spring fever 2009

8/14/2019 Spring Fever 2009

1/20

A special supplement to The Cooperstown Crier on April 16, 2009 and The Daily Star on April 17, 2009

SENIORMATTMARCEWICZLOOKS

TOLEADONEONTATOTHETOPOFTHE

SOUTHERN TIERATHLETICCONFERENCE

PAGE2

2009

BASEBALL,

SOFTBALL

PREVIEWS

ALSOINSIDECOOPERSTOWN ..................... 4

T-V BASEBALL ..................... 6

T-V SOFTBALL ...................... 8

DELAWARESOFTBALL ......... 14

MAC BASEBALL ..................16

Burns leads a strongouth Kortright team

that is seeking its thirdectional title this

academic year.DELAWARE BASEBALL

PAGE 11

Can Jessie Winanslead powerhouse Aftonto its 15th straight

ection Four Class Dcrown?

MAC SOFTBALL

PAGE 18

Lesley Harlem looks totake Oneonta softballto the next level in the

outhern Tier AthleticConference.

OHS SOFTBALL

PAGE 3

Cover design by P.J. HarmerStar photo by Brit Worgan


2/20

TheCoo

perstownCrier,Thursday,Apr

il16,2009/TheDailyStarFrid

ay,April17,2009

2 ONEONTA HIGH BASEBALL

By Rob Centorani

Staff Writer

Over the past two seasons,neonta Highs baseball team

has won 29 games and lost 15.That includes a 16-6 mark lastyear, when the Yellowjacketswent 12-2 in the Southern TierAthletic Conference.

Thats the good news forHS.

The bad news?For the second straight year

the Yellowjackets were upsetin their first sectional game.Last year, fifth-seeded ElmiraFree Academy downed thefourth-seeded Yellowjackets,11-9, in the Section Four ClassA playoffs. The year before,fourth-seeded OHS lost, 5-4, tofifth-seeded Susquehanna Val-ley in the Section Four Class Bplayoffs.

OHS last sectional vic-tory came May 25, 2004, whenthe Yellowjackets defeatedChenango Valley, 8-4, in a Sec-tion Four Class B semifinal.

Senior catcher Matt Marce-wicz, a brace adorning the leftankle he dislocated when heshattered his fibula during foot-ball season, said this seasonsversion of the Yellowjacketswould very much like to endthat skid.

This is my last chance to

do it, said Marcewicz, who hasalso had three surgeries on hisleft knee in recent years. Thelast couple of years, we got alittle too far ahead of ourselves.We started thinking about thegame after the game we wereplaying _ who we were goingto play after we played Susque-hanna Valley or who were go-ing to play after beating (EFA)and thats the wrong thing to do.I think we have a strong enough

team to carry us a long way.Marcewicz, who said he planson signing a letter of intent thisweek to play baseball next sea-son for Division II Mansfield(Pa.) University, added he and

his teammates expect betterthings this season.

Coach (Joe) Hughes alwayssays he has the highest expec-tations for us, but hes wrongbecause the guys in the lockerroom have higher expecta-

tions, especially me and Jeff(Wiltsie), said Marcewicz, anAll-STAC player who hit .391last season with two home runsand a team-high 27 RBIs.

The one area the Yellow- jackets seem to feel confidentis pitching. Of the 18 playerson the roster, Hughes said 14will see time on the mound thisseason. That includes return-ees Wiltsie, Mike Tietjen, NateEastman, Patrick DeAndrea

and Eric Scorzafava.Hughes warned that thoughhe sees pitching as a strength,dont expect the Yellowjacketsto send overpowering guys tothe mound.

They can beat anybody butthen again, they can get beatby anybody, too, Hughes said.Theyre just not that power10-12 strikeout guy like (Tim)Christman was or the Connollys(Mike and Jon) or the Thoma-

ses (Ron and Kyle) or the (Clay)Bellinger, who are rare com-modities. Were going to pitch alot of people and you dont haveto strike out 10-12 to be effec-tive.

Asked to identify the teamstop pitcher, senior Wiltsie said:I dont know if we really havean ace. We have three veteranpitchers returning _ myself,Mike Tietjen and Pat DeAn-drea, but (Brendan) Wolfanger

has come up and hes throwing just as hard as any of us. Anace, I dont know if we have one.Theres still room for improve-ment for all of us. Maybe someare better than others, but ev-

eryone is about equal. It givesus time to develop.

Hughes said returnersWiltsie (6-0, 1.20 ERA last sea-son), Tietjen (3-3, 3.50) andDeAndrea (3-1, 1.47), and Wol-fanger will make up the starting

rotation. Wolfanger is up from ajunior varsity team that won theCentral Division championshipand lost, 6-5, to Horseheads in aSTAC semifinal last season.

OHS, off to a 2-2 start thisseason, graduated four playerswho earned All-STAC recogni-tion last season, Andy Dickson,whos playing for Mohawk Val-ley CC this spring, Lane Potter,Larry Jankowski and Jack Ben-jamin.

But the Yellowjackets returnfour players who hit better than.300 last season _ Marcewicz,Wiltsie (.328 and a team-high 28runs scored), DeAndrea (.333),Eric Scorazafava (.344) and

ietjen (.400).Hughes said Wiltsie _ wholl

play shortstop when hes notpitching _ and Marcewicz willbat 1-2 in the lineup.

Opposing pitchers will haveto get two pretty good hitters outto start the game, Hughes said.Theyll try to set the table foruys like Nate Eastman, Dalton

Smith, Brendan Wolfanger andEric Scheer, and others.

Junior Eastman is a firstbaseman. Smith, a senior who.256 hitter last season, can playfirst base or catch. Scheer, a se-

ior outfielder, hit .286 a yearago. Wolfanger, a junior, willplay in the outfield when hes

ot pitching.Left-hander Dave Schulte

will see time also see time atfirst base. Scorzafava, DeAn-drea and Marcewicz will sharetime at second. Wiltsie and De-

ndrea are the shortstops.Isiah Fleming, a junior up

from the JV team, and DeAn-drea are will split time at thirdbase.

In the outfield, Wolfangerand Scheer will man two spots,

and junior Cory Hunter and se-ior John Gibson will also com-pete for playing time, as will juniors Matt Pidgeon, James

arson, Kasey Hogan and TomBrindley.

Hughes said Fleming, Schul-te, Carson, Brindley, Scheerand Gibson will also see timeon the time on the mound, aswill junior right-hander DanBroe, a utility player. Gibson iscoming off arm surgery.

I dont think the schedule

has gotten any easier, Wiltsiesaid. I think its gotten tough-er. Its going to be a challengingyear.

dded Marcewicz: We wantto walk off the field with no re-rets, no what-ifs. If that means

a sectional championship _awesome. If that means a statechampionship, even better.But if that means a hard-foughtame deep into the playoffs and

we just dont make all the way,

thats baseball, You have tolove it.

ob Centorani can be reachedt rcentorani@thedailystar,comr 607-432-1000, ext. 209.

Deep pitchingstaff should aidYellowjackets

OHS looking for postseason success

Star photo by Brit Worgan

neontas Eric Scheer slides safely into second base as Unategos Tyler Newman reaches forhe ball during Mondays game at Oneonta High. The Yellowjackets are off to a 2-2 start.


3/20

TheCooperstownCrier,Thursday,April16,200

9/TheDailyStar,Friday,April17,2009

ONEONTA HIGH SOFTBALL

By Rob CentoraniStaff Writer

The 2008 season ended with a10-0 sectional quarterfinal lossto eventual Section Four ClassA champion Maine-Endwell.

