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JULY 2010 WEDNESDAY, JULY 28, 2010 Is it football yet?!?
Players, coaches show dedication with camp attendance LAGRANGE – Somebody once asked me what I thought the difference was between today’s athlete and players from a generation or two ago.  I said that today’s athlete was bigger, faster and stronger, if only because they were more well-conditioned – there was no Stairmaster or elliptical machine back when Mickey Mantle was playing.
And in some respects, I said that I felt there was more of a dedication among today’s athletes. Not just the pros, but collegians, high school players and youth sports participants as well. I have no hard scientific evidence to back that up; it’s just an observation. But it’s an observation rooted in seeing things like this week’s Mid-Hudson Football Camp at Red Wing Park in LaGrange, where seven local high schools gathered on three fields for a few days of intense workouts and scrimmages. There was a time when NFL players showed up in late July to camp and used those five or six weeks to get themselves in shape for the season. Now they’re expected to come to camp in shape, and this has trickled down to the high school level. With the exception of very few players who had other, unbreakable commitments, student-atheltes from John Jay, Poughkeepsie, Roosevelt, Highland, Millbrook, Spackenkill and Newburgh Free Academy came to camp this week ready to play. Really ready to play, if you go by the big-time sticks and blocks that were taking place in the scrimmage between Highland and Millbrook. It was an interesting dynamic, to be sure. The players from all teams were dressed in helmets and shoulder pads, and wore shorts. Most drills were conducted at half-speed. It was 90 minutes of coaches teaching their own players, followed by 60 minutes of scrimmaging – which most definitely was not done at half-speed. It really was dedication in action, from the coaches to the players. While many of their friends and colleagues were hitting the beach, these boys were hitting each other. Millbrook coach Sean Keenan, for instance, coaches his son Peter. Keenan’s wife and daughter were enjoying an annual two-week vacation with other members of the extended family; Sean was busy putting in two new offenses for Peter and the rest of the Blazers. But that’s the way it is today for high school programs across the country. The season ends in October, or, hopefully, sometime in November. There’s a brief break and then it’s straight into an off-season conditioning program that includes copious amounts of time in the weight room. There are informal practices, formal camps like the Mid-Hudson Football Camp, and then the beginning of official practices in mid-August. It’s practically year-round, with these mini-camps being at the crux of the off-season workouts. “This camp is a great opportunity to get potential members of this year's team together and determine team strengths and areas of needed improvement for the upcoming season,” said new John Jay coach Tom O’Hare, who takes over for Brian Walsh, who has moved on to Our Lady of Lourdes. “Every year's team has their own identity and style, and this camp offers a chance to get a sneak peak at what it may be for us this year. It offers a chance to compete in a controlled setting.” Watch out for Jay. On Monday night, I watched as new quarterback Cory Bennett was slinging the ball all over the place with tight, crisp spirals, and long balls that whipped through a brisk breeze with no problem. I watched new Roosevelt coach Brian Bellino establish his commanding presence immediately during the workouts, while his running back, Errol Evans, looked as sharp as ever. And although I felt a momentary sense of melancholy for the Poughkeepsie offensive and defensive linemen who were forced to do five up-downs after being a few seconds late in getting back to drills – yeah, I was there once too, fellas – it nonetheless was a lesson by the Pioneer coaches, a teaching moment. Football is a game of structure and attention to detail. Inattention breeds bad habits. A few seconds late in getting back to drills can lead to a few seconds late in hitting the hole, a few seconds late in reaching the backfield, and those few seconds can make all the difference. It’s hot. It’s supposed to be 93 degrees today. I applaud these boys and tip my cap. And for some strange reason, I can’t wait for football to start again. (Video essay shot in HD and edited by Zach Johnson. If you have any problems viewing the video, please change the settings from 360p to 480p or 720p.) TUESDAY, JULY 27, 2010 Are you ready for some football?!? 
Summer camp gives local teams a leg up By Rich Thomaselli HVSR LaGRANGE – As far as summer workouts go, you couldn’t ask for better. A nice, cooling breeze blew across the fields at Red Wing Park in LaGrange on Monday night, with the setting sun making it even more tolerable for seven area high school football teams getting ready to scrimmage. You read that right. Scrimmage. In July. In helmets and shoulder pads. This isn’t your father’s high school football program anymore. These days, like college and the pros, it’s nearly a year-round effort with off-season weight training, workouts, and this – the Mid-Hudson Football Camp. The four-day affair at the sprawling Red Wing Park complex was a study in tight, controlled drills, teaching and some good action as John Jay, Poughkeepsie, Roosevelt, Highland, Millbrook, Spackenkill and Newburgh hit the fields. “I’m excited. We have kind of a young team coming up but this makes me ready for the season,” Spackenkill quarterback K.J. Williams said. “Our team is clicking right now. We ran the ball well and I’m happy with our offensive line.” And while these certainly were scrimmages in every sense of the word – helmets and shoulder pads only, no time kept, no score, coaches obliging their fellow coaches when asked if they could run a certain offense or defense – it was still competitive. Real competitive. Players from Highland and Millbrook mixed it up and jawed back and forth during a controlled, three-way scrimmage that also featured Spackenkill. At one point, it prompted coaches from both sides to admonish the players and advise them to “just play football.” But it certainly portends the eagerness everybody has to hit the field for real. First practice for Section Nine is Aug. 16; Section One starts four days later. “This is a great advantage,” Millbrook coach Sean Keenan said. “Us being a small school, we don’t have a lot of depth. So we get to go against other teams and it’s a better look at your team.” The entire night was scripted down to the minute. In fact, at one point, a Poughkeepsie assistant coach putting offensive and defensive linemen through their paces gave the players a two-minute water break. When the group re-assembled, the coach quietly said, “Gentlemen, these are the little things that make a difference, that make champions. When we say it’s a two-minute break, we don’t mean two minutes and 10 seconds.” And with that, the players did five up-downs as a reminder. The first 90 minutes were spent on individual drills and workouts. The Pioneers, Section One Class A runner-ups from 2009, worked on blocking drills and passing/defense drills before joining Newburgh, Jay and Roosevelt in a scrimmage. “A lot of the programs in the area are doing the same thing,” Poughkeepsie coach Ken Barger said. “You see more and more of these camps where teams are getting in and doing their work. We can see how kids compete and how they learn and listen. That’s a big part of it.” Millbrook actually began informal workouts on July 7. Keenan said the camp has allowed him to quickly implement and test everything he and his staff have put in so far. “We’ve put in two or three new offenses,” he said. “I’d say we have almost all of it in; now we just have to fine-tune it.” The seven teams at this week’s camp feature three new coaches – Tom O’Hare at John Jay, Brian Bellino at Roosevelt and Clinton DeSouza at Spackenkill. “This puts us miles ahead,” DeSouza said. “We have half the offensive playbook in and we’re testing out our base defense. When we come back that first day, we can put in the wrinkles. We can put in blitzes and wrinkles to our plays. So it does put us miles ahead come August 16.” (Poughkeepsie High School's offensive and defensive linemen work out Monday night during the Mid-Hudson Football Camp. Photo by Zach Johnson.) | |
| 'Gades drop third straight FISHKILL – Now the Hudson Valley Renegades are streaking in the other direction. The wrong direction. Aberdeen scored three times in the top of the eighth inning on Monday night, and the IronBirds beat the Renegades for the third consecutive game, 5-3, in front of 4,908 fans at Dutchess Stadium. Renegades designated hitter Kyle Holloway tied a Renegades season-high with two doubles in the game and scored twice. Hudson Valley leadoff man Robby Price was 2-for-5 with his first career triple and a pair of runs batted in, reaching base via hit or walk for the 22nd straight game. Mayo Acosta also collected two hits for the Renegades, who are now 16-19 after winning five in a row to reach .500. Aberdeen’s Austin Knight singled four times, tying the single game season high for a Renegades opponent. IronBirds first baseman David Anderson homered for the second straight night. Trent Mummey’s two-run double keyed the visitors’ rally in the pivotal eighth inning.
Renegades reliever Steven Hiscock tossed 2.1 innings, struck out three, and did not walk a batter in his fifth consecutive scoreless outing since July 9. In those five games, spanning 11.2 innings, Hiscock has allowed just five hits, walked one, and struck out 15.
| | For DeSouza, football camp is a get-to-know-you session By Rich Thomaselli HVSR LaGRANGE – For the Spackenkill High School football team, the four-day Mid-Hudson Football Camp is more than just a chance to get a head-start on the season. 
Spackenkill, in green, goes head to head with Millbrook during Monday night's Mid-Hudson Football Camp. Photo by Zach Johnson |
It’s a get-to-know-you for first-year coach Clinton DeSouza. “This is great,” DeSouza said. DeSouza will be taking over for former coach Don Niese. The Spartans were 3-6 last season and 1-7 in 2008. The new coach said things “won’t be drastically different from a lot of the stuff we had in place last year. We’re kind of honing it into a more aggressive style, a more ground-and-pound style, because I feel like we have the size up front and we have the running backs with experience.” In a three-way scrimmage with Highland and Millbrook on Monday night, Spackenkill did some nice work offensively. “It’s nice to come out in the summer to see where you are physically,” DeSouza said. “It’s nice to scrimmage other teams see where your team is physically. It’s a good chance to get the kinks out. It’s nice to see who’s coming to the weight room in the summer and see it pay off here.” |
MONDAY, JULY 26, 2010 Marist damages hearing postponed Scheduling conflicts prevent Marist, JMU officials from $$$ assessment By Rich Thomaselli HVSR A local judge has postponed today’s hearing in Poughkeepsie that would have assessed monetary damages to Marist College, after the school won its lawsuit earlier this week in a case involving former coach Matt Brady.  Michael V. Curti, principal law clerk for New York State Supreme Court Justice Charles D. Wood, told Hudson Valley Spor ts Report on Friday that the hearing will be held at a later date. Scheduling conflicts prevented today’s hearing. Wood ruled in favor of Marist’s lawsuit against James Madison University and the Commonwealth of Virginia, saying that Marist had adequately articulated its claims that JMU and the Commonwealth had engaged in “tortiuous interference” with a contract, causing damages to Marist College. The suit centered around Brady, who coached at Marist for four years before abruptly leaving at the end of the 2008 season. The civil lawsuit filed in July 2009 argued that Brady breached his contract with Marist by not getting written consent before negotiating with JMU and by maintaining contact with players he had recruited while at Marist, after accepting the head coaching job at JMU. Brady, in fact, brought four players he had recruited to Marist with him to JMU. The next phase is the damages hearing, and Marist will certainly be prepared to show the judge that the departure of Brady and the recruits who followed him to JMU has severely damaged the program. For one, the Red Foxes went from top to bottom after Brady left. Brady took over the program in 2004-05 and went 11-17 in his first year. In 2005-06 the team was 19-10 and made it to the semifinals of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament. The following year, Marist was 25-9, won the MAAC regular season title and won the program’s first-ever postseason game, a victory on a road against Oklahoma State in the NIT. In 2007-08, his final season, Brady led the Foxes to an 18-14 mark. Brady left at the end of that season –leaving new coach Chuck Martin with little time to recruit – and the Red Foxes went 10-23 in 2008-09 and a program-worst 1-29 in 2009-10. Now throw in things like a reduction in attendance/ticket sales, a subsequent loss of concession and merchandise sales at games and more, and Marist certainly has a case. | |
| Renegades drop second straight FISHKILL – The Hudson Valley Renegades had been cruising along with a season-best five-game winning streak before their nemesis showed up on the schedule.  Now it’s back-to-back losses and back to two games under .500. For the sixth time in nine games this season, the Aberdeen IronBirds knocked off the Renegades, this time by a 5-2 count on Sunday night before a Dutchess Stadium crowd of 3,778. The two teams meet again this evening at The Dutch. Winning pitcher Scott Copeland threw six scoreless innings at Hudson Valley, allowing just five hits while striking out four and walking two. Renegades pitcher Devin Fuller suffered the loss, allowing four runs and six hits in 3.1 innings. Phil Wunderlich mustered the only offense the Renegades had, smacking a two-run double in the eighth inning. Kenneth Kelly had a solid relief outing for the ‘Gades, with 3.2 one-hit innings. | | Successful ESGs conclude return BUFFALO – After a one-year hiatus, and despite some persistent rain on Saturday, the return of the Empire State Games was an unqualified success. A total of 778 medals were handed out in Buffalo over the last four days, including 85 for the Hudson Valley region. Western New York captured the overall medal haul with 241 medals. During Sunday’s final day of competition, Hudson Valley’s scholastic women’s basketball, scholastic field hockey and scholastic women’s basketball all won team gold medals, while the scholastic women’s soccer team took home the bronze. Both the Poughkeepsie Journal’s Phil Strum and the Middletown Times-Herald Record’s Ken McMillan were in Buffalo for their respective newspapers, and while we normally are not in the habit of directing your attention elsewhere – especially when neither media outlet gives the HVSR its props on our numerous breaking stories J – it’s a kinder, gentler, less snarky HVSR, and we would be remiss if we didn’t point out that both papers did a nice job of chronicling area athletes at the Games. OK, that last part about being less snarky isn't true, but they did do a nice job. Check out the Journal coverage here, and the Record's coverage here. |
THURSDAY, JULY 22, 2010 Empire State Games rise again Annual competition returns after one-year layoff
AMHERST – After an ugly, nightmarish 2009 in which the Empire State Games – scheduled to be held in the Hudson Valley – were cancelled due to the state’s budget woes, the annual Olympic-style event is back. And 5,000 athletes celebrated the return on Wednesday night in a Buffalo suburb. The competitors, coaches and officials marched into the University of Buffalo stadium, the torch was lit and Third Eye Blind rocked the house, marking a triumphant return of the ESGs. “The athletes competing in the Empire State Games truly exemplify the spirit of the great state of New York – disciplined, hard-working and competitive,” Governor David A. Paterson said in a statement. “I am certain the athletes' winning attitudes will serve them well not only as the take the field, but as they become the leaders of our communities.” Founded in 1978 by then-New York Gov. Hugh Carey, the Empire State Games were the nation's first state games, since copied by more than 40 other states. The four-day event is set up like the Olympics – competitors are divided into six regions, including Hudson Valley, Adirondack, Central, Long Island, Western and New York City. In 30-plus years, luminaries such as Olympic wrestling medalist Jeff Blatnick, boxers Mike Tyson and Hector Camacho, and future NBA players Chris Mullin, Christian Laettner, Kenny Anderson and Ron Artest, among others, competed in the ESGs. After a successful, first-time run in the Hudson Valley in 2005, when Poughkeepsie and Marist College served as the central host and competition was spread from New Paltz to Newburgh, the Games were scheduled to return to our area last year. But the state couldn’t find the $2.4 million needed to put on the event. After a fiasco-filled suggestion that athletes pay their own way to the tune of $240, local organizers in the Hudson Valley withdrew their host support and the state cancelled the Games. All that, however, was a distant memory on Wednesday night as the pageantry returned. “The Empire State Games is a wonderful opportunity to bring healthy and exciting athletic competition – and thousands of athletes and fans – to the great city of Buffalo. I wish the athletes the best of luck, and hope both the athletes and fans enjoy their time in Western New York,” said Carol Ash, Commissioner of the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, whose office oversees the program. “I also wish to express my gratitude to our sponsors and hosts, whose support is essential to making the Games possible.” First Niagara Financial Group donated $500,000 to help bring back the Summer Games after they were suspended in 2009 due to the state's fiscal crisis. A coalition of other businesses and individuals raised an additional $600,000 to support the competition and opening ceremonies. In addition to the 5,000 athletes, the event normally attracts more than 20,000 visitors and generates an economic impact of approximately $12 million for the local area. The Games will take place primarily at the University of Buffalo, Erie County Community College, Niagara University and Canisius College, as well various other venues in the region. This year marks the fifth time the Games have been held in Buffalo. Athletes compete over a four-day period in 27 different Olympic-style sporting events in Scholastic, Open or Masters divisions. Events for the summer games will include basketball, tennis, boxing, volleyball, softball, baseball, ice hockey, diving, swimming, synchronized swimming, weight lifting, gymnastics, track and field, soccer, cycling, canoe, kayak, lacrosse, judo, archery, wrestling, bowling, field hockey, fencing, shooting and rowing. | |
| Rains postpone Renegades game FISHKILL – Mother Nature has not been kind to the Hudson Valley Renegades this week.  For the second time in as many nights, a torrential downpour prevented the ‘Gades from taking the field at Dutchess Stadium. This time, the rains got a twin-killing.
