My post game thoughts
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- June
- 13
Before I get into each of the three games; I just want to start off and say congratulations on amazing seasons for both Pearl River and North Rockland.
First to Pearl River and the loss in the finals.
With their win in the semifinals, the Pirates became the first team in Section 1 to make to the finals. No one ever made it out of the semifinals. What this game boiled down to was that you get the third time through the order; and if you don’t come at them with a different attack; the other team will figure you out. Katie O’Flynn was pitching a wail of ball game. She matched Floral Park freshman Sam Giovanniello strike for strike. When they were seeing O’Flynn that third time, they figured her out. But the Pirates couldn’t get around on Giovanniello’s fast ball. That girl pitched very well as well.
Krystina Poloni was the only one who was able to figure what Giovanniello was throwing.
There were a couple of calls that I disagreed with. But more specifically, Kaitlin Dinet during the 14 pitch at bat in the fourth inning, she hit a ball that went up the third base line that went foul over the third base. I thought it should’ve been a fair ball but I’m not the ump. I give the Pirates credit battling the whole entire game. They should be very proud of themselves.
I don’t remember off hand who asked about why coach Mike Carlacci started O’Flynn when they had Dinet. Here’s your answer…. the same reason why he started Katie Scrima last year in the state semifinal. You roll with the arm that got you to the point you are at. O’Flynn was the hot hand for the Pirates the entire post-season. It’s like a shooter in basketball, when you are hot, you always try to feed the hot hand to help you extend the lead.
Now onto their first game against Victor.
That team is something special. They were very good and so was their pitcher Kacie Strong. Bethany DeMarco got two hits off of a O’Flynn but the Blue Devils weren’t able to do much else. The Pirates were able to jump out early on a two-out single by Dinet and that was all they needed. Katie O’Flynn pitched very well. The fact that the defense behind her played solidly behind her and that O’Flynn danced out of three different jams is what won the Pirates that game.
Now if you’re looking for cander; it’s going to come on the North Rockland game. But before I nit pick and really vent my feelings; I want to again congratulate North Rockland on a tremendous year. I do also want to congratulate Brentwood senior Nicole Flint on throwing a perfect game.
But now to play the hindsight game, the home plate ump was really REALLY inconsistent. He really didn’t give Krystn Benson, and Samantha Welsh to an extent both sides of the plate and as Heather Hansen said to me, it was basically a choice of either walking them or let Brentwood hit the ball by pitching in the middle of the plate.
What made it even more inconsistent was in Hansen’s at bat in the second inning. You can’t call one pitch a ball then on the next pitch call strike in that same exact spot. That kind of baffled my mind. But the worst was on Sami’s lead off hit in the fourth inning. If you were there, you know exactly what I’m talking about. For those of you who weren’t; let me set the scene. On a one and one count, Welsh rockets the ball to left; Brentwood left fielder Vikki Castillo makes a good read on the ball and gets a glove on it. As she comes out of her sprint, the ball comes out. According to the umps, and this is what I was told by coach Michelle Shaw, the reason it was ruled a catch was because the ball came out on the transfer.
OK… so understand this; I’m sitting by the official scorer’s table which was back on the first base line by home plate. I had a clear view of the play and I don’t know how that could’ve been ruled a catch because of the transfer. There really wasn’t a transfer. To be perfectly honest; I really think she didn’t have control of the ball. My annoyance with the call wasn’t helped by a Brentwood employee who was churping back. But if anyone could seriously explain to me how that was a catch then you are a hell of a lot smarter then me cause to me, that wasn’t a catch.
This isn’t to take away what Nicole Flint did; pitching a perfect game is an amazing accomplishment, but to do it in the state final four, is amazing. However, I really have a lot of questions on some of the officiating.
But the bottom line, both the Pirates and the Red Raiders each had tremendous seasons and should be very proud of themselves, even if it may not feel that way right now.
This entry was posted
on Saturday, June 13th, 2009 at 11:13 pm by Debbie Schechter. 
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Debbie..”There were a couple of calls that I disagreed with. But more specifically, Kaitlin Dinet during the 14 pitch at bat in the fourth inning, she hit a ball that went up the third base line that went foul over the third base. I thought it should’ve been a fair ball but I’m not the ump.” Good thing. Because the ball has to pass or hit 3rd base to be fair.
Joe B,
From my angle it looked like it did. It’s from what I saw too but as I said… I’m not an ump.
