South Side High School's Howard plays for a cause

James Howard, a senior All-County outfielder from South Side High School, participated in the 2011 Grand Slam Challenge last Friday at Farmingdale State College.

The game featured the top high school seniors from Long Island in a Nassau vs. Suffolk all-star game. It was set up by the Ryan T. Caulfield Foundation which is a non-profit organization that raises money for medical research on the autoimmune disease Lupus.

This year, Howard led South Side to a 12-4 regular-season record which was good enough to win the conference title. His .410 batting average and 31 RBI were both team best. The Cyclones reached the Class A quarterfinals where they lost to Division. Howard categorized it as a successful season and said he was happy with his team’s accomplishments as well as his personal achievements.

Last summer, Howard took batting practice at Citi Field. He showed his raw power by hitting two home runs in the Mets ballpark that has become infamously difficult for hitters to hit the ball out of. He plans to continue his baseball career at Tufts University in Massachusetts where he plans to study either economics or political science.

As for being selected to play in the annual all-star game, Howard was humbled. “It’s pretty awesome; I’ve never really played in front of a crowd like this. Especially coming from South Side which is such a lacrosse school, it’s nice to have baseball in the spotlight,” he said. As the starting left fielder, Howard helped Nassau to a 12-8 win.

The RTC Foundation was set up in honor of Ryan Caulfield, a former catcher for Bethpage High School. Caulfield won the 1994 Diamond Award, given annually to the best all-around player in Nassau. He still holds the county record for RBI in a season with 58. Caulfield died at the age of 23 in February 2000, after a five-year battle with Lupus.

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