No. 1 Sallies remained undefeated against Delaware teams, downing Tatnall (Wilmington) 14-6 in the quarterfinals of the boys lacrosse state tournament. Seniors William Cowan and Greg Brenn each scored three goals as the Sals saw eight players reach the scoring column. Sallies (13-2), which has now won 60 of 61 games against Delaware opponents — the Sals lost to Cape Henlopen (Lewes, Del.) in the 2008 finals — faces No. 4 Wilmington Friends (Wilmington) (11-5) on Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Tower Hill (Wilmington).
Friends used a strong third quarter to advance with an 11-6 win over No. 12 Caesar Rodney (Camden). Senior midfielder Eric Kelley scored three goals and senior Reed Salmons and freshman Sean Kirkpatrick each added two for Friends, which led 7-4 at the half.
2. Cape and Tower Hill advance: Seniors Aaron Tartal and Daniel Steele each scored four goals as No. 2 Cape Henlopen (Lewes) cruised to an easy 16-4 win over 10th-seeded Concord (Wilmington). The Vikings jumped out to an early 6-0 lead and went into the intermission up 10-1. Cape Henlopen (13-2) will play No. 3 Tower Hill (Wilmington) (12-3) at Dover on Wednesday at 7.
Tower Hill fended off a scrappy Archmere Academy (Claymont) team to advance with an 8-6 win. Senior Ripley Nielsen and sophomore Michael Pettit each scored three goals and had an assist to lead the Hillers.
3. Girls semis set: The girls lacrosse state tournament semifinals take place Tuesday at Dover. No. 1 and defending state champion Cape Henlopen (Lewes) (16-0) takes on No. 5 Tower Hill (Wilmington) (11-4) at 6 p.m. and No. 2 St. Mark's (Wilmington) (14-2) faces No. 3 St. Andrew's (Middletown) (12-3) in the nightcap.
4. Baseball tourney starts Tuesday: Baseball state tournament pairings were announced Saturday and the biggest surprise was Caravel (Bear) being left out of the 16-team field for the first time since 1997. The Bucs and Indian River (Dagsboro) were tied for the 16th seed and the last slot was awarded to Indian River by virtue of its 5-4 regular-season win over Caravel on May 5. All first-round games will be played Tuesday at 4 p.m at the higher seed.
No. 1 seed and defending state champion St. Mark's (Wilmington, Del.) (16-2) at Indian River (10-8); No. 9 Hodgson Vo-Tech (Newark, Del.) (14-4) at No. 8 Tower Hill (13-4).
No. 13 Polytech (13-5) at No. 4 Sussex Tech (Georgetown, Del.) (15-3); No. 12 Archmere Academy (Claymont, Del.) (14-4) at No. 5 Middletown (Middletown, Del.) (16-2).
No. 15 Milford (Milford, Del.) (11-7) at No. 2 St. Elizabeth (Wilmington, Del.) (16-2); No. 10 St. Georges Tech (Middletown, Del.) (15-3) at No. 7 Dickinson (Wilmington, Del.) (14-4).
No. 14 Dover (Dover, Del.) (13-5) at No. 3 Salesianum (Wilmington, Del.) (14-4); No. 11 Sussex Central (Georgetown, Del.) (12-6) at No. 6 DuPont (Wilmington, Del.) (16-2).
5. Caravel football hires from within: Angelo Gattinella was introduced as the new football coach at Caravel (Bear) last week. The first-time varsity coach is no stranger to Caravel, having coached its middle school team the past two seasons, including a 7-1 record last fall. Prior to that stint he was the varsity running backs coach for Middletown's 2007 state championship team.
"I am looking forward to the challenge of coaching at a great school such as Caravel," Gattinella, who has been employed by State Farm Insurance for the past 23 years, said in an e-mail. "I think anyone who is a head coach in a varsity program is very fortunate and it’s the result of hard work. It is just a bonus to be able to coach at a school that I really wanted to be at.
"The players here at Caravel are very hard-working and very dedicated. When you have players that are ready to go to work it just makes this job that much more exciting."
As for the transition from the middle school to varsity level, Gattinella realizes there will be a difference, but will use his background as a strength and conditioning coach to help with the move.
"The biggest difference I see moving from the middle school to the high school level is the speed of the game," he said. "Give a young football player a few years to mature and you have a completely different athlete.
"From a work ethic and talent-pool standpoint we are very fortunate at both levels. I am very anxious to get out on the field and get started with summer conditioning."
The buzz
Dover High offensive lineman Trip Thurman is one of 400 nominees selected to play in the 2011 U.S. Army All-American Bowl on Jan. 8 at the Aladome in San Antonio. The final 90-man roster will be selected in December. … St. Georges Tech (Middletown) reached the baseball state tournament in just its second varsity season. … If St. Mark's (Wilmington) and Middletown both advance to the semifinals, it could be a pitching duel between former teammates Christopher Murphy (St. Mark's) and Chad Kuhl (Middletown). The pair played travel ball together on the Delaware Mustangs and the Delaware Bears.
Jon Buzby is the sports columnist for the Newark Post, a freelance writer, and occasional color commentator for the 1290 AM The Ticket High School Football Game of the Week. You can reach him at jonbuzby@hotmail.com.
