Ten individuals along with two teams will be inducted into the Johnston High School Athletic Hall of Fame on Sunday, October 20. The induction ceremony for the Class of 2024, which is free and open to the public, will be held at 3 p.m.in the Johnston Senior High School auditorium.
This year’s honorees:

INDIVIDUALS
Gary Salzillo (Class of 1983/Contributor), Tim Tedesco (Class of 2014/Athlete), Jake Coro (Class of 2016/Athlete), Nick Raposo (Class of 2016/Athlete), Jon Soto (Class of 2016/Athlete), John Willette (Class of 2016/Athlete), Kyle Nelson (Class of 2017/Athlete), Ryan Yankee (Class of 2017/Athlete), Zach Clesas (Class of 2018/Athlete) and Chris Corsinetti, Coach/Contributor (Gary V. Mazzie Lifetime Achievement Award). TEAMS: 1989 Boys Hockey Team and 1995 Slow-pitch Softball Team
Eight of the 10 individuals slated for induction are talented athletes whose long lists of achievements include earning All-State honors during their high school playing careers. In the case of Kyle Nelson, he earned that honor more than once - and in more than one sport. Johnston High School’s 2017 Male Athlete of the Year, Nelson was a four-sport athlete, competing in football, basketball, baseball and track and field. Captain of the football team in his junior and senior year, he was the Panthers’ quarterback but earned a spot on the All-State second team for his contributions at punter and also saw time at wide receiver. But it was in track and field where Nelson made his most prominent mark in the JHS history books. He earned multiple All-Class and All-Division honors in the discus and shot put, as well as second-team All-State honors in the discus after finishing second at the 2017 Outdoor State Championships. Upon graduating, Nelson owned school records in the discus (149 feet), shot put (46.9 feet), javelin (139 feet), hammer (135.4 feet) and weight throw (20.10 feet).
Four other individuals slated for induction – Nick Raposo, Jake Coro, John Willette and Zach Clesas – were all teammates at one point or another during their baseball careers at Johnston High School, helping the Panthers enjoy a fair amount of success on the diamond along the way.
Coro and Raposo were members of the 2013 team that won the Region 4 Tournament and advanced to the Division I Semifinals, where Johnston lost to eventual state champion Bishop Hendricken. Coro – an infielder and pither - and Raposo – a catcher, who is currently playing in the Toronto Blue Jays organization - also helped Johnston to a second-place finish to La Salle Academy in the 2014 Region 4 Championship.
In 2016 – Raposo and Coro’s final season with the team, which by then also included Clesas, as well as Willette, a shortstop who transferred to Johnston in his senior year – the Panthers won the Region 4 Tournament title and advanced to the Division I State Semifinals, where they fell to South Kingstown. Coro, Raposo and Willette all received first-team All-State selections for their performances that season, while Clesas earned second-team All-State honors as a sophomore pitcher.
Twice named the Boys’ Basketball Athlete of the Year by the Sun Rise, in both 2016 and 2017, as well as a second-team All-State selection, Ryan Yankee established himself as one of the top offensive players in the state over the course of his career at Johnston. Equally as smooth whether he was at the free throw line or behind the three-point line, the shooting guard, finished with 1,656 career points, averaging 25.2 points per game and netting 478 points in his senior year alone.
Tim Tedesco, a 2014 graduate, and Jon Soto, a 2016 graduate, enjoyed successful wrestling careers at Johnston High School. They both earned second-team All-State honors after advancing to the championship round of their respective weight classes - Tedesco at 138 pounds and Soto at 126 pounds.
The Class of 2024 inductees also will include Gary Salzillo. A 1983 graduate of Johnston High School, he has been a dedicated booster and supporter not only of the high school’s athletic programs, but youth sports of all levels in the town. In addition to serving as a coach and/or league organizer of different sports at the youth level, Salzillo’s many generous contributions over the years have included the installation of the digital sign located on the Atwood Avenue side of the high school that promotes events and happenings at the school. The owner of Northeast Auto Body has also donated electronic scoreboards for the Johnston Indoor Recreation Center and the town’s Little League baseball field.
Chris Corsinetti, the final individual inductee, will receive the Gary V. Mazzie Lifetime Achievement Award, named in memory of the late teacher, coach and athletic administrator who was the driving force behind the establishment of the high school’s athletic hall of fame. Corsinetti has contributed to Johnston athletics in many different ways and on many different levels for more than 30 years, beginning with coaching and officiating youth basketball for the recreation department as a teenager. He then coached the middle school girls basketball team before becoming an assistant coach of the girls high school basketball team for many years under the late Danny Mazzulla. After serving as Mazzulla’s assistant for 15 years, Corsinetti took over as head coach in 2011, serving in that role until 2019. Over those 23 seasons, Corsinetti helped lead the Lady Panthers to multiple Division II Championships and a Final Four appearance in the 2018 State Tournament. After retiring as Johnston’s head coach, Corsinetti stepped in a short time later to lead the Ferri boys basketball team when they didn’t have a coach. In addition, the co-owner of Hartford Paving with his brother Anthony has donated many resources to the upkeep of the town’s various athletic facilities and fields dating back to when their late father owned the company.
Two teams also will be inducted with this year’s class - Johnston’s 1988-89 boys ice hockey team and the 1995 Slow-pitch Softball Team. The hockey team, coached by the late Dave Adamonis, posted an 11-3-0 record during the regular season, then went on to capture the 1989 Suburban Division Championship, sweeping North Providence in the best-of-three semifinal series and beating Ponaganset, two games to one in the title series.
Coached by JHS Hall of Famer Janet Zucchi, Johnston’s 1995 softball team, which boasted three All-Staters in Kelly King, Dawn Gardiner and Heather Grzych and several other talented All-Division selections, qualified for the Class A Slow-pitch Tournament after capturing the Class A-Two regular-season division title. The Panthers then finished third in the 1996 Class A Tournament with largely the same lineup. Those would mark two of Johnston’s final seasons of competing in slow-pitch before making the switch to the Rhode Island Interscholastic League’s fast-pitch softball division in 1999.
Any questions regarding the event may be emailed to jhshofevents@gmail.com.