New York: Baseball Champs Back in the Hunt

With half the regular season now in the books for most teams, here’s a look at five teams’ prospects for defending their New York State Public High School Athletic Association championships. The fact that four of them are solid contenders to earn titles next month flies in the face of history since no New York team has defended a state championship since Frewsburg in 1996.

Class AA: Mamaroneck is sailing along just fine at 6-3-2 and ranked 14th by the New York State Sportswriters Association, but the Tigers will have some hurdles to clear because Suffern and Arlington are regarded as the teams to beat in Section I. Sean Hagan is hitting .538 at the plate and is 3-1 on the mound to lead the way for Mamaroneck, which was 31-2 last spring. Other top contenders around the state are Vestal (coach Tank Johnson earned his 300th win in 20 seasons last week) out of Section IV, Orchard Park in Section VI and Long Island’s MacArthur — which began the week as the last significant Class AA squad without a loss — and Commack.

Class A: Maine-Endwell (10-2) has looked outstanding following its 22-2 mark en route to the 2008 championship and would seem to have a clear path through Section IV. That’s the good news. The bad news is that Pittsford Sutherland (V), Lansingburgh (II), Clarke (VIII) and Lakeland (I) appear to be prepared to match the Spartans every step of the way. M-E is led by junior Brian Ruby, a first-team all-state selection a year ago as a pitcher/first baseman.

Class B: Somers JFK is loaded again following its 27-3 championship trek. Mike Mercurio (.533), Anthony Corona (.488) and Joe Rock (.475) have been reaching base with great frequency and have combined for seven home runs in a 9-1 start. Mercurio has driven in 27 runs with his first 24 hits. Rich Lennox leads a solid rotation with a 4-0 record, 0.64 ERA and 27 whiffs in 22 innings. Chatham is 13-2 on the heels of its 26-4 mark last season but might have trouble getting out of Section II because Granville is rolling along at 13-0 and is the only squad ranked ahead of JFK.

Class C: Keio Academy was the third of Section I’s three state champs last spring and may well be the best bet to repeat if the 8-1 start after a 16-11 mark last year is a true indication. Kenta Miyoshi (4-0, 0.85 ERA) has been brutal on opposing batters, striking out 50 in just 33 innings of work. At the plate, Takaho Chubachi is hitting at a .567 clip and has 10 walks in his first 40 plate appearances, putting his on-base percentage at .675. The stiffest competition may emerge from Section IV, where Candor (9-1), Elmira Heights Edison (11-1) and Newfield (9-1) are slugging it out for the right to advance.

Class D: Chapel Field is off to a 6-6 start in the year after its first NYSPHSAA championship but that doesn’t preclude the Lions from a fifth straight Section IX championship — after which anything becomes possible — if they can get past S.S. Seward (11-4). Afton (IV) is off to a 10-2 start but a number of other potential contenders still don’t have 10 games under their belts.  

Pair of surprising resignations

* Oakfield-Alabama football coach John Dowd has announced he is resigning in order to explore other potential opportunities in the sport, The Daily News in Batavia reported this week.

Dowd, 32, coached the Hornets to a 50-12 mark over six seasons, winning Section V Class D championships in 2004 and 2006. O-A was 9-1 last season, losing to LeRoy in the sectional Class C final.

"I’ve been looking at some different opportunities and there was a growing possibility that I was not going got be coming back and I felt like it would not be fair to the district to wait any longer,” Dowd told the paper.

Dowd said he is looking at coaching either at the collegiate level or a larger high school. His name surfaced over the winter as a candidate at Canandaigua, where the search for a replacement for Dave Nieman as the Braves prepare to move to the Monroe County League continues to drag on.

* Bishop Loughlin boys basketball coach Rudy King has resigned after just one season as a late appointment after Khalid Green took a scouting job with the New Jersey Nets shortly before the start of practice in November.

King reportedly was discouraged that the interim label hadn’t been removed from his title after a 16-11 season.   King had been a Loughlin assistant with Green for four seasons.

Sources told The Daily News in New York that former All Hallows coach Ed Gonzalez is a candidate to take the helm at Loughlin.

“Coaching For Greatness” seminar coming up

Sports psychologist Dr. Bob Rotella and University of Pittsburgh men’s basketball coach Jamie Dixon will keynote the Coaching For Greatness seminar Wednesday, May 13, at Madison Square Garden.

Mike Quick, host of “New Balance High School Weekly” presented by MaxPreps, will be the moderator of a panel that includes North Rockland football coach Joe Casarella, Bay Shore softball coach Jim McGowan, Mount Vernon girls basketball coach Patrice Moore and St. Anthony’s (N.J.) boys basketball coach Bob Hurley.

Admission for coaches and athletic directors is free, but a reserved ticket (available here) is required.

The event begins with breakfast and check-in from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. and will run until about noon.

Odds and Ends

* Jenna Davis of Levittown Division scored eight goals in a 21-12 victory over MacArthur, giving her 333 for her career to take over fourth place on the all-time NYSPHSAA list.

* Amherst got eight goals from sophomore Sophie Niesciur on her birthday to beat Brockport in girls lacrosse, 18-9.

* Junior Addie Reilly scored 12 goals and added an assist to lift Portledge (8-3) to a 24-17 win over Long Island Lutheran. Senior Alex Siwiec (seven goals and six assists) also had a 13-point day in the win.

* Canisius has landed Jamesville-DeWitt senior basketball guard Alshwan Hymes, a second-team NYSSWA pick in Class B. Hymes averaged 17.4 points, 5.4 rebounds and 5.2 assists last season and impressed with his physical style and strong perimeter shooting.

* Deer Park became the third New York high school to be shut down for a week in the midst of concerns over the H1N1 (“swine flu”) outbreak. Deer Park officials decided over the weekend to close all six schools in the district this week.

* Section I's realignment of hockey divisions will shake things up a bit, with Conference 2 (Mamaroneck, White Plains, Pelham) and Conference 4 (Clarkstown North, Suffern) packing much of the punch.

* Elba senior Sarah Schwartzmeyer, a six-year starter, rang up her 1,000th career strikeout, fanning 19 Alexander batters during a 12-0 victory Wednesday. She’s on pace to end her career second to Jordan Ingalls of Bolivar-Richburg (1,326) on the all-time Section V list.

John Schiano, who has written about high school sports in western and central New York for more than 25 years, covers New York for MaxPreps. He may be reached at johnschianosports@gmail.com.