By Jesse Rosenthal

Returning for her second season as Pierson’s varsity softball coach, Melissa Edwards has high hopes for her Lady Whalers. With a variety of weapons at her disposal both on the field and in the batter’s box and a coaching philosophy rooted in hard work, fundamentals and unity, optimism may end up becoming more of an afterthought than a necessity.

The 2009 Lady Whalers ended their season with a 1-2 series defeat at the hands of longtime conference rivals Port Jefferson in the championship series. Now, the Lady Whalers enter into the 2010 season after graduating eight players total, many of who played vital roles last season; but Edwards remains unfazed.

“Last season is last season, this is a new team with new goals,” she said. “We did lose some key players, but I do believe we are just as strong if not stronger this season.”

If strength and depth are what this team needs to compete in 2010, then it looks as though they are poised for success. They have great bats in Kaci Koehne, Melanie Stafford, Sami James and Lindsey Warne. Natalie Abbene will lead the outfield while Kaci Koehne holds down the infield.

“We should be a threat in all aspects,” said Edwards.

All in all, the Lady Whalers have six returning players (two seniors and four juniors) four juniors new to varsity and six underclassmen. While they are a relatively young team, they have a strong core of leadership, hustle and talent.

Expect big things from Kaci Koehne, Melanie Stafford and Lindsey Warne. Koehne is a threat on both sides of the ball. She has a great bat and a quick glove at shortstop and according to Edwards “is by far the heart and leader of this team.”

Melanie Stafford will the be the Lady Whalers’ ace in the circle this spring. She will carry a majority of the weight, seeing most of the starts. She will be assisted most often by Lindsey Warne who “is really stepping up for the better of the team this season,” according to Edwards. Sami James and 8th grader Annie Osiecki will also see some time on the mound.

With the taste of last year’s defeat washed away by the start of this season, Coach Edwards and the Lady Whalers are looking to stay in the moment.

“We’re not putting any extra emphasis on any one game or a championship,” she said. “We want to go out there every game and give it our all, every defensive play, every at bat and time on the base paths. If we can do this daily, the bigger success will come naturally.”

Although the cards up Edwards’ sleeve are many, and her outlook is positive, she notes that there is always room for improvement.

“We are looking at this season as a progression,” she said. “Each day we want to be better than the day before. If we do that, then big things will happen for us.”

They are taking it day by day, but the goal for this season is clear. Championship.

“We understand that its going to take hard work and communication and we feel that by doing this day in and day out we will get to the championship game and we will be ready.”

Look for tough divisional competition from Port Jefferson (as always) and for possible nailbiters against Hampton Bays.

The Lady Whalers play their third scrimmage this afternoon at home in Mashashimuet Park against East Hampton at 3:30 p.m. The season opener is away at Southold on March, 26 at 4:00 p.m.

Pierson High School physical education instructor Dan White hosted a three-on-three basketball tournament at the school last weekend as a fundraiser for a Sag Harbor 16-and-under AAU travel team.

Competition opened Saturday, the fifth and sixth grade and the seventh and eighth grade brackets crowning their champions. On Sunday, the fun and games continued in the high school, the Pierson boys and an 18+ “open” bracket going for glory.

Taking the fifth and sixth grade title Saturday were Ryan Chisholm, Andrew James and Steve Musnicki, a set of Pierson sixth graders that overcame four challengers.

Forrest Loesch, Cooper Marienfeld and Jack Bori came away with the seventh and eighth grade crown, the older middle schoolers outdueling five other competitors.

In the high school bracket Sunday, sophomores Sam Miller and Nolan O’Brien and freshman Jackson Marienfeld mastered a field of ten. Joe Gonzalez, Michael Sarro and Drew Sarro controlled four teams to earn the “open” title.

Afterwards, White described the highlight as being, “Seeing the kids competing, playing well together and displaying a passion for the game.”

 “The support from parents, community members and players in our program was phenomenal,” he added. “I am ecstatic to be a part of a community that cares so much for its youth and loves the game of basketball.”

The tournament raised over $1000.

The AAU team tips off play in the Sayville Spring League on April 14. Their first tournament is April 22, 23 and 24, in Albany. Tournaments follow in Brewster, NY in May and West Hempstead in June. The Sayville league closes June 1.