Debbie – Your comment that “With their win in the semifinals, the Pirates became the first team in Section 1 to make to the finals. No one ever made it out of the semifinals.” is incorrect. Eastchester in 1989 and again in 1990 won “Back to Back” State Championships under Coach Skip Walsh and Ardsley in 1985 and again in 1988 made it to the State Finals before losing. So the statement that Pearl River was the first Section 1 Team is incorrect and I wanted to make sure that the gals from both Eastchester and Ardsley were indeed remembered as being the first.
hotdog37..that is only because you weren’t making predictions back then!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Debbie: I very much enjoyed your post game thoughts. Here are my thoughts. Regarding Pearl River, now Katie O’Flynn has the valuable experience of pitching in both the state semis and the finals. So she will be a lot stronger next year. My only suggestion is for Katie to get more meat and muscle on her bones, and get taller and put on more weight. I highly recommend a great steak restaurant on Main Street in Pearl River, and also a great Italian Restaurant at the bottom on Main Street.
Regarding North Rockland Red Raiders, it was a valuable learning experience for the head coach, whom I believe is a rookie at the head coaching position. One thing is for sure: North Rockland was on a role, and if the Red Raiders had played Brentwood on Friday, June 12th, at Nanuet Senior Highschool, with Krystn Bensen started in the cirlce, then I would put money on a North Rockland victory. The Red Raiders were in the zone in Rockland County.
Regarding the mental dispostiion of the Red Raiders, I think that all the players and the coaches were still on a mental high from winning the Regional Title by beating FDR at Nanuet highschool on Wednesday. It was North Rockland’s first Regional Title in 25 years!! On Friday night in their motel at Waterloo, they were probably still celebrating their victory over FDR. Whooping it up!!
In great contrast, the Brentwood team had their game faces on and were ready and focussed on the task ahead—to fullfill their mission of winning the State Championship.
I don’t think that the North Rockland coach did anything extraordinary to prepare for the Waterloo competition. The head coach probably did not do anything that the players would have objected to, or anything that the playrs would have complained to their parents about, and in turn the parents would have complained to the Principal of the North Rockland highschool, thereby getting the head coach in trouble.
So the NR head coach played it safe in the preparations, and did everything by the book. So that nobody could blame her if the team lost.
If the NR head coach really wanted to win the State title and crush the Long Island team, there are several things she could have done differently in preparation. Maybe next year the NR head coach will realize that the Long Island teams are extremely tough and it will take extraodinary measures with regard the preparations.
Of course the Red Raider players will have objections to these extraordinary preparations, and the flak will get back to the parents, who will complain to the school.
Then if the NR team loses again in the semis (next year) everybody can put the blame on the head coach. I don’t think the NR head coach has the guts to deal with complaints from the parents and the school Principal.
If the NR head coach is really intent on winning the 2010 State Championship, and beating those Long Island teams, then she will have to undertake extraordinary preparations which the parents of the Red Raider players will object to. And if NR loses again in the semis, then the NR head coach will need to be ready to take the lion’s share of the blame for the loss.
With respect to Brentwood’s Nicole Flint pitching a Perfect Game, in my opinion, Nicole Flint is no super star pitcher, and to my knowledge she has not received a full scholarship offer from top NCAA Division I colleges, such as Georgia, Alabama, Oklahoma, Florida, Arizona State, Arizona University, UCLA, USC, Stanford, or current National Champ Washington State.
But at Waterloo, Nicole Flint looked great against a North Rockland Team which was totally out of their comfort zone of Rockland County. It really didn’t take a super pitcher to beat the Red Raiders at Waterloo. To put it simply, the Red Raiders played in a totally alien environment and circumstance. The Waterloo game start was at 9:00 A.M. In great contrast, all of their previous games were played with a 4:30 P.M. game start. Simply, the Red Raiders were not ready to play at 9:00 A.M., mentally or physically.
At playoff games in Nanuet in Rockland County, the NR Red Raiders beat very strong pitchers from FRD and Ursuline. FRD’s Jennifer Reitemeyer, now a Junior, takes the game very seriously, and has been timed at 63 mph. I watched her warm ups, and it was obvious that she knows exactly what to do. With respect the Ursuline’s Taylor Pirone, now a Freshman, her warm-ups were electrifying!!
