Daily Sports Digest: Rye Brook’s Casino Heads to Florida With Valiants

The Top Spot:

Last season the Valiants went on a Cinderella run to make it to the Freedom Conference title game before falling to King’s College 10-2. Needless to say the girls are ready to get back on the diamond.

Over the next week the Manhattanville softball team will be playing eight games in Clermont Florida to start the season.

Coach Amber Rodomski brought in nine newcomers to the team this season to help Manhattanville get over the hump and win a title.

Rye Brook’s own Alyssa Casino is expected to make an impact this season. Casino attended Maria Regina where she played volleyball and basketball as well as softball and this year she will be getting some time at second base as well as the outfield.

The freshmen combination of Casino and Harrison’s Jessica Magnotta could solidify the Valiant infield for the next four years.

Yesterday’s Results:

Sport: Boys Basketball Class B Regional Semifinals

Game: Albertus Magnus vs. Burke Catholic (Section 9)

Score: Burke Catholic Won 43-38

Highlights: For the second straight year the Falcon season ended to the Eagles of Burke Catholic. Last year Burke won the state championship and this year they are looking to do the same.

Albertus Magnus took a slim lead into the fourth quarter but Burke Catholic roared back to out score the Falcons 14-7 in the final period and win the game 43-38.

Stan Buczek led the defensive minded Eagles with 13 points as Zach Rufer scored 12 to go along with 12 rebounds in the win.

Albertus Magnus’ Tyler Sayre led all scorers with 15 points as he collected another double-double with 11 rebounds and teammate Jack Sullivan added 11 points in the loss.

Burke Catholic will take on Center Moriches of Section 11 in the Regional Final at SUNY New Paltz at 1 p.m.

College Sports Notebook:

USBWA Announces All District Team

New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Washington D.C. make up the USBWA’s second district and this year’s All-District Team has a distinct local flavor.

Iona College’s senior duo of Scott Machado and Mike Glover were both named to the team along with Kevin Jones from West Virginia, Jason Clark from Georgetown, Moe Harkless from St. Johns, Scoop Jardine and Kris Joseph from Syracuse, Herb Pope and Jordan Theodore from Seton Hall and Zack Rosen from Pennsylvania. Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim was named the top coach of the district this season.

Mount Vernon’s Kevin Jones was named the district’s Player of the Year and he was recently named Third Team All-American. In his senior season with the Mountaineers Jones led the Big East in scoring and rebounding with 20.1 and 11.1 a game.

Machado had been enjoying success in his senior season as he had an historic year leading the NCAA in assists and being the first player in nearly two decades to break the 300 assist mark in a single season. Machado was just named a finalist for the John Wooden award and he won the earlier in the week.

Glover represented the interior power for the Gaels this year who . In his final year Glover led the team in scoring and rebounding and he was named the Oscar Robinson National Player of the Week in December.

Mavericks take their turn in the southern sun

The Mercy College baseball team opens a 13-game swing at Fort Pierce, FL, today following an 11-4 loss to unbeaten Pace University.

Pace lifted its mark to 4-0 while Mercy dropped to 0-3.

The Mavericks opened a 4-0 lead in the first, but were kept from scoring again despite posting nine hits, seven walks and benefitting from an error. 

Freshman Joseph Pareres of Bronxville ran into some early trouble, but induced a ground-ball double play to keep Pace scoreless in the first.

In Mercy’s four-run inning first baseman Jesus Jaile of Hartsdale walked to load the bases, and Andrew Bock of Malverne delivered a two-run double, and third baseman Chris Salvo of Yorktown Heights drove in two runs with a single.

Pareres ran into trouble again in the third, and took the loss due to five earned runs on six hits and a walk in three innings of work.

The Mavericks’ bullpen shut down the Setters in the late inning, with senior Walter Kowalczyk of Valhalla, senior Chuck DeHart of Staten Island, and sophomore Adam Rodriguez of the Bronx combining to give up just one hit and a walk in three innings, with the latter two each recording a strikeout.

Coach Bob Greiner and the Mavericks will take on the likes of No. 14 Southern Connecticut State University and other regional powers in Florida.  Their first game at the Longwood Athletic Complex will be against the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown tonight at 8 p.m.

The Setters, coached by Henry Manning, are also headed to Florida and open a seven-game swing on Sunday against Bentley at Rollins College in Winter Park.

Spartans head south

The St. Thomas Aquinas College baseball and softball teams are headed south.

Coach Barbara Vano’s Lady Spartans have three games in Clermont, FL, meeting Southern Connecticut State on Sunday, and St. Michael’s in a doubleheader on Tuesday.

The baseball team, coached by Scott Muscat, has six games on tap, starting on Friday against Felician in Lake Worth, FL, and continuing on Saturday against Bloomfield.

The softball team includes Albertus Magnus graduates Maura Power of Pearl River, a junior pitcher/outfielder; freshman infielder Melissa Place of Pomona; and freshman infielder/outfielder Samantha Wangenstein of Pearl River.

Two other freshmen are Colleen Pagnani of Blauvelt, a Tappan Zee alumna who is expected to play an infield position; and infielder Lauren Navarro of New City and Clarkstown North.

The sophomore class features pitcher/outfielder Katie Meyers of Pearl River, while Victoria Tiso of Pelham, an infielder/outfielder, heads the senior class of veterans.

Heading the baseball team’s pitching staff are junior righty Dan Diaz and senior southpaw Tom Enright, both of Nanuet; and senior right-handers Ken Frawley of White Plains and Joe Ferrara of Congers and Clarkstown North.

Steve Maio of Thornwood, a Westlake High grad, is a freshman first baseman while junior Frank Salerno of New City and Clarkstown South, who batted .350 last season, provides veteran leadership as an infielder.

Another hurler is junior Joe DePool of New City. The Clarkstown South grad is also used in the outfield.

Other Sports News:

I Love Red Sox/I Hate The Yankees is a new book out by a trio of local authors. Mamaroneck’s Jon Chattman, along with New Rochelle’s Alle Tarantino and Rich Tarantio combine to capture all of the emotion inside of Major League Baseball’s fiercest rivalry in a unique flip book that includes trivia and stories of some of Boston’s best athletes.

The trio will be appearing Mar. 17 at the Barns & Noble in Stamford CT to sign copies of their book starting at noon.

The book can currently be purchased on Amazon.com.

Weekly Sports Poll:

This week’s poll deals with the New York Jets and quarterbacks Mark Sanchez and Peyton Manning. If you were sitting in General Manager Mike Tannenbaum’s chair would you make a hard push for the NFL’s only four-time MVP, would you ride out the turbulence with the Sanchize, or would you bring in Manning to mentor Sanchez in his fourth year in the league?

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