Oneonta Highs offense mus-tered nothing _ not a hit, nota walk _ no one reached baseagainst Nicole Osovsky, whoseperfect game included 12strikeouts. Oneonta Highs de-fense committed six errors and

the Spartans amassed 12 hits offlosing pitcher Lesley Harlem.

Last season started with fourSouthern Tier

thletic Confer-ence losses. OHSwas outscored,2-5, during that

stretch.wo years ago,

the Yellowjack-ets won threeSTAC games _two against Nor-

wich and a surprising, 4-3, vic-tory over Seton Catholic Cen-tral. Last year, they went 6-14overall and 2-12 in STAC _ bothleague victories coming againstNorwich.

Will this season be any dif-ferent?

Perhaps, but dont expect theYellowjackets to contend forconference or sectional titlesany time soon.

Obviously in the past, we

havent been a team thats wona lot of games, but we wantit bad this year, said juniorshortstop and third-year varsitystarter Katie Bredin, who went3-for-3 in Oneontas season-opening, 3-1 loss at Cobleskill-Richmondville on April 2. Weobviously want to get betterand win more. Were all excitedabout the season.

We all have that desire towant to win, she continued.Were not going to come up

this season and go undefeated,but were better.

Third-year coach RandyBrockway referred to his pro-gram taking baby steps.

This core group of girls Ihave, they played all last seasonand then the summer, he said.I think with our game experi-ence, it should put us ahead.

The girls down in Binghamtonare playing year-round and itpays off. They have their owntravel programs and were try-ing to do our own travel thinghere.

I think were closing the gapslowly, he continued. We feelwere a little bit closer thanwhere weve been in the past.

So instead of winning cham-

pionships, some on this yearssquad spoke of surprising oneof the conferences kingpins.Maybe a victory over a Wind-sor or Chenango Valley orSusquehanna Valley or Maine-

Endwell or Chenango Forks _teams with rich traditions andsoftball-savvy rosters.

That would be the best,Bredin said. We want a keywin like that, a big victory overa team that just thinks theyre

to come and walk all over us.A win or two like that also

would help to improve the Yel-lowjackets re-cord.

We haventhad a recordover .500 in a fewyears, but I thinkwere capable.Its just a matterof confidence,said third-yearstarting pitcherHarlem, who joins catcher ErinWolstenholme, third basemanSienna Wisseand Bredin offan OHS basket-ball team thatwent 25-1 andadvanced to theClass B state fi-nal. We donthave those build-ing blocks thereyet, but were

here to do that.Harlem, a two-time Daily

Star First-Team All-Star, isprobably the best place to startwith these Jackets, who lost Mi-chelle Seeger and Sara Spragueoff last years roster. In a sportdominated by pitching, its like-ly OHS will need a big seasonfrom Harlem to reach its goals.

She took the decision in all20 of Oneontas games last sea-son, striking out 123 battersalong the way.

Lesley is a good, funda-mental pitcher, Brockwaysaid. She can hit her spots allday long. It just comes down topitch selection, making sure

her pitches are moving and get-ting a little power behind it.

Right now, shes a little bitbehind because of basketball,he continued. Itll take awhilefor her to get her zip back shehad at the end of last season. To

compare her to the other girlsin STAC, shes right there.

olstenholme and Wisse,both sopho-

ores, wereSecond TeamDaily Star All-Star selectionslast season. Wol-stenholme hit.340 last spring,when Wisse bat-ted .316. Theyllhit fourth and

second in the order, respec-tively.

Bredin, who batted .314 lastseason, is the leadoff hitter.

Senior center fielderBridgette Aikens _ a .260 hit-ter in 2008 _ will bat third. Theonly other senior on the roster_ Aikens twin sister, Andrea_ is the teams first baseman.

he remainder of the start-ing spots will be manned by junior Kaitlyn OConnor (sec-

ond base), freshman Briannaeorge (left field) and eighth-rader Brianna Haines (right

field).Brockway described sopho-

ores Brianna Ferchen andalla Losie, along with eighth-rader Hayley Dower, as versa-

tile players he can plug into nu-erous positions this season.This year is going to be dif-

ferent than years before, saidConnor, a second-year varsity

player. We have the talent thisyear.

ob Centorani can be reached

t [email protected] 607-432-1000, ext. 209.

We all have that desire to want towin. Were not going to come up this

season and go undefeated, but werebetter.

OHS shortstop Katie Bredin

Oneonta comingoff 6-14 season

Yellowjackets still looking to turn corner

Star photo by Brit Worgan

neontas Lesley Harlem will be a key part to the Yellowjacketssuccess. The junior went 6-14 for OHS last season.

Brockway WisseBredin

Wolstenholme


4/20

TheCoo

perstownCrier,Thursday,April16,2009/TheDailyStarFrid

ay,April17,2009

4 COOPERSTOWN

By Eric Ahlqvist

Cooperstown Crier

Over the past two seasons,

the Cooperstown baseball teamhas won a Section Three ClassC title and produced three Divi-sion I players.

With catcher/pitcher PhilipPohl playing for Clemson, No.1 starting pitcher Jim Fort atNiagara University and 2007graduate Frank Petroskey atVermont, the Redskins may behard-pressed to duplicate re-cent success that included an18-5 finish last season.

Junior Kyle Liner may bethe next star for the Redskins,though.

Already a two-year starter,Liner can play any positionon the field. He will take over

catching duties for Pohl andalso will pitch and fill in otherspots when needed, said Coo-perstown coach Frank Miosek.

Along with Liner, seniorsMack Curran and Brad Ashfordprovide starting pitching depth.Tim Feik, Ryan Davine and An-drew Auriemma also shouldsee time on themound this sea-son.

Last year,Pohl and Fortcombined for 13of Cooperstowns18 wins.

In all, Cooper-

stown has sevenreturning letter-men and also should be helpedby the addition of senior NickDavoulas, who transferred fromEdmeston last October.

Davoulas was a key memberof the 2008 Panthers baseballteam, which won the Tri-ValleyLeague and Section Four ClassD titles. A pitcher/infielder, Da-voulas is one of four captains,along with Liner, Ashford andCurran.

The Redskins won the Cen-ter State Conference DivisionII title last season with a 10-0record.

In our division, all the teamsare expected to be competitive,and all have experienced play-ers back, said Miosek, who isin his 19th season. We need todevelop pitchers for those weeks

when we play four or five gamesin a week.

Miosek said sophomoreJames McCardle and freshman

Jarrett Hotal-ing will battleto start at catch-er when Linerpitches or playselsewhere. Lin-er, who hit bet-ter than .400 last

year, will takeover for Pohlin the clean-up

spot. Miosek said he is search-ing for a No. 3 hitter who canhelp drive in runs.

yler Hoke, Bryan Vrooman,Ethan DiLorenzo, Evan Bouton,

ndrew Pink, Jimmy Donleyand Hotaling are among the top

ewcomers. Miosek said someof those players will alternatebetween the junior varsity andarsity during the season.

Hopefully, injuries will notbe serious, Mother Nature willcooperate and well get our fairshare of lucky bounces, Mi-

osek said.ooperstown lost to Pulaski,1-0, in the Section Three Class

-1 final last season. In 2007,the Redskins won their secondSection Three Class C title.

Hopefully, injuries will not be serious, Mother Nature willooperate and well get our fair share of lucky bounces.

Cooperstown coach Frank Miosek

Pitcher Liner could emerge as next star

Redskins look to continue trend of success

By Eric Ahlqvist

ooperstown Crier

With young but experienced andtalented group of returning play-ers, Cooperstown softball coachDave Bliss said hes hoping 2009will be a breakthrough season.

