Triple threat

As Baldwin’s girls’ basketball team heads into the Nassau County Class AA final on Saturday, senior standout Jade Aponte, whose athletic ability is not limited to the basketball court, looks to lead the Lady Bruins to a second straight county championship.

Aponte, 18, has been a staple on the soccer field, the basketball court and the softball diamond since the spring of 2011. Baldwin Athletic Director Ed Ramirez calls her a “rare breed,” as a three-sport athlete in 2015. “You used to see a lot of them,” Ramirez said. “You’re hard-pressed to find someone that’s a three-sport athlete, never mind excel the way she does.

“She’s a great example of what we want our athletes to be,” he added.

Aponte started her varsity career on the softball team as an eighth-grader, and has not slowed down since. As a middle school student, she recalled, she was intimidated, but was welcomed by the upperclassmen, and helped the team win a county championship. “I definitely got used to the competitiveness,” she said, “because it was different from middle school.”

Softball coach Tom Llewllyn, who has been in Baldwin since 2002, has high praise for his starting shortstop. “I would say she is the best all-around female athlete I have seen come through the Baldwin halls,” he said. “She has been extremely reliable as a player for us.”

Aponte has been competing since she was old enough to walk, she said, crediting her older brother, Louie, and younger sister, Lexie, with nursing her competitive drive. “Both of my siblings try to compete with me,” she said. “They try to say they’re better than me.”

The competition at home built a solid foundation for her varsity career. According to Baldwin girls’ basketball coach Tom Catapano, that foundation has rubbed off on her teammates. “Jade is kind of a role model for [her younger teammates],” he said. “She comes to practice every day, she works tremendously hard, she is selfless, she puts the team before herself and has played in a ton of big games, so she has big-game experience. She just has been a pleasure to coach for the last four years.”