Hudson Valley was slated to play a doubleheader Wednesday against the Staten Island Yankees – ironically, game one was the completion of a game suspended earlier this year by rain. Call the Renegades at 845-838-0094 for ticket exchange rules and other information. | | MAAC moves women's title game to ESPNU EDISON, N.J. – If the Marist College women’s basketball team is fortunate enough to advance to an eighth consecutive Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship game next season, the Red Foxes will do it in front of a national television audience. The conference announced Wednesday that this season’s MAAC women’s title game will be televised nationally on ESPNU. The game will take place on Monday, March 7 at 1 p.m. at The Arena at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport, Conn, moving from its traditional Sunday slot. This is the first time the championship game will be broadcast on ESPNU. The only other time the women’s basketball final was nationally televised came in 1996, when an ESPN2 audience saw Manhattan topple Fairfield. The MAAC women’s basketball championship game had been played on Sunday every year since 1991, when the men’s and women’s championships were moved to the same site. With the women’s championship game now being played on Monday, there will now be an off day on Sunday following Saturday’s semifinals. The championships will still begin with Thursday opening-round games, which will take place on March 3. This format change was approved by the MAAC Council of Presidents in June. “It’s a great opportunity for the MAAC to move its premier championship game from a regional network to a national platform like ESPNU,” MAAC Commissioner Richard J. Ensor said in a statement released by the conference. “We look forward to the network’s 72.5 million viewers tuning in for MAAC Women’s Basketball.” Marist has won the last five MAAC championships, and has advanced to the conference’s championship game each of the last seven years. ESPNU, which launched in March 2005, has seen a dramatic increase since its inception and is now in more than 72.5 million households. The network and has long-term carriage agreements with all 10 of the top multichannel TV providers – Cablevision, Charter, Comcast, Cox, DirecTV (Channel 208), DISH Network (Channel 141), Mediacom, Time Warner Cable, Verizon FiOS TV and AT&T U-verse.
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Cheerleading a sport? Not so, says this judge The lifelong argument of whether cheerleading is a sport was apparently decided on Wednesday. Well, at least it isn’t a sport at the collegiate level, says a federal judge in Hartford, Conn. Competitive cheerleading is not an official sport that colleges can use to meet gender-equity requirements, the judged ruled in ordering a Connecticut school to keep its women's volleyball team, according to an Associated Press story. Several volleyball players and their coach had sued Quinnipiac University after it announced in March 2009 that it would eliminate the team for budgetary reasons and replace it with a competitive cheer squad. The school contended the cheer squad and other moves kept it in compliance with Title IX, the 1972 federal law that mandates equal opportunities for men and women in athletics. But U.S. District Judge Stefan Underhill disagreed in a ruling that those involved say was the first time the issue has been decided by a judge. “Competitive cheer may, some time in the future, qualify as a sport under Title IX,” Underhill wrote. “Today, however, the activity is still too underdeveloped and disorganized to be treated as offering genuine varsity athletic participation opportunities for students.” Quinnipiac has 60 days to come up with a plan to keep the volleyball team through next season and comply with gender rules. School officials responded to the ruling by saying they would start a women's rugby team, but they refused to answer any questions, discuss the future of other athletic teams or say whether they would continue offering scholarships to competitive cheerleaders.
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TUESDAY, JULY 20, 2010 Judge rules in Marist’s favor | |
| Still to be decided? What a 1-29 record, loss of revenue and tarnished image equals in monetary damages By Rich Thomaselli HVSR What’s next, now that a judge has ruled in favor of Marist College in its lawsuit involving former head men’s basketball coach Matt Brady? An assessment of monetary damages, and it’s going to be quite interesting to hear what New York State Supreme Court Justice Charles D. Wood has to say about that next Monday as Marist will almost certainly argue that its last two poor seasons were a direct result of Brady leaving and violating the clause in his contract that barred him from talking to recruits if he resigned from Marist. Wood ruled in favor of Marist’s lawsuit against James Madison University and the Commonwealth of Virginia, saying that Marist had adequately articulated its claims that JMU and the Commonwealth had engaged in “tortiuous interference” with a contract, causing damages to Marist College. The suit centered around Brady, who coached at Marist for four years before abruptly leaving at the end of the 2008 season. The civil lawsuit filed in July 2009 argued that Brady breached
his contract with Marist by not getting written consent before negotiating with JMU and by maintaining contact with players he had recruited while at Marist, after accepting the head coaching job at JMU. Brady, in fact, brought four players he had recruited to Marist with him to JMU. Wood’s ruling was a default judgment; neither JMU nor the Commonwealth showed up in Dutchess County to argue the case. Both entities, as well as Marist, have been summoned to court on Monday, July 26, for the hearing on damages. “Whether or not they show up to the hearing is anyone’s guess but it’s dangerous if they don’t,” says Gabe Feldman, professor of sports law at Tulane University. Feldman called the case “fascinating,” saying that it’s “not uncommon to have a coach jump from one school to another and have that school file a suit. What is uncommon is that Marist may actually be getting money damages, and that’s rare in these contract-jumping cases.” Indeed, the case could be precedent-setting in college athletics, and Marist will certainly be prepared by Monday to show the judge that Brady’s departure – and convincing four players he recruited to Marist to end up following him to JMU – has severely damaged the program. For one, the Red Foxes went from top to bottom after Brady left. Brady took over the program in 2004-05 and went 11-17 in his first year. In 2005-06 the team was 19-10 and made it to the semifinals of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament. The following year, Marist was 25-9, won the MAAC regular season title and won the program’s first-ever postseason game, a victory on a road against Oklahoma State in the NIT. In 2007-08, his final season, Brady led the Foxes to an 18-14 mark. Brady left at the end of that season –leaving new coach Chuck Martin with little time to recruit – and the Red Foxes went 10-23 in 2008-09 and a program-worst 1-29 in 2009-10. Now throw in things like a reduction in attendance/ticket sales, a subsequent loss of concession and merchandise sales at games and more, and Marist certainly has a case. “That’s certainly how they’ll try to present it,” Feldman said. “Because JMU induced these players to leave, it damaged Marist’s baskeball program in terms of success on the court, in pop0ularity, ticket sales, concessions and every other form of revenue that comes with a winning basketball team. Now, I will say it’s difficult to prove how much better off if three or four players or a coach were still at that school. That’s incredibly speculative.” Marist athletic director Tim Murray, reached while on vacation, said “That’s a question for the lawyers. There’s probably expert witnesses who can what the value of the program is, and what happened to that value (after Brady’s departure). I mean, the damages may go on residually for a couple of years. Our image, the impact on television, the impact on getting exposure, of getting stories in the newspapers … one would think it would be fairly significant.” | | School wins case against former coach Brady, JMU and Commonwealth of Virginia By Rich Thomaselli HVSR In a precedent-setting decision that could change the future structure of college basketball coaching contracts, a judge has ruled in favor of Marist College in its lawsuit involving former men’s basketball coach Matt Brady. New York State Supreme Court Justice Charles D. Wood ruled that the plaintiff, Marist College, met its burden in establish that the defendants in the case – James Madison University and the Commonwealth of Virginia – did indeed commit “tortious interference” against the plaintiff by “inducing Brady to recruit the plaintiff’s basketball prospects in violation of his employment contract” with Marist. Without the legalese: the judge upheld Marist’s argument that Brady breached his contract by not only failing to get Marist’s written consent before negotiating for another job, but by breaking a provision in his contract that, if he did leave Marist, he was not to maintain contact with players he had recruited while with the Red Foxes. Brady abruptly left Marist after the 2008 season and ended up taking four recruits with him to JMU. The ruling was dated June 30 and is worth noting it was a default judgment – attorneys for JMU and the Commonwealth of Virginia did not show up in State Supreme Court in Dutchess County to argue the case after having a motion to dismiss and then move the case out of New York denied. Attorneys for Marist, JMU and the Commonwealth have been ordered to appear before the court on Monday, July 26, to determine monetary damages to be assessed in the case. “It’s a sea change when it comes to sports,” Marist attorney Paul O. Sullivan, Esq., of Poughkeepsie-based Corbally, Gartland and Rappleyea, told Hudson Valley Sports Report. “It’s brought accountability back to sports. Colleges cannot tortiously interfere with someone else’s contract. Maybe this case brings back some accountability.” James Madison University declined to comment. The case has been on the front burner of sports law attorneys across the country, for obvious reasons. College basketball coaches change jobs all the time and bring their recruits with them to their new school. But Marist had the foresight to have the provision included in Brady’s contract that, if he did leave, he was not to contact any recruits he was wooing to play for the Red Foxes. After all, Marist was paying Brady to perform his duties as head men’s basketball coach – including recruiting – for Marist, not for another school. “It’s a significant ruling because (JMU) offered the job (to Brady) knowing full well of the provision in the contract,” University of Vermont professor and Sports Illustrated sports law columnist Michael McCann told HVSR. “What this could lead to is different wording in the contract. If you’re a coach and you join a school, and you’re thinking you can use the school to land a more prominent job, you’re leery of having this wording in your contract. And if you’re the school that hired him, you want the provision in there. This is good work by Marist having this clause in the contract. Whoever drafted that on the part of Marist did a good job of protecting his school.” |
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"...The plaintiff has met its burden in establishing the first two prongs, a tortious act outside the State and a cause of action arising from the act. This was accomplished by adequately alleging that JMU, as an agency of the Commonwealth, induced Brady to recruit the plaintiff's basksetball prospects in violation of his employment contract. Moreover, JMU offered these prospective recruits scholarships in violation of the duties and obligations set for in Brady's New York employment contract." State Supreme Court Judge Charles D. Wood, writing in his ruling on Marist's lawsuit |
Marist athletic director Tim Murray, reached while on vacation, said that clause on not contacting recruits is nothing new to the school. “I’ve been athletic director for 16 years and that’s been something in our basketball contracts since I can remember,” Murray said. “I don’t know who drafted the contract, but I know our president (Dr. Dennis Murray, no relation) understands you have to protect the program.” Marist tried to negotiate an amicable separation package with JMU. After repeated attempts were ignored, the school filed suit in July of 2009. “The bottom line is, I’m kind of glad we’re moving to a resolution of the whole thing,” Murray said. “Not that it’s been distracting to our program, but I’m ready to move forward. A lot of times in these things, nobody ever wins. But does this send a message to other coaches, other administrators? I’m sure it does. You enter into an agreement and you assume both parties are going to hold up their end of the bargain.” | |
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Meanwhile, back on the court, Foxes invited to Preseason NIT By Rich Thomaselli HVSR More good news for the Marist College men’s basketball team – despite a 1-29 record last season, the Red Foxes have been invited to a major tournament and will get a little national exposure in game one of the 2010-11 season. According to programming executives at ESPN, who have not yet finalized the network’s schedule, Marist is scheduled to play Villanova in the first round of the Preseason NIT as its opening game on Nov. 15 or 16. The Preseason NIT will have 16 teams, broken down into four host sites for the first and second rounds, each featuring four teams. Villanova is one of the sites, which includes Marist, Boston University and George Washington. Tennessee, an Elite Eight participant in this year’s NCAA Tournament, will host Missouri State, Belmont and Arkansas State. Pauley Pavilion will be a host venue as storied UCLA welcomes Nevada-Reno, Pepperdine and Pacific to campus. And Wake Forest will host the fourth pod, featuring Virginia Commonwealth, Winthrop and Hampton. The winners of the four regional sites will meet in the Preseason NIT semifinals on Nov. 24 at Madison Square Garden, and the championship game will be held Nov. 26. Marist has played Villanova four times in its history, losing all four games – including the 57-51 thriller at the McCann Center in 1984-85, the season in which the Wildcats won the NCAA championship with the famed upset of mighty Georgetown. The Red Foxes are 1-2 lifetime against BU and have never played GW.