Eight years ago, Bliss took overa squad that was a perennial loserbut has made steady progress since,including an 11-11 mark a year ago

and a first-round sectional loss.We return our entire start-

ing infield and our pitcher, AnnaSams, Bliss said. You win withpitching and defense, and we cancompete with anyone in those cat-egories.

Sams, a sophomore, went 11-8 last season and finished with aschool-record 189 strikeouts over132 1/3 innings.

The Redskins fell in the openinground of last years Section Three

lass C-1 Tournament to Port By-ron, 5-3.

Sawyer Graham, the teamsleading hitter last year, will playfirst base.

ailin Huggins, also the back-up

pitcher, plays second for the Red-skins, who feature Miranda Men-hinick at shortstop and StephanieHascup at third. Hascup was hit-ting .600 midway through last sea-

son but missed the rest of the yearafter foot surgery.

Shes going to be a big additionto the lineup, Bliss said.

Sophomore Sam Borgstrom willtake over for Molly Pearlman atcatcher. Pearlman caught last yearbut did not come out for the teamthis spring.

Sam worked hard in the offsea-son and attended a camp, Blisssaid, so she should be able to stepright in.

Bliss also said his teams hittingshould get a boost from volunteerassistant coach Samantha Carr, whoplayed softball in college and workedwith the girls in the preseason.

Shes a good role model for

them, and I think shes going tomake a difference for us, Blisssaid of Carr, who works in publicrelations at the National BaseballHall of Fame.

Bliss said the addition of a juniorvarsity program a couple of years

ago and the youthsoftball league alsohas helped the pro-ram turn the cor-er.

The JV programallows young play-ers to keep playinginstead of sittingon the bench on thearsity, Bliss said.

Senior Ashley Rowley and Ma-rie DiLorenzo likely will start inthe outfield, where junior ErinHenrici and Chile foreign-ex-change student Javiera Guajavelowill compete for the other spot.

A year of Bliss could be ahead for CooperstownPitching could be keyto winning season

Rowley

Liner Miosek

We return our entire starting infield and

our pitcher. ... You win with pitching anddefense, and we can compete with anyone inthose categories.

Cooperstown coach Dave Bliss

Photo by Cheryl Clough

Cooperstown sophomore pitcher Anna Sams returnsto lead the Redskins this season.


5/20

Our Mission: Dedicated to superior

service, anytime, anywhere!

SFCUSidney Federal Credit Union

www.sfcuonline.org

Looking forward, reaching higher

With offices in: Bainbridge Greene HancockNorwich Oneonta Walton Sidney

1-877-642-SFCU (7328)

America is Planning on Us

5

TheCooperstown

Crier,Thursday,April16,200

9/TheDailyStar,Friday,April17,2009


6/20

TheCoo

perstownCrier,Thursday,April16,2009/TheDailyStar,Frid

ay,April17,2009

6 TRI-VALLEY LEAGUE BASEBALL

By Dean Russin

Sports Editor Just because Edmeston has

it all doesnt mean its going towin it all this year in the Tri-Valley League.

Or does it?I think were going to match

up with them, Cherry Valley-Springfield baseball coach EdDubben said of the defendingleague and Section Four ClassD champion Panthers. Buttheyre still the team to beat un-

til somebody knocks them off.True indeed.Despite a couple of notable

departures inpitcher MattLaymon (gradu-ation) and NickDavoulas (trans-ferred to Cooper-stown), the Pan-thers return thebulk of a teamthat finished 20-

overall and 8-0 in the T-V last season. Theirperformance, which included a5-2 T-V crossover defeat of thePatriots, led Mike Clark to 2008Coach of the Year honors fromThe Daily Star in his fourth sea-son at Edmeston.

Left-hander Laymon went11-1 with a 1.34 ERA and struckout 12 in a two-hitter that gaveEdmeston the sectional titlewith an 8-1 victory over Han-cock. His bat should be missed,

too, as Laymon hit .384 with ateam-high five home runs lastspring. The Panthers also lostbig sticks in .300-plus hittersDavoulas and 2008 graduatesCody Calderon and AnthonyWolcott.

Still, the Panthers haveplenty of strong arms and heavyhitters coming back. Take re-turning Daily Star First TeamAll-Stars Alex Stevens and Jor-dan Williams, for example, whofit both descriptions.

Senior catcher Stevens bat-ted a team-best .463 with a team-high nine doubles, 25 RBIs anda .522 on-base percentage lastseason. He also should see

some time at first base, at thirdand on the mound, where Wil-liams has flourished over the

last two seasons.The hard-throwing Williams

finished 6-1 with a 1.76 ERA and83 strikeouts in 55 2/3 inningslast season. Of all his accom-

plishments in 2008, which in-cluded his second straight Dai-ly Star First Team honor, his

performance in a season-end-ing loss to Rome Catholic mayhave been the most impressive.Although the Panthers suffereda 6-1 setback in a Class D state

quarterfinal, Williams facedthe minimum of seven battersin the last 2 1/3 innings of score-

less relief.Any year youve got a guy

like Jordan Williams to throw,youre going to be in goodshape, said Jim Johnson, who

is looking to get Gilbertsville-Mount Upton back to the cross-over for the first time since theRaiders won the league title in001.

Senior infielders Jake

Baulch (.343 batting average in008) and Ryan Giordano (.273)are Edmestons other top offen-sive threats. The Panthers alsoare looking for production froma promising crop of newcomersled by sophomores Blake Vib-bard and Blake Pavelka.

-MU appears to be theonly team with any shot to de-throne the six-time West Divi-sion champion Panthers, whoreclaimed the crossover crownlast season after losing two

straight league finals to CV-S.Edmeston also won three T-Vcrowns in a row from 2003-05.

Johnson saidthe Raiders havethree capablepitchers in se-

ior Cody Hall,classmate Tyler

ildfeir andsophomore An-drew Delmar.

This gametakes a little

ore than just one pitcher,said Johnson, whose team wonthe 2001 T-V title with a 4-3 vic-tory over Laurens. Im luckyenough to have three guys whocan throw pretty well.

Daily Star honorable men-tion last season, Hall went 4-3with a 2.89 ERA and batted .379with 17 RBIs. Wildfeir went 3-

with a 3.90 ERA and hit .302with 20 RBIs last spring, whenDelmar (2-0, 3.89 ERA) batted

.340.Our first goal is to win ourside of the league _ we do havesome decent talent back, saidJohnson, whose teams 11-8 re-cord last season included a 5-3

ark in the T-V. Were look-ing to make a little noise if wecan.

Morris and Laurens roundout the West Division, whichwill be absent a team fromFranklin for the second straightseason.

First-year coach Kevin Um-bach, a 1996 Oneonta Highraduate, takes over the Mus-

tangs. Umbach, who coachedSee T-V on Page 20

G-MU, Worcesteramong top threats

Road to T-V title should go through Edmeston, CV-S again


Edmestons Jordan Williams will be a key part for the Panthers this season. Edmeston won theSection Four Class D title last year.

lark Hall


7/20




www.sfcuonline.org



1-877-642-SFCU (7328)

TheCooperstown


9/TheDailyStar,Friday,April

17,2009


8/20

TheCoo


il16,2009/TheDailyStar,Friday,April17,2009

8 RI-VALLEY LEAGUE SOFTBALL

By Sarah Stalter

Contributing Writer

The Tri-Valley Leagueseems to be on the samepage this softball season.

Schenevus is the teamto beat.

Led by two-time DailyStar Coach of the Year Jen Pier (2004, 2008), theDragons look to repeat asTri-Valley League cham-pions with the bulk of itsroster returning from lastseasons 23-4 finish.

