Yorktown Patch Weekly Sports Report

 The high school softball and baseball season started this week with Yorktown and Lakeland playing against each other on opening day. Lakeland's softball team won at Yorktown 7-5 , while Lakeland's baseball squad was victorious under the lights against visiting Yorktown 5-3.

The below are interviews with all four coaches on the start of the season.

SOFTBALL

Lakeland coach Joe Chiara

How did you feel about your starter, winning pitcher Katie Champagne's performance?

“She threw well. It was her first time on a field, first time facing live batters and in a live situation. I thought she started off a little shaky and she settled in and got in her groove. She pitched well throughout the game. She had a few hiccups here and there with her control but overall I thought she threw well.”

Felicia Costanzo went 2 for 4 with three RBIs. How did you feel about what she did?

“She is a little sparkplug. It’s been nice having her and Stephanie Scala come up, both ninth graders. Today she had a real nice day at the plate hitting the ball and knocking some runs in.”

 How did you feel about starting the season off against Yorktown?

“Any time it’s Yorktown-Lakeland, we have always have good games between the two of us. It’s just usually a battle right to the end. They have been a good softball program for many, many years and that’s what we expect out of them.”

Yorktown coach John McKenna

What does having center fielder Miwa Wenzel, who went 3 for 4 with three runs scored, at the top of your lineup mean to your team?

“Miwa has been training since she was in eighth grade [she's now a sophomore]. Miwa came up as an eighth grade right-hand hitter. The last two years have been an evolution of her turning around, become a slapper with her speed. She has the ability to set the table, and with her on, it opens up the door for us to score runs very easily.”

What do your No. 3 and No. 4 hitters, shortstop Leanne Farmer and catcher Marly Becker, who had two hits each against Lakeland, give your team?

“They are consummate hitters. They can hit the ball, line to line with power. When they are hitting, they are dangerous. They have compact swings and the ball is hit on the line. It’s a line drive, it’s the hardest thing to catch. They don’t hit lazy fly balls.”

How do you feel about your team and where the program is at right now?

“The biggest thing is this is a group of young players. We have five returning varsity players. So this is a young varsity team now. Over the next two years, I only lose a total of seven players. So there is a ton of time for them to develop. It’s just they need to learn how to be together. Still a work in progress but in the end there is a ton of potential for this team to be very dangerous.”

BASEBALL

Yorktown coach Sean Kennedy

How did you feel about the performance of your starting pitcher, Jake Matranga?

“It’s tough for everyone at this point. I know they haven’t seen a lot of live pitching. We haven’t seen a lot of live pitching. Right now pitchers clearly have the advantage over hitters. The key to pitching at this level is getting ahead of the count and you can change speeds, then you can keep hitters off balance. I thought Jake did a good job of that.”

What hitters will you be relying on when the weather warms up?

“Again, it’s early. You would like to hit one through nine. I don’t think you can rely on two or three kids in Double A. You are going to have to have six, seven or eight kids who are going to have to hit day in and day out. You need a deep lineup in Double A, and hopefully we will have that.”

How do you feel about what your team can do this season?

“We played what people think is one of the top teams in the section. We saw their two best pitchers [Jonathan de Marte and Joey Arena]. We had the lead late in the game. If we catch a few fly balls, it might be a different game. I am pretty happy with how we did a lot of things. Obviously, defensively, we need to tighten up. We need to make the routine play, and we didn’t do that with four fly balls we dropped tonight.”

Lakeland coach Dennis Robinson

What makes your pitching combination of Jonathan de Marte and Joey Arena so special and how good is it to have them this season?

"Both of the guys are veterans...it doesn’t matter what game or what the situation is. The key to our staff is Nick Caruso, Mike Nash and Joe Vacco, just because of the number of games that we are going to have. John was all right and I was really happy with Joey. Having him come back after not being able to pitch last year, just to see him on the mound and play ball, I really felt good for Joey to be able to throw again."

Those guys make up the heart of your lineup, along with first baseman David Judisky, as your No. 3 (Judisky), 4 (de Marte) and 5 (Arena) hitters. What are their strengths as hitters?

"They are selective. We don’t rely on one person. We never rely on one person in [the almost 40] years I have been here. It’s your No. 1 hitter, it’s your No. 7 hitter, and everyone else in the lineup. This is the first time we saw live pitching. We didn’t have a scrimmage all preseason, but no excuses. We are going to get better. Our whole thing every day is to just get a little bit better."

How does it feel to start the season by beating your cross-town rival Yorktown?

"My brother [Ernie] coached there for years. Any time that we play them in any sport, it doesn’t matter what the sport is, it’s a very competitive game. They are very young, we saw that, but they came at us. Their pitcher threw an excellent ballgame. I was very impressed with their pitcher."