Representing Pierson and Sag Harbor on the AAU team are sophomores Sam Miller, Nolan O’Brien, Sean Hartnett and Mike Heller; freshmen Patrick Sloane, Joey Butts, Aidan Kirrane, Liam Doyle, Jake Bennett and Jackson Marienfeld; and eighth graders Forrest Loesch, Ian Barrett, and Caleb Atkinson-Barnes.

The 2010 season marks a changing of the guard at field level for the Pierson baseball Whalers, with Jonathan Tortorella taking over coaching duties from 22-year Whaler veteran Sean Crowley. Benito Vila will be returning for his 2nd year as assistant coach.

In Crowley’s last year, the Whalers posted a 12-6 regular season record and defeated Port Jefferson in two straight games to become the Suffolk County champs. The Whalers 2009 season ended in a disappointing 11-1 postseason loss to Nassau Class C Champions Oyster Bay in the State Tournament.

In his first season running the show at the varsity level, coach Tortorella is looking for his players to become a cohesive, focused unit and improve on last year’s success. With a variety of weapons at their disposal, the Whalers are poised for such improvement.

“There are several returning players from last year which gives us a pretty experienced team,” said Tortorella. “We’ll need to rely on our leadership in order for us to achieve success. It’s all going to come down to discipline and attention to detail. How we go about our business every day will determine how our season ends up.”

Although departed seniors Casey Crowley, Joe Mascali and Ryan Miller were pivotal cogs in the Whaler wheel last season, Coach Tortorella has an abundance of both young and returning talent to cultivate. Returning seniors Ed Schall, Joe Dowling, Dane Riva and Jeff Schimmer will play key rolls this season. And don’t forget about Kyle McGowin who led the team in both home runs and runs batted in (2 HRs and 21 RBIs), slugging his way to a .313 avg.

Defensively, expect depth. By the time this goes to print, the boys will have practiced only a handful of times, but Coach Tortorella is optimistic.

“I’m really looking forward to the season,” he said. “We have a good number of guys who have been working really hard over the last few days. There is a lot of depth at several positions and we are looking forward to see who steps up.”

There is no shortage of talent winding up on the mound this season either. McGowin pitched over 50 innings in 2009, winning six games as a junior. Rounding out what coach Tortorella hopes will be a nine or 10 deep rotation, will be TJ Arreguin, Brandon Kruel, Eddie Schall, Gavin Kudlak, Jake Federico, Jake Weingartner and Donald Doran.

Completing the roster are seniors Cesar Banados, George Hoglund, and Christian Gonzalez and Juniors Dylan Hmielenski, Frank Romeo, Tyler Gilbride and Lukas Wheeler.

With depth in the field and on the mound and a solid lineup in place, Coach Tortorella is gearing up for a fantastic season.

“We are very excited for this year. The weather has been great, the boys are ready to go and we cannot wait to start playing,” he said.

Look for tough divisional competition from Center Moriches, Mercy, Port Jefferson, Southold, and also Smithtown-Christian who handed the Whalers one of their six losses last season.

The first scrimmage is at home against East Hampton on Monday, March 22 at 4:30 p.m., followed by scrimmages at Southampton and Hampton Bays. The season opener is at Center Moriches on Tuesday, April 6 at 4:30 p.m. It is the first of a three game series.

The Sag Harbor-Bridgehampton Little League will hold its final winter clinic in the Pierson High School gym on Sunday. Seven-to-nine year old softball players are expected in from 1 to 2 p.m. and ten-to-twelve year old softball players from 2 to 3 p.m. The seven-to-nine year old baseball players will go from 3 to 4 p.m. with the ten-to-twelve year olds in from 4 to 5 p.m.

Parents who would like to be considered for managing or coaching should attend the clinic for their child’s age group.

More News

The pre-draft evaluations for the 9-and-up AAA and majors divisions will be held in the Pierson gym next Saturday, March 20. If the weather is suitable, the evaluations may move outdoors.

Players eligible for softball majors (girls ages nine to twelve as of Jan 1, 2010) will have their evaluation session from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Players eligible for baseball AAA and majors (kids between the ages of nine and twelve on April 30, 2010) are scheduled for 1 to 3 p.m.