Schenevus routedthree-time defend-ing champion Ed-meston, 17-2, in lastseasons crossover,marking the Drag-ons first leaguecrown since 2004.

Were lookingat Laurens and Ed-meston as our big-gest competition,but on any given day any-thing can happen, Pier

said. We dont take any-thing for granted.Although Schenevus

lost three to graduation,it returns all three of itspitchers from last season.Pier found success rotat-ing Kelly Tiderencel (10-4in 2008), Jessica Bentleyand Amber Gantner lastspring and has addedthree other arms in MeganPefft, Jessican Kruh andSarah Miller. Theyll pitch

to returning Daily StarFirst Team All-Star catch-er Marion Murphy, whoalso will play shortstop.

Murphy batted .520 with28 RBIs, 28 runs and sixhome runs last spring forthe Dragons, who shouldpile up the offensive sta-tistics with tough outssuch as Tiderencel, Jes-sica Bentley, Maura Har-rington and Karlyn Van-

Deusen.Were focusing onwhat is in front of us andwere not going to lookback and make compari-sons, said Pier, whose T-

V East Division championteam fell to 14-time Sec-tion Four Class D cham-pion Afton in a sectional

semifinal last season. Wewill not look at what wedid and what we had.

Jeremy Bolton, thefirst-year coach of defend-ing West Division winnerEdmeston, pretty muchsaid the same.

Were not looking tothe past but rather thefuture, said Bolton, whotakes over for Brian Bur-gess after coaching last

season at the modifiedlevel. We willwork hard and giveit all we have everygame.

The Panthers,who went 13-5 lastseason, look to re-establish them-selves as a T-Vpower with the helpof six newcomers.

Junior Megan Lawrence(13-4 in 2008) is the No. 1

pitcher in a rotation thatwill feature classmate Su-sanna Johnson and fresh-man Cassie Powers. Law-rence also will see time atshortstop and first base.

Leadoff batter andsecond baseman Johnsonshould provide the youth-ful Panthers with much-needed leadership, aswell as seniors Stefanie

ornnell and Brittany

Martin.Cherry Valley-Spring-field looks to be competi-tive in the East as well asmuch of its starting lineupreturns.

We will be relying onour offensive power be-hind Morgan VanAlstine,Marnieta Nelson, Briana

strander and Savannahrowley, said first-year

Patriots coach MichelleSchmitt, who has 13 up-

perclassmen on her ros-ter. The returning start-ers are helping to makethe team function like theseason never ended, and

the newcomers are slip-

ping right into their po-sitions without any con-cerns.

Nelson, Alexis Evansand Darcy Duncan willlead the Patriots pitchingstaff.

Worcester coach JimKenyon is looking for im-provement after a downseason in 2008. Kenyonsaid his young team,which features two se-

niors, is looking to KimKeever, Tara Fiorentinoand Karli Pochkar to leadthe Wolverines.

Kathryn Keenan,Holly Ramsey and Jordan

Beverland will all bring

strong bats to the plate,Kenyon said.

Milford rounds out theEast Division hopefuls.

To be the man youust beat the man ... or in

this case woman, Milfordcoach Jim Weir said inreference to Schenevus.

The Wildcats lost Ra-chel Schultes, a five-yearstarter at first base, andthird baseman Chynna

Pitlock to graduation. ButFirst Team T-V All-Starabby Skillen returns to

the circle after going 14-7and averaging 10 strike-outs last season. Skillen,

who also batted .357, will

throw to another FirstTeam T-V All-Star incatcher Kayla Thorn. Shebatted .420 with a team-best 25 RBIs last year.Weir said he expects addi-tional offensive pop fromshortstop Mariah Coville.

Laurens coach DeanMarble looks to challengeEdmeston in the West.The Leopards went 11-12overall in 2008, including

a 6-6 mark in the T-V.While it will be hardto replace Dayle (Dutch-er) and Leandra (Spoor),there are 10 players withextensive varsity experi-

ence on this team, Mar-ble said.

Mechia Scott (seniorcenter fielder, .470 BA),Melissa Curry (junior in-fielder/outfielder, .464)

and Amy Breuer (seniorpitcher/outfielder, 10-10in the circle) are Laurenstop returners.

Senior Alicia Kaneand freshman Katie Pis-catello also are expectedto pitch. Piscatello is oneof five freshmen who willbe see plenty of time inthe lineup this season,Marble said.

Franklin went 4-9 last

year and brings back Kas-iero Nero, a senior pitch-er who went 4-9 last seasonen route to T-V First TeamAll-Star honors. Freshmanshortstop Jessica Terranois the top offensive threat.She batted .458 as aneighth-grader for Frank-lin, which welcomes top

ewcomers Jordan Beersand Hayley Downin. Sev-enth-grader Beers, a bas-ketball standout, will play

third and eighth-graderDownin is slated to startin center field.

First-year Gilberts-ville-Mount Upton coachNancy Estabrook inheritsa team that went 5-14-1 lastseason. The Raiders keyreturners include Maris-sa Finch (pitcher), Court-

ey Hillman (pitcher)and Calli Hill (catcher).

-MU lost first baseman

Ashlea Osborne and thirdbaseman Sierra Frenchto graduation, but it mayhave found some versatil-ity in eighth-grade utilityplayer Lauren Hill.

Pitcher Melissa Gal-breath, catcher ChrissyBanks and first basemanAlicia Gregory are backfor Morris, which went 1-13 last season.

We are looking to re-build by allowing some ofour talented younger play-ers to regain the neededexperience this season,Morris coach Maria Dey-senroth said.

Plenty of teams in rebuilding mode

No question: Schenevus is team to beat


Gabby Skillen went 14-7 last year and is one of the top players for Milford.

Murphy

9


9/20

9

TheCooperstown

Crier,Thursday,April16,2009/TheDailyStar,Friday,April

17,2009

0


10/20

TheCoo


il16,2009/TheDailyStar,Friday,April17,2009

10

1

ELAWARE LEAGUE BASEBALL


11/20

1

1

TheCooperstown


17,2009

ELAWARE LEAGUE BASEBALL

By P.J. Harmer

Staff Writer

There arent many thingsSouth Kortright can do for anencore.

So far this academic year,the Rams boys have won Sec-tion Four Class D titles in soc-cer and basketball. After fallingin a soccer state quarterfinal,SKs basketball team capped a26-0 season withthe Class D state

title, markingthe schools firstboys state cham-pionship.

So, how do theRams top that?

If you ask26th-year coachBob VanValken-burgh, who coached soccer andbasketball, SK isnt thinkingthat far ahead.

Even with basketball wenever really talk about it, Van-

Valkenburgh said about win-ning in other sports. Its a longroad ahead of us. Were goingto be competitive in our leagueand well see how we are at theend of the year.

The biggest thing is the kidsare level-head-ed, he contin-ued. We neverlooked ahead sofar this year andhopefully they

continue that.Still, theresno arguing withsuccess.

SKs core al-ready has experienced the pin-nacle of success as 11 of its 16baseball players suited up forthe basketball state champion-ship at the Glens Falls CivicCenter in March.

You cant measure it. Itsreally important, Hunter-Tan-nersville coach Jeff Friedman

said of SKs experience. Thatkind of battle-testing, youcant teach that experience.You cant give it without goingthrough it. While Im not sure

how much it will bear on the

overall outcome, it gives themthe advantage nobody else has.At this level talent wins out andthey are immensely talented.

Although H-T beat the Ramsin last years Delaware Leaguecrossover, 9-8, the Wildcats arerebuilding.

