Thomas Palasek during his senior season at Rocky Point High School in 2008. (Credit: Robert O’Rourk file)
One of the best high school lacrosse players in Suffolk County history — a current professional with the New York Lizards — is coaching the Bishop McGann Mercy team this season, the school announced Saturday. (more…)
Shelter Island senior Nathan Mundy leans in for a short jumper against Coleman Catholic Saturday. (Credit: Beverlea Walz)
CLASS D REGIONAL FINALS | COLEMAN CATHOLIC 73, SHELTER ISLAND 46
As the reality began to set in, that one of the finest seasons in Shelter Island history and reached its end, the large contingent of Islanders in the SUNY New Paltz gym rose to their feet.
As Coleman Catholic celebrated its Class D regional final win Saturday afternoon and prepared to accept its trophy, the Shelter Island crowd erupted with a “Shelter! Island!” chant, filling the small upstate gym. (more…)
Sebonack Golf Club in Southampton, where the U.S. Women’s Open was played last summer. (Credit: Jay Dempsey)
Back in December, as I was roaming around the house looking for something to do, my better half said, “You remind me of Brett Favre.”
“Huh?” I chirped.
“You remind me of Brett Favre,” she repeated. (more…)
One of Mattituck’s new players, Julia Orlando, catching a popup to second base during Friday’s practice. (Credit: Garret Meade)
The Mattituck High School softball field was populated by a lot of new faces, a lot of young faces. And, in the case of at least one player, a muddied face.
That muddied face belonged to Caralee Stevens, the third baseman who toiled in an especially muddy patch along the base path leading to home plate. One could tell that Stevens had a workout just by glancing at her attire. After Friday’s practice, the junior looked as if she had completed football practice, with mud on her face, her shirt and her sweatpants.
“Yeah, it was a little muddy out today,” she said.
But Stevens wasn’t complaining and neither were her teammates, including first baseman Ashley Perkins, who was caked in mud herself.
Coach Kelly Pickering said it’s a good sign that her players aren’t afraid to hit the ground (in this case, hard, frozen ground on a bitterly cold afternoon) and get dirty. As young as the Tuckers are, work ethic is as important as ever for them.
Having lost nine of their 11 players from last year’s team to graduation, Mattituck is undergoing a major rebuilding job. Aside from two returning starters, pitcher Lisa Angell and center fielder Val Hommel, only two other Tuckers have ever worn a varsity uniform before. Stevens played a couple of varsity games last year and Rachel Voegel, a catcher, was pulled up for the playoffs.
Hommel is the team’s only senior. At the other end of the spectrum is Perkins, a seventh-grader, and Ashley Chew, an eighth-grade shortstop.
“We’re a younger team this year,” Voegel, a sophomore, said. “We’re just trying to build back up. A lot of seniors left last year, so it’s about rebuilding.”
Pickering said it helped knowing a year in advance that this youth movement was coming. Former junior varsity players must now adjust to the challenges of the varsity game.
“It’s a big jump from J.V. to varsity, so we’ll how it goes,” said Voegel.
Pickering said: “There’s a lot that’s got to go into this. It’s understanding plays, understanding the level of play that they’re now playing at and rising up to.”
Aside from Angell and Stevens, the team has five other juniors: second baseman Julia Orlando, outfielder Constantina Leodis, outfielder Alyssa Parks, infielder/outfielder Marisa Sannino and outfielder Alyssa Scartozzi. Two sophomores, Katerina Hatzinikolaou and Allie Becker, are vying for outfield positions.
Last year, with a senior-loaded team, Mattituck petitioned its way into the playoffs. The Tuckers lost to Center Moriches and Hampton Bays in the double-elimination Suffolk County Class B Tournament, finishing with a 6-13 record.
This time around, however, the approach is different.
“I think my expectations have to be a little bit different,” Pickering said. “Last year I came in knowing the potential that we had. I knew that we had a good shot at playoffs. I’m not going to say playoffs are out of reach for us, but we’re going to have to work even more than we did last year, and it’s getting the kids to realize the prize at the end when we get there.”
“We’re rebuilding, so it’s good for the program,” she continued. “We’ll start them young. They’ll get the experience, and by the time some of them are juniors and seniors we should be pretty strong, hopefully.”
Matthew Dunning going for two on the break in Shelter Island’s victory Tuesday over Clark Academy in Westchester County. (Credit: Beverlea Waltz photo)
Preparing for an unknown opponent is akin to putting together “a jigsaw puzzle.”