I think that both Taylor Pirone and Jennifer Reitemeyer are much stronger pitchers than Nicole Flint. Perhaps the questionable calls in the Waterloo semis vs NR, with the umpire calling in favor of Nicole, was perhaps the ability of Nicole to sell herself to the plate umpire. Simply, the plate umpire was impressed with Nicole’s personality. Maybe a cute smile is more effective than a 60 mph fastball.
Joe B – No need for the sarcasism. Just wanted to set the record straight. If you want to blame my predicitions for the results then you have no clue what Softball is all about. I am sure that there are many former Eastchester ands Ardsley players who read this blog and would get upset that the JN Lead Softball Reporter did not report the correct facts and failed to do her research prior to making that report. Plus, you comments about my predictions would be like me telling Debbie that because she had an “issue” with a Brentwood Official over the Umpiring that this was the reason that North Rockland lost. We might have to start calling you “Crazy Joe B”. The game is played “On the Field” Teams adapt to the playing conditions. If an umpire has a tight strike zone, pitcher adapt. If a team doesn’t get a tough call, they get over it quickly. Blame and excuses are easily to say and report. Why doesn’t everyone (including Debbie), in addition to the outstanding job that both North Rockland and Pearl River did this year, the great job that both Brentwood and Floral Park did yesterday. Did Debbie interview Flint from Brentwood or the Floral Park pitcher. Did Debbie interview either of the coaches from Brentwood or Floral Park? According to the article posted in today’s JN, it appears that she did not (although I may be wrong). A good reporters job is to cover the game and not just 1 team. Report on the game itself. People really don’t want to hear about your issue with a Brentwood Official over 1 call. Michael Carlacci and Michelle Shaw should be extremely proud of what their Student Athletes were able to accomplish this season, as does the 2 coaches from Brentwood and Floral Park. Cover the Game not the team without BIAS.
hotdog37..Thanks for the new title..I think I’ll use it.
Are you the same Hank Greenberg who played for the Detroit Tigers?
I hate to tell you folks this but if the ump was calling the game fairly, Brentwoods Flint would not have had a perfect game.
pick’r off..She only had 3 strikouts. The NR players hit into 18 outs. Would 3 or 4 walks or an error made a difference in the score? NR had a great season. The team and coaches made Section I proud. Read Hank Greenbergs post..That should make your day!!!!!!
Hank – Umpires are HUMAN BEINGS too. A pitcher, in order to be effective, not only pitch to what the Umpire is giving her but also needs to sell herself to the umpire as well. A Pitcher who gives a look back to an umpire or mumbles some words of disgust, because she is feeling that the Umpire is squeezing the strike zone will not get her or her team anywhere. A Pitcher needs to sell herself to the Umpire and get the Umpire on her side. Otherwise, the strike zone will get smaller and smaller and smaller. Is this right? One can argue about this. But is it reality? YES. Umpires are NOT robots. One has to remember that for the Umpires at the State Championships, they are personally selected as being the “Best of the Best” from their respective sections. They are out there to call the game like it was the “World Series” No wide strike zones! Pitchers will have to “prove themselves” and “show the umpires the kind of pitcher that they are” in order to get what they need. You have the right to say that you think that the FDR and Ursuline Pitchers were better than Nicole Flint. But the fact remains that Nicole Flint has a State Championship to her credit. The FDR and Ursuline Pitchers do not, and that is what it is all about. Brentwood High School won on a Perfect Game pitched by Nicole Flint and supported by a g
Great Defennse behind her. Hank – No team likes to lose, but in Softball as in life, one wins some and one loses some. Section 1 should be proud of themselves this weekend. The girls on both teams exhibited great play and hard work. Let’s not spoil it for them. Instead, congrats to both teams as well as Brentwood and Floral Park. I am sure that the parents at both Brentwood and Floral Park would like to read some positive comments about their kids from the fans and parents from Section One (as would we like to hear positive things from them about both North Rockland and Pearl River).
Joe B – You just don’t get it do you? So what if Flint only struck out 3 or 4 batters. She allowed her defense behind her to support her. It is a TEAM game that wins championships, not just a dominant pitcher. How many years have we seen a dominant pitcher in their respsective section go to State Regionals and States and EXPLODE. Why, because a team relies so much on the pitcher during the season that defense becomes secondary. Great Teams preach and practice defense. It is what wins State Championships, not just dominant pitching. PS – Everyone needs to remember that this North Rockland teams was “Built” by Tony Toronto, who moved to Nanuet HS this year after over 25 years of coaching at North Rockland. So I think that he should get some credit too.