The Rams are not. They re-turn the bulk of last years teamthat finished 13-6 overall, in-

cluding a 9-0 reg-ular-season markin the Delaware

League. SKs2008 postseasonrun ended quick-ly with a 6-2 lossto Hancock ofthe Midstate Ath-letic Conferencein the openinground of the Sec-

tion Four Class D Tournament.Senior first baseman Dan

Many leads what appears to bea strong pitching staff for SK.He went 5-1 last season and hit.467.

Kyle Hotaling, who had a 2.62ERA last season, is SKs No. 2pitcher. Also a third baseman,Hotaling hit .456 last year.

Both of them have expe-rience, so well try and keeppeople healthy, VanValken-burgh said. But with the gamesbacked up (because of poorweather), it will take more thanthose two.

Senior shortstop Eric Burns

(.463, 32 RBIs), senior catcher/pitcher Josh Palmatier (.379)and junior infielder TannerMetzko (.371) also return for theRams.

Every team is going to beshooting for us and its a big tar-get on our back, VanValken-burgh said. Im sure well havesome tough games. There aregoing to be teams to give us astiff challenge.

Jefferson could give theRams a run in the Mountain Di-

vision. Seniors Mike Quagliano(pitcher/shortstop) and GabeMiller (center field) will leadthe way for the J-Hawks, whofinished 8-7 last season. Both

are fifth-year varsity players.Quagliano went 4-2 with a

3.62 ERA and Miller hit .460with 31 runs and 24 stolenbases. Senior Ben Sharib, whopitches and plays shortstop, hit.444 with 22 RBIs last spring.

H-T should be hard-pressedto successfully defend its titlein the Upper Division, whichfeatures a solid Margaretvillesquad.

Kortright looks head-and-shoulders above everyone atthis point, Friedman said. Iexpect as the year goes on, wellsee more out of the kids out ofMargaretville. They are olderand will be a tough squad asthe time goes on. They have thewhole package over there. Theyare the favorite (in the Upper).I never underestimate JohnToronis (Jefferson) teams, butI really think Kortright is the

class of the league and the sec-tion right now.H-T lost eight players from

last years 14-4 team, which fell,7-2, to eventual sectional cham-pion Edmeston in the semifi-nals. Among the departed ispitcher/shortstop Greg Mudge,a Daily Star First Team All-Starwho went 8-2 last year. Fried-man will look to seniors DerekLegg (pitcher/shortstop/catch-er) and Ryan Megnin (outfield/first base), a Delaware League

first-team All-Star last year, forleadership.

H-Ts pitching staff enteredthis season with a combinedseven innings of varsity expe-rience. Junior Nick Tripsas,sophomore Kyle Friedman(Jeffs son) and freshman RemoRomito will see time on themound.

How are we going to be? Iwould hope we could make sec-tionals, Jeff Friedman said. Ithink were competitive witha lot of the other teams in ourleague. Were going to have toget better, improve, grow andkind of get comfortable quick-ly at this level. If those things

come together, we could get to.500.

Margaretville, under 25th-year coach Rick Funck, returnsa solid nucleus that starts withsophomore pitcher PatrickOConnell. He threw a perfectgame in a 9-0 victory againstWindham on April 9. Brian

Faulkner, MitchVanKeuren andIan Williams

round out theBlue Devilsstarting pitch-ers.

I have fourguys I feel com-pletely comfort-able with going

out there and starting, Funcksaid. Thats a luxury Ive nev-er had. Usually you are happywith two good ones.

I always start the season

and tell the kids that my No. 1goal is to get to the end of theseason and have most of theplayers say Im a better base-ball player, he continued. Ifthe majority can say that, thenweve had a successful season.

D a v e n p o r treturns three ofits top playersfrom last years4-10 team, whichwent 4-6 in theDLs Upper Di-

vision. Thoughthe Wildcatsshould produceruns with play-

ers such as Mike Ontl, KevinGilley and Alex Poole return-ing, their pitching is somewhatof a question mark.

Ontl, a junior outfielder/pitcher, hit .348 with 16 RBIslast season, when senior thirdbaseman Poole batted .342 andsenior pitcher/shortstop Gilleyhit .302.

Windham, which went 2-13last season, returns seniorsMike Iacono (pitcher) andBrandon Terrill (outfield). Ju-niors Evan Goettsche (catcher)

and Anthony Alesi (infield) andsophomore Steve Sherman (in-field) should give the Warriorsa boost as well.

Stamford finished 5-9 lastseason under first-year coachSean Lynch, who returns thisseason.

First-year Downsville coachom Rose inherits a team that

finished 1-13 last season. Rose,an assistant at Sidney for the

past three seasons, will try to re-build the program with the helpof senior second baseman BrettShellman, a Delaware Leaguehonorable mention last season.

Senior Donald Jenningspitcher/infield/outfield) and

junior Ronnie MacDonaldpitcher/infield) also return.

Freshman Josh Ahearn (pitch-er/infield/outfield) is also amongthe Eagles newcomers.

ilboa looks to turn around

a 3-10 finish in 2008 with apitching rotation that includesjunior Justin Kovacevich, whoalso plays shortstop, and soph-omores Derek Briggs and Joe

ooper.he trio will pitch to senior

catcher Loukas Vogiatzis forthe most part. The Wildcats10-player roster features onesenior, four juniors, four sopho-

ores and a freshman.reg Funck, a Roxbury grad-

uate and former Oneonta State

reliever, takes over a Rocketsteam that went 9-7 last season.

hough Roxbury lost one ofits top players to graduationin pitcher/shortstop StevenHubbard, the Rockets returnseniors Tim Douglas (first base/pitcher) and Owen Sanford (sec-ond base), junior David Clarkshortstop/pitcher) and sopho-

ore outfielder Jacob Libera-tore. Freshman Kyle Ciaravinooutfield) and sophomore Gar-

rett Hall (third base) also couldbe key contributors.

.J. Harmer can be reachedt [email protected] or07-432-1000, ext. 229.

Its a long road ahead of us. Were going to be competitiven our league and well see how we are at the end of the year.

SK coach Bob VanValkenburgh

Jefferson, Margaretville look toend Rams success in 2008-09

South Kortright has a shot at three-peat

VanValkenburgh

Hotaling

Connell

Ontl

Many

2


12/20

TheCoo

perstownCrier,Thursday,April16,2009/TheDailyStar,Fri

day,April17,2009

12

1


13/20

3

TheCooperstown


17,2009

4 DELAWARE LEAGUE SOFTBALL


14/20

TheCooperstownCrier,Thursday,April16,2009/TheDailyStarFrid

ay,April17,2009

1DELAWARE LEAGUE SOFTBALL

By Sarah StalterContributing Writer

Last season, two DelawareLeague softball players earnedhonors as Daily Star First-TeamAll-Stars.

Both have returned for 2009,giving their respective teams ahead start.

At Jefferson, its sophomore Jordyn Hillis. She went 11-3last season, which included a

one-hitter in a 7-0 victory overMargaretville in the DelawareLeague crossover.

Hillis finished with a 1.94ERA and struck out 108 battersfor the J-Hawks, who finished15-3.

We should be very com-petitive again this year, with anearly full starting lineup re-turning for the 2009 season,said 16th-year Jefferson coachAndi Cammer, whose rosterfeatures 21 girls in grades 10-

12. Additionally, Cammer lost just one player to graduationin four-year third baseman Mi-randa Blakeslee.

The only bad news for thedefending Mountain Divisionchampion J-Hawks is the otherreturning Daily Star First TeamAll-Star is on the same side ofthe league.

That player also is a pitcher,Downsville sophomore KristaBaxter. She had all the deci-

sions in the Eagles 18-4 season,finishing with a 1.42 ERA andstriking out 156.

