Yorktown Patch Weekly Sports Report

Boys lacrosse

Host No. 2 Yorktown (10-7) led 6-0 with 4:32 left in the opening quarter and didn’t look back in a 20-6 rout of No. 10 Brewster (7-11) in the quarterfinals of the Section 1 Class B tournament Saturday afternoon.

“We controlled the face-offs early on,” Yorktown coach Dave Marr said. “In the beginning, we were focused and moving the ball, sharing it and finishing our shots. It was good to get off to a 6-0 lead.”

Leading the Huskers were Nick Mariano and Conor Gately. They each scored four goals, with Mariano also contributing two assists and Gately one. All told, 12 Huskers registered at least one point in the game.

“I like the fact that everybody played pretty much, 39 of 40 guys, our third goalie is the only one that didn’t get in,” Marr said. “It was a good team effort.”

Yorktown will now play at home in the semifinals at 7 p.m. on Monday, May 23, against No. 6 Tappan Zee. If the Huskers win, they will play for their 29th sectional crown in the last 32 years, and 34th overall, at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, May 26 at Suffern Middle School.

“We talked to the kids just about taking one game at a time,” Marr said. "Right now we are focusing on practice tomorrow. Monday we have to focus on that game and come out hard from the start.”

Girls lacrosse

Led by four goals each from Lindsay Scott and Nikki Fioretti, who also registered two assists, No. 2 Yorktown (14-3) jumped out to a 12-1 halftime lead and didn’t look back in a 17-5 triumph against No. 7 Hendrick Hudson (11-7) in the Section 1 Class B quarterfinals Saturday morning.

Katy Cartelli led Yorktown with seven points, including six assists.

“We have a lot of highly skilled players, the ball moved well,” Yorktown coach Ellen Mager said. “We took mostly quality shots. I thought their goalie [Kelsey Rosenblum] played very well, I think she is a terrific player. We have more experience in these moments than a team like Hen Hud. The kids are ready. We have eight seniors on the team. Any game could be their last and they want their season to go on.”

Yorktown will now play No. 3 Nyack at home at 4:30 p.m. on Monday, May 23 in the semifinals. If the Huskers beat Nyack, they will host the sectional title game at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, May 25.

“We are excited,” Mager said. “We feel that we have waited all year to get back to this point in the season. We have been working hard. We are at home on Monday, which is good for us. We are hoping that we’ll come out, play hard and play well and get to the next game.”

Softball

After winning six in a row, Yorktown (9-10) fell 8-0 to visiting John Jay-East Fishkill in the completion of a suspended game on Saturday morning. Miwa Wenzel and Marly Becker each produced a hit for the Huskers.

Yorktown fared better Friday afternoon when it won 14-5 at Somers, to improve its league record to 6-3. The Huskers exploded for 18 hits, with two RBIs each coming from Becker, Leanne Farmer, Lauren Gorstein, and a two-run double by Shannon Lampert. 

Nicole Wilson and Ashley Robinson shared duties on the mound and limited Somers to six hits for the team’s sixth win in a row.

“They came together,” Yorktown coach John McKenna said of the six-game winning streak. “They started playing solid defense. They were being patient at the plate, hitting the ball and winning tough games. Like a 4-3 against Tappan Zee, 14-11 against Somers (May 5 at YHS). They are just bouncing back and not letting mistakes get them down. They are overcoming the obstacles they need to overcome.”

McKenna feels that his team can continue to overcome obstacles in the sectionals, which start with out-bracket games on Thursday, May 26.

“Considering that we started 0-5, then 3-5, then 3-9 to 9-9, the progression has been there,” McKenna said. “This is a team that has an opportunity to make some noise in the sectionals. I don’t think anyone is going to give us a chance. We have an opportunity, if we play the way we have played this last third of the season, to make some noise.”

Baseball

Yorktown (3-16) had its senior day Saturday afternoon against visiting Somers and gave a great effort before falling 4-0. Danny Rooney pitched well in the loss for the Huskers, throwing a complete-game while striking out six.

“It’s a nice day in that parents for 11, 12, 13 years have been driving these kids around,” Yorktown coach Sean Kennedy said. “They have made sacrifices for these kids. Today really did reflect on all the efforts the kids have made, the growth they have made as players and as people and the sacrifices the parents have made. It’s a celebration of the families and paying respect to that.”

Leading that senior group is pitcher Jake Matranga.

“Offensively, he’s been far and away our best player,” Kennedy said. “He’s been hitting around .500 all year. He’s got four home runs. He’s been a terrific offensive player. When he’s on the mound, you know he’s going to throw strikes. You know every time out there, there’s a possibility that he’s going to throw a real strong game and hopefully we’ll go out and get a win. He’s had a very good senior year.”

Yorktown’s other seniors are Michael Cerabona, Matt D’Alessio, Gregg Difrancia, Chris Garcia, Matt Hreyo, Justin Keeney, Chris Mosca, AJ Ricci, Nick Sackett and Matt Seger. Also honored were senior managers Sonja Gspurning and Danielle Posimato.

Hornet gets record

Lakeland senior Jonathan de Marte, who will be pitching at the University of Richmond next year, earned a 7-0 win against visiting Haldane Saturday night, for his 24th career baseball victory, setting a new Lakeland record for career wins. He broke 2000 LHS graduate Dennis Robinson Jr.'s mark of 23 wins.

"That's nice but I was more focused on getting my work in and getting ready for the sectionals," de Marte said of breaking the record.

The Lakeland senior, now 24-4 on his career, threw 4.1 innings with 10 strikeouts, no walks and only one hit against the Blue Devils. Joey Arena threw 2.2 innings to finish the game on the Hornets' senior night.

In attendance was former major league pitcher Tommy John, who pitched from 1963-1989 for six teams, including the 1981 American League champion New York Yankees. He spent time after the game talking to de Marte and his parents about several baseball-related topics, including the Major League draft.

"I can't even describe how that was," de Marte said. "When I first heard he was here, I didn't believe it. It was just amazing to be able to talk to someone like him."

John, who is part of the MK Sports and Entertainment Group, came to the game to see de Marte pitch.

"He told me he can help give advice, not as an agent or anything like that, but told me that he could help advise us," Jon's father, Vin de Marte said. "He said he liked the way he [Jon] throws. It was pretty exciting."