Salgado, Rocca to be honored after junior varsity game
GILROY – On Friday night, October 31, Gilroy High School will be honoring the 2003 inductees into the Athletics Hall of Fame.
This year’s inductees are John Salgado, Class of 1990, and Jack Rocca, Class of 1935. The ceremony will take place immediately following the junior varsity football game at around 6:30 p.m.
Salgado played four years of varsity baseball – taking All-League honors as a freshman, sophomore and junior before getting injured his senior year. Salgado hols Gilroy High Schol records for wins in a season and career, innings in a career, strikeouts in a season and career, and earned run average in a season and a career.
The standout pitcher – who holds a 27-11 career record highlighted by a 12-1 mark as a junior – was the Central Coast Section Freshman of the Year in 1987, the CCS Sophomore of the Year in 1988, and the CCS Junior of the Year as well as the Monterey Bay League’s Most Valuable Player in 1989.
Rocca – who was part of the 1933 league champion football team – earned a varsity letter in four sports during each of his four years at Gilroy High School. He was a defensive end on the football team, a forward on the basketball team, an outfielder on the baseball team, and ran the 880 on the track team.
The all-around athlete went on to play football at San Jose State. After college, Rocca served his country in the United States Navy during WWII and went on to work for the Employment Development Department for the State of California for 40 years.