She is throwing harderthan she did a year ago and weshould able to give her plentyof rest this year, said Downs-ville coach Jeff Baier, who alsoreturns 2008 league All-Star Al-lison Townsend. A senior thirdbaseman, Townsend batted .422with two home runs 23 RBIs and16 stolen bases last spring.

Defense, and more impor-

tantly pitching, are the nameof the game in softball, Baiercontinued, and we have one ofthe best in Krista Baxter.

Downsville also returns junior

catcher Sabra Yancey (.286 BA,17 RBIs) and shortstop KatelynnPeaster, who will bat leadoff.

I expect Jefferson to bethe big competition in our di-vision, Baier said. Last year,we tied them for the DelawareMountain championship. They

got to go to the crossovers be-cause they beat us by a run inthe regular season.

Jefferson looks to return tothe final with the help of seniorcatcher Katie Bedford.

(Hillis and Bedford) workwell together and both arelearning what pitches needto be thrown and when, saidCammer, whose lineup alsofeatures outfielder VanessaSpeenburgh, first basemanAlyssa Jonker and outfielderDove Henry.

Our goal is to go further thanwe did last year after finishingin the (sectional) quarterfinalsagainst Schenevus, Cammer

continued. We will be defend-ing our Delaware League titleagainst tough teams like Downs-ville and Margaretville.

Gilboa, which went 4-8 lastseason, looks to challenge withthe offense of Jenna Danouski, Jessica Caputo and Heather

Cunningham.Each one of them possess

the capability to help the teamscore runs, Gilboa coach DanMcGlynn said.

Roxbury is returning all butone player this season, mean-ing it should improve on lastsprings 3-13 record. Althoughtheir record was anything butstellar, the Rockets had mod-erate success with an upset ofMargaretville. They also took Jefferson and Hunter-Tanners-ville to extra innings.

Then we would turn aroundand struggle with a team of sim-ilar caliber and little success,said Roxbury coach Jane Ware,

who will try to rebuild aroundRachel Meckes (.436 BA, 36stolen bases, 21 runs in 2008)and pitcher Heather Davie (80strikeouts, .426 BA). We havethe experience and the athletesin key positions to return toSection Four competition.

South Kortright had it toughin 2008 with a 4-12 record butreturns power-hitter seniorCassie McMullen (.460 BA) andfreshman first baseman RobinWard (.370). Marcy Sebastianand Renee Craft also are back.

In the Upper Division, first-year Margaretville coach BillLonecke is looking for a cross-over rematch with Jefferson asthe Blue Devils lost only oneplayer to graduation.

Jeffersons lone regular-sea-son DL loss in 2008 was a 6-5setback to Margaretville, whichwill be anchored by infieldersBrandi Balcom, Emily Kellyand Erica Faulkner. The trio

should make it tough for oppo-ents to rattle pitcher Brittany

Hull and batterymate CaitlynRoberts.

Margaretville also should re-ceive a boost from pitcher Ra-chel Andrews and third base-

an Karli Tait, who played forndes last season. They will

compete for the Blue Devilsthis year as the Mountaineersdid not field a team.

Were looking for a very suc-cessful season, Lonecke said.

Davenport and Hunter-Tan-ersville should be in the mix.

Davenport, though, willhave to replace the graduatedMiranda Zimmerman (team-best 20 RBIs last season) and

speedster Chelsea Haight, whoreturned to the track and fieldteam. But senior catcher Lau-ren Rider (.317 BA) and juniorpitcher Jackie Gilley (6.09 ERA,.379 BA) are back after earn-ing Delaware League All-Starhonors last spring. Davenportalso returns junior shortstopSamantha Meyerhoff (.368 BA),who led all area girls basket-ball players in scoring this pastwinter.

I wish to improve on our re-

cord from last year and with alittle luck, maybe cause somedisruption from the expected,said Davenport coach CherylButler, whose team went 5-6last season after winning fourstraight DL titles. We lost sev-eral games by one run last year.Bottom line is we need to score

ore runs.indham went 6-8 last sea-

son and returns seniors ShainaRion and Shannon McGovern.

After coming off a sectionalberth last season, our expecta-tions are to have another strongseason, Windham coach JoelMiddleton said. As always, ouroal is to play hard every time

we take the field, limit mistakesand be competitive.

Seniors Amy VanEtten,Shelby France and KristenDavis are back for H-T, whichfinished 9-5 last season after anearly exit in the Section Four

lass D Tournament.

Stamford (2-10 in 2008) looksto rebound with returningcatcher Chelsea Higgins (.363BA) and third-year startingpitcher Alyssa Melendez.

Margaretvillelooks to repeat inUpper Delaware

Jefferson, Downsville lead stacked Mountain Division


Roxbury senior Jessica Utsler is one of the key returning players for a young Rockets team.

15


15/20




www.sfcuonline.org



1-877-642-SFCU (7328)

5

TheCooperstown


/TheDailyStar,Friday,April

17,2009

16 MIDSTATE ATHLETIC CONFERENCE BASEBALL


16/20

TheCooperstownCrier,Thursday,April16,2009/TheDailyStarFriday,April17,2009

1

By Courtney A. Erickson

Contributing Writer

Graduation took a heavy tollon defending Midstate AthleticConference champion Unatego.

The Spartans, who won theirfourth title in the leagues sev-en-year history with an 8-7 vic-tory over Deposit last season,graduated two key players offlast seasons 18-6 team.

Daily Star First Team All-StarKyle Palmer, who hit .556 andwent 6-2 on the mound, and DailyStar second-teamer Alex Hen-

drickson graduated in June.Its a balancing act, Spar-tans coach Frank Microni saidof the challenge of repeatingas MAC Division I champions.You lose some key playersand hope some returning play-ers can step up. I think everyteam in the league is like that.The whole league is pretty bal-anced. I think its going to be adogfight.

Unatego, which went 10-0 inleague last season, returns Daily

Star second-teamer Chet Davis,a senior first baseman/pitcherwho hit .396 last season.

Also back are junior catcher/infielder Cody Komenda (.338average in 2008), senior outfield-er Erik Barber (.292) and seniorinfielder Tyler Newman (.365).

Newman and junior CodyChambers lead a six-man pitch-ing rotation. Juniors Dale Ri-fenbark and Jesse Brown, andseniors Cody Renwick and Da-vis, will also see time on themound.

These guys dont have a lotof varsity experience, said Mi-croni, whose teams season end-ed a year ago with a 12-0 loss toeventual champion ChenangoValley in a Section Four ClassB semifinal. This year, wereworking with more guys andwere more deep. They workhard and theyre very receptiveto the coaching and what weretrying to do.

Unatego started 2-1 this sea-son and returns eight playersfrom its 12-man roster.

Sidney finished 15-10-1thanks in part to four hitters

who batted .400 or better lastspring. Fourth-year coach KyleVibbard lost all of those hitters_ Travis Fusco, Andy Wood,Aubrey Wood, Markus Dilello_ to graduation, along with the

teams top two pitchers, AndyWood and Aubrey Wood.

Vibbard also lost the ser-vices of junior pitcher AaronWood, who recently quit theteam.

Senior first baseman/catch-er Zach Finch and sophomorepitcher/shortstop Andy Kozakreturn from last season. TheWarriors also have a pair ofnew varsity faces _ sophomorepitcher Dylan Umbra and se-nior Mike Guerriere, a standoutfor Sidney this academic yearin football and basketball.

Senior right-hander TylerKane joins Kozak and Umbrain Sidneys three-man starting

rotation.They are young and inex-

perienced but capable of doingthe job, said Vibbard, whoseteam started this season 1-2.Theyre not overpowering, but

they all throw multiple pitchesfor strikes.

