Itacha Diamonds Ready for Nationals

Danielle Gravel of Sidney takes a sign.

The Ithaca Diamonds softball team is just about ready to bring their show to a national stage.
The Ithaca Diamonds is a competitive fastpitch softball program that is also a year round development and tournament team. The team was created in 2005 to give local softball players a chance to compete in competitive area leagues and in PONY and Amateur Softball Association tournaments in New York and Pennsylvania.
The team started as a 12-and-under program made up primarily of Ithaca and Newfield athletes, but has grown into a 16-and-under team that draws from schools all over the area. The current team includes players from Candor, Newfield, Ithaca, Trumansburg, Lansing and even as far as Sidney.
On the current roster, the majority of the girls; Angela Everhart, Emily Conlon, Jennifer Boynton, Ashley Boda, Sara Ford are from Ithaca. However, Newfield has two players form their varsity squad, Mikayla Myers and Karrie Snyder, and Candor also has two players on the squad in Emily Woodin and Kait Wilcox. Nikki Arcangeli or Lansing, Kaitlyn Percy of Trumansburg and Danielle Gravel of Sidney are all sole representatives for their teams.
However, head coach Dan Driscoll and other coaches took a look at the team’s performance at this weekend’s BAGSAI 16 and under Summer Sizzler and saw that the team was really coming together.
The Summer Sizzler included teams from all over the area and as far as Long Island and Pennsylvania. The two day event had the Diamonds play three games on Saturday and then in an elimination game on Sunday.
The Diamonds went 1-2 in the first days games, losing one game to the Lady Raiders 4-1 despite an Everhart blast to left center, winning a game against the Turnpike Titans 5-3 and then dropping the last game to Capital region Rampage 4-3. Gravel, Ford and Percy all pitched strong games to set the team’s seeding for play on Sunday.
In the elimination game on Sunday, the diamonds jumped out to a quick 6-2 lead against the Diamond Dusters of Binghamton when Ford hit a three run triple. But Ford, who was also the starting pitcher, couldn’t hold the lead. The Dusters tied the Diamonds at six and would have won if not for a play where Arcangeli made a great diving catch to and throw after hitting the outfield fence. Arcangeli did leave the game in an ambulance but should be okay.
The game moved into extra inning using International softball tie rules. Under these rules, the batter who made the last out starts the next inning at second base, creating a sort of sudden death situation. The Dusters however broke through first, scoring and winning 7-6.
However, coaches Driscoll and Maureen Brinkman saw their team get experience against some teams with some better pitching.
“Overall, the girls are really hitting well against stronger pitching, as was seen this weekend,” said Driscoll. “They are getting a great mix of teams and talent to play against in tournaments that take us from Rochester, to Ohio, to Binghamton to Syracuse.”
The varying tournaments have prepared the team for their trip to the PONY National Championships in Ohio beginning on Friday, July 25 and ending on Thursday, July 31. The Diamonds will play against other under 16 teams from the Eastern and Southern U.S., Quebec and the Czech Republic under-16 team.
“It’s a great thing to have these girls, from local schools, compete at this level,” Driscoll said. “It makes them stronger players, and will translate to making their school teams and the overall level of competitive softball better in the area.”

Sports Around the Lake Column 7-9

The Fourth of July brought fireworks and fun to the area, though organized sport was noticeably missing.
Besides heaving down to the Glen for some Indy Car racing over the weekend, there was hardly an local action outside of family pick-up games..
One big event that occurred locally as part of the holiday weekend was the ATV festival put on by the 907 Wheelers in Candor.
The two day event featured a sled pull, similar to a tractor pull, several heats of kids racing and a chance to get you machine good and dirty trying to cross the bogs filled with a foot and a half of mud.
No one was able to make it through the s-curve bog but several riders made it all the way through the straight bog. Eric Leech, Brian Lamphere, Chad Clark, Jason Warner, Kevin Lance, Mike Quick, Scott Potter, Leeroy Vanderpool and Walt Cobley all made it rhough. Jessica Boyton and Micky Foster were the only female riders to make it through and Zeb Quick was the only under-18 rider to power through the bog.
The kids’ races were all very exciting and featured kids from age two on up to 12. Kamren Lehmen, Brandon Clark, Jacob Boda, Nathan Mack, C.J. Hall, Issac Quick and Austin Krauss all won at least one heat.
An omission from our Fingerlakes Newspapers Girl’s Track All-Stars was made a couple of weeks ago. Section V All-Star and South Seneca junior Missy Navarro should have received an All-Star slot. Also senior Candessa Jordon should have been named as an honorable mention.
The Empire States Games rosters will be up following sometime after July 9. Check out this sports blog, sportsaroundthelake.wordpress.com, during the next few days and stay tuned for previews over the next couple of weeks and coverage of the events at the end of July.

