Tag: 2013 Top Sports Stories

12/31/2013 7:00 AM

2013 Top Sports Stories, Porters football

BILL LANDON PHOTO | Greenport/Southold/Mattituck's Gene Allen tries to run around Mount Sinai's Griffin McGrath during Friday night's playoff game.

BILL LANDON FILE PHOTO | Greenport/Southold/Mattituck’s Gene Allen tries to run around Mount Sinai’s Griffin McGrath.

No one familiar with high school football in Suffolk County gave much credence to the Greenport/Southold/Mattituck football team coming into the 2013 season.

The Porters went winless the year before and were predicted to finish the near the bottom of the Division IV standings again. The Porters raised some eyebrows by winning their first game against Wyandanch. Then, each week, they somehow kept on winning.

They beat East Hampton, Southampton, Port Jefferson and then Stony Brook. Suddenly, the Porters were 5-0 and all the talk around town.

Greenport earned a spot in the playoffs as the No. 7 seed, where the Porters went up against one of the stalwarts of the division — Mount Sinai. The Porters put a scare into the Mustangs, eventually falling 20-14. Mike Cortese ran for three second-half touchdowns to account for the Mount Sinai scoring.

The Porters finished the season with a 6-3 record, their highest win total since 1970.

Editor’s note: We’re counting down the top 10 sports stories of 2013. Check back every day until Jan. 1 to follow along.

Sports

12/30/13 11:00am

No. 3 Top Sports Story: Filipkowski’s three-peat

12/30/2013 11:00 AM

2013 Top Sports Stories, high school wrestling, Tomasz Filipkowski, Tuckers

DANIEL DE MATO PHOTO | Mattituck/Greenport senior Tomasz Filipkowski, left, going head to head with teammate Sal Loverde in the 170-pound final. Filipkowski won a third straight county title.

DANIEL DE MATO FILE PHOTO | Mattituck/Greenport senior Tomasz Filipkowski, left, going head to head with teammate Sal Loverde in the 170-pound final. Filipkowski won a third straight county title.

As Mattituck wrestler Tomasz Filipkowski put the finishing touches on a three-peat, the wrestling team captured its first county championship in program history.

The wrestling team captured the Division II title as 13 wrestlers secured places among the top four of their weight class, helping the Tuckers collect 233 1/2 points.

The Tuckers edged defending champion Bayport-Blue Point, who tallied 203. Filipkowski pinned teammate Sal Loverde in the 170-pound final to win his third straight county title.

Senior Chris Baglivi and junior Bobby Becker also won county titles to earn spots at the state championship. “This year was something special,” Mattituck coach Cory Dolson said after the team’s county title.

Editor’s note: We’re counting down the top 10 sports stories of 2013. Check back every day until Jan. 1 to follow along.

No. 4 Top Sports Story: Creighton’s jersey retired

12/29/2013 7:00 AM

2013 Top Sports Stories, Ryan Creighton

GARRET MEADE PHOTO | Ryan Creighton was presented a framed No. 34 Greenport jersey by varsity coach Al Edwards (left) and superintendent ichael Comanda Wednesday night.

GARRET MEADE FILE PHOTO | Ryan Creighton presented with a framed No. 34 Greenport jersey by varsity coach Al Edwards (left) and superintendent Michael Comanda.

The greatest Greenport basketball player in school history saw his jersey rise to the rafters earlier this year.

Ryan Creighton, who played for the Porters from 2005 to 2009 — becoming Long Island’s all-time leading scorer and New York State’s second-leading scorer with 2,799 points — had his No. 34 jersey retired in a moving ceremony before a Greenport varsity game.

Creighton became the second Greenport player to have his jersey retired, joining Al Edwards, who coached Creighton there. Creighton would go on to become the junior varsity coach at Greenport for the start of this winter season.

Editor’s note: We’re counting down the top 10 sports stories of 2013. Check back every day until Jan. 1 to follow along.

No. 5 Top Sports Story: Ospreys rise to top

12/28/2013 7:00 AM

2013 Top Sports Stories, North Fork Ospreys

GARRET MEADE PHOTO | North Fork players posing for photos with the trophy they won as the first Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League champions.

GARRET MEADE FILE PHOTO | North Fork players posing for photos with the trophy they won as the first Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League champions.

The North Fork Ospreys began the Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League season by dropping eight of their first 10 games. Who could have imagined the Ospreys would be the last team standing?

