Honing The Edge
Liberty Pounds Fallsburg As Indians Sharpen Up For Anticipated Sectional Play; Strong Pitching And Solid Batting Propel Indians To Within One Game Of Sectional Inclusion
Liberty 16, Fallsburg 2
By RICHARD A. ROSS
Photos at www.sportsinsights.smugmug.com
May Marauders, that's what Liberty has become with its 4-0 record in the second half of the season. Here they make Fallsburg their latest scalping victim (clockwise) Liberty starter Cosmos Fitzpatrick went five innings and allowed just two runs on three hits. Reliever Quinn Jackson pitched two inning and allowed just one base runner. This play involves an errant run down attempt as Liberty's Ryan Henry is caught between third and home just before catcher Jimmy Bertholf sends his throw into left field allowing two runs to score. Liberty Assistant Coach Phil Fanning addresses the Tribe following the win while head Coach John Wilhelm fields questions from this photojournalist. Liberty battery mates Doug Carter and Jim Bertholf confer, Fallsburg's Cory McKeon gets and RBI. Fallsburg Doug Carter fires in.
LIBERTY, NY—Poised to strike.
That’s what the Liberty Indians are these days as they sharpen their edge in impressive fashion anticipating their imminent series with arch rival Sullivan West and even more so, their hoped for raid on the Class B wagon train which they hope to set ablaze with rapacious hitting and solid pitching.
The second half of the season has witnessed Liberty’s rising ardor with a 4-0 record of late, and it was Fallsburg which became the latest team to get scalped.
The non-league skirmish played out under a gorgeous blue sky and balmy temperatures, indeed the kind of weather one used to regard as the norm for this time of years. These days, there is no such thing.
Liberty Coach John Wilhelm sent Cosmos Fitzpatrick to the hill, a pitcher who Wilhelm notes, “has given us a pleasant surprise. He’s thrown the ball well for us.”
And that’s exactly what he did over his five innings of work as he allowed just two runs and three hits in his 85 pitches, thereby evening his record this year at 2-2. Sophomore Quinn Jackson came on to finish the job and was sharp, just as he was in his last outing against Burke.
Fallsburg Coach Jeff O’Neill countered with Doug Carter, not exactly a flame thrower, but a workmanlike hurler who has had some success this season keeping batters guessing with his quirky stuff and occasional heat.
Indeed it was a gorgeous and tranquil spring morning, just perfect for baseball but for Carter and the rest of the Comets, it might as well have been raining cats and dogs given the outcome.
Fitzpatrick made short work of Fallsburg in the first as he struck out two of the three batters he faced. For their part, the Tribe wasted no time going on the warpath. With one-out singles from Joe Franke and Ryan Henry the table was set for Anthony Covington to knock in the first of his two RBI on the day with a crisp single. Jesse Hufnagel reached on an E-3 to plate the second run and a single by Nick Scheibe made it three-zip.
Fitzpatrick went back to work and again it was one, two, three as he induced three fly balls ably tracked down by shortstop Franke, left fielder Covington and right fielder Matt McPhillips.
The Indians added three more runs in the second behind an RBI double from Franke and a fielder’s choice off the bat of Covington. A wild pitch enabled the third run to score, affording Liberty a 6-0 lead.
Fitzpatrick’s perfect start was abated by his issuance of a two-out walk to Tony McGhee in the top of th third. He promptly struck out leadoff hitter Jarrett Madison to make amends.
In the bottom of the stanza Liberty again populated the bases behind an E-6 issued to Scheibe and a single by McPhillips. A wild pitch enabled the runners to advance and a sac fly from Damien Fitzpatrick made it 7-0.
Fallsburg got two men on in with two out in the fourth as Carter singled and Ryan McKeon got on with a bunt but the Comets couldn’t capitalize on the opportunity to trim Liberty’s lead.
That margin would widen by three more runs in the bottom of the fourth abetted by Fallsburg miscues. Throwing down to second base allowed Ryan Henry to score the first run. He had gotten on with a one-out single earlier in the inning and had advanced to third on a single by Hufnagel. McPhillips blasted a two-run double in what would be Carter’s last inning of work.
Heading into the top of the fifth, Liberty led 10-0 before Fallsburg finally got on the board with RBI singles from Madison and Cory McKeon.
The Indians countered with five runs in the bottom of the inning. Again Fallsburg errors came into play on throwing miscues involving Henry caught in a rundown. The throw sailed over third base allowing two runs to score. The inning began ominously as Fallsburg’s Ryan McKeon started his relief outing by issuing a single to pinch hitter Kody Viele. Another pinch hitter, Atwahn Ackerly singled next and McKeon proceeded to plunk the next insert Jordan Thomas to load the bases with no outs.
Ryan Boxberger plated a run with a sac fly to center. An double plated two more runs as Liberty now led 15-2.