These evaluations are mandatory for players wanting to participate in the AAA and majors programs. The evaluations allow the coaches to pick even teams.

For the third year in a row, the AAA and majors division will have “inter-league play” with Southampton, chapter president Scott Brooks noting the arrangement will “give kids an opportunity to face competition from a different set of players.”

Registration for all the chapter’s divisions is ongoing online at sagharborlittleleague.org. Mail-in registration forms are available at the elementary school.

His first match lasted eleven seconds and his second match eight seconds, the young Busiello quickly pinning those two opponents before going on to last the day without suffering any takedowns or yielding a single point.

Adam’s brother, John Busiello, a Pierson sixth grader, was the state runner-up in the 85-pound Novice Division. That loss came suddenly at the end of the third period of the title match, his opponent taking the state title for the fourth consecutive year. The older Busiello had defeated that same opponent for the Suffolk title just two weeks ago.

In the winter months, both Busiello boys travel to Finest Fitness in Patchogue several times a week to train with the RaZor Wrestling Club. The club came home from the state meet with five champions, four at the 60, 65, 70 and 75-pound intermediate levels and one at the 65-pound novice level.

The boys’ father, John Busiello, a county champion in his high school days, said the highlight for him Saturday was “seeing both boys out there in the finals of the state meet. It’s so hard to get there, especially since Suffolk County has the toughest competition in the state right now.”

Next up for the Busiello boys is the Ohio Tournament of Champions in Columbus, Ohio on April 24; that tournament ends their wrestling season. Both do wrestle locally in their off-season, occasionally working out with the East Hampton youth wrestling program, led by Bonac varsity coach Joe Russo and his assistant (and father) Lou Russo.

In November, eleven teams and their parents came together in the Pierson High School auditorium to celebrate the school’s fall athletic program. The scene was somewhat chaotic and unfamiliar to many, the ceremony being a first-time event, the administration opting to provide closure on those seasons then rather than waiting until the spring.

Last Thursday, the winter awards were staged in much the same fashion, but with just five coaches joining athletic director Montgomery Granger, principal Jeff Nichols and superintendent Dr. John Gratto on the dais, it seemed a more private and certainly a much more familiar affair.

In his opening remarks, Granger spoke about the role athletics plays in education, how student athletes put into practice the same fundamental skill sets required in the classroom, primarily those of cooperation and commitment. He also pointed out how in the course of a season, student athletes learn the value of communication in balancing schedules at home and in playing as a unit.

Before moving into the coaches’ portion of the program, Granger took the opportunity to read from The Sag Harbor Express’ coverage of a report issued by New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYPHSAA) on the damaging and self-limiting effects of teen alcohol use.

In closing, Granger pointedly said to the athletes gathered, “If you’re partying and you come against someone who isn’t partying, they will beat you.” He also reminded parents of the Suffolk County Social Host ordinance, which specifies criminal penalties if an adult allows minors to consume alcohol on their property.

Optimism and Praise

While that direct message may have taken some aback, it did little to dampen the spirit in the room. Perhaps having the 15 varsity cheerleaders present had something to do with that or perhaps it was Granger’s announcement the spring awards would include all the fall and winter teams and feature the traditional year-end slide show.

Before turning the program over to the Pierson coaches, Granger praised the commitment of those student athletes participating in the shared sports program at East Hampton High School, donning maroon to play on the Bonackers’ swimming, bowling, track and wrestling teams.

He also cited the efforts of the Pierson students who played for the Bonac football program in the fall and thanked all the student athletes for reminding the community what it takes to be a “winner at life.”

Teams, Names and Awards

With each of the wintertime Pierson coaches coming up to talk about their teams, a more comfortable laughter returned to the room. Each coach introduced their teams and recounted key moments in the season that either brought the team together or made an indelible mark in their memory.

At the end of those remarks the coaches issued team awards, as follows:

Boys’ Varsity Basketball: Coach Christian Johns. Most Improved Player (MIP): Dylan Hmielenski; Coach’s Award (CA): Luke Kirrane; Most Valuable Player: Tyler Gilbride.

Girls’ Varsity Basketball: Coach Dennis Case. MIP: Kaci Koehne; Co-MVPs: Sarah Barrett, Samantha James.