I think that Debbie meant that Pearl River was the first Rockland team to make the State Finals, all of the previous Rockland teams have lost in the semis. In addition to Eastchester and Ardsley, John Jay East Fishkill won the States in I think 2003.
I am also very curious as to what the “Extraordinary measures” the NR coaches should have taken would be according to Hank Greenberg????
hallie…read the post again…That is exactly what I said. She apparantly wasn’t getting favorable call and even if she walked a few players it would not have any effect on the results.
Hotdog37…I wouldn’t say that Toronto “Built this NR team” there are 3 players on this team Toronto coached. Sami Welsh, Kathrine Torres and Heather Hansen are the 3 players, these 3 girls have played together since they were 9 and 10 years old, starting with Stony Point Little League and then travel ball for Rockland Thunder. The balance of the team has come through the Haverstraw Little League and most of them played in the Little League World Series, I beleive it was in 2007.
your correct joeb. i stand corrected. sorry for the confusion
This isn’t the normal poster under this name. I am a player from North Rockland and i wanted to set a few things straight. Actually ill just abandon the cover, just know that i’m Heather Hansen, the catcher for the raiders. Joe B, if you weren’t there how would you know how the ump effected the game? Aside from the tight zone for us that had to be belt high, and calls at the knees for the other team, we were ripped off at first on a play, and a hit that would have been a double. Things like that break or make momentum for your team. They made calls and went back and changed them, or different umps were saying different things. However, i do disagree on blaming the ump for the entire loss. We didn’t play like we should or could have and there was more we could have done to get on the board, but the umps didn’t make it any better for us defensively. I would also like to ask who are you hank greenburg? Unless you were our bus driver or a player, you have no clue what went on when we got to Waterloo. If anything, the team feels we did more than we should have. We were exhausted by the time we got there, a 5 hour ride after waking up at 6. Then practice right after getting there, then opening ceremonies and the games they had afterward as part of them. I’ll add that our opponents didn’t even stay after being introduced to the crowd to participate in the activities. If there was a party celebrating our regional win, i wasn’t invited nor was the rest of my room that was sleeping by 11. What more would you have liked coach to do that would prepare us? We must have prepared pretty well to even make it that far unless we won on dumb luck. So unless you were there in the hotel with us, or at every one of our practices and witnessed what we were doing, do us all a favor and stop talking like you know.
pick’r off…. I was just stating that your team made contact 18 times without producing a hit or run. The score was 7-0, it wasn’t close. I understand your disappointment. I was also rooting for both Section I teams. But like you said “However, I do disagree on blaming the ump for the entire loss. We didn’t play like we should or could have and there was more we could have done to get on the board”. Whenever teams travel to other regions one of their biggest fears is the umpires. I am sure the visiting teams in the regionals thought there were some calls they didn’t agree with. Did your coaches question any of the umpires decisions during the game.
Heather – First, I would like to say congradulations on a great season. You and your teammates have nothing to hang your heads about. A great year by a great team. Secondly, I would like to echo some of what others have posted and also what you said. Having play the game and having a good friend of mine having the privledge of traveling to the State Final 4, you cannot use the excuse of travel and umpires as some of the reasons. If you and your team got in late on Friday Night, after a 5 hour bus ride then that is your Coach and AD’s fault. A number of teams that travel to states, leave early in the day on Friday, so that they arrive at the Hotel around 6 PM, are able to participate in the Friday Evening activities (along with the other teams participating) and are up and ready to be at the fields, fresh and ready to play Saturady Morning. If, as you say, the team was exhausted after waking up at 6 AM, then that is your Coach’s fault. The team should have been in “Lights Out” say at 11 PM, which would have given your team at least 7 hours of sleep. When teams travel to tournaments during the year (say for example the Morabito Tournament in Binghamton) teams know if they are scheduled to play an early morning game the next day, they know how to schedule and plan their trip the day before, knowing when to arrive and when to have the lights out. Maybe the North Rockland Team needs to experience playing outside of Section 1 next year, knowing other styles of umpiring. This might help the team next year (Maybe Coach Shaw will try to get an invite to the 2010 Morabito Tournament). Maybe the team will be able to learn from this years experience at states. Just my observations and comments
Can people stop bashing Coach Shaw?