Dryden Athletes Honored

Award	Winner	Winner
Andrew Apgar	Billy Pargh
Frank L. Jordan Award	Kevin Vorstadt
U.S. Army Senior Scholar-Athlete	Justin Sinnigan	Nikki Button
Gary Cassell Scholar- Athlete	Nick Lange	Amy Lalonde
Babe Ruth Sportsmanship	Paul Aiken	Ashley Prunty
Jerome Mosher ***One winner***	Doug Bushnell
Will to Win	Zach Griffin	Christina Perkins
Air Force Scholar- Athlete	Steve Rugg	Kate Perkins
Cal Abraham	Scott Converse
Dryden Sport & Spine	Melanie Ordway
Most Athletic/G.A.A. Gold Cup	Trevor Totman	Brenna O’Brien
Most Distinguished	Patrick Streeter	Amy Lalonde
Christopher Ackley Scholarship	Steve Rugg Kevin Vorstadt Nick Lange	Will Edgecomb Zachary Griffin

These awards are from Monday June 10 and include scholarship as well as recognition awards.

Postseason Around the Lakes

Every school ended their team seasons last week with the two last softball teams losing on Thursday June 5 and the two remaining boys teams losing in the sectional finals the same day.
Individual track athletes are still going strong, however, and those who moved on to the state qualifier after sectional last week got a chance to extend their season once again.
But first, in Class B Softball No. 6 Trumansburg was edged out by No. 3 Susquehanna Valley 2-1 on Thursday ending their season.
Morgan Mullen scored Trumansburg’s lone run in the fifth inning. She singled, then advanced to third on a botched pick-off play before being driven in by an Amber Royce base hit.
The Blue Raiders finished the year 15-6
In Class C Softball, Southern Cayuga defeated Groton 8-0. Val Senter had both hits for the No 6 seed Indians, who ended their season with a 15-6 record.
In tack state qualifier competition on the same day Dryden’s Tara Brenner took second in the pole vault. Her jump of 11-6 ties her IAC and school record and qualified her for the State Meet.
While no other Dryden runner made the state qualifying standards many did have good showing for the Purple Lions. Beth Schwab finished sixth in the 1500, running 4:59.16 for a new school record. Samantha Engel took fourth in the triple jump.
For the boys, Tyler Beck placed fifth in the 3200. His 9:48.14 time set a new school record. Tim Scheftic finished fifth in the long jump and Billy Pargh placed sixth in the triple jump. Dryden’s 400 relay placed sixth and was made up of Andy Horton, Tim Scheftic, Sean Norman, Sam Hodgson.
For Lansing Ryann Cretney placed second in the steeplechase and qualified for the state championship as well as the Nike Outdoor Nationals this summer. Carole Melice will join her at states because her third place pole vault met state qualifying heights. The Lansing girls also placed their 3200 relay fourth and their 1600 relay sixth. Kathryn Hornibrook captured sixth in the long jump for Lansing. Henry Potter qualified for the boys in the 800.
Candor’s Katie Ahart finished eighth in the 800 and Oli Riemer place twelfth in the 400 for the boys.
Lauren Nelson led Trumansburg’s athletes scoring a second place finish in the 400 hurdles.
The boys’ 400 relay placed third overall. Dylan Balcome, Danny Sullivan, Andy Finnigan and Greg Addicott made up the state qualifying team. Jeff Swayze also qualified for states with a third place in the shot put. Danny Sullivan tied for fourth in the high jump and Brad Slocum finished sixth in the 110 hurdles.
Spencer-Van Etten’s Jon Lineberry took fourth in the 200, but it was Kurtis Ahart who bested everyone in the 110 hurdles, scoring a victory in the race. Ahart also was seventh in the 400 hurdles.
Corey coon led the Newfield boys with a fourth place state qualifying 400 hurdles race. Teammate Dejour Gandy finished fifth in the shot put but did not qualify for states. Micki Volpini took third in the pentathlon for the Newfield girls.

Championships Around the Lake- Softball, Baseball

Class B Baseball

Lansing 6- Trumansburg 4

Lansing continued their climb towards the Championship on Tuesday, defeating rival Trumansburg at home.  Brian Milliman started the game for Lansing. Hank Newman led the Blue Raiders, going 2-fpr-3 with two RBI as they finish the season 14-8. No. 2 seeded Lansing will take on No. 1 Chenengo Valley in a rematch of last years Class B final, on Thursday at Binghamton University.

Class C Baseball

Candor 19- Marathon 15

Jake Tubbs was 3-for-5 with a double, four RBIs and three runs scored and Jim Zacharias was 3-for-4 with two RBIs to in a game that saw the Indians take a 12 run lead into the seventh. Marathon scored eight in the seventh inning and put the tying run up to bat, but Candor recovered to record the final out.

