior seasons. Alger qualified for the New York State Tournament in the 100-meter dash during his senior year, and also anchored the 400-meter relay, which placed fourth in the state that same year.
Along with being an all-star athlete, Alger was also an academic all-star, and an honor student. He was a positive role model whenever he took to the field, court, track or classroom. Alger was described as “a real pleasure to coach.”
•Delello was an extremely talented three-sport athlete who played baseball, football and basketball for B-G from 1972-1975.
His character was always of the highest caliber, and he was depicted as a “clutch performer, who rose to the occasion when it mattered most.”
Mark was so talented that he was needed on both ends of the field for his football team. He played as a defensive back and as a running back. He was named to the first-team All-Sus East and as an All-Chenango County defensive back in 1973-74. He was also named to the first-team All-Sus League defense in 1974.
In baseball, Delello also enjoyed great success. He took home the title of B-G’s most valuable player during both his junior and senior spells. He had a tremendous senior year, and was awarded multiple honors, including being unanimously selected as the All-Sus East first-team shortstop and was bestowed B-G’s most coachable accolade to go along with his MVP status.
After his high school years, Delello went on to play third base for Ithaca College, and played 18 years for the Otsego Macs semi-pro baseball team, amassing over 1,100 hits in his career.