Such has been the task for the Shelter Island coaches as the boys basketball team prepares to face Coleman Catholic Saturday afternoon in the Class D regional finals with a trip the state Final Four in Glens Falls on the line. Through newspaper articles, video clips and any other information they can find, the Island coaches have been busy setting up their game plan for tomorrow’s historic game. (more…)
Brian Tuthill’s return from a torn labrum that sidelined him last year is expected to help Greenport clean up its fielding. (Credit: Garret Meade)
Brian Tuthill is no stranger to pain. He dislocated his shoulder more than once and suffered a torn labrum in his left shoulder, an injury that cost him his junior season last year with the Greenport High School baseball team. Still, what was really painful for him was having to sit and watch and not be able to do anything about the errors he saw being made by the Porters.
“I saw things that we need to work on,” he said somewhat charitably. (more…)
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Alex Poliwoda’s pitching arm and big bat are pluses for a Southold team that is virtually unchanged since last year. (Credit: Garret Meade)
All signs are pointing toward a good season for the Southold High School baseball team. Not only is the team virtually unchanged from last year’s 14-9 playoff squad, but its starting pitching rotation of Alex Poliwoda, Anthony Fedele and Rob Mahony remains intact.
The First Settlers will be even tougher yet if Poliwoda becomes as dominating a presence on the pitching mound as coach Mike Carver anticipates. (more…)
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Mike Onufrak, a sophomore, looks likely to be Mattituck’s catcher on Opening Day. (Credit: Garret Meade)
An event that occurred hundreds of miles away, all the way in Albany, had an immediate impact on Mike Onufrak, an impact he could not have foreseen.
Onufrak, a sophomore catcher, had figured he was looking at another season playing for the Mattituck junior varsity baseball team, with perhaps a call-up to catch a game or two for the varsity team. If that was the plan for the Tuckers, it changed dramatically Friday morning.
That was when word spread throughout Mattituck High School that the Tuckers’ first-string catcher, Brian Pelan, had suffered a serious shoulder injury while wrestling in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Championships in Albany. Onufrak received the news while he was in a physical education class. A fellow student approached him and asked, “Did you hear about Brian?”
Just like that, the spotlight was cast on Onufrak.
Onufrak’s role on the team has changed considerably. His playing opportunity has arrived sooner than later. At least until Pelan returns in good health, Onufrak is being to looked to as the man behind the plate. One door closes and another door opens.
Coach Steve DeCaro said Onufrak was given the “land of opportunity speech.”
Pelan, a senior who throws right-handed and bats left-handed, separated his left shoulder where the left clavicle meets the sternum. He said he can’t lift his left arm above his shoulder. Three to five weeks of physical therapy, anti-inflammatory medication and rest have been ordered.
“Not being able to lift my glove past 90 degrees is a huge problem,” said Pelan, who watched his team’s first preseason practice in the Mattituck High School gym on Monday evening. “The doctor said it’s going to hurt for the whole season no matter what. I just got to push through it.”
Pelan said he expects to be on the field later this season. “I see no problem doing that,” he said.
DeCaro said the Tuckers were “devastated” by the news. Pelan, an All-League player who was a starter the past two years, finished last season with a .371 batting average, 17 runs batted in, 5 stolen bases and 3 doubles. But he brought the Tuckers more than numbers.
“He’s the leader of this team,” said DeCaro.
For the 6-foot Onufrak, Pelan’s misfortune produced conflicting emotions.
“It’s a weird feeling because you feel bad for Brian because it’s his senior year and he’s starting off the year hurt,” Onufrak said. “You don’t know when he’s going to come back. But I was also a little happy, too. I felt like I had a shot to show what I can do for varsity catching-wise.”
Onufrak said he was a catcher in Little League for a couple of years before straying away from the position. He played mostly third base and pitched for the junior varsity team last year.
Last summer DeCaro saw Onufrak catch in a tournament and asked him about committing himself to the position, which he has. The early reviews have been encouraging.
“Mike’s very good,” the ace of Mattituck’s pitching staff, Cameron Burt, said. “I trust him. I have faith in him. He’s a good hitter, too. He’s just going to have to rise to the occasion. I know he will.”
DeCaro said: “The pitchers love him because he does a great job receiving. The coaches love him because he works so hard.”
The other catchers on the team are sophomore Jon Dwyer and junior Ben Knowles.
Onufrak said he enjoys catching and being involved in every pitch. Speaking of the prospect of being the starting catcher on Opening Day, he said: “You’re happy, you’re excited, you’re nervous. It’s a bunch of different feelings, and in the back of your head you’re thinking, I always feel bad for Brian because he’s missing his spot, but I’m also excited that I’m out here. I’m happy and I just want to contribute to varsity as much as I can.”
Onufrak’s opportunity is not solely the result of Pelan’s misfortune.
“He’s also a guy who worked really hard, and now he’s going to get his chance,” DeCaro said. “It’s like ‘Rocky’.”
