- July
- 3
Next up is the outfielders. The last two years have been lean ones for Rockland's outfielders, at least compared to the infield. Granted, the infield has five players to the outfield's three. And in high school the best athletes usually — not always , but usually — play shortstop or catcher. But I feel like [...]
Posted by Jake Thomases on July 3rd, 2008 | 6 Comments »
- June
- 30
Everybody who works a local beat at The Journal News has been finishing up their all-star selections over the last few days. It's our big project after the season ends. There are coaches to consult, notes to pore over, naps to take when the boss is out of the office. Wait, um, not that last [...]
Posted by Jake Thomases on June 30th, 2008 | 6 Comments »
- June
- 18
Bad news for former Rockland Athlete of the Season Sean Giblin. The former Pearl River hurler underwent shoulder surgery last Wednesday, according to Pearl River coach Bruce Miller, and will be out until at least September. This effectively ends his short-season 2008 in the Pittsburgh minor league season. He probably would have been at State [...]
Posted by Jake Thomases on June 18th, 2008 | 12 Comments »
- June
- 16
As we're eating dinner in Binghamton on Saturday night, Josh and Alex and I start filling each other in on our respective games. Each of us has a story to tell—stories about clutch hits and pitchers coming back on short rest and ultimately, victory celebrations. It occured to me how unusual that was, to have [...]
Posted by Jake Thomases on June 16th, 2008 | 2 Comments »
- June
- 12
Banner year for Section 1 baseball as Mamaroneck, Keio, and finally Kennedy will all make the trip to Binghamton for state semifinals. All three won their regional finals by a mile too. Mamaroneck won 13-3, Keio won 7-1 (although I guess it was close until late), and Kennedy won 11-2.
The Gaels prevailed today on basically [...]
Posted by Jake Thomases on June 12th, 2008 | 2 Comments »
- June
- 12
Keio kicks off its Class C regional final in about 10 minutes. Kennedy will start an hour later. I'll be watching the Gaels while colleague Matt Ng covers Keio. We'll be sending in regular updates from our games. Check back over the next few hours as we tell you what's going on.
3:35—Keio trails 1-0 after [...]
Posted by Jake Thomases on June 12th, 2008 | 26 Comments »
- June
- 12
If you want to know how Oyster Bay got to the Class B championship game, read Newsday's story here. Seems reluctant hero Billy Clark hit a grand slam with two outs in the seventh of a tie game.
Another dramatic ending in Class C, where Mike D'Auria's walkoff single propelled Port Jefferson to a 3-2 win. [...]
Posted by Jake Thomases on June 12th, 2008 | 6 Comments »
- June
- 11
Originally we thought both regional finals would be at Dowling College in Suffolk County. Turns out neither one will.
Kennedy will travel to North Shore High School tomorrow at 4 p.m. to face Long Island Class B champ Oyster Bay.
Keio takes on Long Island Class C champion Port Jefferson at 3 p.m. at Stony Brook University.
[...]
Posted by Jake Thomases on June 11th, 2008 | 1 Comment »
- June
- 11
Our columnist Rick Carpiniello was at Monday's Somers loss. He wrote about the team's raised expectations after two sectionals titles, which is why I didn't touch on it much in my game story. You can read his take on the early exit here.
Posted by Jake Thomases on June 11th, 2008 | 1 Comment »
- June
- 11
Two straight days I've watched a clutch comeback by a local team in the bottom of the seventh. The first one, in Somers's 7-6 loss to Cornwall, came up one base short. The second, Keio's 7-6 defeat of Millbrook, went all the way.
Keio turned around a 6-2 deficit at the start of the seventh inning. [...]
Posted by Jake Thomases on June 11th, 2008 | 15 Comments »