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| There was plenty to say on local scene By Rich Thomaselli HVSR Listen, and just might hear something good. Our local coaches and athletes had plenty to say this spring, and these are just a few of our favorite quotes. *** “We just didn’t play well. They played well and we didn’t. For whatever reason, we did not perform. But, I don’t think it’s a mark of what we’re going to do this year.” – Marlboro baseball coach Dave Onusko after a 13-0 loss to Goshen. He was right – the Iron Dukes rebounded from a 1-4 start to win the Mid-Hudson Athletic League and Section Nine titles. *** “He’s a monster. He led off the game and he never stopped running.” – Roosevelt baseball coach Kory VanZandt on New Paltz’s Jon Diaz. *** Sophomore Jonny Repetto had his first varsity hit, a two-run home run. “I DH’d for him in our first game. I don’t think I’ll be doing that again.” – John Jay baseball coach Tom O’Hare after sophomore Jonny Repetto had his first varsity hit – a home run. *** “This team is going to give me gray hairs. But as long as they keep winning, I’ll take it. They just don’t give up.” – Ketcham softball coach Melissa Zehr. *** “They’re routine ground balls. A lot of our mistakes are coming on throwing errors and a lot of that is mental.” – Roosevelt coach Kory VanZandt on his team’s defensive miscues. *** “Because he can throw strike one and that keeps me from going insane.” – Pine Plains baseball coach Phil Amelio on his decision to put closer Jon Lantz in as starting pitcher. *** “This might be the last year I’m playing; everybody knows that.” – Marlboro softball star Carmen Congelli, who is battling a rare form of cancer and undergoing chemotherapy treatments while she plays, after winning the MHAL championship. *** “To say it’s important to this program to get to a sectional final would be an understatement. It’s huge for us.” – New Paltz baseball coach Sam Phelps after beating Saugerties and advancing to the Section Nine, Class A title game. *** “An absolutely horrific loss.” Ketcham coach Pat Mealy after the Indians were eliminated from the Section One, Class AA baseball quarterfinals. | | Great stories -- on and off the field By Rich Thomaselli HVSR Continuing our series on looking back at the high school and college season, the interesting thing about the 2010 spring high school season is that it had drama both on and off the field. On the field, the Hudson Valley produced four sectional champions that advanced into the state tournament – Rhinebeck and Highland softball, and Marlboro and Pine Plains baseball – and one state champion in Rhinebeck. In fact, it was the second Class C state title in a row for the Hawks, who had another fabulous season. Behind the pitching of Megan Michie (pictured) and the clutch hitting and fielding and baserunning of the entire team, Rhinebeck captured its championship by winning doubleheaders just four days apart.  After winning the Section Nine title over Pine Plains, Rhinebeck advanced to the Final Four by winning the region with a 4-1 win over Valhalla and a 5-0 victory over Port Jefferson on a Tuesday afternoon. On Saturday, Rhinebeck toppled South Lewis in the morning state semifinals, and then beat Hoosick Falls in the afternoon – both by 3-1 scores – for the crown. *** The spring also produced a national champion. One of the most compelling stories was the Our Lady of Lourdes girls’ junior four boat won the national title at the Scholastic Rowing Nationals in Saratoga Springs last month. The team of Joanna Mulvey, Katie Roach, Liz Kyriacou, Katie Coffin and coxswain Kaitlyn Albrecht completed the 1,500-meter course in a time of 5 minutes, 57.05 seconds. This was on top of the Warriors winning the New York State title and the prestigious Stotesbory Cup Regatta in Philadelphia. *** One of the other intriguing, compelling stories was the amazing tale of Marlboro softball shortstop Carmen Congelli. The junior was diagnosed in September of 2008 with early stage IV rhabdomyosarcoma, a fast-growing, highly malignant tumor. There is no stage V. Yet this astonishing young girl worked in 4 a.m. chemotherapy sessions with her schoolwork, practice schedule and games – and thrived. Congelli was one of the key players who led the Dukes to the Mid-Hudson Athletic League championship, winning the title game 2-1 over eventual Class C state champion Highland. *** It was probably the worst-kept secret in the Hudson Valley that Craig Sanborn, a former Arlington High School boys’ soccer star under coach Gary Montalto, and then an assistant coach for more than a decade, was going to be named the school’s new head coach in the wake of Montalto’s retirement. Naming anybody else would have been the big shock, as this was expected almost from last summer, when Montalto and his wife Sue decided to make the move to Delaware and the 2009 season would be his last roaming the Arlington sidelines. But in a season of coaching changes, the appointment of Sanborn was certainly a bright spot. *** One of the not-so-bright spots was the saga involving John Jay football that played out in the spring. After Jay coach Brian Walsh left in January for Lourdes, the Patriots waited but finally decided on the man whom Walsh was replacing – outgoing OLL coach Mike Lindberg. Or so it seemed. Lindberg was made an offer contingent on Board of Education approval, but it never came as the district superintendent withdrew his support. Weeks later, Jay named baseball coach Tom O’Hare as the football coach. *** Finally, another saga that figures to continue to play out is the questionable demotion by school administrators of Lourdes athletic director David Seipp, and the dismissal of state championship-winning girls’ basketball coach Sarah Mesuch, who was one of several teachers who lost their jobs in a downsizing – but was also inexplicably let go as coach. OLL administration has repeatedly declined to comment on the mysterious moves; the school promoted phys ed teacher and boys’ swimming coach Brad Westrick this week to athletic director. |
Fantastic games marked spring season By Rich Thomaselli HVSR Another season – spring – and another 10 weeks of amazing matchups and fabulous games. These represent just a few of the many great contests – with the first few paragraphs of the game story as it appeared in Hudson Valley Sports Report – that certainly were memorable. *** RHINEBECK – As season openers go, it doesn’t get much more dramatic than this. Ben Hoynes hit a walk-off three-run home run on Monday, leading the Rhinebeck High School baseball team to a 10-9 non-league win over Hudson. The Hawks came back from a 9-2 deficit to earn the victory. “We played sloppy, not terrible, just first-game sloppy,” said Rhinebeck coach Bill Carney, whose team gave up all nine runs in the first three innings, including six of them unearned. But as Rhinebeck began to chip away, sophomore right-hander Sean Fitzpatrick came on in relief and threw 3 1/3 innings of three-hit ball. *** RHINEBECK – It’s been a natural progression for Rhinebeck High School softball junior pitcher Megan Michie since she first debuted on the varsity as a seventh-grader. Four years ago, she pitched the Hawks to the Section Nine championship and into the regionals. Two years ago, she led her team to a sectional and regional title and into the state Final Four. Last year she pitched Rhinebeck all the way to a state championship. And just when you thought there was nothing new left to accomplish …. Perfection. Michie threw the first perfect game of her career on Monday afternoon, striking out 13 to lead Rhinebeck to a 4-0 win over Hudson in the season opener for both teams. “She was just throwing the ball really well and she had her defense behind her,” Rhinebeck coach Steve Boucher said. *** OSSINING – Every day should be Andrew Conn’s birthday. Making his first varsity start on Tuesday, which also happened to be his B-day, Conn threw 5.1 innings of four-hit ball and struck out eight, leading the Our Lady of Lourdes High School baseball team to a 6-1 win over Ossining in a non-conference game. “He was really working it in,” OLL coach Derrick Damiano said. “His fastball really had a lot of pop but they also had trouble with his breaking pitches.” *** MILLBROOK – 666 was actually good news for the Millbrook High School softball team on Tuesday. Megan Revay went six innings, gave up six hits and struck out six, leading the Blazers to a 13-1 Mid-Hudson Athletic League victory in the opener for both teams. Revay also went 3-for-4 with a big first-inning double that kept alive a rally in which Millbrook exploded for eight runs on eight hits, including another double by Anna Meyer. Sunit McDermott also doubled for Millbrook later in the game. The Blazers also stole seven bases. *** POUGHKEEPSIE – After consecutive blowout losses to start the season, the Poughkeepsie High School baseball team needed a break. Da’quan Ward gave them a big one. In his first varsity start, Ward scattered four hits, struck out nine and only walked one, going the distance in a 9-2 non-league over Spackenkill on Friday. “He was outstanding today,” Pioneers coach Mark Bianco said of his sophomore righthander. “He threw a fastball, a fantastic curve, and he even threw a knuckleball. He got into a couple of 3-1 counts but showed his stuff by coming back and getting the batter. He was exactly what we needed today.” *** WAPPINGERS FALLS – It wasn’t just the third game of the season. “It was like a sectional playoff game kind of atmosphere,” Roy C. Ketcham High School baseball coach Pat Mealy said, “and my kids responded very well.” Did they ever. Sophomore Seth Lamando outdueled one of the best pitchers in the state, and the Indians smacked around Lakeland, 6-1, in a non-league game on Tuesday afternoon. Lamando went six innings, allowed only two hits, walked one and fanned six to earn the win against Lakeland’s Jonathan deMarte, who already has a scholarship to Richmond under his belt and, last week, shut out Arlington, 4-0. “He’s the real deal,” Mealy said of deMarte, “but we came out with a purpose and had some great at-bats.” *** WICCOPEE – Brian Jennings has been troubled by a sore knee for much of this lacrosse season, to the point where the Wappingers player only played the first half earlier this weekend against Kennedy. But he came to coach Scott Snyder on Thursday and said he was “feeling good.” Jennings was a little bit better than good. The senior had a hand in the Warriors first nine goals of the game, leading his team to an 11-9 non-league win over North Salem. “He was the biggest story of the game,” Snyder said of Jennings. “He just really stepped it up. To be involved in the first nine goals of the game is just amazing.” Jennings scored six goals himself and had assists on three others, and the Warriors needed every one. After jumping out to an 8-3 halftime lead, Wappingers found itself clinging to a 9-8 advantage with just a few seconds to play in the third quarter. *** HARTSDALE – “He’s going to be a player,” Haldane High School baseball coach Tom Virgadamo said of his freshman shortstop, Matt Forlow. Going to be? With a batting average hovering around .700 through the first seven games of the season, Forlow has emerged as one of the top players in the area. Just ask Solomon Schechter. Forlow went 3-for-3 Thursday with a double, triple and a home run – missing out on the cycle because he walked twice – scored three runs and drove in five, leading the Blue Devils to a 13-8 non-league win over Schechter. “He’s legit,” Virgadamo said. *** FREEDOM PLAINS – It was cold, it was wet and, for a brief 10-minute period, there was even some hail. But on Friends of Jaclyn day at Arlington High School, the girls’ lacrosse team got five goals from Kelsea Serlin to forge a 13-13 tie with Hendrick Hudson in a non-league game on Saturday afternoon. Also on FOJ day, the Arlington baseball team lost to Kingston, 2-1. ‘Jaclyn’ is Jaclyn Murphy, an Arlington student who battled cancer as a child – she is now cancer-free – and was adopted by the Northwestern University women’s lacrosse team in what became a nationally known story. It later led to the Friends of Jaclyn program by the Murphy family, and it is now a nationwide movement for sports programs across the country. *** POUGHKEEPSIE – What a day on Tuesday for Scott Colello. The captain of the Spackenkill High School boys’ track and field team let his leadership in competition shine through, as he collected four first-place finishes to lead the Spartans to an 85-42 Mid-Hudson Athletic League victory over Millbrook. Colello won the 400-meter dash (58.5 seconds), 800-meter run (2:26), high jump (5 feet, 8 inches) and the triple jump (38 feet, 1 inch). *** BEACON – It was everything it was expected to be, and more. Two innings more, in fact. In a classic pitcher’s duel between a pair of undefeated teams, Roy C. Ketcham scored in the top of the ninth inning on Wednesday to beat Beacon, 1-0, in the Conference I, League C opener for both schools. The Indians are now 7-0 overall; Beacon drops to 5-1. “I always go in expecting the other team to be good and for it to be a tough game, and it was,” Ketcham coach Melissa Zehr said. “This was a game where every pitch counted, every ball, every strike meant something.” “It was a great game,” Beacon coach Cathy Schetter said. “It was everything it was expected to be. This is going to be a fun league that will more than prepare all of us for sectionals.” Ketcham’s Abby Canning and Beacon’s Kathleen Davis threw aspirins at each other for eight innings, with Canning allowing two hits and striking out 12 and Davis giving up just three hits whiffing 17. *** MILLBROOK – There would be no disputing the Most Outstanding Player at the third annual Jim Kost Memorial Tournament. Playing under the brilliant Saturday sunshine at Millbrook High School, Pine Plains’ Seth Knickerbocker had himself a day. Knickerbocker was the starting and winning pitcher in a semifinal victory over Rhinebeck in the morning, and then went 4-for-4 in the title game to lead the Bombers to an 8-3 win over Highland for their third consecutive Kost tourney championship. *** WALLKILL – Sophomore Caitlyn Callas made school history on Thursday. Callas became the first Wallkill High School softball player to ever throw a no-hitter, throwing blanks at John S. Burke in a 15-0, six-inning mercy rule win in a non-league game. Callas struck out 10 and walked three and, as is seemingly the norm in a no-hitter, got a great defensive play as rightfielder Maria Degiorgio made a spectacular running catch in the top of the sixth inning. “I thought it was real trouble; it came off the bat hot,” Wallkill coach Chris Canosa said. “But Maria made a great play to save the no-hitter.” *** WEST NYACK – The Roy C. Ketcham High School baseball team kept its winning streak intact Saturday night and gave coach Pat Mealy a milestone victory in the process. The Indians came back from a 3-1 deficit and waxed Clarkstown South, 9-5, earning the 200th career victory for Mealy. Red-hot RCK has won six in a row to improve to 7-2 against a good South team that came in with just one loss in 10 games. Clarkstown South is now 9-2 overall. “I had no idea I was even up there,” said Mealy, who has cemented his legacy with the RCK program by winning six league crowns, three Section One titles, two appearances in the Final Four and a state championship. Mealy is now in his ninth year, meaning he’s averaging better than 20 wins a year. “It’s a credit to a lot of good players who have come through the program,” Mealy said. “I don’t want to sound cliché, but that’s what it is. We’ve had a run of good players who also happened to be great people.” *** WAPPINGERS FALLS – Round One goes to the Admirals. Arlington High School struck early and struck often, stunning previously unbeaten and 12th-ranked Roy C. Ketcham, 13-1, in a Conference I, League C softball game on Wednesday afternoon. The Admirals are now 8-1 overall and sit atop the league at 4-0. RCK is 10-1 after having its 10-game winning streak snapped, and 2-1 in the league. The same two teams hook up today, and suddenly the game has a sense of urgency for the Indians, who don’t want to fall two games behind. “We need to come back with a lot of steam,” Ketcham coach Melissa Zehr said. *** POUGHKEEPSIE – On a picture-perfect day, home-course advantage proved to be the difference for the Our Lady of Lourdes High School golf team. The Warriors handed Arlington its first league loss since May 4, 2006, squeaking by the Admirals 207-209 on Wednesday as Rob Gibbons medaled with a 2-over-par 37 at Dutchess Golf and Country Club. Teammates Mike Ossolinski and Matt Richard shot a pair of 39s for OLL. “When talented opponents compete, sometimes you just have to tip your hat to what amounts to having had the opportunity to be involved in a great contest and congratulate the winners for their success,” said Arlington coach Marty Gaw, whose team beat Lourdes by 17 strokes last month. *** WAPPINGERS FALLS – The shoe .. er, cleat … is officially on the other foot this year in the Arlington-Roy C. Ketcham high school baseball rivalry. After losing all four games to the Admirals last spring, the Indians swept the two-game season series from Arlington, using an outstanding pitching performance by Dan Ginader on Thursday to record a 5-1 Conference I, League C victory. It was 13th-ranked Ketcham’s eighth consecutive win and second in two days over Arlington following Thursday’s 11-2 rout. Ginader, a senior, went 6 2/3 innings, struck out six and allowed just four hits in shutting down the Admirals. “He was our sparkplug, he was our everything,” Ketcham coach Pat Mealy said. “He pitched with great emotion, yet he still had great composure.” *** POUGHKEEPSIE – After barely missing out on a no-hitter last week, Chelsea Lisikatos made sure she didn’t miss anything this time. The Haldane High School softball pitcher struck out 17 batters on Tuesday and no-hit Poughkeepsie, 17-0, in a Conference I, League C softball game. It was the junior’s second no-hitter this year and the 12th of her career. “She used all her pitches, throwing screwballs, drops, rises and change,” said Haldane coach Nick Lisikatos. “She pitched very well, was moving the ball four different directions plus changing speeds. She had complete command. It was good to see, even in a one-sided game, that she was able to maintain her focus.” *** MILLBROOK – It was a long day, but a productive day, for the Marlboro High School baseball team. The Iron Dukes