Blazing Comets
Fallsburg Gets Its First League Win Of The Season And The First Under The Watch Of Coach Carlye Hyde As They Erupt For An 18-Run Inning En Route To a Five-Inning Shortened Route Of Tri-Valley
Fallsburg 27, Tri-Valley 10
By RICHARD A. ROSS
Photos at www.sportsinsights.smugmug.com
Fallsburg wins! (clockwise) Southpaw Kirsten Jacobsen fires a strike. Kierra Miller blasts a three-run homer as part of her five RBI day. Tri-Valley's Emily DiToro follows up a complete game outing against Ellenville with a relief performance as the day's third pitcher for the Lady Bears. Fallsburg's Sami Wiles steals home.
GRAHAMSVILLE, NY—Given the law of averages, one of these days it was bound to happen: Fallsburg would record a league win and in the process pay back one of the Division V teams that has had their way with them for what seems like forever.
One of those teams that has battered them from pillar to post is Tri-Valley. Consider their first meeting this year, a 19-3 affair that afforded the Lady Bears one of its two league wins to date and one of its overall three wins up to this juncture.
As for Fallsburg which had lost all four prior league outings and had only two wins against Family School against five losses overall, the time seemed right to reverse the curse so to speak and turn the tables on their hosts at long last.
With left handed hurler Kirsten Jacobsen on the hill, the same pitcher Tri-Valley had faced in the first outing with the Lady Comets, it seemed as if the Lady Bears would have little trouble stringing together hits for the usual outcome.
But lo and behold, this was not the same Lady Comets team by any stretch.
This time they really came to play.
Coach Mary Feusner sent righty Jessica Kinney to the mound. Kinney would last just two innings as Feusner had to lift her in the third inning, a frame in which Fallsburg would send 20 batters to the plate. The first five were Kinney’s responsibility. Following that it was Amanda TerBush who got the call with precious little time to warm up.
That inning would yield 18 runs as walks and errors abetted the already lively bats of the blazing Comets who seemed as if they’d be up until the end of days.
Actually though, the game started out rather sedately. Fallsburg got a run in the top of the first on an RBI single by Sami Wiles. Kinney struck out big bat Nyasia Blakney to end the threat of further damage.
Jacobsen worked around an E-3 to put Tri-Valley away in the first.
The Lady Comets added two runs in the second behind an RBI double from Jordan Reichenbaugh and an E-6 throw which allowed her to score.
The Lady Bears failed to score in the second and now trailed 3-0.
Then it happened.
Wiles led off with a single and and E-4 put runners on the corners. A walk to Christina Beatty loaded the bases (it wouldn’t be the last time by a long shot that the bases were filled). Another run scored on an E-1 before Kinney loaded them up with another bases on balls.
Feusner had seen enough and she summoned TerBush to take the ball. She walked in a run as Celia Garcia showed patience at the plate. A single and a couple of errors allowed Jewelisa Trujillo’s at bat to plate three runs and on and on it went. TerBush faced nine batters before Emily DiToro took the ball. Four walks in the inning were yielded by the trio of pitchers and two batters were hit by pitches to add to the miasma.
When the dust cleared, Fallsburg led 21-0.
Tri-Valley finally got on the board in the bottom of the third as Rachel Adriaans led off with a walk and scored on a passed ball and errant throw. Erin Smith hit a double and scored on a sac fly from Ashley Exner but that was it.
To avoid a five-run shortened game, Tri-Valley would have to shave Fallsburg’s lead down below 15 runs. But the Lady Comets had other ideas as they added to their lead with two runs in the fourth to make it 23-6.
Tri-Valley came back with four runs in the bottom of the frame to cut the deficit to 23-6. Kinney walked to start the inning and a single by Nicole Bradley gave the Lady Bears runners at the corners. With DiToro at the plate, Kinney scored on a passed ball and the other run came in on a dropped third strike throw to first. TerBush doubled in a Smith sent in another on with a sac fly.
Kiera Miller followed an RBI single from Jacobsen in the top of the fifth with a three-run homer that just sailed by the glove of Nicole Bradley as it rocketed down the line. Those four runs would provide the insurance needed to stop the game after Tri-Valley scored four runs in the bottom of the fifth, just two runs short of prolonging the game.
Fallsburg improved to 3-5 (1-4 OCIAA), while Tri-Valley fell to 3-8 (2-5 OCIAA).
Miller was two-for-three with 5 RBI. Wiles had two hits and two RBI for Fallsburg. TerBush and Smith were both two-for-four with one RBI.