That’s what happened as the Ospreys defeated Center Moriches to capture the first HCBL championship in the decisive third game of the league finals this summer.

North Fork won 2-1 in a thriller to give the Ospreys their second league title in four years. They won the Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League title in 2010. North Fork center fielder Nick Heath was the most valuable player, after batting .455, scoring five runs and driving in two runs with three stolen bases.

Editor’s note: We’re counting down the top 10 sports stories of 2013. Check back every day until Jan. 1 to follow along.

12/27/13 7:00am

No. 6 Top Sports Story: Prieto wins national title

12/27/2013 7:00 AM

2013 Top Sports Stories, Gary Prieto

COURTESY PHOTO | Southold High School senior Gary Prieto handled rough waters in Newport, R.I., well enough to win a national championship in the Laser Radial Rig.

In early November, Southold High School senior Gary Prieto, a member of Old Cove Yacht Club in New Suffolk, sailed his way to a national title at the Interscholastic Sailing Association High School Singlehanded Championship in Newport, R.I.

Prieto won three races and took second in another on the second day to help him finish first in the Laser Radial Rig. He tied Andrew Puopolo of Stuyvesant High School with 48 points but won on a tiebreaker based on his three first-place finishes.

Editor’s note: We’re counting down the top 10 sports stories of 2013. Check back every day until Jan. 1 to follow along.

12/26/13 7:00am

No. 7 Top Sports Story: Glens Falls bound

12/26/2013 7:00 AM

2013 Top Sports Stories, Mattituck girls volleyball, Tuckers

GARRET MEADE PHOTO | One of Mattituck's captains, Laurel Bertolas, holding up the third Long Island championship plaque the Tuckers have won in four years.

GARRET MEADE FILE PHOTO | One of Mattituck’s captains, Laurel Bertolas, holding up the third Long Island championship plaque the Tuckers have won in four years.

It had been two years since the Mattituck girls volleyball team last made it to Glens Falls. When the Tuckers returned this fall after winning the Class C Long Island title, they found the competition to be just as fierce as ever.

Mattituck dropped all six games in the round-robin tournament, but that didn’t put a damper on the accomplishments of the season. The Tuckers made it to the state semifinals by winning a thrilling five-set victory over Carle Place in the Long Island championship.

It was the third L.I. title in program history. The Tuckers won the last two sets in the match to come back from a 2-1 hole.

Editor’s note: We’re counting down the top 10 sports stories of 2013. Check back every day until Jan. 1 to follow along.

12/25/13 7:00am

No. 8 Top Sports Story: Mattituck’s no-hit loss

12/25/2013 7:00 AM

2013 Top Sports Stories, baseball, Cameron Burt

GARRET MEADE FILE PHOTO | Mattituck’s starting pitcher Cameron Burt.

Throwing a no-hitter is an accomplishment every pitcher dreams about. Rarely does it ever result in a loss. Such was the case for Mattituck pitcher Cameron Burt, who came up on the short end of a 1-0 game in a memorable pitchers’ duel against Center Moriches in a Class B playoff game.

The only run of the game came in the fifth inning after three walks and three wild pitches. Patrick Bryant picked up the win for Center Moriches, as he improved his record to 7-1.

Editor’s note: We’re counting down the top 10 sports stories of 2013. Check back every day until Jan. 1 to follow along.

12/24/13 7:00am

No. 9 Top Sports Story: Tuckers golf title run

12/24/2013 7:00 AM

2013 Top Sports Stories, boys golf, Richie Corazzini, Tuckers

GARRET MEADE FILE PHOTO | Mattituck senior Richie Corazzini.

Late fall can be a tricky time to hit the golf course. It just also happens to be the time for the high school boys golf league championship.

When the Mattituck Tuckers arrived at Cherry Creek Golf Links in Riverhead, they faced heavy wind gusts. It hardly slowed them down, as they won the team tournament with a score of 440, edging out six other teams for the league title.

Senior Richie Corazzini finished with the top score in the tournament, shooting an 82 over 18 holes over the par-72 course. Senior Brad Tyler was fifth with an 87.

Five golfers finished in the top 15 and qualified for the county tournament next spring.

Editor’s note: We’re counting down the top 10 sports stories of 2013. Check back every day until Jan. 1 to follow along.

12/23/13 7:00am

No. 10 Top Sports Story: County title for Mattituck

12/23/2013 7:00 AM