had their version of a day-night doubleheader on Saturday, traveling to Millbrook in the morning to face the Blazers and then heading back to Marlboro for a 4:30 p.m. start against New Paltz. But the Dukes made it all worthwhile, clinching the Mid-Hudson Athletic League’s Division II with a 10-3 win over Millbrook, and then rallying in the afternoon game to beat the Huguenots, 13-11. Marlboro is now 13-4 overall and will play Wallkill in a MHAL tournament semifinal on Tuesday at SUNY New Paltz. The winner moves on to the league championship game on Thursday against either Onteora or Rhinebeck. *** NEW PALTZ – The roar went up from the neighboring field at the State University of New York at New Paltz – the Marlboro High School baseball team had just won its Mid-Hudson Athletic League semifinal on a walk-off, RBI double in the bottom of the seventh inning. A half-hour later? Same situation, same result, same roar at the softball field. Leslie Marrero ripped an opposite field double to score Pheebee Casiano with the winning run, and Marlboro rallied for a 3-2 win over Rondout Valley in the MHAL semifinals on Thursday. The Dukes, now 16-1 overall, will get a chance to avenge their only loss of the season when they face Rhinebeck today for the MHAL championship at SUNY New Paltz. First pitch is at 4 p.m. *** WAPPINGERS FALLS – Now that’s the way to start a postseason run. Abby Canning came thisclose to a perfect game on Friday as the senior fired a no-hitter to lead top-seeded Roy C. Ketcham High School to a 2-0 win over No. 16 Mahopac in the first round of the Section One, Class AA softball tournament. The Indians, now 18-3, will host No. 8 Clarkstown North in a quarterfinal game on Tuesday. Canning finished with 11 strikeouts. An error on an overthrow to first base was all that came between her and perfection. “She’s throwing really well and hitting the glove,” RCK coach Melissa Zehr said of Canning. “She was definitely on today.” *** NEW PALTZ – Four batters into Saturday’s Section Nine, Class B softball championship game, Marlboro High School had a 1-0 lead and Highland pitcher Jenna D’Ercole thought to herself, “That’s enough.” “We played two close games during the year with them,” D’Ercole said, referring to Highland’s 2-0 and 2-1 losses to Marlboro in Mid-Hudson Athletic League play. “As soon as we went back in to the dugout after that run, I knew I couldn’t give them any more runs.” She didn’t. D’Ercole pitched a masterful game, her defense was superb behind her, and Megan Murphy came up with a clutch two-run single, as second-seeded Highland stunned top-seeded – and No. 3 state-ranked – Marlboro, 2-1, for the Section Nine title at SUNY New Paltz. The Huskies’ first sectional title since 2004 and their fourth overall – the others came in 1987 and 1992 – put them into the state tournament, where they will play on Tuesday against the winner of the Section One title game between Dobbs Ferry and Rye Neck. *** WATERLOO – And once again, just like last year, at about the same time Saturday night the Rhinebeck High School softball team arrived back in the historic town they call home after participating in the New York State championships in upstate Waterloo, the rains began to pour from the skies in buckets and droves. Just call it a victory shower, a team-wide Gatorade celebratory bath if you will. The Hawks are the champions. Again. Rhinebeck defeated South Lewis, 3-1, on Saturday morning in the semifinals and then came back and won a title game for the ages in the afternoon, rallying to defeat Hoosick Falls, 3-1 in eight innings, for the NYS Public High School Athletic Association Class C championship. It is the second consecutive state championship for the Hawks, who finish the season 20-6.
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| Fun tidbits from the spring HS season By Rich Thomaselli HVSR The ‘Dot Dot Dot’ section of our traditional Monday Athlete of the Week story has proven to be one of the most popular features on Hudson Valley Sports Report, and really it’s nothing more than a collection of a few fun, offbeat or interesting tidbits. These are a few from the spring season. *** The rainy weather is causing the Beacon High School baseball team to work in reverse. “In 21 years of coaching this is the first time we actually had our first game before we had our first scrimmage,” coach Bobby Atwell said Wednesday after his Bulldogs lost their season-opening game, 3-1, to Washingtonville in the Apple Valley Tournament. *** It’s been years since the Rondout Valley and Saugerties high school softball teams ended a game with more than one run separating the two teams, so why should Thursday have been any different? “This is always the kind of game that leaves coaches with a knot in their stomach,” Rondout coach Pete Colomer said with a laugh after the Ganders nipped the Sawyers, 7-6. “And that’s whether you win or lose.” *** DaQuan Ward did everything he was supposed to do on the pitcher’s mound on Friday. The sophomore induced ground balls, got batters to hit fly balls … there was just one problem. For some strange reason, the Poughkeepsie High School teammates behind him all had an aversion to the glove. The Pioneers committed nine errors – all in the first three innings, leading to seven unearned runs and an 11-3 loss to JFK. *** Arlington’s aggregate score of 200 on Wednesday was its lowest of the season in a 200-211 boys’ golf win over Ketcham. Freshman Cullen Spang shot a 2-over-par 38 at McCann Golf Course to lead the Admirals. *** Patience paid off for the Saugerties baseball team when it drew 11 walks, to go with 11 hits, in 17-1 win over Wallkill *** Marlboro and Webutuck high schools hooked up in a wild one Wednesday that featured 30 hits – all singles – and the Iron Dukes survived 10 errors to score single runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings to rally for an 11-10 victory over the Warriors. *** The Marlboro track team hosted its first invitational in more than 20 years at its brand new state-of-the-art facility Friday for the Iron Duke Relays. *** The Rondout Valley High School softball team honored its seniors on Thursday, most of whom were just born or were turning one in 1993 – the last time the Ganders had won a division title. The long wait for the elusive second title is over. Kerry Malak threw seven innings of six-hit ball, and Rondout beat Roosevelt, 12-2, to win the Mid-Hudson Athletic League’s Division I crown. *** Remarkable streak for Rhinebeck’s Ben Hoynes. In his last three games, Hoynes has collected eight consecutive hits, including a 3-for-3 day against Rondout on Saturday and a 4-for-4 performance against Coleman in a 7-0 win that clinched the Mid-Hudson Athletic League’s Division IV, Rhinebeck’s first title in 15 years. *** In an amazing stretch, John Jay baseball went back-to-back-to-back over three days, playing a total of 27 innings over a 45-hour period and winning all three games – a win over Beacon on Thursday, a 13-inning win over Beacon on Friday night that didn’t end until 12:10 a.m., and a 6-2 victory over Clarkstown North in a non-league matchup on Saturday that started at 11:15 a.m. | | These athletes were the best each week By Rich Thomaselli HVSR The Elite Eight. The spring high school season gave us another set of athletes to honor with the weekly Hudson Valley Sports Report. *** It’s not like we want to put any pressure on the kid or anything, but Matt Forlow is just not your average freshman varsity baseball player. SPRING 2010 ATHLETES OF THE WEEK |
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Not when he’s showing the poise of a senior. Not when he’s hitting north of .700 for the season. Not when he’s going 3-for-3 with a double, triple and a home run to lead Haldane High School to a 13-8 win over Solomon Schechter. For that performance, Forlow is the Hudson Valley Sports Report Athlete of the Week. Forlow was phenomenal against Schechter. He missed out on the cycle because he walked twice, but still scored three runs and had five RBI. And Forlow isn’t even the only freshman on the team who’s playing and contributing. Frosh pitcher Stephen Zalys got the win to move to 2-0, and freshman Ryan Koval had three hits, two RBI and two runs scored. *** They say that track and field isn’t nearly as popular in the United States as it is overseas, where crowds regularly pack stadiums to see the world’s fastest, strongest, most nimble athletes compete. We’re not here to debate the merits of that argument, but even if it was true we can say with some certainty that the average sports fan certainly knows two track and field events in this country. The Millrose Games. And the Penn Relays. Both are prestigious events, so when a local athlete does something notable there, well, it’s a pretty big deal. And Jordan Yamoah had a pretty big deal on Saturday. The Arlington High School junior became the first individual at the school to win a title at the prestigious Penn Relays when his vault of 15 feet, 5 inches outlasted the 26-person field for the high school boys’ title. For that effort, Yamoah is the HudsonValley Sports Report Athlete of the Week. Yamoah’s vault is a new school record. “He had a great day,” Arlington assistant coach Bob Jacovino said. “He made the best of his vaults and was able to come out on top.” *** It’s not like Brody Moller was in the doghouse or anything like that. It’s just that the Franklin D. Roosevelt High School baseball pitcher had a rough outing against New Paltz in early April and, well, teammates like Mike Wilson and R.J. Redmond were throwing the ball better. “It’s tough at this level,” FDR coach Kory VanZandt said. “It’s not like in the majors where you have 162 games to work things out. There’s so few games that you try to go with your hot hand.” But Moller never got his head down, and VanZandt rewarded him with another start last week. And Moller repaid the faith by firing a no-hitter against Poughkeepsie, earning him this week’s Hudson Valley Sports Report Athlete of the Week honor. The right-hander came within a fifth inning walk of a perfect game, throwing the first no-hitter of his career in the 8-0 non-league win. Moller went the distance, struck out seven and faced the minimum 21 batters – the walk he allowed was immediately erased on a steal attempt. *** To put it all in a numbers perspective, think of it this way. Chelsea Dexter batted .888 on Saturday alone and she had 19.5% of her team’s hits. Not a bad day’s effort. Dexter, a sophomore softball player from Beacon High School, had four hits in each game of a doubleheader on Saturday, going 8-for-9 on the day to lead the state’s No. 15 Class B team to 13-0 and 15-0 victories over Croton-Harmon. For that effort, Dexter is this week’s Hudson Valley Sports Report Athlete of the Week. Dexter had four hits, three RBI and scored twice in the opener to back Julianne Constantino’s completely game three-hitter. In the game two, Dexter had four hits, including two doubles, scored three times and knocked in a run. *** It takes a lot to throw a no-hitter, no matter what the circumstances, no matter who the opponent. Everything has to break just right because, well, things happen in the sport. A seeing-eye single, a ground ball with eyes, a blooper, a bleeder, a Baltimore chop, a gapper, a Texas Leaguer … a hit can come at any time. So to throw a no-hitter is quite an accomplishment. To throw two of them in a row is extraordinary. For that accomplishment, Haldane High School softball pitcher Chelsea Lisikatos is this week’s Hudson Valley Sports Report Athlete of the Week. Lisikatos, just a junior, threw consecutive no-hitters against Poughkeepsie, her second and third of the year and the 12th and 13th of her career, which began with her first appearance on the varsity as a seventh-grader. In the first game against the Pioneers, Lisikatos struck out 17 in a 17-0 victory that went the full seven innings. “She used all her pitches, throwing screwballs, drops, rises and change,” said her father, Haldane coach Nick Lisikatos. “She pitched very well, was moving the ball four different directions plus changing speeds. She had complete command. It was good to see, even in a one-sided game, that she was able to maintain her focus.” Lisikatos was also 3-for-4 with a double, home run, six RBI and four runs scored. Two days later, she did it again, striking out 13 in a five-inning, 15-0 victory over Poughkeepsie. Her totals? Two games, 12 innings, no hits, 30 strikeouts out of 36 outs. *** OK, let’s get the obvious out of the way – yes, her team lost the Mid-Hudson Athletic League softball championship game. Barely. But sometimes a player is so outstanding, so dominating, that the end result doesn’t quite matter. Such is the case with Rhinebeck High School’s Megan Michie, this week’s recipient of the Hudson Valley Sports Report Athlete of the Week award. The pitcher struck out 29 batters over two days as the Indians came within a run of winning the league title, falling 2-1 to Marlboro in 10 innings. And that was only after the game went to the international tie-breaker rule, which stipulates that every inning after the ninth must start out with a runner on second base. Michie gave up just two hits to the Dukes and struck out 15. That came a day after she fanned 14 – including seven in a row at one point – and set down the last 13 batters in a row in a semifinal win over Pine Plains. “This is her fifth year on varsity. She’s been in the biggest games you can be in,” Rhinebeck coach Steve Boucher said. “She knows what it’s like.” *** Pine Plains baseball coach Phil Amelio called it a pressure-packed spot for a player. Two outs, sixth inning, bases loaded, team trailing, championship game. Who knows if there will be another rally in the next (and final) inning? So Corey Weaver took matters into his own hands. Down 2-1 to Rhinebeck High School in the Section Nine, Class C title game, the senior laced a two-run double for what turned out to be the game-winning runs, giving the Bombers a 3-2 victory. For that clutch hit, Weaver is the Hudson Valley Sports Report Athlete of the Week. Weaver bats ninth for the Bombers, but in reality he’s a second leadoff hitter. “He’s very comfortable in that spot … and I’m comfortable having him in that spot,” Amelio said of Weaver. *** Only one pitcher had beaten the Marlboro High School softball team this year, and even she gave up three runs in the game. Suffice to say that the Dukes can hit, and they were clearly the favorites for the Section Nine, Class B title coming into Saturday’s championship. That’s what makes Jenna D’Ercole’s performance all the greater. The Highland pitcher held the state’s third-ranked team to one run on four hits in the biggest game of the year, leading the Huskies to a 2-1 victory for the title. For her effort, D’Ercole is the Hudson Valley Sports Report Athlete of the Week. D’Ercole finished the game with 10 strikeouts. Earlier last week, D’Ercole fired a two-hitter to beat Sullivan West, 1-0, in the sectional semifinals. “She’s a senior, she’s been with me for a while, and the entire team has confidence in her,” Highland coach Mike Milliman said. After giving up a first-inning run to Marlboro, D’Ercole settled into a groove and set down 12 in a row at one point in the game. “Coach told me to keep it outside. I kept it outside, came in when I had to, and just pitched my game,” said D’Ercole. |
TUESDAY, JUNE 15, 2010 It was a winter of our content My favorite part of the winter high school season was the rides. Not the midway rides you find at the fair, with carnies barking like mad dogs to entice you to burn that sleeve of tickets on the Dragon or, worse, to spend $60 throwing darts at balloons to win a $14 stuffed animal. No, these rides were better. These were the rides that the Red Hook High School boys’ basketball team, the Poughkeepsie boys, the Coleman boys and girls, and the Highland girls took us all on this past winter. Today is Part II of Hudson Valley Sports Report’s four-part series looking back at the local high school and college season, and while it was a nasty, snow-filled, cold winter, it was hot inside the local gyms. But it was more than just the success those aforementioned teams enjoyed. You can read all about their exploits below in our recap of the “Great Stories” of the 2009-10 winter campaign, and if you’re a local fan the memories of sectional and regional championships, and state title game berths, will come flooding back. What you probably don’t recall is Gary Buxton. Buxton is a sophomore who played on the varsity last year but struggled with his game this season. You know the deal when that happens – at every level, the player sits until he can find his stroke in practice or in the limited time he receives in a game. It took a third of the season for Buxton to find himself, but he did. On a cold Monday night in January, he came up with 25 points, nine rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block, leading the Bulldogs to a 52-48 win over John Jay in a Conference I, League A game. “He demonstrated some good skills last year and we’ve been waiting for him all season,” Beacon coach Tom Powers said. “He’s been struggling with his shot and some turnover issues, but we gave him a start on a whim and he just blew up.” Those are the kinds of stories you love to hear about. Stories like another Beacon athlete, albeit one who did his business on the mat. Ryan Tompkins became Section One’s all-time winningest wrestler in December when he won a pair of matches on the same night. The record was 192 victories, and Tompkins ballooned his total to more than 210 by the time he was done in March with the state tournament. Stories like Sabrina Eggink, the Red Hook girls’ basketball star who scored her 1,000th point back in February. Every parent has a sense of pride in their child’s accomplishments, but this story has a twist – as many local fans know, Eggink is the daughter of former Marist College legend Steve Eggink, who took up roots in the Hudson Valley after his Red Fox playing days were over and now calls Marist basketball home games as the television analyst on Cablevision. To hear him talk about his daughter’s achievement was a special moment. And stories like the insane streak kept alive by the Our Lady of Lourdes girls’ basketball program. The Warriors won the Conference I, League A title this season, the 27th consecutive year in which OLL has won outright or shared a league championship. Amazing, simply amazing. Clearly, this was a winter that was very much to our content.
