Rockland Athlete Shines at Stanford, and Softball Hits the Road

The 'College Sports Notebook' is published each Friday. Please send items of interest—including local athletes competing at out-of-town colleges—to marcmaturo@aol.com.

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Think positive. If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Last year was last year; this year is a new year.

Or, as almost every old-time Brooklyn Dodgers fan would cry each year after yet another loss to the hated Yankees: "Wait ’till Next Year!"

Longtime St. Thomas Aquinas College softball coach Barbara Vano didn’t exactly utter those words, but she easily might have considering last season’s 7-36 record.

Vano started the program at STAC in the early 80’s, has won the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) crown, and came close a couple of other times. But last season was something completely different.

“It was not that good,” laughed an always-gracious Vano. “I can laugh about it now, but then I was crying. But we’re better this year, that’s what we’re hoping. We couldn’t hit last year, we were in a funk, we couldn’t hit to save our lives. This year we’re hitting. It’s only in the cage, and against our own pitchers, but we’re all working hard. The players are hitting with a vengeance. They seem bound and determined not to have a repeat of last season.”

The Lady Spartans were scheduled to leave this morning for an eight-game trip to Florida, with a game against Bentley on tap tomorrow at the National Training Center in Clermont. When they return to Rockland, the Lady Spartans play at Pace on March 23 before opening the home campaign at 1 p.m. on March 26 against C.W. Post (the field is off Route 340, across from Thorpe Village).

Vano said STAC should also have a strong defense this year, noting that the team already appears to be working better together than last year.

“If you score 10 runs, and the other team scores 11, you lose; if you score 10 runs, and the other team gets nine, you win. That’s why defense is important. You never know which run is the one that will beat you,” Vano said.

Asked to assess several players, Coach Vano offered these scouting reports:

Maura Power, Pearl River and Albertus Magnus: A sophomore, the southpaw pitched and played the outfield last season. When pitching, she’s always around the plate. Like a lot of our kids, she works hard, and thinks.

Alyssa Cataldo, Suffern: A senior third baseman, she has a solid knowledge of the game, and is a good hitter. Shows the potential to supply power, but it’s early.

Kayla Cornish, Nanuet and Albertus Magnus: A senior outfielder, she will probably see regular duty in right field because of her powerful, accurate arm. She has a gun for an arm, and can throw it on a line, not even a loop.

Rosie Coyne, Stony Point and Albertus Magnus: Red-shirted as a freshman, this year she will get a taste of pitching. She’s right-handed, and one of those kids who can almost throw forever, and has good velocity. She’ll get her baptism pitching in Florida.

Joy Ferriello, Nanuet: A senior co-captain (newcomer ToniAnn Groth out St. Francis Prep is the other captain), Ferriello is a steady catcher, who can also hit. She and ToniAnn are leaders. Sometimes you need a liaison between the team and the coaches if kids don’t want to come to us directly. They lead by example.

McNair magnificent

Basketball standout Michael McNair of Spring Valley, a Nyack High grad whose career at Purchase College culminated with the MVP award in the Skyline Conference tournament, is looking beyond our shores.

McNair sparked the Panthers to their second straight conference crown with a mighty effort in a lopsided 81-66 victory over St. Joseph’s of Long Island.

A guard, McNair poured in a game-high 28 points to lift Purchase to their first-ever NCAA Division III tournament appearance. Cabrini College, however, stopped the Panthers in the second round, 91-84, despite 24 points from Monroe’s Marvin Billups, last year’s Skyline Conference MVP, and 16 from McNair.

“This one (loss) was tougher to take than last year, because this year I felt we could have gone further,” McNair observed. “But it was a great year. I tip my hit to the better team … in the tournament you have to be at your best every night.”

McNair, whose older brother Jerry played professionally in Australia, is himself looking Down Under for an opportunity to play for pay. Other possibilities include Italy, Greece and Puerto Rico.

McNair’s road to the MVP honor started with a “little streak of scoring,” he said.

