Daily Sports Digest: Rye Boys Golf Preview

The Top Spot:

Last year the Rye boys golf team finished off the year with a 14-3 record. With an experienced team coming back this season the sky is the limit for RHS head coach Pat Romano and the Garnet golf team.

Recently Patch caught up with Coach Romano to discuss this year’s team.

As far as age and, more importantly experience goes, what type of team do you expect to have this season?

“We expect to have a very competitive team, we should have a starting 6 with plenty of match experience.”

What were some of the weaknesses your team had last year that you hope to improve upon this season?

“I think our only weakness, if there was one was age & match experience.  James McHugh was a 7th grader last year & was our starting # 5 player.”

Who are some of your returning players coming back who you see being big contributors?

“Our main returnees should be Andrew Gladstone Sr. (captain & perennial all-section); Thomas Henderson Jr.; Henry Bailey Jr.; Jabril Whiteside Jr.; James McHugh VIII.  Thomas and Henry qualified last season for sectionals as well.”

Who are some of your new players you are expecting to thrust into a larger role on the team?

“New players will be William Gladstone (8th grade)- was on team last year but did not play in any matches.   Brad Holzer (10th)- Not new to the team but should play in some matches.”

How has the team been preparing in the off-season?

“The off season for us is really the golf the kids play during the summer and I think our core group played and practiced quite a bit.  Many of them participated on their inter club teams.”

What are your goals for the season as a team?

“Our goals are to win our league title, we have lost it to Fox Lane the last 2 years, to try and qualify as many players as possible for sectionals and to qualify and compete for the Section I Team Championship.”

Are there one or two games circled on the schedule this season?

“I think our big matches will be the 2 league matches with Fox Lane and the 2 non-league with Rye Country Day.  They have been a very strong team the last couple of years and those should be very close matches.  Also the 2 matches with Harrison are always important to us.”

What are you personally looking forward to this season?

“Personally I would like to have another shot against White Plains in the team championship. They have a very strong team and won it last year and I would also love to see Andrew Gladstone make it to Cornell for the State Championship.  He has been such a consistent player for us & has qualified for several Section I Tournaments.  He deserves a ‘shot’ to play in States but he is also going to have to prove himself & play his way in.  It’s not going to be easy.”

Major League Baseball Opens Today:

The rosters are set, the grass is cut and the lines are drawn as Major League Baseball is set to start another season… In Japan.

By the time this article is posted game one between the Mariners and Athletics will already have begun and the baseball season will be underway.

Patch’s own Ryan Buncher takes a look at .

College Sports Notebook:

West Nyack’s Kivlehan Hitting Stride at Rutgers

Patrick Kivlehan of West Nyack has made a meaningful transition from the football field to the baseball diamond in his senior season, and helped Rutgers University (11-10, 2-1 Big East) move above .500 for the first time this season with a series win at rival Seton Hall.

Kivlehan, who was slowed in the early going by a virus, had an impressive series against the Pirates, reaching base in 12-of-15 plate appearances with seven hits to earn Big East Player of the Week accolades.

An alum of St. Joseph’s in Montvale, NJ, Kivlehan also hit his second home run of the year in the finale to cap a six-run second inning that propelled the Scarlet Knights to a 9-6 victory.

Kivlehan leads the team with a .421 batting average, with seven RBI and eight stolen bases in nine attempts.

Sophomore Brian O’Grady of Warminster, PA, had a career-high five RBI in the game, as six relief pitchers combined for the victory. Junior Rob Smorol of Clark, NJ, earned the win in the middle contest to help Rutgers to its largest margin of victory this season, 10-2.

Senior Ryan Fasano of Stony Point, second on the club with a 3.34 ERA, will make his seventh appearance of the season and sixth start when he takes the mound this afternoon against Wagner at Bainton Field in Piscataway, NJ. The right-hander pitched a shutout in 1 hour 59 minutes last week against Rider to earn his first victory of the season.

Game time is set for 3 p.m.

Wagner (9-14, 5-3 NEC) split a four-game conference series over the weekend at home against Monmouth.
The visiting Seahawks have successfully stolen 27 bases in 32 attempts, with Ian Miller of Downington, PA, racking up eight steals. Bill Murphy of Cranford, NJ, leads the squad with a .340 batting average, while Nick Dini of Monroe Township, NJ, has 21 hits.

Starter Nick Pavia of Staten Island will make his third start of the season for Coach Jim Carone, who is in his first season as the head coach after serving as the pitching coach at Villanova.

The Scarlet Knights lead the all-time series over the Seahawks, 17-2-2, in a matchup that dates back to 1960. Rutgers has won nine of the last 10 meetings, but Wagner won 11-5 last season at Bainton Field.

Rutgers assistant coach Joe Litterio was the head coach of Wagner for the last 12 seasons before returning to Piscataway at the beginning of the season.

The Scarlet Knights are scheduled to meet Georgetown University on Friday at 3 p.m. in Bethesda, MD.

Mortarboard musings

• The St. Thomas Aquinas College men’s and women’s track and field and cross country teams will be hosting a fundraiser on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Spartans’ cafeteria in Sparkill. The school is having a Wing Night with chicken fingers, fries, salad bar, ice cream bar, and a raffle during the Final Four that night. The cost is $20.
• The Dominican College women’s lacrosse team (2-5) fell to unbeaten Queens College, 18-5, in Flushing. Sophomore KC Jentzen of Nanuet and senior Aubree Williams of Great Meadows, NJ, each scored two goals in defeat. The Lady Chargers hope to rebound today when they travel to Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference rival Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia, PA.
• Mercy College pitchers Tyler Savin of Wantagh and freshman Bryan Greig of New City were named East Coast Conference Co-Pitcher of the Week and Rookie of the Week, respectively. Savin pitched a one-hit shutout in the second game of Mercy’s doubleheader sweep of Molloy College, striking out five and picking up his second win of the season.  Greig, a graduate of Clarkstown South, picked up his second Rookie of the Week award following a brilliant eight-inning effort in the extra-inning win over Molloy, in which Greig gave up just five hits while striking out nine.  He also batted .300 in 10 at-bats as a designated hitter during the week, scoring his first run of the season and knocking in another.  His 1.89 ERA leads Mercy starters, and he has struck out 14 over 19 innings while walking only three.  Chris Salvo of Yorktown Heights, a graduate of Lakeland High, is third on the team in batting at .243. Coach Bob Greiner and the Mavericks (4-15 overall, 2-2 in the ECC) open a three-game road series at C.W. Post (10-10) on Saturday with a doubleheader scheduled at noon in Brookville. Mercy and Post meet again at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
• Nyack College shortstop Phil Delisle of Montreal has been recognized as the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) East Region Hitter of the Week.
  Delisle batted .500 (14 of 28) while leading the Warriors in a 5-1 stretch. The junior drove in nine runs while scoring six. The Warriors entertain Felician (NJ) College today at noon for a twin-bill at Provident Bank Park in Pomona, and then visit Post University in Waterbury, CT, for a doubleheader on Saturday at noon.

Weekly Sports Poll:

With March in it’s final week this week’s sports poll deals with the NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four in New Orleans. Kentucky and Louisville will play the early game on Saturday night quickly followed by Ohio State and Kansas. Now the only question left in the NCAA Basketball season, is

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