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| Say what? Great quotes from area coaches and players By Rich Thomaselli HVSR They might not exactly be words to live by, but nonetheless our area coaches and athletes offered some interesting and fun quotes this winter season. *** WINTER 2009-10 GREAT QUOTES |
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“I’m overly excited. The last two years we went 0-for-December. To get a win this early is a great confidence booster. – Haldane boys’ basketball coach Joe Virgadamo, whose team had a nice season after winning its opener against Solomon Schechter after going 4-16 the previous year. *** “Great player. She was hitting three-pointers that were like NBA three’s. Step-back three’s, too.” – Ketcham girls’ basketball coach Kristie Meyer on Pawling guard Margo Hackett. *** “We were real fortunate. That’s one of the tougher places to play. It’s a real small court and everybody is on top of you. And it seemed like the whole town was there to see the game.” – Poughkeepsie coach Brian Laffin after a buzzer-beating win over JFK in early December. *** “In that first half, I was just feeling it.” Poughkeepsie basketball player Nate Gause, in the understatement of the year, after he scored 28 of his 32 points in the first half of a 91-60 win over Beacon. *** “The difference with this team is they’re very unselfish. At any point, any one of their players can have a big game and carry the team. When they get a little winded, somebody else steps up. They have a deeper team than in the past. It’s non-stop waves. People think Poughkeepsie and they think playground ball. It isn’t. They execute.” – Ketcham basketball coach Matt Paino on Poughkeepsie *** “It was just an ugly game. Ugly, ugly, ugly. I couldn’t get anything to work.” – Beacon basketball coach Tom Powers after a 42-35 loss to Brewster. *** “It is amazing, and holy smokes was I a little nervous. But I’m so proud of my girls. So proud.” – Lourdes girls’ basketball coach Sarah Mesuch after her team beat John Jay to clinch a share of a 27th consecutive league title for the Warriors. *** “Lucky us – we catch Poughkeepsie on a one-game losing streak.” – Beacon’s Tom Powers, on playing the Pioneers after their loss to Newburgh. *** “We proved to everyone that we belonged here.” Red Hook boys’ basketball coach Rod Chando after a state semifinal loss to Jamesville-DeWitt | | Basketball dominated the scene By Rich Thomaselli HVSR When talking about the great storylines that WINTER 2009-10 GREAT STORIES |
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emerged throughout the 2009-10 winter season, almost all of them revolve around basketball. The Hudson Valley has a long and wonderful tradition on the high school hardwood, and this year was no exception. Start with the Red Hook boys, who went on an amazing unbeaten journey that didn’t end until the New York State Class C semifinals in Glens Falls. The Raiders simply dominated Mid-Hudson Athletic League play, won the Section Nine title, whipped Tappan Zee before an SRO crowd at Vassar College, and then beat Johnson City to earn a berth in the s tate Final Four. It ended with an early Saturday morning loss to two-time defending state champ James-DeWitt, but Red Hook coach Rod Chando was beyond proud of his team. “We proved to everyone that we belonged here,” he said after the 10-point loss. “Down three, had the ball in the fourth quarter and we were in a position to win the game. If we would have got this team down by a few (points), they would have been in some trouble.” *** The pride in Louis Tullo’s voice was evident. The John A. Coleman High School principal had not one but two teams playing in Glens Falls for a state championship. “After all we’ve been through, to have two teams playing for the state title is wonderful for this school,” he said back in March, referring to Coleman’s amazing comeback as a school that was dropped by the New York Archdiocese but saved by a committed group of parents. The Coleman girls won the state Class D title last year and were poised to repeat, but in a semifinal game against Clymer in which both teams couldn’t find the basket – it was 7-5 after one quarter, 13-11 at halftime – the Stateswomen were upset, 31-26. The loss also ended another great storyline – the comeback of Taylor Leonard, who tore her anterior cruciate ligament in her knee playing ball in September, missed all of the regular season, but came back just as the MHAL playoffs began and led her team to the states. The Coleman boys also appeared poised to capture a state title, having blown out Germantown by 20 points in the semifinals. But in the title game, the Statesmen went ice cold in the fourth quarter, missing their first 14 shots and failing to score a field goal until 18 seconds remained in a 43-38 loss to Maple Grove. *** The Poughkeepsie boys’ basketball team was a bittersweet story. Once again the Pioneers had an extremely talented team, led by Manhattan-bound guard Dayvon Whitaker and exciting junior Nate Gause. But it was a difficult time for coach Brian Laffin, whose father – community icon Mort Laffin – was battling Parkinson’s and was in the final stages of the disease by the time February rolled around. On the eve of the Section One, Class AA quarterfinals, Mort passed. Brian coached his team to an emotional 84-58 win over Lincoln 16 hours later. The Pioneers won their next game, a semifinal victory over North Rockland, before falling to Mount Vernon in the finals. *** Finally, there was an interesting dialogue started about league alignments and the merits of geography-based set-ups. Beacon High School threatened to go to Section Nine over its dissatisfaction with the direction Section One has taken with money-saving, geography-based league alignments, which put the Class A Bulldogs in the same league for the 2009-10 season with Class AA schools Arlington, Roy C. Ketcham and John Jay. Our Lady of Lourdes and Poughkeepsie rounded out the league, but every team sport title – from boys’ soccer to girls’ soccer to girls’ tennis to cross country – was one by one of the Big Three Class AA schools in the fall. Eventually, Beacon backed off on its threat, and the leagues are staying the same for the 2010-11 season, but it nonetheless brought into focus the differences among the classes and enrollment for various schools, especially when it comes to jayvee and modified sports. Whether it brings about change, however, remains to be seen. |
Great games were the norm in winter By Rich Thomaselli HVSR The winter season was filled with terrific matchups among our local teams, and these represent just a few of the many great games – with the first few paragraphs of the game story as it appeared in Hudson Valley Sports Report – that certainly were memorable. *** POUGHKEEPSIE – Much is expected from the Poughkeepsie High School boys’ basketball team this season. WINTER 2009-10 GREAT GAMES |
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The Pioneers have Division I-caliber players, including guard Dayvon Walker. They have great balance. They have an outstanding coach. They have history and pedigree in the program. So, yes, much is expected. And on opening night, much was delivered. Whitaker had a game-high 26 points and the Pioneers pulled away from Kingston in the second half for a 73-55 non-conference victory on Friday in a game played at Vassar College. *** THIELLS – What a comeback for the Arlington High School wrestling team on Friday. The Admirals had no margin for error in their quarterfinal match of the Section One Dual Meet Championships against North Rockland. The Red Raiders held a seven-point lead with three bouts remaining, and needed one victory to wrap it up. Not so fast. The sixth-seeded Admirals won the 145-pound, 152-pound and 160-pound matches to stun North Rockland, 37-33, and advance to Tuesday’s semifinals. Arlington is now 12-1 on the year. The comeback began when Dan Graff registered a technical fall over Mike DeRosa at 145 and Mischa Barry decisioned Dan Mackey, 6-1, at 152. That left it up to Greg Wetzel at 160, and he came through in dramatic fashion. Late in the third period, Wetzel and Mark Diaz were even at 1-1 when Diaz shot in looking for the winning takedown. But Wetzel countered and gained control with three seconds remaining for the decisive two points and the victory. *** MAHOPAC – Their best player was home sick in bed with the flu, and they were on the road playing a team that rarely loses in its home gym. Not a good scenario for the John Jay Jay High school boys’ basketball team, right? Think again. The Patriots overcame the adversity and beat Mahopac, 47-39, in a non-league game on Thursday night, the third consecutive win for John Jay after opening the season with consecutive losses. “It was just a great road win,” John Jay coach Matt Hayes said. Andre Anderson, averaging 19 points a game, missed the contest due to the flu but point guard Nick Segarra stepped up big time. The sophomore had 17 points and four assists to lead the Patriots. *** POUGHKEEPSIE – Doesn’t get much better, or much closer, than this. In a fantastic meet, the Wappingers boys’ swim team not only won the last event, the 400-yard freestyle relay, to pull out an 86-84 victory over Our Lady of Lourdes on Friday, but they did it by just two one-hundredths of a second. “Unbelievable,” Wappingers coach Mark Piggott said. “Just an unbelievable meet.” Wappingers, now 5-1, had a 12-point lead after winning the 500-freestyle relay. But OLL won the next three events, including a 1-2-4 finish in the 100-breaststroke, to take an 80-76 lead heading into the final swim of the day. And what an event it was for the team of Brad Thomas, Keith Carlino, Jeff Hong and Patrick Alderson. Wappingers was losing the relay the whole way until anchor swimming Alderson closed the gap. “We won it by a fingernail,” Piggott said. “We were losing in the last five yards and Patrick pulled a Michael Phelps. He had to come from behind with a foot left. Their guy (Andrew Kelleher) had the lead and Patrick closed it up.” *** FREEDOM PLAINS – History has been re-written. Beacon High School wrestler Ryan Tompkins won both his matches Tuesday night, and in the process the senior became the all-time Section One leader with 193 career victories. Tompkins beat Ketcham’s Dave Simpfenderfer at 152 pounds, pinning him in the first period to tie the record. An hour later, Tompkins came back and pinned Arlington’s Mischa Barry in the second period to break the mark and etch his name in the record books. “It’s nice to have it off your shoulders and out of your mind,” Tompkins said. *** POUGHKEEPSIE – The two coaches embraced near halfcourt at the end of the game, one the mentor and the other the student. Our Lady of Lourdes High School boys’ basketball coach Jim Santoro shook the hand of his former player and now Arlington head coach, Matt Hoyt, and smiled. “I bet,” Santoro said to Hoyt, “they’re all going to be like this between us.” In a game Arlington had no business winning, the Admirals eked out a 41-39 victory Tuesday night on OLL’s homecourt on the second day of the Dutchess County Basketball Coaches Association Holiday Shootout. *** FISHKILL – What’s the best league race in the Hudson Valley? Hands down it has to be the boys’ Dutchess Putnam Interscholastic Bowling League. John Jay, Roy C. Ketcham and Arlington high schools will be fighting it out all season, but on this day it’s the Patriots at the top. Which could all change again in 24 hours, of course, but for now it’s the Patriots. Jay knocked off Beacon on Wednesday at Fishkill Bowl, 7-0, to take over first place by a game over Ketcham, which shut out Arlington, 7-0. Jay is 46-10, RCK is 45-11 and Arlington is 40-16. *** PAWLING – Jeff Hackett called it crazy. And that was a good description. You can also throw in adjectives like ‘wild’, ‘exciting’ and ‘thrilling’ if you’d like. The Pawling and Haldane High School girls’ basketball teams kicked off Conference I, League C play on Wednesday night with a terrific game, as the Blue Devils’ Sam Lisiskatas hit a shot with four seconds remaining to bring Haldane back from a 15-point deficit for a 50-49 win over the Tigers. “A great game,” Hackett said. “Great game. After we went up by 15 in the third quarter, they just started hitting everything.” *** BEACON – He’s just a freshman. Probably is still finding his way around the school. Might not even know all his teammates’ names yet. But one thing is for sure – Reymond Silva can run the point. Silva came off the bench to score 14 points and hand out seven assists Wednesday night in his varsity debut, and the Beacon High School boys’ basketball team came from behind to beat Our Lady of Lourdes, 69-60, in a Conference I, League A opener for both teams. Silva was called up earlier this week from the jayvee when two varsity starters were put on two-week academic probation. “He was a huge spark for us tonight,” Beacon coach Tom Powers said. *** ELLENVILLE – It’s the upset of the year so far. Yuni Sher had 24 points, Mackenzie Hoffman sent it into overtime and Cat Thompson’s three-pointer jump-started overtime, and the Spackenkill High School girls’ basketball team knocked off the third-ranked Class B team in the state with a 56-49 OT win over Ellenville. The Spartans take over sole possession of first place in the Mid-Hudson Athletic League’s Division III with a 3-0 mark. Spackenkill is 7-2 overall. The Blue Devils dropped to 7-1 overall and 1-1 in the division. “It’s a big win, a nice win,” Spackenkill coach Don Neise said. “It’s a long season and I didn’t want to put too much emphasis on this one game, and the girls are still trying to fit in together. We didn’t play our best game, but we worked together.” *** HYDE PARK – Next time you think one vote, or even one point in a basketball game, can’t make a difference, think again. Alex Mobijohn had one point Friday night. One single, lonely point that, obviously, came at the free throw line. It was the biggest point of the night. Mobijohn’s free throw sent the game into overtime, and the Onteora High School girls’ basketball team beat Roosevelt, 51-49, in a Mid-Hudson Athletic League game. *** RED HOOK – Wow. Didn’t see that coming. And neither did the Coleman High School boys’ basketball team. In a matchup of unbeaten, state-ranked teams, Red Hook took control from the outset and just kept pouring it on, beating the Statesmen 86-52 in a Mid-Hudson Athletic League game on Tuesday night. The Red Raiders, ranked 12th in Class A in the latest New York States Sportswriters poll, are now 11-0 overall and 9-0 in the MHAL. Coleman, the state’s No. 6 Class D team, suffers its first loss and is 9-1 overall. *** WICCOPEE – Momentum can be a killer sometimes. Andre Anderson’s buzzer-beating three-pointer to tie the game at the end of the first quarter carried over for the John Jay High School boys’ basketball team, and the Patriots went on to a 64-46 win over archrival Ketcham in a Conference I, League game on Friday night. Jay swept all three games from the Indians this year and is now 8-6 overall. *** NEWBURGH – It was everything it was supposed to be. And, as far as Newburgh Free Academy is concerned, more. The defending New York State Class AA champions got 30 points and 12 rebounds from Mike McLeod on Saturday, and the Goldbacks handed Poughkeepsie its first loss of the season with an 82-69 win in front of a packed house at Mount St. Mary’s College. NFA, ranked fifth in the state coming in, is now 12-2. The Pioneers, ranked ninth, are now 15-1 overall. (see video at right) “I see a lot of positives in this loss,” Poughkeepsie coach Brian Laffin said. “We can use this as a learning tool and get ready for the (postseason) stretch. This game can only help us understand things that need to be addressed and try to improve. Our kids were very positive after the game and I look forward to practice on Monday.” *** MONTROSE – Two things happened to the Beacon High School boys’ basketball team this season. One, coach Tom Powers brought freshman Reymond Silva up to the varsity back in early January. Two, sophomore Gary Buxton – who had been struggling all season with