Jackson pitched two scoreless innings in relief of Fitzpatrick issuing only one walk and no hits. Liberty added its final run in the bottom of the sixth on a sac fly.
The Indians improved to 8-5 and will face Sullivan West in a three game Division IV series beginning on May 14 in Jeffersonville. They need only one more win to clinch a sectional berth but Wilhelm notes, “We want to go into sectionals on a positive note. We don’t want to limp in.” To continue its second half momentum Liberty views its series with Sullivan West as huge. The Indians would love to improve its 2-4 league record against its rival. Liberty got one win from O’Neill and one from Burke.
“We’re hitting the ball better and running the bases better. We’re improving and that’s all we’ve been looking for all year,” he added.
Wilhelm coaches football and the bitter memory of Sullivan West’s OT win over Liberty that ousted the Indians from playoff contention remains. Then there was basketball wherein Liberty swept Sullivan West though both teams did make it to sectionals.
Now it’s baseball season with many of the usual suspects engaged. And even though the games won’t be as populated with the fervid fans present during the fall and winter, it still should be fun.
Fallsburg fell to 3-9 with the loss.
For an album of photos, visit www.sportsinsights.smugmug.com
Double Barrel Firepower
Eldred-Fallsburg Records Wins Against Tuxedo and Burke, Two Division II Rivals They Lost To A Year Ago; In Its Second Year, Program Advances Dramatically As Combined Team Is Now A Division II B Contender
Tuxedo 45, John S. Burke Catholic 14
Eldred-Fallsburg 36, John S. Burke Catholic 22
Eldred-Fallsburg 48, Tuxedo 36
By RICHARD A. ROSS
Scenes from an uplifting senior night for the Eldred-Fallsburg wrestling team which defeated both Tuxedo and Burke in a league dual meet. (clockwise): Co-head coaches Tim Bult and Jim Corcoran, Eldred's Jesse Corcoran (220) pins Tuxedo's Eddie Anderson in 3;03. Seniors: John Mejia, Marie Countryman, Roosevelt Payton, Dominique Veles, Fallsburg's Carl Peterson-Langdon wins a 7-6 decision over Burke's John Langdo. Eldred senior Tony Moriggia and Fallsburg Superintendent Dr. Ivan Katz, a former great collegiate, Olympic and world wrestler who is an ardent supporter of the program.
FALLSBURG, NY—The old adage maintains that two heads are better than one and the question surrounding the combined wrestling effort of Eldred and Fallsburg a year ago was whether two schools would be better than one.
Given the fact that Eldred had only a few wrestlers and Fallsburg lacked the experience of the Eldred grapplers who would add their skills and leadership to a combined venture, the answer was a resounding yes.
Now, in the second year of the merged squad, dividends are starting to pay off under the savvy watch of coaches Tim Bult of Fallsburg and Jim Corcoran of Eldred. What better proof of that fact could there be than wins over Tuxedo and Burke, two teams that bested them a year ago.
And it was just such victories posted by ECS-FHS that has coaches and wrestlers dreaming of vying for a Division II-B title, while fully understanding that the season is yet young and that teams such as Red Hook, Onteora, Rondout Vallley, which dropped down to II-B, Chester and Tri-Valley have something to say about the matter, not to mention Burke and Tuxedo.
Eldred-Fallsburg's Adam Hurwitz (138) pins Tuxedo's A.J. Chimento in 5;41.
But on this January 11 senior night, it was all about Eldred-Fallsburg.
Five seniors were honored from the combined squad including Eldred six-year veteran Tony Moriggia, Fallsburg first year wrestler John Mejia, second year veteran Marie Countryman who is recovering from appendicitis surgery and is still accruing the required practices to compete.Countryman won an upstate tournament last season.
Roosevelt Payton is in his second year and recovering from a broken ankle. Finally, Dominique Veles was honored. He is now in his third year.
Veles was disappointed that he did not get to wrestle in these matches as he had no competition in his 195 weight class and won by forfeits.
Tuxedo wrestled against Burke first and improved its dual meet record to 2-1 (1-0 Division II-B) with the win. The results were as follows:
Tuxedo 45, John S. Burke Catholic 14
99 pounds: Dean Stanton (T) win by forfeit; 106: no contest; 113: Danny Martin (BC) dec. Dylan Lynn 8-2; 120: Julian Gonzalez (T) pin Martin Nowak 0:46; 126: Eli Villapiano (T) pin Bert Cohen 1:01; 132: A.J. Chimento (BC) inj. dec. Kurt Hefner; 138: Brian Leahey (BC) tech. fall Justin Martinez 19-2; 145: Austin Bermudez (T) dec. Jack Etner 7-6; 152: John Longo (BC) pin Peter Anderson 5:06; 160: Christian Maldonado (T) win by forfeit; 170: Zach Williams (T) win by forfeit; 182: no contest; 195: no contest; 220: Eddie Anderson (T) win by forfeit; 285: no contest.
