Top North Fork sports stories 2025: The victorious and the vanquished

The North Fork had its share of celebrations and disappointments this year. Here’s a look at the top sports stories from 2025:

1. No Friday night lights

A week prior to its season opener against John Glenn on Sept. 12, the Greenport/Southold/Mattituck football team suspended its season due to low player turnout. During an Aug. 25 interview after practice, coach Tim McArdle said that the program was on life support. Varsity teams need 16 eligible, healthy players on their roster to compete.

“We were hovering around at best at practices, 16 kids between varsity and JV,” McArdle said after the decision was made. “That includes ninth graders who are not really varsity ready. That includes 10th graders are not varsity ready. I would say we were probably hosting a practice on average, maybe about nine varsity athletes.”

2. End of an era

After 36 years as a teacher and 31 years as a varsity soccer coach, Southold’s Andrew Sadowski retired. The dean of Suffolk soccer coaches, the 61-year-old Sadowski is ninth on the county’s career victories list, guiding the team to a 322-177-30 record. During his tenure, Southold captured 11 county titles, nine in Class C, two in Class D.

“It’s been 36 years teaching, so it’s time,” Sadowski said. “I think you get to that point, and you need to change. You want to do something different. My wife and I, we’ve hit that point in our careers.”

Sadowski was succeeded by Chris Ruggi.

3. No sophomore jinx

Sophomore Sam Quartararo was trying to play the best golf possible. He did both and was rewarded by becoming the first Mattituck student to qualify for the state golf tournament. Quartararo shot a 75 in the championship round of the Section XI Individual County Championship on Oct. 21. He finished fourth with a 154 and booked a spot in the states at Mill Creek Golf Course in Churchville from June 5-8, 2026.

“I definitely did want to make states, but I didn’t really know if I was good enough,” he said. “I didn’t really play great last year in counties. I didn’t know what the cut was going to be going into those few days. I was just trying to play good golf.”

4. The longest wait

The Greenport boys basketball team was dominant during the League VIII season, rolling to a 17-3 record. With no Class C team finishing above .500, the Porters were declared champions. Since Nassau County didn’t have a Class C squad, Greenport became Long Island’s representative in the state tournament. 

Greenport went an unprecedented 35 days without a game until at 56-39 loss to Tuckahoe in the Southeast Regionals in Center Moriches on March 15. Taiquan Brumsey scored 14 points, Nelson Shedrick contributed 13 and Kal-El Marine added five. Coach Justin Moore said that the loss was “definitely emotional.”

“This group of kids I had for my whole head coaching career the last three years,” he said. “For us to go out in the fashion that we did is tough. I’m proud of the kids who were against the odds, having 35 days off, trying to stay motivated throughout the whole time.”

5. Surprise champions

When Mattituck basketball coach Paul Ellwood first saw his team in October 2024, he wasn’t certain of what he had or if the Tuckers would win a game. “But we’re able to get it done,” he said.

The Tuckers (9-10) certainly did, defeating Port Jefferson to capture the Class B crown behind a 58-50 victory at St. Joseph’s University on March 2. Owen Searl (14 points), Connor Searl (13), Antonio Sparacio (13) and Justin Fox (12) paced Mattituck.

At Farmingdale State on March 16, Mattituck fell to Nassau champions Carle Place, 53-36.

6. The avengers

From the opening faceoff, Mattituck/Greenport/Southold wanted to let Babylon know that it meant business, that it was ready to take back the Suffolk County Class D girls lacrosse title. 

The Tuckers did just that. Junior midfielder Gianna Calise scored only 11 seconds into the game, which started Mattituck (10-8) on to a 13-6 victory in Smithtown on May 31. The triumph avenged an 11-8 defeat in last year’s final after the Tuckers captured the 2023 crown.

“It’s such an amazing feeling,” said Calise, who scored four goals. “Last year, losing that one game really set the tone on how we wanted this next year to roll out and play. I know we made that happen. I’m so proud of each and every girl.”

Juniors Page Kellershon and Olivia Zehil connected for hat-tricks, and Grace Quinn added two goals.