Hyde was delighted with her team’s showing. “This was a lot of fun and two years in the making,” she noted. Hyde felt this was a great payback for the earlier 19-3 loss. “I really thought we could have won that game and that we could have played way more competitively and we proved that here tonight.”
Aside from Miller’s blast, Fallsburg kept the line going with base hits. “A single is a single and if gets the job done that’s all we need,” said Hyde. This was special. I’m really proud of these girls. Hyde gave props to her entire team but cited senior Celia Garcia who has been playing with her since she started her coaching tenure.
Coach Feusner laughed when this writer quipped, “Mama said there’d be days like this.” It seemed as if everything went awry for the Lady Bears including the issuance of walks, yanked throws etc.
“We tip our hats to them. They were a different team today. They played with a lot of confidence and when we were issuing up those walks and hit batters and we didn’t have our act together, they continued to function.”
Feusner credited her team with trying to extend the game in the bottom of the fifth. “We weren’t going to give up the ship,” she said. Tri-Valley seniors include Erin Smith, Rachel Adriaans and Liz Bracken. Aside from those veterans, the Lady Bears are young and up-and-coming.
It’s a learning curve for both of these squads, that’s for sure. But for the Lady Comets, this game will no doubt reside in their collective memory for awhile to come.
For an album of photos, visit www.sportsinsights.smugmug.com
The Next Wave
Tri-Valley And Eldred Work Assiduously To Improve As Teams Look To Fill In For Grads And Injured Players; Lady Bears Come Away With A League Win As Offense Comes On Strong In Second Half
Tri-Valley 3, Eldred 0
By RICHARD A. ROSS
rross@sportsinsightsny.com
Scenes from a league clash between host Tri-Valley and visiting Eldred (clockwise): Tri-Valley junior Mareena DiMilia controls the ball before heading upfield to score on a breakaway. Eldred junior keeper Julia Wilk goes airborne to punch a ball out of harm's way. Wilk is filling in for Kayla Flieger who was injured and out for the season. Eldred's Shannon Brucher fires a ball by a ducking Rachel Adriaans in a heated encounter. T-V senior Sarah Schneyer throws in. As sweeper, Schneyer is a great defensive asset for the Lady Bears.
GRAHAMSVILLE, NY—For the first time in my ten years of sports coverage, I didn’t begin my fall season with a visit to Tri-Valley in the first week of September for the annual Tri-Valley tournament. That first-week view of Tri-Valley, Monticello, Eldred and Ellenville always struck me as a great way to begin my fall.
Coach Mary Feusner’s tournament had history and class and it was always competitive, impeccably well-run and a great opportunity to see four fine teams in one fell swoop.
Tri-Valley senior Rachel Adriaans heads upfield as Eldred' senior Caitlin Hallock shadows her.
But sadly this year there was no tourney due to the burgeoning size of Division V with its seven teams. That left Class D Family School and Chapel Field with fewer league games as Livingston Manor/Roscoe now joined Eldred, Tuxedo, S.S. Seward, Fallsburg, Chester and Tri-Valley as part of the new “C” scape.
Consequently the vaunted tourney went by the wayside to accommodate the demands of the changing array. I for one, hope to see it return in coming years.
September came and went and racing around trying to keep up with all varsity sports primarily in the five school districts I blanket, I realized that here it was October and that I had yet to see either T-V or Eldred play.
So apologetically I crossed the field as the teams were warming up to say hello Coaches Mary Feusner and Kelly Robertson of T-V and Eldred respectively and to convey my regrets on my tardy arrival to their seasons now at their midpoint.
One quick glance around the field apprised me of just how much talent went out the door last June and the preponderance of younger players inhabiting the pitch. For Eldred the loss of icons like Kim Elvin, Meaghan Hazen, Diana Schombs and Sam Ferguson were made worse this fall by a spate of injuries that have seen season-ending injuries to senior starting keeper Kayla Flieger, junior Kayln Drasher, sophomore Nicole Elvin and freshman Angie Schadt. Another freshman, Lauren Frey is out for a couple of weeks leaving Robertson with a paper thin bench.
“Angie and Lauren played forward in the early part of the season and now we have other people filling in those spots, “Robertson noted.
Luckily Eldred has junior Jackie Terry back now. She was out with an injury too.
Back in action following an injury, Eldred junior Jackie Terry is doing her part to make things happen. Here she sends a ball destined to go out of bounds back up the field.
While a number of Eldred’s current players were on varsity last year, they saw little playing time I the upper-class dominated array of Lady Yellow Jackets. To make matters worse, there is no junior varsity team this year so that valuable training is now being undergone in varsity games against much-more seasoned opponents , especially in schools like Tuxedo, Seward and LMR.
