UTICA, N.Y. - The Greater Utica Sports Hall of Fame announced Tuesday that longtime football coach Thomas A. Schoen and the 1958 South Utica Little League All Star team that won the New York State Championship that year were selected for enshrinement in the Class of 2012.

“Tom Schoen IS Whitesboro sports,” said Lou Parrotta, President of the Greater Utica Sports Hall of Fame. “He embodies everything a Hall of Famer is. In addition, we are pleased to induct the 1958 South Utica Little League team that won a remarkable 11 straight games to secure a state championship and at such a young age.”

Schoen, a standout football player at Ithaca College, has been Whitesboro High School’s head football coach since 1974 amassing a record of 230-113-3 over that 38-year span. His teams have won 13 National Conference Championships, 21 consecutive (24 overall) Section III Playoff Appearances, 8 Section III Class A Football Championships, and 3 New York State Regional Championships. He has received numerous honors and awards including the 2004 Section III Football Coach of the Year Award, the 2007 New York State Coaches Association Honor Award, and twice named the Mohawk Valley Coach of the Year (2009 & 2010). A 20-year member of the Section III Football Committee member, Schoen was inducted in to the Whitesboro Teachers Hall of Fame in 2003 and the Ithaca College Sports Hall of Fame in 2011.

The 1958 South Utica Little League All Star team, managed by Jack Barkett and coached by John Ronchetto and Frank Borden, went 11-1 in the single-elimination tournament format. The team, affectionately known as the “Cinderella All Stars,” lost their last game to the Darien, Connecticut All Stars led by future Major League Baseball pitcher Joe LaHoud in the Northeast Regionals. The team included: Barry Donalty, Gary Stevens, Jim Fluty, Dan McCabe, Tony Karrat, Jack Faniglula, John Covel, Mike Sweeney, Tom Petronio, Johnny White, Rich Joseph, Bob Hollenbeck, Bill Dehnert, Joe Hopkins, Dick Benz, and Bob Byrd.

“This year’s class may be the smallest in the history of the Hall of Fame, but it proves that selection for enshrinement is, rightly, a difficult achievement to attain,” added Parrotta. “Tom Schoen and the Little League All Star team have certainly earned this high honor beyond a doubt.”

This year’s induction ceremony and dinner will be held on June 3, 2012 at the Radisson Hotel-Utica Centre.