Delhi could pose a threat toUnatego in Division I, as 15th-year coach Fred Barkalowboasts three senior pitchersamong his 12-player team.

Senior Daily Star First TeamAll-Star Luke Burns hit .494with 18 extra-base hits and 27RBIs last season. He also endedthe 2008 season with 12 consec-utive scoreless innings on themound for the 12-10 Bulldogs.

Burns is joined by classmatesTroy Tucker and Chris Skovira.Tucker, an outfielder/pitcher,hit .378 last season and went 2-1 with a 4.32 ERA. Skovira will

play first base when hes notpitching.

Junior J.J. Darling, an out-fielder/pitcher, hit .278 a seasonago.

We have a good nucleuscoming back, Barkalow said ofhis four returnees. They haveat least two years of experiencealready and we should be ableto hit the ball and field it prettywell this year.

The Bulldogs won two oftheir first three games.

Walton coach Gary Backusenters his 19th season withseveral standouts back fromlast years 13-7 team that lostto Sidney, 14-13, in the Class C

quarterfinals. Daily Star Sec-ond Team All-Star Chris Meadleads the Warriors.

The senior pitcher/infielderis a four-year varsity starterwho hit .422 last season. Third-year starters Chad Gardepe, apitcher/infielder who hit .319last season, Cody Endress, acatcher/first baseman who hit.381, and Phil Hanley, a juniorcenter fielder who hit .407, alsoreturn. Junior outfielder Bry-ant Mead, who missed last sea-

son because of a leg injury, isalso back.

Gardepe, Chris Mead andKyle Baxley will be the primarypitchers.

Unadilla Valley graduatedDaily Star honorable mentionselection Mike Bluy, who batted.409 with two home runs duringthe teams 3-14 season in 2008.

Senior Justin Peek (P/INF,.396 batting average, 1 HR) andjunior Dylan Webb (P/INF) lead

a mostly junior-laden 14-playerroster.In Division II, the title could

be up for grabs.Afton coach Ron Rapp has

his team off to a 6-0 start.Its frustrating being a

(Class) D school in the MAC be-cause we play the big schoolsfrom the other division, saidRapp, whose Crimson Knightsfinished 9-10 and lost to even-tual sectional champion Ed-meston in a Class D quarterfinal

last season. This year wevejust been playing solid defenseand our pitching has rebound-ed from some tough hits.

Seniors Casey Mohrien

pitcher/shortstop) and Jacobrnold (left fielder), junior

closer Mike Muller and sopho-ore Corey Mohrien (first base-an) are the returnees on the

14-man roster.asey Mohrien won four

ames last year, Arnold led theteam in batting (.350 average)and Corey Mohrien enters histhird year on the varsity.

He is a big kid and he is justow growing to his body, Rapp

said of Corey Mohrien.Harpursville transfer Adam

Rupakus, a junior pitcher, andMuller will join Casey Mohrienon the mound.

heres new leadership

at Bainbridge-Guilford. PeteMansheffer replaces longtimecoach Steve Rice, who retiredfrom the school.

Mansheffer, who coached JV baseball for the past threeseasons for B-G, inherits six se-

iors, including pitcher DustinRutz who threw 3 1/3 innings ofscoreless baseball in the Bob-cats 2-1, nine-inning victoryover Delhi on April 9 to even itsrecord at 1-1.

The pitching was pretty

solid tonight, Mansheffer saidafter the Delhi victory. Rutzcan throw strikes and he is anoutstanding defensive player atfirst base. He makes our wholeinfield stronger. Thats as goodas Ive ever seen him.

Rutz returns for his thirdarsity season along with class-ates Garrett Newbauer (in-

fielder/pitcher), Justin Millercatcher), Patrick Mertz (utility),ndrew Maddalone (outfield)

and Shawn Brownell (outfield).Right-hander Rutz also playsfirst base and shortstop.

Sophomore starter Paul Par-sons allowed one run over fiveinnings against Delhi. Thatictory came after a 15-0 sea-

son-opening loss to Sidney onMarch 30.

I think the whole league isstrong this year, Mansheffersaid. Weve got a mixture ofyouth and some experiencedkids. If our pitchers throw

strikes and we play defense, wecan (be compeititive).

xford and Harpursvilleround out Division II schools.Both teams went 10-8 last season.

Afton off to 6-0 start

natego looking to repeat in MAC

tar photo by Brit Worgan

Unategos Cody Chambers pitches during Mondays game atneonta High. The Spartans are seeking their fifth Midstate

Athletic Conference title in the eight-year history of the league.

17


17/20

7

TheCooperstown


/TheDailyStar,Friday,April17,2009

18 IDSTATE ATHLETIC CONFERENCE SOFTBALL


18/20

TheCooperstownCrier,Thursday,Ap

ril16,2009/TheDailyStarFriday,April17,2009

By Courtney A. Erickson

Contributing Writer

Afton junior Jessie Winansearned Daily Star Player ofthe Year honors for an unprec-edented third straight time lastseason.

But as streaks for the Crim-son Knights softball team go,Winans is just OK.

Thats because this sea-son, Afton will attempt to winits 15th straight Section FourClass D championship, reachthe Class D state final for thefifth straight year, and win theMidstate Athletic Conferencetitle for the fifth straight timeand seventh in the conferenceseight years of existence.

Last season, the CrimsonKnights nearly had their questfor a fourth straight MAC title de-railed by Sidney. Afton eked outa 5-4 victory in eight innings.

Theres no gimmie thatyoure going back, 21-year Af-ton coach Cindy Bostelman said.There are a lot of great teams

out there. Deposit has everybodycoming back. Oxford came backthis year with a good program.Its going to make it tough (to re-peat). It could be an interestingseason for all of us.

Especially Winans, who is en-tering her fifth year as Aftonsstarting shortstop. In 2008, Wi-nans hit .447 with four home runsand 27 RBIs last season, numbersthat helped earn Class D statePlayer of the Year honors. Shealready has more extra base hits

than anyone in school history.Shes just unbelievable,

Bostelman said of Winans.(She has) knowledge of thegame, a tremendous athlete.Youd die to have nine kids likethat on my team, but Im glad Ihave one.

On the final day last season,Winans homered twice _ thefirst in a 6-0 state semifinal vic-tory over Argyle and the second,a two-run shot in the first inning

of a 4-2 loss to Chapel Field inthe state final. That marked thefourth straight season Aftonhad lost in the state final.

Winans cousin, Ashley, will

switch from first base to pitcherfor her senior season. AshleyWinans, a Daily Star First TeamAll-Star, could return to first

base depending on the develop-ment of seventh-grader PaytonCutting. Either one will havebig shoes to fill after the gradu-ation of three-year starter Mor-gan Muller, who now plays forOneonta State. Muller won 69games _ 39 by shutout _ and had691 strikeouts over three years.

Ashley Winans hit .329 with19 runs and 19 RBIs last sea-son. Juniors Stephanie Parsons(second base) and Stephanie

Sherman (left field), senior Jen-nifer Boudreau (center field)and senior Abbie Martin (rightfield) are also back.

Bainbridge-Guilford looks tomake sectionals after going 3-14last season under coach Cin-dy Cifone, who lost four-yearstarter Christina Butcher atshortstop and pitcher RebeccaThomas, both of whom are play-ing for Broome Community Col-lege this season.

Returnees Carrie Safford

(sr., 1B, .400 batting average, 13RBIs) and Chelsi Rosa (soph.,3B/OF, .358) along with newcom-er Ashley LaMont (jr., pitcher)lead the way for the Bobcats.

