LHS’s de Marte earns All-American honors
Lakeland senior pitcher/outfielder Jonathan de Marte racked up a slew of honors as the ace of a team that went to the state baseball Final Four for the first time in school history last spring.
The Hornet ace continues to rack up honors as he was named High Honorable Mention 2011 Rawlings/Perfect Game Preseason Senior High School All-American for the upcoming campaign.
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“It shows that last season was a successful season and that hard work pays off,” de Marte said. “But you have to remember, this is just a preseason award. I have to prove myself again during the regular season and sectionals.”
The Hornets are looking to do just that, as preseason practices for all spring sports begins Monday, March 14.
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“We’re looking forward to at least repeating what we did last year, if not make it farther,” de Marte said. “We just have to work hard and keep improving on our game.”
The Lakeland senior said that he feels the pitching should be fine and that the team’s bats will come through like they did last season.
If the Hornets get those type of performances again this season, combined with solid defense, they once again should make another deep run in the postseason.
Exceptional seniors
Four Lakeland/Panas ice hockey players—Robert Caffrey, Frankie Celentano, Sam Vaimberg and goalie Nick Chiapparino—were chosen to play in the Exceptional Senior Game at the Ice Hutch in Mount Vernon at 4 p.m. on March 19.
“It feels really good to be able to do this with them,” Caffrey said. “I have been on the team the past three years, we went through a lot together. One last game with them is always special, to be able to play with your close friends one last time. It should be fun.”
Chiapparino said it’s an honor to be selected to play in this game.
“I have a lot of friends that are going to be in the game so it’s going to be a lot of fun, I am just looking forward to playing with everybody,” Chiapparino said.
Chiapparino added that having four players selected to play in such a prestigious game shows how much the Lakeland/Panas program has grown.
“It just shows we have a good program,” Chiapparino said. “We have a great offense and it shows in what they chose, and I feel fortunate that they selected me to play as well.”
Rebels look to defend crown
Last year the Lakeland/Panas boys lacrosse team enjoyed a tremendous season, winning the Section 1 Class A championship, and in the process, making it to the state Final Four.
The Rebels are eager to get back on the field and prove they can do it again.
“We really want to get back extremely bad,” said Caffrey, a senior attackman who will play lacrosse at Providence next year. “It’s very important to us, that’s our goal again. Hopefully, we will win sectionals and we are working real hard for a repeat of last year and the awesome season we had.”
Caffrey said that with the leadership the Rebels have on this year’s squad, going back to the state Final Four is a realistic goal.
“We just have to work together and jell as one and we will be fine,” Caffrey said. “The young guys have a bunch of talent, we just have to put it to good use.”
Huskers look for redemption
Yorktown senior midfielder Ty Schuldt, who will be playing at the University of Hartford next year, predicted that this year will be a season of redemption for the Huskers boys lacrosse squad.
That’s in light of the fact that the Huskers lost twice to rival Lakeland/Panas in the Class A championship game and the annual Murphy Cup tilt. Since the two rival schools are in different classes this season, they will only be playing against each other once.
“We have a lot of redemption that we need to make up from last year since we lost the Murphy Cup and Sectional final,” Schuldt said. “We need redemption too from three years ago when we lost to Syosset in the state semifinals.”
