Daily Sports Digest: Mamaroneck High School Golf Preview

The Top Spot:

The Mamaroneck golf team struggled last year as the Tigers went 3-15 on year, however Head Coach Adam Rizzuti is hoping his team will benefit from the experience and be much more competitive in 2012.

Recently Patch caught up with Coach Rizzuti to discuss this year’s team.

Larchmont-Mamaroneck Patch: As far as age and, more importantly experience goes, what type of team do you expect to have this season?

Adam Rizzuti: The 2012 Mamaroneck High School golf team looks like it will be much more competitive than last season. 2011 was a rebuilding year after losing half of the team to graduation the year before. The team could very well be composed of a mix of ninth-twelfth graders. The students coming out for the team seem to have more years of playing golf under their belts, some kids with as many as 8-10 years. A little more than half of last year's team is returning, so while we are again rebuilding, the talent level seems much stronger from my early observations.

Larchmont-Mamaroneck Patch:  What were some of the weaknesses your team had last year that you hope to improve upon this season?

Rizzuti: We were inexperienced in competitive play. However, as the season went on, every week our scores got better, finishing the year with scores in the low to mid 220's (an aggregate of the low five scores for that particular match). One of our last losses, to Byram Hills, was by one stroke. The long, hard winter of 2010-11 damaged golf courses and left us with less time to prepare for the season.”

Larchmont-Mamaroneck Patch:  Who are some of your returning players coming back who you see being big contributors?

Rizzuti: Maggie Sullivan (eleventh grader, and lone female) broke into the top six at the end of last season and appears to be one of our top players. Maggie played competitive golf all spring, summer and fall, and she turned many heads of the boys trying out for the team on the driving range with her swing and ability to hit the ball as far as the boys.

Tyler Karow (twelfth grader) was our most improved player last year. After spending much of his tenth grade year as an alternate, Tyler helped the team a lot last year and won the Boys Junior Club Championship at last summer. His scores have come down, his swing is improved and I expect to play him in the lower half of the top sixth this year.

Larchmont-Mamaroneck Patch: Who are some of your new players you are expecting to thrust into a larger role on the team?

Rizzuti: Robert Riemer and Adam Silverman (both tenth graders) have made a very strong first impression. While the roster is not yet set, and both boys may not know yet that they will be making the team, I have high hopes for these boys this season.

Larchmont-Mamaroneck Patch: How has the team been preparing in the off-season?

Rizzuti: Trips to the driving range and rounds of golf with their families down south during vacations.

Larchmont-Mamaroneck Patch:  What are your goals for the season as a team?

Rizzuti: My #1 goal for the team is to have fun and have a great, memorable experience. I hope kids learn a lot about the game of golf and continue to respect the game of golf. Another major goal is constant improvement. I want us to learn to rebound from our mistakes and continually grow. In terms of record, I'd love to be better than 500.

Larchmont-Mamaroneck Patch: Are there one or two games circled on the schedule this season?

Rizzuti: Mamaroneck always likes to try to beat Scarsdale!

Larchmont-Mamaroneck Patch: What are you personally looking forward to this season?

Rizzuti: I'm excited to give the 12-14 kids who make the team the opportunity to play golf 3-4 times a week at Westchester County's greatest golf courses—, Quaker Ridge, , Scarsdale Golf Club, Sunningdale Country Club, Whipporwill and Bedford Golf & Tennis to name a few.

College Sports Notebook:

Suffern’s Steinberg Sizzles at Rutgers

The Rutgers University women’s lacrosse team, coming with a  13-7 victory over Monmouth, will play three of the next four games at home, starting with Saint Joseph’s on Wednesday night.

Game time is set for 7 p.m. at the RU Turf Field inside the Stadium Complex in Piscataway, NJ. It will be the first home game under the lights for the Scarlet Knights.

Rutgers reached the .500 level at 3-3 following the victory over the Hawks (1-6), a game in which senior midfielder Ali Steinberg of Suffern had a career day with five goals and two assists.

Annie McGinley of Moorestown, NJ, aided the effort of the Scarlet Knights (3-3) with three goals and one assist. For Steinberg, it marked the tenth hat trick of her career, including fourth this season.

Seven Scarlet Knights posted at least a point, with five scoring at least one goal, in another solid team effort. The Hawks (1-6) were led by Sam Lillo of Short Hills, NJ, with three scores.

Junior goalie Lily Kalata of Nesconset earned the win with nine saves, while junior Aimee Chotikul of Baltimore, MD, also saw action in the net for the Scarlet Knights.

Mortarboard musings

• Joe Clinton, athletics director at Dominican College, has announced that assistant coach Colin Hodge has been named to replace head coach John Campbell, who resigned last month after seven years at the helm. Hodge, who was a two-year starting defender for the Chargers and was an assistant coach the last four seasons, currently coaches U-10 and U-13 Boys teams in the Clarkstown Soccer Club.

• The Manhattan College baseball team, coming off a 13-11 victory over Big East member West Virginia in Morgantown, W.VA, welcomes Hofstra on Wednesday at 3 p.m. in the Jaspers’ home opener at Van Cortlandt Park in Riverdale. Senior reliever Taylor Sewitt of Highland Mills earned his second win of the season.
• After picking up two wins and leading the Manhattanville College softball team to a victory over nationally ranked Coast Guard, junior Katie Pitcher of Cold Spring was honored as the Freedom Conference pitcher of the week.
• The Dominican College baseball team (3-11), coming off a split at Wilmington University, meets Nyack College in a doubleheader today at 3 p.m. at Provident Bank Park (PBP) in Pomona. The Chargers then challenge another local rival, St. Thomas Aquinas College, in a single game on Wednesday at PBP at 3 p.m.
• Senior Kevin Earlie of Moriches, who went the distance as the Nyack College baseball team (7-6) defeated St. Michael’s College, 12-0, was named Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference pitcher of the week. Earlie picked up his fourth win at the Palm Beach Challenge in Lake Worth, FL.

Weekly Sports Poll:

This week, the Daily Sports Digest Weekly Poll looks at the New York Knicks and the . Tell us if you would like to see John Calipari, Phil Jackson, Jerry Sloan, Mike Woodson or someone else on the bench next year and feel free to add your comments to an already lively debate.

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