his game – finally found his shot in late January. The Bulldogs haven’t been the same since. And that’s a good thing. Buxton drilled a three-point shot with four-tenths of a second left on Thursday night, and No. 20 Beacon – seeded last in the Section One, Class A tournament – stunned No. 13 Hendrick Hudson, 66-64, in an outbracket game. *** STONE RIDGE – The king of the hill retains his crown. The Red Hook High School boys’ basketball team won its second consecutive Mid-Hudson Athletic League championship on Friday night and seventh in the last nine years with an easy 68-47 victory over Coleman at Ulster County Community College. The Red Raiders, ranked fourth in the state in Class A, are now 18-0 as they await the Section Nine seeding announcement on Tuesday night. The only interlopers in Red Hook’s reign atop the MHAL was Rondout Valley in 2007 and Roosevelt in 2008. The Statesmen are now 15-2, with both losses coming to Red Hook by a combined 55 points. *** STONE RIDGE – What the John A. Coleman Catholic High School boys’ basketball team couldn’t accomplish, the girls did. The Stateswomen won their first Mid-Hudson Athletic League championship on Friday night, downing Wallkill 44-32 in the title game at Ulster County Community College. The defending state champions are now 16-2. The Panthers fell to 15-3. The feel-good story of the year continues as Coleman’s Taylor Leonard again came off the bench to play in only her second game of the season. After tearing her ACL in September, doctors originally thought she would miss her entire senior year. But she returned to score nine points in her first game back on Thursday against Spackenkill in the MHAL semifinals. On Friday night, she did a little better. Leonard appeared to be her old self by nailing five three-point field goals en route to a game-high 19 points to lead the Stateswomen. Teammate Lauren Carnevali added 11. *** POUGHKEEPSIE – After his 19th and final season behind the bench, John Jay High School hockey coach Gene Cubeta is going out a winner. Again. The Patriots beat Arlington late Saturday night, 6-3, at the Mid-Hudson Civic Center to win the Hudson Valley High School Ice Hockey Association Championship. It was Jay’s third consecutive championship. *** NEW PALTZ – Poor Dan Totten. For some reason, his name was left out of the program for the Mid-Hudson Athletic League championships last month and, Sunday, there was no “No. 22, Dan Totten” listed in the program for the Section Nine basketball championships. “That’s OK,” the Red Hook High School student said. “It’s not like I do this for the notoriety. I just try to play the game.” It’s a good bet he won’t be forgotten any more. Totten scored all of his team-high 12 points in the second half, including a pair of free throws with 26.4 seconds left that gave the Red Raiders a 45-44 victory over Cornwall for the Section Nine, Class A championship at the Athletic and Wellness Center on the campus of SUNY New Paltz. *** NEW PALTZ – At 6-foot, with graceful hands and good footwork, Highland High School’s Monasia Bolduc is tough enough to stop around the basket. When she’s stepping outside and making three-pointers? Forget it. Bolduc banked in her first three-pointer of the year on Sunday among her game-high 19 points, and teammate Alex Garcia kick-started a huge third quarter for the Huskies, as Highland beat John S. Burke Catholic, 54-35, to win the Section Nine, Class B championship at the Athletic and Wellness Center on the campus of SUNY New Paltz. *** GLENS FALLS – There were few tears, if any, when the final buzzer sounded on Saturday morning at the Glens Falls Civic Center. There were few tears, if any, in the lockerroom after the game. Instead, there was a sense that they give it their all. “We proved to everyone that we belonged here,” Red Hook High School boys’ basketball coach told his team after the Raiders lost their first game of the year, a 63-53 decision to two-time defending state champion Jamesville-DeWitt in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class A semifinals. “Down three, had the ball in the fourth quarter and we were in a position to win the game. If we would have got this team down by a few (points), they would have been in some trouble.” It was a matchup of the top two teams in the state, both undefeated coming in. Red Hook finishes at 23-1 overall. J-D, now 23-0, plays for the state title today. Jamesville’s 6-foot-9, 280-pound big man DaJuan Coleman had 22 points, and had to earn every one of them as Red Hook did a nice job of collapsing around him. But point guard Lamar Kearse scored five of his 11 points during a key sequence in the fourth quarter after Red Hook drew to within three points, keeping the Raiders at bay. “A couple of breaks here and there, a couple of shots drop … you never know what’s going to happen,” Chando said. | |
| The fun, the offbeat, the interesting from a snow-filled season By Rich Thomaselli HVSR Every Monday, when we name our Athlete of the Week, we have a small section in the story called “Dot Dot Dot,” which is basically a collection of fun, offbeat or interesting tidbits from the previous week’s games. WINTER 2009-10 DOT DOT DOT |
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These are just a few that appeared during the course of the winter season.
*** Now this is the way to open up a season. Onteora High School star Max Taylor had his third consecutive 40+ game on Tuesday night, pouring in 43 points to lead the Indians to a 74-66 win over Rhinebeck in the MHAL opener for both teams. *** The names on the jerseys said Beacon and Dover, but this was a rivalry game rooted in the bonds of family and former teammates. Beacon High School girls’ basketball coach Christina Dahl and her assistant, Jill Philipbar (formerly Jill Dennin), played at Our Lady of Lourdes High School under Brian Giorgis. And so did Dover coach Kim Knittel (formerly Kim Dennin, and Jill’s sister) and her assistant, Emily Krieger. They met up Thursday night in the first round of Beacon’s Terrence Wright Tournament … and it was the Bulldogs on top this time. Katie Halloock had 22 points, 13 rebounds and four assists to pace four players in double figures in Beacon’s 61-46 win over Dover. *** Nice job of discipline and juggling by John Jay boys’ basketball coach Matt Hayes. Five players were late for the team bus prior to the Beacon game, including four of his top six. Hayes sat the players for the first quarter of the game, came up with a new combination, and it led to the Patriots’ first win of the season, 69-42 over Beacon. *** Call it Home Sweet Road. For the third time this year Lourdes played on Dover’s home floor, and for the third time this year the Warriors won, beating the Dragons 69-61 in a non-conference game a week after winning twice there at Dover’s season-opening tournament. *** Winning by 62 points makes you do a double-take, no matter what level of play. Red Hook did just that on Saturday, romping past Ravena, 91-29, in a non-league game. The Red Raiders jumped out to a 27-4 lead after one quarter and never looked back. In fact, they didn’t allow double digits to Ravena in any quarter during the game. *** Margo Hackett scored 22 points and added to her all-time school record by going over the 1,500-point mark in a win over Solomon Schechter. Hackett’s 1,500th point came on a driving layup in the fourth quarter. She now has 1,502 career points and is the school’s all-time leading scorer, boys or girls. Only a junior, she’ll make a run at 2,000 points next year. *** Onteora’s Julia Hinchey surpassed the magic 1,000-point milestone last week in a girls’ basketball victory over Pine Plains. *** How’s this for weird: in a win over Pawling, Dover’s Jalen LaCourt and Daivon Lloyd each had identical stats – 20 points, 14 rebounds and five blocked shots. *** Of course the John Jay High School girls’ basketball team needed to go overtime against archrival Roy C. Ketcham– after all, the Patriots needed to make up for a whole other quarter without scoring. That’s right, Jay was completely shut out in the first period against the Indians, but managed to get the game to OT and won it, 66-59. *** Pawling star Margo Hackett, last week’s HVSR Athlete of the Week, played in her 100th consecutive varsity game when the Tigers lost at Haldane. *** Teneka Whittaker just put her name in with some pretty impressive company. The junior for Our Lady of Lourdes High School scored 18 points Friday night, including the 1,000th of her career, to lead the Warriors to a 40-33 win over Beacon. Whittaker joins such notable OLL 1,000-point scorers at Karen Lounsbury, who went on to Georgia Tech and broke the school scoring mark there (before it was broken again), Mylaine Riobe, Jenna Viani and Julianne Viani, who, of course, went on to star at Marist College. | | Athletes of the Week for winter By Rich Thomaselli HVSR New season, new set of stars. We take pride in naming a Hudson Valley Sports Report Athlete of the Week every Monday, and these were the 2009-10 winter season winners. *** And we start with someone who clearly has a flair for the dramatic. WINTER 2009-10 ATHLETES OF THE WEEK |
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Arlington wrestler Greg Wetzel entered his bout against North Rockland’s Mark Diaz knowing it was do or die. After having given up 12 points on two forfeits earlier in the match, the Admirals needed three wins in their final three bouts to pull it out. The comeback began when Dan Graff registered a technical fall over Mike DeRosa at 145, and Mischa Barry decisioned Dan Mackey, 6-1, at 152. That left it up to Wetzel at 160, and he came through in dramatic fashion. Late in the third period, Wetzel and Mark Diaz were even at 1-1 when Diaz shot in looking for the winning takedown. But Wetzel countered and gained control with three seconds remaining for the decisive points that gave Arlington a 37-33 victory. *** You won’t find a much better 48 hours than Poughkeepsie High School boys’ basketball player Nate Gause had last week. In the span of two days, Gause, a junior, knocked down a game-winning shot at the buzzer and then came back and had a career-high in points to lead his team to a pair of victories. For his efforts, Gause is the Hudson Valley Sports Report Athlete of the Week. The Pioneers are 3-0 in large part due to his clutch play. Last Tuesday, Gause drained a three-pointer at the buzzer to give Poughkeepsie a 56-53 road win at John F. Kennedy. Tied at 53-all, Poughkeepsie came up with a big defensive stop with 18 seconds to play and came upcourt looking for the final shot. JFK was overplaying Poughkeepsie point guard Dayvon Whitaker, so when Whitaker passed to Gause he had a good look at the hoop for the game-winner. Gause had 15 points and 10 rebounds, but that game was only the appetizer. On Thursday, Gause poured in 33 points and added seven rebounds to lead the Pioneers to an 84-68 victory win over Lincoln Hall. *** Robert Lamont had the kind of week that some players have in a season. The sophomore big man was all that and a pack of gum for the Pine Plains High School boys’ basketball team last week. On three consecutive nights, Lamont had three outstanding games to lad the Bombers to a pair of wins, including a victory in the Dutchess County Basketball Coaches Association Holiday Shootout. For his efforts, Lamont is the Hudson Valley Sports Report Athlete of the Week for the period of December 28-January 3. On Monday, in the first game of the Bomber Booster Tournament, Lamont helped his team into the finals of their own event by scoring 21 points and grabbing six rebounds in a 66-45 win over Webutuck. The next night, Pine Plains fell to Rhinebeck in the championship game, 52-47, but not without a spirited effort from Lamont, who had 18 points and 14 rebounds. Finally, on Wednesday, Lamont had 20 points, four rebounds and four steals to lead a tired Pine Plains to a 48-35 win over Haldane in the DCBCA Tournament. *** He’s a handful, that’s for sure. Adam Lindhorst can play inside, outside, handle the ball and is a pretty good defensive player, and he’s one big reason why the Saugerties High School boys’ basketball team is 2-0 atop the Mid-Hudson Athletic League’s Division I standings. And after his two big games last week, it’s also the reason why Lindhorst is the Hudson Valley Sports Report Athlete of the Week. Lindhorst twice scored 27 points for the Sawyers. Against Rondout Valley on Tuesday, his game-high 27 led Saugerties to a 63-58 road win over the Ganders. Three days later, Lindhorst had 27 points and 10 rebounds in a 78-65 victory over Roosevelt. *** They’ve had injuries, they’ve had illness, and through it all the Pawling High School girls’ basketball team has had once constant – Margo Hackett. A gym rat and a coach’s daughter, Hackett – who has been banged up herself at times this season – is one of the top players in the area and she proves it game in and game out. The junior averaged over 22 points per game in three games last week, and that has earned her the Hudson Valley Sports Report Athlete of the Week. The injury-illness ravaged Tigers went 1-2 last week as Hackett had 20 points, seven rebounds and four assists in a 51-37 loss to North Salem. She also had 25 points in a 57-43 loss to Dover. But in the victory, Hackett had 22 points and added to her all-time school record by going over the 1,500-point mark, as the Tigers beat Solomon Schechter, 52-32, in a non-league game. She also had eight assists in that game. *** Of all the adages and clichés in sports, perhaps none is more true than this: Big players come up big in big games. That’s Red Hook High School boys’ basketball player Spencer Dalzell, and that’s why he’s this week’s Hudson Valley Sports Report Athlete of the Week. The Red Raiders had two big games on the schedule last week – a matchup of state-ranked unbeatens against Coleman, and the Backyard Brawl against Rhinebeck. And Dalzell came up big both times. Against the Statesmen, ranked No. 6 in Class D, Dalzell had a game-high 27 points, including five three-pointers, as Red Hook rolled to a surprisingly easy 86-52 rout. Three days later, Dalzell had another 27-point game as he led the Raiders to a 74-50 win over Rhinebeck. *** A little-known fact outside of the basketball world – Poughkeepsie High School’s Nate Gause pronounces his first name Naté, as in Knot-tay Or, as in, ‘Oh no, not again.’ For the third time this year, Gause broke his own career high, scoring 39 points on Saturday as Poughkeepsie beat Peekskill, 75-67, in a non-league game to remain unbeaten. And for the second time this year, his efforts have earned Gause the nod as Hudson Valley Sports Report Athlete of the Week. Gause was outstanding in an outstanding game, as the Pioneers finally met a team this season who could match their athleticism on the floor. *** It’s awfully tough keeping up with this Jones. Roy C. Ketcham High School girls’ basketball standout Briana Jones is having a terrific season, and she’s been a big reason why the Indians have turned around their early-season problems and have come on strong in the second half. Jones has a big week, averaging 23.6 points and leading RCK to three Conference I, League A victories. For her performances, the senior gets the nod as the Hudson Valley Sports Report Athlete of the Week. *** The first time she played this week, the game didn’t mean as much. The second time, the season was on the line. Both times, Our Lady of Lourdes High School girls’ basketball player Teneka Whittaker came through with huge performances, and for that she is the Hudson Valley Sports Report Athlete of the Week. On Monday, Whittaker had 29 points and 10 rebounds as the Warriors beat Roy C. Ketcham, 48-38. OLL didn’t need the victory – the Warriors had already clinched at least a tie for the Conference I, League A title and, with John Jay losing, the Warriors still would have won it outright – but Whittaker was brilliant nonetheless. She was even better on Saturday. The senior had a game-high 32 points and nine rebounds as Lourdes turned back John Jay Cross River in overtime, 68-57, to advance to the quarterfinals of the Section One, Class AA tournament.