Coach Shaw has done a great job in her two years as the head coach. I think it is really in poor taste that some of you are on here bashing her and questioning the decisions she made going into the State Final Four. Her team got there. So what if they lost? They will be good again next year. Sometimes you just lose to a better team.
Heather Hansen: thanks very much for setting the record straight about your Friday preparations. But before I continue, I want to congratulate you and the team on a fantastic season! I watched the last two home games at North Rockland field, and I saw all three playoff games in Nanuet. I wore a red hat to show team support. A million bravos to you, Heather, for your incredible hitting in the playoffs. That double in the game vs Ursuline, which drove in Babcock. And that triple vs Horseheads which drove in three runs. I do know a little about power hitting. My cousin, Randee McArdle, when she was in highschool in East Nassau (located about 20 miles east of Albany, N.Y.) was offered a full softball scholarship from the University of Arizona. Arizona has won several national championships in NCAA Division I. One of Randee’s talents in softball was power hitting and she specialized in home runs. She used a heavy bat and she could hit a softball more than 300 feet. Translate that to the women’s softball field at North Rockland senior highschool, while standing at home plate, Randee could hit a softball over the 230 foot mark in deep center field, then over the girls’ scoreboard, then another 40 feet to the centerfield fence of the boy’s hardball field, then over that ten foot high fence, and then another 20 feet on the grass of deep center field of the boy’s field. That is a 300+ foot shot which my cousin Randee was capable of. It is no wonder that Arizona offered Randee a softball scholarship. Randee turned Arizona down and refused the softball scholarship for several reasons. Instead she is going to Tufts University in Boston, and she plays the catcher position. Her coach insists that she use a light weight bat, instead of a very heavy bat. The result is that the light bat effects her timing and she has lots of trouble hitting home runs.
Softball,
Now that I’m home from the tournament and now checking my email; yes… it is Rockland. That’s my error. I think a combo platter of the heat and drop in temp due to the rain messed with my head.
Heather, thank you for posting and setting the record straight.
I’ve told you all before… this is a forum to talk about softball; not to bash people.
By the way… Flint only struck out three batters. She had induced four ground ball outs and 14 fly outs.
Hotdog, Don’t tell me how to do my job. You don’t know what I had to do on Saturday. My job, is to cover the teams in Section 1. I had a lot of work to do on Saturday.
Hank, Coach Shaw is a second year coach. And the fact is, she did an absolutely AMAZING job with this team. They ran into a buzz saw that was the Brentwood Indians. And I hate to break this to you Hotdog; I know a lot of people who even though Flint threw a perfect game, weren’t impressed and frankly I wasn’t.
Thank you all for your congradulations, and it was a great season to end as a senior. I would just like to quickly address hotdog. I’m not sure if you completely read my post, but i will reiterate what i stated. We left NRHS at 8 AM and after stopping to eat on the way we arrived in Waterloo by about 1:30. We did not arrive late by any means. We then practiced at 2:30 til about 4 and arrived again at the hotel by 4:45. We rested for about 30 minutes then went to dinner. From there we went and participated in the opening ceremonies and games til 8:30ish. By the time we got back to the hotel we had about an hour to do what we wanted. We had to be in the rooms with doors shut by 10:30. There was tape on the doors so at 11 for lights out Coach Shaw could see if we left our rooms or not. I don’t think it could have been handled any better. And as for travel and umpires being used as a reason, i don’t recall mentioning travel as an excuse, I was simply outlining our day for you all. We were exhausted, but that’s expected after such a long day. Umpires, on the other hand, can change the entire dynamic of the game. Being a catcher, not only does the ump affect the way I call a game, it affects my judgement of the strike zone at the plate as well. I can see what he’s calling for us and i expect it to be the same for both sides. However, that is no excuse for not hitting the ball. On another note, you could be in a different country and the strike zone should be the same if not similar. The people who are playing it change, but the game doesn’t. It’s the same rules, same standards, and moving someplace shouldn’t alter it enough to completely affect the game. I’ve played travel since i was 10 and I know that umps zones can be up, down, in and out, but that is just a variation of a standard zone your taught at school. Trust me, i’ve been to an umping clinic. We know to adjust our pitching to the ump’s zone, and if your able to work that to your advantage that is a sign of a good pitcher. However, Traveling 5 hours north is no excuse for an ump’s zone to dissappear off the face of the map. His wasn’t in any of the directions and 2 of the same pitch were called differently. We would hit just above the knee and just below the letters and nothing, moved up to thigh high and we would get 1 out of every 2 calls. The zone was waist high and no outside corner. So much for the best of the best.