Candor will move on to the finals to face No. 1 seeded Thomas A. Edison on Thursday at Union-Endicott’s Sylvester Field. The teams split thier season series, but the two teams have quite a playoff history, Candor knocking TAE from the IACs the two previous years and TAE knocking Candor out in the finals for the section in 2006. Candor has reached the finals in each of the last three years.

Class B Softball

Susquehanna Valley 2- Trumansburg 1

No. 6 Trumansburg was edged out by No. 3 Susquehanna Valley on Thursday ending their season.

Morgan Mullen scored Trumansburg’s lone run in the fifth inning. She singled, then advanced to third on a botched pick-off play before being driven in by an Amber Royce base hit

The Blue Raiders finished the year 15-6

Class C Softball

So. Cayuga 8, Groton 0

Val Senter had both hits for the No 6 seed Indians, who ended their season with a 15-6 record.

Update- Golf State Champs

Lansing’s Jess Esposito finished three-over-par-75 after the first day of play at the NYSPHAA State Championships at Robert Trent Jones Golf Course at Cornell University.

Esposito finished the day strong, saving a water hazard on hole 17 with a bogey and then getting the birdie on 18. Esposito also played in the group with the first day leader, something he felt was a great help.

“I can keep up with him shot for shot,” Esposito said. “The only difference was he hit the one puts and I had some three puts. He’s someone I know that I can play with.”

Espositio said that the 75 put him in a good position for the second and final day of play tomorrow.

Update- T-Burg, Lansing Move On

Lansing’s T.J. French hit a Matt Colbert Pitch out over the right field fence to cap the scoring in a 6-0 victory over Dryden. Justin Payne pitched his third consecutive shutout helping the Bobcats into a semifinal berth.

When asked whether he’d rather face number three Windsor or number six Trumansburg, T.J. French had a clear answer.

“Right now I’d rather gate another shot at T-Burg,” French Said.”I think we should go out and get them back.”

Lansing, whose last loss was to Trumansburg, will get their wish.

In a scoreless duel earlier in the day, Trumansburg took Windsor into extra innings tied at 0. The game went past the seven innings regulation high school game, and then past the nine inning college and professional game, all the way to the 11th inning, where the Blue Raiders scored two runs and held on for a 2-0 victory.

The two teams will play Tuesday at a site to be determined, potentially Lansing.

Update- T-Burg Softball moves on, Percy strikes out 200th

Trumansburg ended Dryden’s sectional hopes today, beating them 14-0. Trumansburg’s Kaitlyn Percy struck out seven, including her 200th of the season. Trumansburg improves to 15-5 and will face Susquhana Valley on Tuesday.

For the whole story and more pictures pick up this weeks copy of the Trumansburg Free Press or the Dryden Courier.

Championships Around the Lake-Softball, Track

Section IV Class C

Groton 4- Spencer-Van Etten 1

Hosting their first home sectional game in ten years, the number six ranked Indians made the best of it. Playing good team defense behind a Heather Radcliffe five hit, six strike-out performance, Groton took the victory of the 11th seeded Panthers.

Pick up Wednesday’s Groton Independent for full game story and photos.

Section V Class CC

Pavilion 12- South Seneca 3

The Falcons run through the sectionals ended at number three Pavilion on Thursday. Molly Collins had an RBI single for South Seneca who ended their season 11-11.

Track and Field

Section IV Class B

The Dryden boys saw their five-year reign of sectional championships broken as the y ended up placing fourth out of 14 teams. Tim Sheftic won the long jump and ran on the second place 400-meter relay team. Tyler Beck came in second in the 3200 and fifth in the 1600. Randy Seltzer cam in third in the high jump, while Andy Horton and Patrick Streeter each added a fifth and sixth place finish.

The girls finished sixth overall with Tara Brenner as the only winner in the pole vault. Samantha Engel came in second in the triple jump and Laura Streeter came in third in the discus.

Lansing Captures IACs in Baseball and Track

Lansing took Interscholastic Athletic Conference championships in baseball, and boys’ and girls track over the weekend.

The Bobcats jumped all over four Candor errors and some Jordan Updyke pitches to jump out to a 10-0 lead by the end of the third. They would eventually wrap it up 13-0 on Justin Payne’s one hitter. Teagan Barresi was 3-for-3 with two doubles and three RBI.

The boys’ track team ended a four year reign of Dryden titles, snagging the IAC crown from the defending champs 104.5 to 89. Henry Potter was named MVP of the track events, winning the 400-hurdles and the 800. Dryden’s Billy Pargh was named the Field MVP with a victory in the triple jump.

The girls’ team was led by Ryann Cretney, as she earned track MVP for the Bobcats. Cretney won the 1500 and the 3000. She also ran a winning leg on the 3200 relay.