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MONDAY, JUNE 14, 2010 Looking back on a wonderful autumn We'll be shifting gears now here at Hudson Valley Sports Report. High schools and colleges are over; the Hudson Valley Renegades come into town this week and begin play on Friday in Aberdeen, Md., and there are several great golf tourneys over the summer, plus Empire State Games. But allow us to reminisce on a great season. Starting today and running through Thursday, Hudson Valley Sports Report is taking a look back at the 2009-10 local high school and college sports season, which just concluded with Rhinebeck High School winning its second consecutive New York State Class C softball championship. Today’s edition covers the fall 2009 high school season. Tuesday will bring the winter season, Wednesday we’ll look at the spring campaign and on Thursday HVSR will go back and look at the accomplishments of the local colleges. You know, on July 27, 2009 – still less than a year ago – when Hudson Valley Sports Report first launched, I wrote a welcome column in which I talked about all the wonderful local events I witnessed during my nearly 11-year career as a sportswriter at the Poughkeepsie Journal. And I wrote this phrase to end that column: “If I get to see half of the stuff I saw in my first go-round covering local sports, I’ll be a blessed, lucky man.” After being away for nearly 13 years after leaving the Journal in 1996, the last 10 months have been nothing short of amazing. We had two team state champions in John Jay High School girls’ soccer and the aforementioned Rhinebeck softball team – both back-to-back, by the way – and another run to the NCAA tournament by the Marist College women’s basketball team. Difficult though it may have been, there was the extraordinary story of the Marist men finishing with the worst record in school history and one of the worst in the country last season at 1-29. The Hudson Valley had countless other league and sectional champions through the course of the year – team and individual – and I apologize now if we miss recounting one of those champs, or a great story, or a great quote. But what our little neck of the woods also produced this past year were great stories. I think the thing that most captures the spirit of what we tried to do in starting Hudson Valley Sports Report and covering high school and college sports in the area was to tell people’s stories – to chronicle the achievements with grandiose celebration, and cover the disappointments with a sense of compassion. So one of my favorite stories from the fall was Red Hook girls’ soccer player Mariam Ismail. In a other-wise ho-hum, 7-0 victory over New Paltz last fall, Mariam scored an unassisted goal in the 30th minute of the game. What’s the big deal about the fifth goal in a runaway game? She was a senior who had never scored before. “The whole team was rooting for her,” Red Hook coach Jason Pavlich said. “She doesn’t get many looks playing in the back, but it was nice in her senior year for her to finally put one in the back of the net.” Yeah. Yeah it was. As far as I’m concerned, it sums up perfectly what sports are all about. | |
| Give 'em something to talk about - quotes from coaches and athletes during the fall season By Rich Thomaselli HVSR Talk, contrary to popular opinion, is not cheap. Here are a few quotes from Hudson Valley athletes and coaches from the fall season that we liked. *** “I’m still looking for someone to step up and take this team to the next level.” – John Jay girls’ soccer coach Darryl Sullivan. He said that in September; two months later, the Patriots had won another state championship. ***  “When you have a quarterback who can run like that, it makes a defense balance up. It’s like, who do you cover?” – Poughkeepsie football coach Ken Barger on quarterback Jarrid Williams (pictured).
*** “They’re deep. I mean, I feel like we can match up with anybody, but we just don’t have the depth. Their No. 5 and 6 players today were both seniors; mine were a freshman and a sophomore, and it showed. There was a confidence factor there.” – Wallkill golf coach Bill Earl on losing to Rondout Valley, the perennial MHAL champions. *** “Before the game I was telling them that there isn’t a kid on their team who has ever seen a Dover win. The last time Dover won, these kids were either in kindergarten or not even in school yet. Our kids didn’t want to be the team that didn’t win and broke the streak.” – Pawling football coach Carl Ferraro on beating Dover. The Tigers haven’t lost to the Dragons since 1997. *** “She’s 5-foot-10 now, and the doctors say she’ll top out around 6-2. I might have to stick around here for a while.” – Pine Plains volleyball coach Bob Stevenson on freshman Mikala McCauley *** “Sammy just came into the huddle and said ‘361, everybody go, everybody go.’ When I got to the line of scrimmage, I saw they had two safeties, and coach (Dominick DeMatteo) always told us whenever we see two safeties to adjust and try to split the middle. Sam just threw a perfect ball.” – Arlington wide receiver Franco Bianchi on the last-second, game-winning TD pass that beat john Jay. *** “Instantly, I just started crying. I knew what it was – that same feeling of emptiness in my knee.” – Highland girls’ soccer star Alyssa Abrahamsen after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in her knee – a year after tearing the ACL in the other knee. *** “What I told the kids on Sunday was, ‘Look, there’s a couple of kids out there in our league that are pretty good, but as far as the team race goes, anything short of dominating is not acceptable.’ ” – Arlington cross country coach Steve Arnett on his boys and girls winning the league championship meet. *** “I don’t know what you guys are doing to me, but if you keep winning, I’ll keep coaching you to December if I have to.” – Arlington football coach Dominick DeMatteo to his team after their come-from-behind win over Carmel in a Section One, Class AA quarterfinal. *** “I’m still thinking there’s more soccer to be played. It still hasn’t sunk in. Maybe Monday, when I realize there’s no training session. Or maybe when I see the ‘honey-do’ list I’ll really know it’s over.” – Arlington boys’ soccer coach Gary Montalto after his team lost to Newburgh in the state regionals, ending his career as the school’s mentor after 31 years. | | Great stories abounded last fall By Rich Thomaselli HVSR Stories, stories, stories. The fall high school season was filled with 10 jam-packed weeks of wonderful storylines. Start – or end, we should say – with the John Jay girls’ soccer team. The Patriots dominated the local scene again, becoming the only local school to win a team state championship in the fall. Jay went 23-1 on the season – the only loss coming in an out-of-state tournament to Strongsville, Ohio, the No. 1 team in that state – and repeated as Class AA state champions. John Jay capped off another magnificent year of soccer by beating Christian Brothers Academy, 3-0, in the title game. Oh, and leading scorer Sam McGuire is back in the fall for her junior year. Three-peat? *** One of the great stories of last year was the Red Hook girls’ tennis team. No, the Raiders didn’t win the Mid-Hudson Athletic League. Didn’t even win the division. But after losing all 10 matches last year, Red Hook got off to a 3-0 start and finishing with a winning record. *** The football field delivered some awesome storylines last year. Start with Arlington, which was 1-7 in 2007 and improved to 6-3 in 2008. Much was expected of the Admirals, and they delivered – a league championship and a berth in the Section One semifinals, with three of the victories coming in the last minute of play, including an incredible 90-yard drive in the final two minutes and a Sam Loussedes (pictured) touchdown pass on the last play of the game to beat John Jay at John Jay. (See video below) The Admirals also did the same thing to Carmel in the first round of the playoffs in a steady rain at Freedom Plains, scoring twice late in the game to stun the Rams. Equally as dramatic was the Poughkeepsie football team, which made it to the Section One, Class A championship game before falling to Roosevelt-Yonkers. To get there, the Pioneers pulled two stunning upsets. First, they beat heavily favored Somers – a team that beat Poughkeepsie by 50 points the previous season in the playoffs – by the score of 14-10. A week later, the Pioneers again went on the road, again played a heavily favored Westchester team, and again pulled the upset. Only this time the word ‘stunning’ probably wasn’t enough to describe the 25-20 win in which Jarrid Williams completed a pass to Josh Graham at the gun, and Graham somehow raced down the sidelines for the winning TD. The Highland football team survived a season filled with injuries to go undefeated – including a streak of 22 scoreless quarters – heading into the Section Nine, Class B championship game, where the Huskies were upset by James I. O’Neill. *** Speaking of Highland, one of the most compelling stories of the year was that of girls’ soccer star Alyssa Abrahamsen. A senior who missed the last half of the 2008 season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament that required surgery, she worked hard in rehab and came back to score two goals in her first game of the 2009 season. Less than a week later, however, she blew out the other knee and missed all of her senior year. While it was a difficult, Alyssa maintained an extremely positive attitude and, once again, worked extremely hard to get back. In the spring, she was well enough to play softball and was one of the big reasons why Highland won the Section Nine, Class B title. *** Whose name appeared most in Hudson Valley Sports Report last fall? We’re not that meticulous to have added all that up, but here’s one bet – Beacon swimmer Paige Rukoske. All she did during the season was set, and then re-set, at least a half-dozen school records for the Bulldogs. *** Perhaps the most emotional story of the fall played out over the entire season as Arlington boys’ soccer coach Gary Montalto announced that 2009 would be his 31st and final season as the Admirals’ mentor. Montalto said he was retiring from Arlington and headed to the beach community of Lewes, Del., with his wife Sue. So 2009 became something of a farewell tour, and what a season it was. Arlington opened fast with several strong victories, took over the No. 1 ranking in New York before September had ended, and remained unbeaten heading into the Section One tournament. As fate would have it, Arlington was already hosting the championship games and, before an adoring crowd, Montalto won his 14th sectional title as the Admirals beat Horace Greeley in the Class AA final. Alas, the dream of a fourth state title would not be realized. A week later, Arlington was upset by Newburgh Free Academy in the state regionals. The Goldbacks went on to win the state championship. |
Memorable games defined fall season By Rich Thomaselli HVSR There were so many great games during the fall 2009 high school season that there’s no way we could fit the all in. But here are a handful – with the first few paragraphs of the game story as it appeared in Hudson Valley Sports Report – that certainly were memorable. *** HIGHLAND – Thirteen seconds into the game, the Highland High School football team turned the Black & Blue Bowl against archrival Marlboro into a Blue & Gold showcase. Mike Fallatik returned the opening kickoff 72 yards to the 1 yard line, the Huskies scored moments later, and Highland went on to rout the Iron Dukes, 47-8, in a Section Nine, Class B season opener for both teams. An estimated 4,000 people watched defending sectional champion Highland roll to its fourth victory in the last five years over Marlboro behind a power running attack that the young Dukes simply could not contain. *** FREEDOM PLAINS – The first game of the final season went perfectly. The Arlington High School boys’ soccer team played crisply on a warm Saturday afternoon, and the Admirals kicked off coach Gary Montalto’s 31st and last year with a 7-0 non-conference win against an undermanned and depleted Valley Central team. Cody Farrier and Ryan Purdy each had two goals, while Ryan Patino, Ethan Ashong and Nick Battistoni each tallied once. *** COLD SPRING – Better late than never for the Poughkeepsie High School boys’ soccer team. The Pioneers scored with one minute left in the first half, one minute left in regulation, and again in overtime to defeat Haldane, 4-3, in a non-conference opener for both schools on Wednesday afternoon. Junior Francisco Gutierrez had two goals, including the game-winner in OT. “The ball was played into open space and he was in the right spot at the right time,” Poughkeepsie coach Kurt Jesman said. “He slipped it right past the goalkeeper.” *** RHINEBECK – For the first time in four years, the Rhinebeck High School boys’ soccer team beat northern Dutchess County rival Red Hook. Using goals by Reed Fox and Max Fesser, the Indians downed the Raiders 2-0 on Saturday to win the Andy Bennett Tournament played on their home turf. Rhinebeck is now 2-1. “Rhinebeck and Red Hook is always a great rivalry, and it’s taken me four years to finally grab a win against them,” Rhinebeck coach Justin Wisenthal said. “It was an absolutely great game – very clean, lots of class from both teams. We played really well together. We played a lot of team soccer, shared the ball very well and for the most part I’m happy with the progress we’re making from game to game.” *** FREEDOM PLAINS – A little drama, a little fun, and you’ve got the makings of a spectacular girls’ tennis match on Wednesday. The match between Arlington and Our Lady of Lourdes high schools came down to No. 2 doubles, and in a marathon contest it was OLL’s Sarah Fonts and Emily Murphy defeated Lisa Sasciglione and Emily Holtman, 6-7 (11-13), 6-3, 6-4 to give the Warriors a 4-3 Section One, Conference I, League A match. “It was awesome the whole way,” Arlington coach Gail Lynch said of the match. “The match went three sets at No. 3 singles and all three doubles, and Lourdes won all four of those and that was the difference.” The second doubles match was the last left on the court. *** DOVER – One of the oldest and best rivalries in Dutchess County high school football remains a one-sided affair. Matt McNamee had three touchdowns and quarterback Rob Osborne was 5-for-7 for 103 yards and threw a TD pass, and Pawling High School beat Dover, 36-6, on Thursday afternoon. The Tigers haven’t lost to the Dragons since 1997, and Pawling head coach Carl Ferraro has won the big game 21 times in his 23 years coaching. “Everybody knows it’s a big game and right now it’s been so long with the streak that I try to give the kids a lot to digest mentally,” Ferraro said. “Before the game I was telling them that there isn’t a kid on