Don’t take what i say out of context. I will not say we lost because of an ump or because we didn’t get enough sleep. I just said they were both factors in the way we played the game, and in the end, affected the results. No reason to bash a coach for something they did or didn’t do, or to second guess decisions made. We did what we did and it happened. Everyone has an off game, ours just happened to be in the state final four.
Heather – I can’t thank you enough for such a very professional, mature and sound response to my post. You are a credit to your school, community and area. Your parents should be very proud of you. I know that you are very proud of your teammates, coaches, and your school for what they have accomplished this year. Take care, have a great summer. Play hard and have fun, because that is what Softball is all about.
Where are all of the other HS Softball Fans here in Westchester County? We should all be on this blog passing along our “Congrats” to both Pearl River and North Rockland. I would have figured that allot of people would be on here passing along their comments (all positive) to both teams. Let’s here it Westchester County.
As an alumni North Rockland softball player I would like to congratulate these girls on an amazing season! Especially the seniors, it’s a great ending to great high school careers. You girls should keep your heads held high and be proud of what you accomplished. I had the opportunity to play under Tony Toronto with Coach Shaw at the time, his assistant. He is a big part of North Rockland’s success, and Coach Shaw learned alot from him and is continuing on with the success. She will continue on producing a strong program in the years to come. North Rockland will be comming home with a state title down the road, I can almost gurantee you that. Again, congratulations to North Rockland, you have made the entire community proud!!
“There is no excuse for the ump’s (strike) zone to dissappear off the face of the map”.... Heather Hansen, catcher, North Rockland Red Raiders. The Waterloo umpires were “personally selected as being the Best of the Best,” hotdog 37. So why did the ump make so many bad and questionable calls against the North Rockland pitchers?? The answer may be found with an analysis of the Red Raider pitchers. To begin, how fast did Red Raider Krystn Benson pitch? I was at the FDR game at Nanuet highschool, and I saw both Krystn Benson and FDR’s Jennifer Reitemeyer. Benson consistently threw faster than Reitemeyer. This was perfectly obvious to me. Earlier in the season Reitemeyer was timed officially at 63 miles per hour. This meant that at Nanuet Senior highschool Krystn Benson was probably pitching at at least 64 mph or 65 mph. During the game Benson often shook off (with head nods) the signs from Hansen for curve balls and change-ups. Instead, Benson insisted on throwing 65 mph heaters. The end result was 12 strikeouts for Benson, with only two walks. Two days before in the game vs Horseheads, Benson had 15 strikeouts with only one walk. Now returning to the Waterloo game vs Brentwood, the plate umpire’s strike zone for Benson dissappered off the world map. Why did this happen? Krystn Benson is a tall girl with long arms, and she wore the sleeveless and shoulderless bright red uniforms of the Red Raiders. The overall result was a very imposing and powerful physical presence. She pitched heaters at 65 miles per hour. These 65 mph heaters and her imposing physical presence was too much for the plate umpire to comprehend. He was dazzled by Benson’s awesome physical appearance, and he was gun shy from seeing Benson’s 65 mph smoke. The end result was that the plate umpire never saw a gosh darn thing. He could only hear the sound of the ball entering Heather’s glove. Consequently, as being selected as the “Best of the Best” umpires in New York State, he was too proud to honestly admit to himself that he couldn’t see a gosh darn thing when Krystn Benson was pitching. Regarding Samantha Welsh, who came in in relief, Sam has more of a variety of pitches than Benson. Sam has a rising fastball, a great change-up, and an effective curve ball. But the problem was that the plate umpire never before had seen Sam pitch. So in effect Sam was a total stranger to the ump. Hotdog 37 made the comment in a post: “Pitchers will have to ‘prove themselves’ and ‘show the umpires the kind of pitcher they are’ in order to get what they want.” Well, in the case of Sam coming in in relief, there was no time for her to prove herself to the plate umpire. So the ump treated Sam as a nobody with no credentials. The result was that the strike zone became even smaller, so that it was figuratively undetectable by high tech lasers or global position systems. What if my cousin Randee McArdle was pitching for North Rockland vs Brentwood? And the plate