As for Tri-Valley, graduation marked the exit of great talent in Jakki Pugh, Emma Tingley, Kathryn Schneyer and Agnes Pompeii, just to name a few. MIP Caroline Martin transferred to Monticello and did return to T-V, but too late to play this year.
For Feusner, losing dynamic striker/midfielder Katlynn Greffrath to a knee injury has certainly hurt a team already struggling on offense.
But as is the case with all teams, players left in the fold must step up and form the next vanguard. There is no looking back.
Tri-Valley kicked off and Eldred looked to be aggressive early on. Eldred was doing a good job of keeping it in the T-V end. For her part, Schneyer was busy turning it right back upfield. For the first few minutes the ball remained in the T-V end until the Lady Bears made a brief run up the right side that Eldred turned back.
“Nobody’s making runs out there,” barked Feusner. “This is not a game to stand still. Make the runs!”
Around and through: T-V's Mareena DiMilia gets the ball by eldred's Abigail Ellert on her way towards making a breakaway shot on goal.
Eldred senior Breanna Brucher’s shot went wide left. T-V pushed it back and a shot off of the back of Rachel Adriaans was saved by Wilk. The ball went into the Eldred end and they were unable to clear it. A minute later Amanda Tyndell buried one inside the right post at 12:17 for the 1-0 Lady Bears’ lead. The goal was unassisted.
T-V junior Mareena DiMilia had a nice shot but Wilk made a great deflection of the ball for the save.
The Lady Bears kept up the pressure but crosses to Tara Kaplan and Emily DiToro failed to register. When Eldred did advance the ball now, it was quickly turned back. Eldred breakaways up the middle of the field were missing players on the wing and conversely, runs up the sideline were not supported by players in the middle to take the cross.
“We’ve been trying to work on Breanna and Alexis sending balls to the flags and getting our forwards to work it back in but it did not work for us today. I thought we really started out strong today especially with Hannah Bisland going up the line but she had trouble finishing today,” Coach Robertson would later note.
DiMilia began to work a number of breakaways where she would pick up the ball at her own 15 or 20 and use her speed to go around and Eldred defender. Other Lady Yellow Jackets were not coming over to cut off her advance and it was only a matter of time before she would score.
The first half ended with T-V leading 1-0 but DiMilia picked right up where she left off and scored at 4:17 to make it two-zip.
DiToro made it three-nothing with a goal at 28:03 as Tri-Valley appeared far fresher in the second half versus an Eldred team that was showing signs of fatigue.
Eldred senior Breanna Brucher uses her speed to get by Tri-Valley's Tara Kaplan but the Lady Yellowjackets failed to support such runs which faltered throughout the afternoon.
Robertson agree that fatigue was a factor. “They’re running a full 90 minutes without a strong sub for them. With all the rain we’ve been running indoor practices,” she added.
“I am happy with the play that the girls gave their all,” she said though she had told her team at the game’s conclusion that they had failed to capitalize on upwards of 20 shots on goal. Julia Wilk served as keeper the first half and Heather Hallock took over in the second half. “Julia has been my main goalie since Kayla Flieger got hurt. This is Julia’s first year being our main goalie and even though Heather is a ninth grader she seems to have really good skills too. Julia gets pretty big in the goal and our defenders know to back off when she’s got it,” she added.
Eldred is now 1-6-1 (0-6-1 OCIAA).Their win came against Family School and they tied Fallsburg. Tri-Valley improved to 4-6 (2-6 OCIAA). Prior wins came against Family School, Fallsburg and Chapel Field.
Feusner noted, “We played a better second half today. We were down a sub or two so we got everyone involved. I was pleased with the opportunities we had in the box. We didn’t always put the ball in the back of the net but we had lots of opportunities in both halves and we haven’t always had that this year.”
Feusner went on to say, “We’ve been in the defensive end way too much.” Speaking of defense, Feusner had great praise for senior sweeper Sarah Sc hneyer. “You need a strong player at that position and Sarah fits the bill. We tried her at flatback earlier this season and it was working. We were getting a lot of offsides traps but they were telling me they were not comfortable with it if someone got past they didn’t have the confidence to be back there without Sarah.”
Feusner felt her team played well and noted that Mareena DiMilia had one of her best games of the season. Keeper duties were shared by Ashley Exner and Erin Smith. Exner had four saves and Smith had three.
Tri-Valley will host Family School on October 7, while Eldred visits S.S. Seward. T-V and Eldred will meet again under the lights on the Lady Yellow Jackets’ pitch on October 19.
For an album of photos visit www.sportsinsights.smugmug.com