Ashley came up the lastthree games of the season forus and pitched quite well forus, Cifone said. We expect alot from her this year.

Deposit finished 12-8 a yearago and gave Afton all it couldhandle by taking a three-runlead in the first inning beforefalling, 4-3, in last seasons Sec-tion Four Class D final.

Hancock (14-5) lost to Depositin the sectional semifinals lastspring and joins Oxford andHarpursville in rounding outthe Division II schools.

In Division I, expect Sidneyto go as far as junior pitcherDanielle Gravel can take it.Gravel earned Daily Star FirstTeam All-Star honors after go-ing 9-2 with 117 strikeouts in

leading the Warriors to a divi-sional title last spring.

Shes a junior but in herfourth year of varsity experi-ence, ninth-year Sidney coach

Mike Brazee said of Gravel.Shes getting stronger physi-cally and also her mental as-pect of the game has gotten bet-ter. Shes mentally tougher and

knows what she has to do to stayin control.

The Warriors lost first base-man and Daily Star honorablemention pick Alecia Clark(transfer to Windsor) from lastyears 14-8 team that lost in theClass C sectional quarterfinals.

Still, Sidney has nine play-ers back, including team lead-ers Nicole Rowe (sr., 3B, .375batting average), Rachel Ward(sr., C, .323), Chris Houck (sr.,

SS, .339) and Darien Schalk (jr.,OF, .428).Houck, Stephanie Meno (sr.,

2B) and Amanda Ojeda (jr., CF)are also back.

Unadilla Valley will lookto improve upon last seasons7-11 finish. One challenge forcoach Brandi Backus is replac-ing four-year starter and Daily

Star honorable mention pickKristen Elliott, who struck out103 batters in 107 innings lastseason for the Storm.

Breanne White replaced El-liott in the circle for UV. Short-stop Hannah Johnson (.333 bat-ting average) and sophomorethird baseman Charlee Wiedmanreturn for the Storm, who also re-turn catcher Kara Collins (.319).

Unatego coach Sue Herodesgraduated all but two players

from last seasons 7-10 team.Rachel Mugford (sr., C) andStephanie Havens (jr., 2B) lookto provide leadership to a teamwith 11 new players.

Right-hander Ashley Manni-a, up from Unategos JV team,

will be in the circle for theSpartans, who dropped theirfirst two games this season.Havens, Kayla Wong (jr., SS),

Sarah Mannina (3B) and AlexMowers (jr., 1B/OF) round outthe infield.

I can put her wherever Ieed her, Herodes said of

Mowers flexibility. She readsthe ball off the bat real well inthe outfield.

Delhi has the similar burdenof replacing its starting pitcherfrom last seasons 2-18 team. Josie Elwell moved from firstbase to pitcher and will workwith teammate Mary Davisinside the circle, taking overfor graduated senior ChristinSalerno, who is now playingsoftball at Springfield College.

oach Bob Currie said El-well and Davis are new to pitch-ing at the varsity level. TheBulldogs have 10 players on theroster after sophomore pitcherSarah Henkle separated hershoulder in volleyball this pastwinter and will be unavailablethis season. Henkle pitched JV

softball last spring.alton returns two players

senior OF Erin Boyd and juniorSS Holley Reynolds) from lastseasons 10-9 team that lost inthe opening round of sectionals.

Reynolds hit .344 and ledthe Warriors in RBIs (15), runsscored (22), stolen bases (15)and triples (three) last season.Boyds .217 bating average lastseason included a home run,eight RBIS, nine runs scoredand three steals.

Freshman Ali Forkey and junior Jackie Yamber lead thepitching staff. Fifth-year coachBurt Reed said whoever pitch-es will benefit from the rangeand armstrength of Reynolds atshortstop.

We want to make section-als again and improve, Reedsaid. We have only one senior,theres lots of good athletesand finding a spot for each oneof them is the tough part. Once

I find that lineup, well im-prove.

reene (11-9 last season)rounds out the Division Iteams.

Sidney appears strong in Division I

Afton once again team to beat in MAC


Aftons Jessie Winans catches a pop up during a game lastseason. Winans, who has won three straight Daily Star Playerof the Year awards, is looking to lead the Crimson Knights totheir 15th straight Section Four Class D championship.

19


19/20




www.sfcuonline.org



1-877-642-SFCU (7328)

TheCooperstown


/TheDailyStar,Friday,April17,2009

20T-V


20/20

TheCo

operstownCrier,Thursday,Ap

ril16,2009/TheDailyStarFri

day,April17,2009

ontinued from Page 6Morris modified squad to a 7-2 finishlast season, replaces former Bainbridge-

uilford and OneontaState standout pitcherErik Weber. Pitcher EricSmith and infielder Jus-tin Utter _ both juniors_ look to lead the Mus-tangs, along with senior

catcher Matt Tracy.Were going to try

et to sectionals, Um-bach said, but on top of

that, Morris hasnt been in the Tri-Val-ley championship game in 13-14 years.Itd be nice if we could get some more

ames in because wehave the talent to (reachthe T-V final) if we goout there with our Aame. If we play average,

though, were going to get

rocked.Laurens returns to the-V West Division after

failing to field a team lastseason and will be led by

coach Andy Carr.Not surprisingly, his top three play-

ers _ son Ryan, Jordon Davis and MattStruckle _ were part of a Leopards

basketball team that dominated the Tri-Valley League and gave Class D statechampion South Kortright two of itsclosest games this past winter.

Andy Carr will relyon all three of his keyreturners to pitch. TheLeopards return to var-sity baseball could be abrief one, though, as its12-player roster includesfive seniors. Three of hisseven underclassmen arefreshmen.

herry Valley-Spring-fields stiffest competition in the T-VEast Division should come from Worces-ter and Milford.

The Patriots, who have won six ofthe last seven division crowns (Schen-evus won in 2003), return 2008 Daily Starhonorable mentions David Adams and

Adam Halay. Each hit .300 or better lastseason and will join senior classmateSpencer Staley (.450 BA last season) andDubbens sophomore son, Sam, in the

pitching rotation.All-around, Spencer

is one of the better play-ers in the league or areathis year, Ed Dubbensaid of Staley, who willshare catching dutieswith Sam Dubben. Hestole four bases againstCooperstown pitcher)

Kyle Liner the other day.We have a lot more speed this year thanlast.

V-S went 9-9 last season and 6-3 inthe T-V.

Worcester should be led by returnersKeegan Althiser and Ryan Sklenka. Se-

ior pitcher/first baseman Althiser went

3-1 on the mound and drive in 14 runslast season for the Wolverines, who got16 RBIs and a .356 batting average fromSklenka, a sophomorepitcher/third basemanthis season.

Were going to be likeevery other team thisseason, Worcester coach

orey Pier said. If our

pitchers throw strikes,well be competitive.

Milford coach Andrewriffiths lost his top play-

er to graduation in his son, Daily Starhonorable mention Logan Griffiths.

Pitcher Terrence Harrison andcatcher Trevor Kosturock seem primedto lead the Wildcats, who also should getsolid play from returning starter GideonPowers.

Schenevus looks to outfielder DavidMiller, first baseman/catcher Seth Jory

and catcher/pitcher Roger Dixon forsupport this season. The Dragons went0-15 last spring under coach Dan Lynch,who returns in 2009 for his second sea-son.

Dean Russin can be reached at

[email protected] or 607-432-1000, ext. 215.

Were going to be like every other team this sea-son. If our pitchers throw strikes, well be competi-ive.

Worcester coach Corey Pier

Tracy

Adams

Halay Staley

Kosturock

spring fever 2009

Documents