umpire knew absolutely nothing about Randee, so that Randee was a total stranger to him. Randee was a better pitcher than either Samantha Welsh or Krystn Benson, or Jennifer Reitemeyer. Randee was offered a full softball scholarship from the University of Arizona. Arizona has won many NCAA Division I National Championships at the College World Series in Oklahoma City. The World Series games have national television coverage. Arizona is very fussy about whom they give pitching scholarships to. This is because Jenny Finch played on the Arizona team. Finch was the winning pitcher on two United States Gold Medal winning teams. So Arizona knows exactly what a super talent is regarding pitchers. Randee McArdle’s fastball was timed at 68 mph. In addition she had four other basic pitches—a wicked curve ball, a nasty screwball, a sinking slider, and a super change-up. In addition she had several of what she termed “experimental pitches”. Randee rarely pitched down the middle of plate for a perfect strike. Instead, she had pin-point control to the outer limits of the strike zone. Randee also had very long fingers to get maximum rotation of the ball. Arizona University was very impressed by all of Randee’s pitching talents. Returning to Waterloo, if Randee was pitching for North Rockland vs Brentwood, and she was a total stranger to the plate umpire, then the result of the first inning would be as follows: after walking the first nine batters in a row, Randee would have walked off the field to the dugout and said to her coach, “I’m voluntarily taking myself out of the game, it’s ridiculous for me to pitch here with that ump, he called all of my pitches balls, he can’t see a gosh darn thing that I have pitched.”
Hank.. who the hell cares about your family tree. Give it a break. PLEEEEEEEEEEZ
Joe B – Respect for an individuals opinion is what life is all about. We all need to be respectful to each others opinion. You may disagree and present valid couter-points, but be respectful (Debbie – I would imagine that you were reporting the game and doing your internet updates in horible rainy conditions. I respect and understand that. But that is no reason to snap back at me for me comments. PS – you never commented on my correction pertaining to Eastchester and Ardsley being in a State Final? You commented back to everyone else about their comments/corrections. I just wanted to make sure that you received it and was able to verify that my comments about Eastchester and Ardsley were correct (I am not correct and you can show me where I was wrong, I will certainly come on here and apologies to you). Debbie, the ball is in your court.
How does North Rockland go from # 1 in the State in Class AA to # 7 in the State in Class AA, after losing to the eventual State Class AA Champion – Brentwood? I understand that those paid “HS Softball Newspaper Beat Writers” members of the NYSSWA, in good standing, are among those within the NYSSWA who are eligble to vote on the State Rankings (one has to remember that not everyone who pays a “Subsciption” to the NYSSWA is eligible to vote) met after the State Finals to discuss the final poll/rankings and I could possibly understand being dropped to say # 4, but I cannot understand why they dropped so far. Could it be that the members of the NYSSWA who watched North Rockland play on Saturday were not impressed with them? Pearl River only dropped to # 2 after losing to Floral Park in the finals. Debbie, as a sportswriter covering Section 1, where was your say in the matter? (Or do we have the same situation as we did last year, with Tony P, where neither Tony nor Debbie are members of the NYSSWA and did not nor do not have a vote in the polls?) If this is true, then this is sad that the Journal News cannot have their HS Softball Reporters as members of the NYSSWA (I believe that Kevin Delaney is a member of the NYSSWA for HS Basketball). In my opinion, Debbie needs to be there for Section 1 to support our teams as other Section Newspaper Sportswriters are there to support their teams/players as it relates to State Rankings and All State Selections. WHY ??????????? Here are the final state rankings for everyone to see.
Softball 2009 NYSSWA rankings (Final) Rank
Class AA
Current Rank – Team/Section – Record – Previous Ranking
1. Brentwood-11 24-4 6.
2. Tottenville-PSAL 29-0 2.
3. Long Beach-8 20-6 9.
4. Fairport-5 25-3 3.
5. Columbia-2 20-7 8.
6. St. John the Baptist-CHSAA 27-2 4.
7. North Rockland-1 24-2 1.
8. Liverpool-3 24-4 5.
9. Madison-PSAL 21-1 NR
10. Horseheads-4 19-8 7.
11. Williamsville North-6 21-5 10.
12. Hyde Park FDR-9 24-4 11.
13. Bay Shore-11 22-5 12.
14. Clarence-6 22-5 13.
15. Cicero-North Syracuse-3 20-7 14.
16. Ursuline-1 15-5 15.
17. Niskayuna-2 16-8 16.
18. Valley Central-9 24-2 17.
19. Webster Thomas-5 21-3 18.
20-T Arlington-1 19-3 19.
