The College Sports Notebook is compiled by veteran sports writer and columnist Marc Maturo, a lifetime member of the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA). The notebook will be published every Thursday. Please send items of interest to marcmaturo@aol.com.
Twin brothers from Suffern compete far from the spotlight
Far from the tumult and the shouting surrounding such perennial Division I powerhouses as Syracuse, Maryland and Johns Hopkins, among others, rests a somewhat smaller men’s lacrosse program at Oneonta State.
The Division III Red Dragons don’t traipse around the country as the DI schools might do, going coast to coast like any number of commuters riding the subway from Queens to Manhattan. Outside of two games in Whittier, Cal., in February to open the season, Oneonta stays put, competing against other rivals in the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC).
If you’re looking for a true “student-athlete,” there’s no need to go any further than to the fraternal twins Nick and Scott Sorrillo, who are now completing their fourth season playing for the Red Dragons: Nick as a midfielder and Scott as a defender.
The Suffern High School graduates have been playing on the same teams since the age of 7. Following each collegiate season the Sorrillo twins keep their hands and sticks in the game playing summer league lacrosse with two other Suffern residents, Scott Kellman and Scott Weiner, just to mention two, on the Bayside Tigers.
Summer league lacrosse, however, is far from their minds at the moment, since the Red Dragons, struggling at 2-8, still maintain a glimmer hope of earning entry into the SUNYAC postseason tournament. The Red Dragons have made the tournament in recent seasons, and will host the semifinals on May 1.
“We still have a chance,” said Nick, who also played football at Suffern HS, at linebacker on defense and wide receiver on offense.
Whether it’s in the water, or something, the Sorrillos’ tenure at Suffern HS overlapped that of another set of twins, Drew and Justin Daniels.
“They were hockey players, about two years older (than us),” Nick remembers.
While the Daniels brothers went to Northeastern University, a DI program, the Sorrillos settled in at Oneonta.
“I guess you can say we’re student-athletes, that’s for sure,” continued Nick, who ranks sixth on the team in scoring with seven goals and one assist for eight points in 10 games.
Nick and Scott go against one another in practice, where the level of brotherly strife rises to expected levels.
“When we go against each other, it’s very competitive, to say the least,” concluded Nick who, one must gather, truly plays for the love of the game, far from the madding crowds.
The twins will be in action, looking for that outside shot at the postseason, on April 13 when the Red Dragons welcome SUNY Potsdam for a game at 4 p.m., and again on April 20 with a contest at Oswego State.
SPECIAL SWEEP BY JASPERS
Senior Amanda Babcock of Haverstraw blasted a three-run homer, her fourth on the season, as the Manhattan College softball team completed a doubleheader sweep over visiting Saint Peter’s with a 4-1 victory. The Jaspers won the opener, 7-2, in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) twinbill at Gaelic Park in Riverdale.
The sweep was extra special for senior pitcher Kate Bowen, a Newtown, Conn., native who helped put together a ceremony that honored the victims and survivors of the Dec. 14 tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Three fourth-graders at Sandy Hook who survived the tragedy each threw out the ceremonial first pitch.
“The ceremony was awesome,” Bowen was quoted as saying. “We had about 11 kids here. It was an awesome thing for the Sandy Hook kids to run out with us. I think they had a great time. It’s something that as a team we wanted to do and just remind everyone to never forget.”
“Kate did a great job organizing this. It was tremendous,” added head coach Tom Pardalis. “It was something close to her heart. She wanted to make sure this day went well, and it did. It couldn’t have gone any better.””
Babcock, a North Rockland HS graduate, raised her average to .319, third-best on the team, and has driven in 17 runs, second-best on the team. Babcock’s four homers are also second-best for the Jaspers, who then secured first place in the MAAC by sweeping three-time defending champion Iona College, 8-7, 9-2, at Rice Oval in New Rochelle.
The conference-leading Jaspers return to action on April 13, when they put their five-game winning streak on the line with a 2 p.m. doubleheader against Rider (6-27, 2-2 MAAC) at Gaelic Park in Riverdale.
KAHN SPARKLES FOR HUSKIES
The University of Connecticut women’s lacrosse team is rolling along at 8-1, and Lauren Kahn of Nanuet is rolling right along as the team’s leading point producer.
Kahn, a junior midfielder who made all-Big East last season with 30 goals (2nd-best on the team), has amassed 40 points on 21 goals and 19 assists for the Huskies.
UConn will host Cincinnati and Louisville on April 12 and April 14, respectively, at the George J. Sherman Family Sports Complex in Storrs, Conn. The game against Cincinnati starts at 3 p.m., with the Louisville game scheduled at noon.
RUN SPARTANS RUN
Anchored by George Erazo of North Babylon, the St. Thomas Aquinas College men’s 4×100 relay team placed second in the Roadrunner Invitational at Ramapo College in Mahwah, N.J. Erazo also took second in the 400.
The relay team clocked a school-record 42.78, with Erazo joined by Rich Ricca of Pearl River, Mike Abelard of Spring Valley and Frankie Colon of Suffern. Abelard, an alum of Ramapo HS, also ran the 100 meters and took fourth in a time of 11.01.
Colon hit personal-bests in the 100 (11.66) and in the 200 (23.23) as the Spartans placed ninth in a 21-team field.