7. A sweet 15 finish

The Southold/Greenport bowling team did not win the county championship, but the Settlers felt like winners, finishing 15th out of 16 teams. Reaching the tourney as the smallest school at Bowlero in Sayville on Feb. 8 was a cause for celebration. Southold (5-9), which finished fifth in League IV, qualified in the wildcard tournament.

“They knew what needed to be done,” head coach Alex Sinclair said. “They bowled the best we had all season. Four or five of the starters set season highs. John Harvey broke his previous record twice in one match, which was awesome. It was the total team effort. I could not be more proud of them.”

Four Settlers broke 1,000. Freshman Jefferson Garcia rolled a 1,085.

8. Record breaker

Just what were the odds of anyone breaking two school cross country records, both by one second within a week? Ryan Duffy accomplished it. On Oct. 21, the Southold junior broke the school record for a five-kilometer run in Sag Harbor, besting the mark of 16 minutes, 53 seconds by a second that was set by Owen Klipstein a decade ago. On Oct. 27, Duffy eclipsed Klipstein’s Sunken Meadow State Park record as he was timed in at 17:55, at the county divisional meet.

“I’m going to start setting my watch to him,” coach Karl Himmelmann said with a laugh, commenting how close to the edge Duffy was in setting the records. “It’s well deserved. He’s been just working hard every day since they’re never taking the foot off the gas.”

At the state championships in Queensbury on Nov. 15, Duffy led North Fork runners with a 49th-place finish in Class D, with the exact time as last year’s race – 17 minutes and 29 seconds.

9. Falling short

The Mattituck girls basketball had aspirations of defending their Class B title but dropped a 57-22 decision to top-seeded Babylon at St. Joseph’s University on March 2.

“I was hoping that we would come out and be fully energized, come out at our full potential, but we didn’t,” said junior guard Claire McKenzie, who tied senior guard Riley Corrigan for a team-high eight points.

10. No titles, but milestones

The Mattituck and Greenport/Southold girls volleyball teams did not win county championships, but there were several milestones. The Tuckers (10-6) won five of their six final League VII matches. They swept host Southampton in the semifinals on Oct. 30, 25-18, 25-21, 25-22. They then lost to Bayport-Blue Point in the finals, 25-15, 25-12, 29-27 om Centereach on Nov. 7.

“We improved throughout the season,” coach Kelly Pickering said. “There’s so many little milestones. They came together and played hard and stuck together from start to finish, no matter what the score was.”

Pickering was referring to senior setter Stella Tatarka’s 500-plus assists and sophomore libero Lizzie Fohrkolb’s 400-plus digs. The Porters (7-7) were defeated by defending champion Port Jefferson (18-2) in the Class C finals on Nov. 3, 25-14, 25-13, 25-13. But earning an opportunity to play for the title for the first time since 2019 was a major accomplishment.

“The team had its ups and downs this season,” coach Martin Maningo said. “But we found our groove late in the season. Girls stepped up and took on more responsibilities.”

11. An uphill battle

Before the opening kickoff, top-seeded Southold was playing with one hand tied behind its back. Standout goalkeeper Travis Sepenoski, who had been sidelined for a month with an illness, was unavailable. That forced the Settlers (10-5-1) to use two inexperienced players in goal in the Class C boys soccer final in Southampton on Nov. 1.

Second-seeded Port Jefferson recorded a 3-0 victory over Southold, ranked 11th in the state sportswriters’ poll.

“That was a rough opponent and a rough game. At the end of the day, they played better than us,” said junior forward Jostin Cajas, who made his debut as goalkeeper.

12. One title, but no championship

The North Fork Ospreys (21-13-1) secured the Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League regular season title. They fell behind the South Shore Clippers by seven runs. They rallied but saw their quest fall short in an 11-9 loss in the second game of the best-of-three championship series in Mastic Beach on July 29.

“It was a tough one,” said Southold resident and right fielder Brendan Duffy, who drove in a run with a double. “It was awesome to see the guys putting up a fight. We just didn’t have enough in the tank. But it doesn’t take anything away from the great season that we had.”