Next up was Eldred-Fallsburg against Tuxedo. E-F wrestlers Adam Hurwitz (138), Shane Martin (132), Carl Peterson-Langdon (160), Anthony Moriggia (170) and Jesse Corcoran (220) all won by pins. Eldred’s Corcoran, son of co-head coach Jim Corcoran lost to New Paltz’s Kyle Roberts in last year’s Section Nine Division II tournament in a very close match. Roberts went on to win the state championship. Corcoran and Moriggia looked dominant in their matches. Peterson-Langdon is in his first year of varsity competiton as is Nick Brown (145) who lost a tough match to Tuxedo senior Austin Bermudez before coming back to defeat Burke’s Jack Etner in a 10-7 decision.
Tuxedo Coach John Landrau talked about his young team. “We’re doing pretty well (now 2-2 after this loss and 1-1 in Division II-B). This was our first dual league meet and we’re looking forward to a good season. We have three seniors in Peter Anderson (152), Eli Villapiano (126) and Austin Bermudez (145).”
Landrau has been coaching for the past 15 years. He started the modified program at Greenwood Lake and then the junior varsity program at Tuxedo. They became a varsity squad when Division II was formed. Here are the results from the match.
Eldred-Fallsburg 48, Tuxedo 36
99 pounds: Dean Stanton (T) win by forfeit; 106: no contest; 113: Dylan Lynn (T) pin Nick Perrello 3:12; 120: Julian Gonzalez (T) pin Allenson Flores 3:02; 126: Chris Bermudez (T) win by forfeit; 132: Shane Martin (E-F) pin Eli Villapiano 1:50; 138: Adam Hurwitz (E-F) pin A.J. Chimento 5:41; 145: Justin Martinez (T) pin Rafael Olan 3:10; 152: Austin Bermudez (T) pin Nick Brown 2:20; 160: Carl Peterson-Landgon (E-F) pin Peter Anderson 1:06; 170: Anthony Moriggia (E-F) pin Zach Williams 2:28; 182: Tadeusz Loarca (E-F) win by forfeit; 195: Dominique Vales (E-F) win by forfeit; 220: Jesse Corcoran (E-F) pin Eddie Anderson 3:03; 285: John Mejia (E-F) win by forfeit.
The final match of the night featured E-F taking on short-handed Burke. Burke wrestled well considering the large number of forfeits, something coach Dave Predmore had referenced earlier in the evening in a pre-match interview. “Our numbers are down this year. We usually have at least 14 but this year I’ve only got seven. We have three seniors in Brian Leahy (138), Kurt Hefner (132) and Danny Martin (113). In dual meets we only beat Millbrook. But head to head we do really well. We lost to Division I Goshen 54-24 but beat them 24-12 head to head.
I think we wrestled pretty well overall tonight,” said Predmore following his team’s loss to E-F. I was a bit disappointed with my 152 result. I think we’re doing the best we can with what we have. I have a few experienced guys along with some who lack that experience. Hopefully we can build our numbers and do better in dual meet situations in years to come.”
Here are the results of the final match:
Eldred-Fallsburg 36, John S. Burke Catholic 22
99 pounds: no contest; 106: no contest; 113: Danny Martin (BC) dec. Nick Peirello 8-4; 120: Martin Nowak (BC) pin Allenson Flores 2:57; 126: no contest; 132: Curt Hefner (BC) pin Shane Martin 1:43; 138: Brian Leahey (BC) pin Adam Hurwitz 2:49; 145: Nick Brown (E-F) dec. Jack Etner 10-7; 152: no contest; 160: Carl Peterson-Landgon (E-F) dec. John Lango 7-6; 170: Anthony Moriggia (E-F) win by forfeit; 182: Tadeusz Loarca (E-F) win by forfeit; 195: Dominique Vales (E-F) win by forfeit; 220: Jesse Corcoran (E-F) win by forfeit; 285: John Mejia (E-F) win by forfeit.
Bult had the following comments after the momentous wins: “These were both league wins against two teams that beat us last year. He gave props to the matches fought by first year wrestlers Peterson-Langdon and Brown. Our program is on an upward swing. I think we’re in the mix. We have at least four more league matches including next week at Tri-Valley which will also feature Chester. Our kids have come a long way since last year.
Bult gave great praise to the assistant coaches, scorers and to the great support offered by Fallsburg superintendent Dr. Ivan Katz, a former standout wrestler who parlayed an outstanding collegiate career to go on to Olympic and world competition.
Corcoran added his take on things. “That was the best match Carl wrestled all year. We have the ability. I think we just have to put it together in time for sectionals. We have some good competition,” he observed.
For an album of photos from the night’s matches, visit www.sportsinsights.smugmug.com