On the women’s side Keeley Bateman of Pearl River and Meagan Jaskot of Blauvelt ran impressive times in the 1,500. Bateman ran 5:00.45 to take ninth while Jaskot, a Tappan Zee HS alumna, ran 5:00.75 to finish 10th.
Gabriela Sloezen of Westwood, N.J., was fourth in the 400 with a time of 61.45 as the women finished 14th in a field of 22 schools.
The Spartans get back on the track at the Rider Invitational on April 13 in Lawrenceville, N.J.
QUICK HITTERS
Pearl River HS graduate Mike Scarinci of Nanuet, a sophomore right-hander, leveled his record at 2-2 as the Manhattan College baseball team shaded Marist College, 3-2. The Jaspers, flirting with the .500 mark at 13-15, welcome Rider College to Riverdale for a doubleheader at noon on April 13, and then play a single game against River, also at noon, on April 14. … Hockey standout Michaela Murdock of Chestnut Ridge, who his bound for Manhattanville College in the fall, is making her national debut with the Mid Fairfield Connecticut All-Stars in the Tier I U19 national championships at San Jose, Calif. … Peter Martinez of Staten Island improved to 4-1 on the season, going seven innings and striking out seven as the Dominican College baseball team completed an 11-6, 9-5 sweep over Chestnut Hill College at Rockland Community College in Suffern. The
Chargers (13-10, 8-2 CACC) meet the University of Massachusetts-Lowell on April 11 at 4 p.m. at Provident Bank Park (PBP) in Pomona, and then visit Caldwell (N.J.) College on April 12 at 6 p.m. before returning to PBP on April 13 for two games against Caldwell beginning at noon. … Junior Megan Maffei of Stony Point is 2-0 in doubles for the Manhattan College women’s tennis team, which closes its regular season on April 14 against Fairfield University at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing … Freshman infielder Joey Aiola of Suffern is batting .278 in 16 games on the Marist College baseball team. The Red Foxes (15-10) host Fairfield University for a noon doubleheader on April 13, and stay home on April 14 for one game at noon. … The Dominican College women’s lacrosse team, with freshman Brittany Kiernan of Clarkstown guarding the net, improved to 3-5 overall and 3-2 in Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) play by defeating Chestnut Hill College, 14-9, in Lafayette Hill, Pa. The Lady Chargers meet Post University at 4 p.m. on April 11 at Torne Valley Sports Complex in Hillburn. Junior KC Jentzen of Pearl River, a basketball standout out of Nanuet HS, has four goals in six games for Dominican. … The St. Thomas Aquinas College softball team travels to Dobbs Ferry on April 11 for a 3 p.m. doubleheader against Mercy College, and then welcomes Bridgeport to Sparkill on April 13 for a twinbill at noon. The Spartans are also home on April 14 to take on LIU Post in a noon doubleheader. Freshman outfielder/pitcher Samantha McDonald of New City is leading the team with a .368 batting average, and her 2.70 ERA also leads the Spartans. The Clarkstown South graduate is joined on the team by another Clarkstown South alumna, sophomore Samantha Wangenstein, who is batting a second-best .333. … Sophomore Katie O’Flynn of Pearl River is batting a second-best .391 on the Oneonta State College softball team, which hosts Brockport on April 12 for a doubleheader at 3 p.m. Sophomore Brianna Rivera of Pomona is batting .318. The Red Dragons stay home on April 13 for two games against Geneseo at noon. … Powered Benedict Tagle, Brian McGarvey and Francis Kelly, the Rockland Community College golf team sits atop the Mid-Hudson Conference standings. Meanwhile, the RCC baseball team is second in the conference with a 6-2 mark behind first-place, undefeated Westchester CC.
THIS & THAT
One2One Learning, Inc., housed on North Midland Avenue in Upper Nyack and a sponsored ministry of The Dominican Sisters of Sparkill, is holding its annual Hands of Hope Gala on May 10. Celebrating 16 years of providing English classes and other supportive services for immigrants, the Gala will be held at the Nyack Seaport at 21 Burd Street. Among the honorees are the Immigration Coalition of Rockland, the Rockland Country Club Foundation and Albertus Magnus HS. Student service awards are earmarked for Elsy Guadalupe Zamora and Jose Armando Figueroa. For information, visit http://www.one2one-learning.org.
The Lt. John Bellow Memorial 5k run is set for April 13, starting at the Pearl River Volunteer Fire House on Central Avenue. A race for kids begins at 10 a.m., with the adult race scheduled at 11 a.m. The fee is $25 for adults, $12 for children. Besides the runs, there will be awards, face painting, a barbeque and a DJ. For information, visit http://www.johnbellew.com.
Registration closes April 17 for the Orangetown Mighty Midgets fall soccer season, which is open to boys and girls aged 5-17 as of Dec. 31, 2013. Tryouts for the World Class Soccer program are expected to be held in May. The fee is $185 for one child, $315 for two, $435 for three, $555 for four, and $660 for five. For those players who are accepted into the travel program, all registration fees will be applied to the travel program tuition. For information, visit www.ommsoccer.org or email registrar@ommsoccer.org.
The 10th annual Rockland County Track and Field Hall of Fame induction dinner will be held May 18 at 6 p.m. at Minisceongo Golf Club in Pomona. Tickets can be purchased through Bill Dailey by calling 845-323-0976 or email wcd106@optonline.net.
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