“My confidence started to build, it grew higher and higher,” he added. “On the road that led to the MVP, all the points were high points. But the MVP is big. The whole time, I didn’t want teams to think all they had to do was stop Marvin in order to win.”

With that mission accomplished, other shores beckon.

“First thing I want to do is focus on finishing school,” McNair said. “Then I can look for an opportunity overseas.”

Daniels twins clicking

The Northeastern University men’s hockey team meets rival Boston University tonight in the second game of a best-of-three series in the Hockey East Tournament. A third game, if necessary, is set for Sunday, also at BU.

Northeastern prevailed 4-3 against BU in their last outing, in a game in which former Suffern High and U.S. Hockey League standouts Justin and Drew Daniels combined on the goal that tied the game at 2-2. Drew, who had scored in an earlier 2-2 deadlock with New Hampshire, scored again against Boston University, with Justin getting an assist.

Justin, who has developed into a faceoff specialist over the course of the season, won 11 of 14 important faceoffs in the BU victory.

It’s Miller-Bedell time

Former Tappan Zee High standout Emma Miller-Bedell, a junior, is a distance runner who could make an impact this season on the Stanford University track and field team.

Miller-Bedell, whose brother Quinn pole vaulted at Stanford, is a likely steeplechase star. She has a career-best in the event for the Cardinal with 10:59.07 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, which ranks ninth in the Stanford record book.

In her sophomore season the Orangeburg resident placed third at the Big Meet in the event with a time of 11:03.04.

As just a freshman, Miller-Bedell placed 15th in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the Pac-10 Championships.

At Tappan Zee, Miller-Bedell ranked third nationally in the 1,000 meters with a time of 2:51.90, and she also ranked as the third-fastest half-miler in the country in 2007.

The Cardinal, competing this weekend at the NCAA Indoor Championships in College Station, TX, will be outdoors on March 23 competing at the Cal Multi’s in Berkeley, CA.

Home sweet home

The Dominican College softball team, led by head coach Joe Burbridge of Suffern, returned home following a 12-game road trip to Florida in which they broke even at 6-6.

The Lady Chargers wrapped up their trip in Clermont, FL, with a double-header split at the National Training Center Games.  The Lady Chargers defeated St. Joseph’s College (Ind.), 3-2, but fell to West Chester University, 6-1, in the second game.

Dominican went 37-16 last season, and won the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference regular-season and tournament championships.

The Lady Chargers are scheduled to visit Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven on Sunday for a doubleheader at 1 p.m.

Dominican’s home opener is set for March 18 with a 3 p.m. twinbill against Le Moyne College.

Mortarboard musings

• The Dominican College men’s lacrosse game scheduled Sunday against ECC rival Wheeling Jesuit University will be played at SUNY-Maritime College at 6 Pennsylvania Avenue in Throggs Neck. Game time is set for noon. Former DeSales University attackman Matt Brancaccio, an assistant coach last season, has been elevated to the top spot, replacing the departed Manuel Rapkin. Junior Matt Brown of Sparkill and Tappan Zee HS, returns as a midfielder, while the class of newcomers includes sophomore defender Mike Accardi of Valley Cottage and Nyack High, and freshman midfielder Tom Dertinger of Nanuet.
• The women’s lacrosse team at Dominican College, with coach Taryn Brechbiel in her third year at the helm, is slated to visit the University of Bridgeport tonight (March 11) at 6 o’clock. The Lady Chargers are home against Philadelphia University on March 22 at the Torne Valley Sports Complex in Hillburn at 4 p.m. Among the team’s veteran players is Tappan Zee graduate Heather Wanamaker of Blauvelt, a junior at the attack position.

• Newcomers Chris Van Holt of North Rockland, a pitcher, and catcher Jose Rodriquez of Pomona showed promise in the fall season for the Nyack College baseball team, currently on a road trip in Florida. The Warriors host Post University for two games on March 19 at 3 p.m. Christian Gutierrez, a 2008 graduate of Nyack College, is an assistant on the staff of head coach Matt Cornacchione.