20-T West Babylon-11 22-3 20.
Class A
1. Floral Park-8 23-4 8.
2. Pearl River-1 24-2 2.
3. Malone-10 19-2 9.
4. Victor-5 27-3 1.
5. Maine-Endwell-4 21-4 3.
6. Lansingburgh-2 20-5 4.
7. West Seneca East-6 18-5 5.
8. Seaford-8 24-4 13.
9. Oneida-3 20-5 7.
10. Cornwall-9 19-4 6.
11. Sayville-11 19-7 10.
12. Harrison-1 20-3 16.
13. South Glens Falls-2 17-3 11.
14. Corning West-4 20-5 12.
15. Hauppauge-11 23-6 14.
16. Mercy-5 19-7 15.
17. Amherst-6 19-4-1 17.
18. Lakeland-1 19-3 18.
19. Phoenix-3 20-7 19.
20. East Hampton-11 15-9 20.
Class B
1. Mechanicville-2 25-5-1 3.
2. Fredonia-6 24-5 6.
3. Chenango Valley-4 25-4 1.
4. Marlboro-9 18-7 12.
5. Poly Prep-AIS 18-2 7.
6. Canton-10 20-3 11.
7. Schuylerville-2 20-4 13.
8. Windsor-4 20-5 9.
9. Canastota-3 25-3 4.
10. Wayland-Cohocton-5 22-3 5.
11. St. Dominic-CHSAA 17-8 10.
12. Carle Place-8 18-9 16.
13. Albertus Magnus-1 16-8 8.
14. Taconic Hills-2 22-2 14.
15. Hampton Bays-11 20-5 2.
16. Immaculata-CHSAA 20-6 17.
17. Putnam Valley-1 20-2 18.
18. Babylon-11 16-6 19.
19. Mynderse-5 18-7 20.
20. Ausable Valley-7 14-6 15.
Class C
1. Rhinebeck-9 18-8 8.
2. Hoosick Falls-2 24-6 2.
3. Tioga-4 21-4 3.
4. Randolph-6 16-2 7.
5. St. Lawrence-10 21-3 4.
6. Chapel Field-9 18-4 12.
7. South Lewis-3 16-9 10.
8. Lancaster St. Mary’s-CHSAA 20-6 6.
9. Duanesburg-2 23-4 14.
10. Greene-4 18-5 17.
11. Perry-5 18-2 1.
12. Ticonderoga-7 19-5 5.
13. Utica Notre Dame-3 16-6 18.
14. Port Jefferson-11 11-8 11.
15. Valhalla-1 16-8 9.
16. Oakfield-Alabama-5 22-4 13.
17. Cassadaga Valley-6 16-5 15.
18. Oyster Bay-8 9-14 16.
19. Pembroke-5 19-6 19.
20. Warsaw-5 18-6 20.
Class D
1. Afton-4 26-3 1.
2. Batavia Notre Dame-5 20-4 4.
3. Stockbridge Valley-3 21-5 6.
4. Forestville-6 17-3 3.
5. Germantown-2 20-4 7.
6. Heuvelton-10 19-2 2.
7. Crown Point-7 16-1 5.
8. Deposit-4 20-4 9.
9. Elba-5 19-5 10.
10. Florida-9 11-11 8.
11. Livingston Manor-9 16-4 11.
12. Northstar Christian-5 16-8 12.
13. Ripley-6 17-3 13.
14. Oriskany-3 18-4 14.
15. Poland-3 18-1 15.
16. Hartford-2 18-4 16.
17. Schenevus-4 16-4 17.
18. Downsille-4 15-3 18.
19. Geneva DeSales-5 18-8 19.
20. Hammond-10 12-7 20
to whom it may concern, kristen benson is one of the top pitchers in sec1, maybe the fastest, take my word for it she is not hittting 65 on any radar gun..congtrats to north rockland and their coach on a great season..they are a class act, as are most of the top teams in the area!
cd I know Krystn as well as anybody if not better and u are right she does not throw 65mph. Lets move on whats done is done and she’ll be back next year and hopefully Krstyn and her NR teammates can make another run at a state title