their team who has ever seen a Dover win. The last time Dover won, these kids were either in kindergarten or not even in school yet. Our kids didn’t want to be the team that didn’t win and broke the streak.” *** MILLBROOK – On Homecoming, Millbrook and Marlboro high schools played a thriller of a Section Nine non-league game, as an injury-depleted Blazers team outlasted the Iron Dukes, 25-22, in overtime on Friday night. Millbrook improves to 3-1 thanks to a 21-yard field goal in OT from Aidan Little. The junior also booted a 34-yarder earlier in the game. Marlboro is now 1-3. “I’ve never been prouder of a team I coached,” Keenan said, “than I was tonight.” With leading rusher Peter Keenan one of four two-way Millbrook starters out with an injury, senior David Hollingsworth led a phenomenal effort by the Blazers, rushing 38 times for 192 yards and a touchdown. He also had eight tackles on defense. “He really picked it up for all the kids who were injured,” Keenan said. *** WICCOPEE – It was everything it was supposed to be, and more. So it was only fitting, of course, that the most significant Dutchess County high school football game in years came down to one final, glorious play that left the visiting team dancing and celebrating with joyous enthusiasm, while the home team collapsed to the ground in sheer despair. That was the showdown that was Arlington vs. John Jay, and that was the scene after the Admirals’ Sam Loussedes threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to Franco Bianchi on the last play of the game Saturday to give Arlington a stunning 23-20, come-from-behind win over the Patriots. The play capped a 90-yard drive in exactly two minutes and left John Jay sprawled in shock in the end zone, their fans holding their heads in their hands in disbelief, while the Admirals wildly celebrated just a few feet away, with their fans clamoring to get through the fence to join in. *** POUGHKEEPSIE – You can do a lot in five minutes. Win a high school soccer game. End a long streak. Create havoc in the league standings. Just ask the Ellenville High School boys’ soccer team. The Blue Devils’ Andres Rojas scored two unassisted goals in the final five minutes of the game on Wednesday, and Ellenville stunned Spackenkill, 2-1, ending the Spartans’ six-year unbeaten streak on their home field. Spackenkill had not lost at home since a 2003 game against Roosevelt. *** SOMERS – Talent can carry a team a long way, but so does belief. The Poughkeepsie High School football team believed it could beat top-seeded Somers in Friday night’s Section One, Class A quarterfinals, despite losing by 50 points to the Tuskers last year in the same game. “Absolutely, without a doubt,” Pioneers coach Ken Barger. “We promised we would never have a situation like that again.” They didn’t. At the end of a dreary, rainy night, Poughkeepsie celebrated madly as it stunned unbeaten Somers, 14-10. *** MIDDLETOWN – Back-to-back. Rowan Brind’s golden goal, a header off a corner kick in the first sudden death overtime, gave the Rhinebeck High School boys’ soccer team their second consecutive Section Nine, Class C championship on Monday night with a 2-1 win over S.S. Seward at Faller Field in Middletown. *** MILTON – Another year, another championship for the Pine Plains High School field hockey team. Another year, another championship for the Red Hook High School field hockey team. Some traditions just never change. Pine Plains captured the Section Nine, Class C title with a 2-1 overtime victory over Rhinebeck on Thursday night at the Hudson Valley Sports Dome. Prior to that game, Red Hook won the Class B title as Sophie Spagnoli scored the only goal off in a 1-0 victory over Rondout Valley. *** KATONAH – Apparently, all they do at Arlington High School these days is make champions, what with the football team winning the league and the boys’ soccer and girls’ cross country winning Section One titles. Now add volleyball to that list. Second-seeded Arlington played a spectacular match on Saturday night and swept top-seeded Suffern, 25-19, 25-21, 26-24, to win the Section One, Class AA championship for the first time in school history. *** FREEDOM PLAINS – It was somewhat ironic, of course, that in the end the Arlington High School boys’ soccer team pulled an inside job. When Arlington was selected to host the four Section One class championship games for boys’ soccer, it was likely that the No. 1-seeded Admirals – ranked second in the state and third in the country – would get to play at home in the finals. That meant Arlington coach Gary Montalto would likely choose the lower field to play on, which meant less seating capacity than the football field, but meant more space on the wider field for his Admirals to operate. But after being stymied all game from running its offense from the outside, Arlington found life inside. Rob Stevens’ booming shot from about 25 yards out in the middle of the field stunned No. 2 Horace Greeley, giving the Admirals a 1-0 overtime victory Saturday for Montalto’s 14th Section One championship. (See video at right) | |
| Fun tidbits from a fun season By Rich Thomaselli HVSR High school athletics is fun, and we like to point out some of the fun, interesting or unusual things that happen during each week with our ‘Dot Dot Dot’ collection of tidbits in each Monday’s Athlete of the Week story. Here are a few favorites from the fall. *** If the Mid-Hudson Athletic League golf season keeps going like this for Saugerties High School, coach Steve Eggink is going to turn gray. After losing by a stroke in its season opener last week against Highland, Saugerties took on Red Hook on Tuesday in the Sawyers home opener … and the match ended in a tie after the first four scores for each team were compiled. But under MHAL rules, if the match is tied it goes to the No. 5 golfers, and Saugerties’ Aaron Chrisman defeated Red Hook’s Alex Thomassen, 51-56, to give the Sawyers the victory. “It’s extremely rare for a tie,” said Eggink, who was hard-pressed to remember another match ending in a tie during his 12 years as coach. “I mean, losing by one stroke to Highland was odd, in and of itself, and now this.” *** You don’t see this every day – the Wallkill football team had three kickoff returns for touchdowns in Friday’s 49-14 win over Horseheads. Returning to the same stomping grounds where he made his name as a player many years ago, Vegliando won his first game as the Wallkill High School football coach as the Panthers ripped Horseheads, 49-14, in a non-league game Friday night. The Panthers had brilliant execution in the special teams, returning three kickoffs for touchdowns – a 76- and 97-yard runback from Kevin Cresti, and a 64-yard return by Dom Calvanico. *** After a slight delay in completing Marlboro High School’s new football field pushed the opener back two weeks, the Iron Dukes christened their new turf with a resounding 36-12 victory over John S. Burke in the first Friday night home game in Marlboro history. *** A special shout-out to Marlboro football player Frank Wedding, who impressed us when we saw him opening night against Highland. Wedding suffered a severe injury in Friday night’s loss to Millbrook, breaking his leg in three places and undergoing surgery to implant a steel rod. We wish him the best and a speedy recovery. Good player, good kid. *** Four games in five days, and three that went to overtime, will make any team tired. But, somehow, the Roy C. Ketcham girls’ soccer team was able overcome weary legs and quality opponents, and not lose a single match. RCK beat Yorktown, 1-0; tied Carmel, 1-1; beat Newburgh, 3-2; and topped it off with a 2-1 win over Arlington on Saturday. *** Upset of the Year? Well, so far, anyway, it’s Rondout’s 1-0 win over state-ranked Wallkill in girls’ soccer. The Ganders came in with just one win under their belt. *** The Highland High School football team won its sixth consecutive game on Saturday, but the Huskies finally gave up a score in a 21-6 victory over John S. Burke in a Section Nine, Class B game. Burke became the first team to score on Highland since Marlboro in the first quarter of the first game of the season – barely. Burke scored with two minutes remaining in the game after Highland coach Carl Relyea made the decision to lift his starters in order to get as many players as possible into the game with a comfortable three touchdown lead. Thus, the scoreless streak ends at 22+ quarters, or a total of 277 minutes and 18 seconds. *** More hats off, please – the Highland girls’ soccer team is in the Section Nine, Class B title game this week thanks to a 3-2 win over top-seeded Spackenkill in the semifinals. Coach Peter Harris has done a fabulous job of pulling this team together in the wake of several key players going down to season-ending injuries. | | Athletes of the Week for Fall 2009 By Rich Thomaselli HVSR One of the most important things we did in starting Hudson Valley Sports Report was to revive an old staple from the Poughkeepsie Journal to further recognize the great achievements of local athletes – bring back the Athlete of the Week. FALL 2009 ATHLETES OF THE WEEK |
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These were the fall winners, starting with its debut on Sept. 14, 2009 and running consecutively for the next eight weeks. *** Here’s the amazing part about being Millbrook High School running back Peter Keenan and fellow football standout Jarrid Williams of Poughkeepsie: they both realize that opposing defenses – heck, the entire crowd – know they’re getting the football. Yet, with a lot of talent and a lot of help from their teammates up front, the two are still able to foil their opponents and rack up yardage. For their efforts this past week, Keenan and Williams share the first-ever Hudson Valley Sports Report Athlete of the Week award. *** She’s more than just a great soccer player and a great teammate. Alyssa Abrahamsen is a great kid, and that’s why it’s so hard to accept that another of her seasons – her senior season, in fact – has ended prematurely. Last year, she tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee and missed the second half of the season. This year, she played in only four games before tearing a ligament in her left knee against Roosevelt this past week – but not before scoring a goal in the victory – and will again be out for the remainder of the season. For her talent, her perseverance, her tenacity in the face of adversity, and her grace, Abrahamsen is the Hudson Valley Sports Report Athlete of the Week. *** There’s an old, famous story from the 1989 Super Bowl, when the San Francisco 49ers were playing the Cincinnati Bengals. Down by three points with only three minutes, 20 seconds on the clock, and stuck back on their own 8 yard line, the 49ers came out to huddle before their first play of the drive when quarterback Joe Montana pointed to the crowd and said, “There, in the stands, standing near the exit ramp … Isn’t that John Candy?” The observation broke the tension of the moment, and the Niners drove 92 yards for the winning touchdown to win the game. Well, Arlington High School quarterback Sam Loussedes didn’t spot anybody famous on the sidelines of Saturday’s game at John Jay, but he was just as cool. Loussedes drove the Admirals 90 yards in two minutes, throwing a 29-yard touchdown pass to Franco Bianchi on the last play of the game, as Arlington stunned the Patriots, 23-20. For his efforts, Loussedes is the Hudson Valley Sports Report Athlete of the Week. *** What’s that final phrase that trial lawyers use when they’re done? The defense rests? Not for the Highland High School football team. The defense never rests for the Huskies, and that’s why the group is this week’s Hudson Valley Sports Report Athlete(s) of the Week. Highland is on quite the tear. The defending Section Nine, Class B champions were expected to do just as well, if not better, this season. But the way the Huskies have played, especially on defense, has exceeded all expectations. In four games, Highland has given up just eight points – a touchdown pass and a two-point conversion. That came with three minutes, 18 seconds remaining in the first quarter of the season-opening game against Marlboro. Nobody’s scored since. Highland has gone 15-plus quarters – more than 183 minutes of football – without giving up a point. *** In the biggest game of the year, against arguably the biggest opponent on the schedule to date, Ethan Ashong shined. The senior for the Arlington High School boys’ soccer team busted out in a big way last week, scoring four consecutive goals to lead the No. 1 state-ranked Admirals to a 5-1 victory over archrival John Jay. For that performance, Ashong is this week’s Hudson Valley Sports Report Athlete of the Week. *** You figure there will be at least a couple of more of these things for Ariel Haber, the 12-year-old tennis sensation playing for Wallkill High School. Haber won the Mid-Hudson Athletic League singles title this week, and unless she leaves the area early to hone her game in sunnier climates, she’ll be the favorite to win it every fall for the next five years. For her accomplishment, Haber is this week’s Hudson Valley Sports Report Athlete of the Week. *** Technically speaking, of course, her title is ‘setter.’ Her role is, as the job description implies, to set up her teammates spikes and dinks and kills. And nobody does it better than Red Hook High School’s Krissy Mulpeter. The senior had a monster week in stockpiling assists, leading the Red Raiders to three victories – including their sixth consecutive Mid-Hudson Athletic League championship. For that performance, Mulpeter is the Hudson Valley Sports Report Athlete of the Week. Mulpeter was simply fabulous this past week, and her numbers were almost astronomical. In the final regular-season match of the year, she had 56 assists and eight kills to lead Red Hook to a 3-1 win over New Paltz. Then, on Saturday, playing in back-to-back matches, Mulpeter and Red Hook truly shined. She had 30 assists, 13 digs and four kills in a 3-0 sweep of Wallkill in the MHAL semifinals, and then had 38 assists and seven digs to lead the Raiders to the championship with another 3-0 sweep of Rhinebeck. *** Miracles happen all the time in sports. But they can’t happen without talented athletes making great plays. Meet Josh Graham. The senior for the Poughkeepsie High School football team might just be the best skill position player in the area, and all his talents were on display last Friday. Graham racked up 202 yards of total offense and caught the game-winning touchdown pass with no time left on the clock, leading the Pioneers to a shocking 25-20 upset of two-time defending state champion Rye in the Section One, Class A semifinals. For his efforts, Graham is the Hudson Valley Sports Report Athlete of the Week. |
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