Varsity Cheerleading: Coach Vicki Florence. MIP: Guila Mascali; CA: Sophie Thorner; MVP: Aura Skerys.

Boys’ JV Basketball: Coach Jonathan Tortorella. MIP: Raliegh Gordley; the Michael Heller Coach’s Award: Aidan Kirrane; MVP: Patrick Sloane.

Girls’ JV Basketball: Coach Kevin Barron. MIP: Holly Zappola; CA: Katherine Matthers; MVP: Kasey Gilbride.

By Benito Vila

In Texas the 1970s, it was said that boys were not men until they went to a ZZ Top concert, built their own car and outran a cop with it.

Rites of passage being what they are, Pierson athletic director Montgomery Granger has been considering how to best counteract a prevalent problem in many school districts, the use of alcohol and drugs by athletes.

In attending the Suffolk County Athletic Director’s annual safety conference in Wading River in January, Granger was introduced to an eye-opening presentation prepared by John Underwood, president and founder of AAI (American Athletic Institute) in conjunction with the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYPHSAA), the governing body of New York State high school and middle school athletics.

An expert in drug and alcohol effects on human athletic performance, Underwood has advised and worked with the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Navy SEALS, the United States Olympic Committee and Olympic athletes, and various professional, college, and high school teams and athletes throughout the country.

The culmination of a five-year study, Underwood’s presentation, “Year Five: Life of an Athlete,” sets forth research data and a series of recommendations that Granger has been slowly introducing to Pierson parents and administrators.

In describing the take-away from Underwood’s work, Granger said this week, “The purpose of the program is to ensure that all members of the community take a stake in eliminating drug and alcohol use among youth.”

 “I am planning to introduce it to multiple stakeholders, including administrators, teachers, coaches, parents, community leaders, student athletes, and anyone else concerned with the health and safety of youth in Sag Harbor. The first step is awareness. Being aware of and admitting there is a problem is the first step to solving the problem.”

 “I have shared copies of the presentation and its references and resources with administrators, parents, community leaders, teachers, and coaches, and through the coaches we will share the information with our student athletes. I also plan to share the information at meetings with parents and student athletes in the spring and in the fall.”

First Response

In describing the response thus far, Granger added, “I have had tremendous positive feedback from the parents and community leaders on the Athletic Council. One member, Robert Evjen, agreed to preview the materials and share his thoughts and feelings about it with the Council, which went extremely well.”

Granger pointed out that part of the initial “stakeholder charge” is to inform parents of the Suffolk County Social Host ordinance, which specifies criminal penalties if an adult allows minor children to consume alcohol on their property. He noted, “This fact probably got the most response from the Council, and several comments were made about how there is a social acceptance of underage drinking in the village.”

When asked what was the greatest good he could see coming from this discussion, Granger said, “It’s to see our most precious resource, the children of Sag Harbor, protected and cared for by all stakeholders of the community. This means admitting the problem and not tolerating its prevalence. Not to punish anyone, but to help those who are breaking the law and hurting themselves to get help and value a drug and alcohol-free lifestyle.”

 “The takeaway has to be folks looking in the mirror and deciding if they are going to be part of the problem or part of the solution. There is no middle ground here. If they want to help, there are many ways, from talking with their children, to talking with their neighbors, teachers, administrators, coaches, and community leaders about how this problem must end, for the health and safety of the children, and for the future of the village.”

The Study Itself

The most astounding part of the 29 Powerpoint slides is the obvious realities that are so easy to overlook. In evaluating the habits, preferences and experiences of athletes, Underwood’s study looks at a subset of society that is self-motivated and trained to be competitive and intense.

That orientation that serves athletes so well in the field can be their undoing off it, especially in “experimenting” with alcohol and drugs. Underwood simply calls them “at risk.”

The study suggests that the most critical age for modeling behavior around alcohol, communicating boundaries and appropriate health priorities is the period between fourth and sixth grade. And describes the drinking patterns found in middle school athletes and high school athletes.

Its most telling image is a billboard stating, “One night of drinking can undo as much as two weeks of athletic training.”

The study also states “Social drug use continues to be the catalyst for nearly all negative behaviors in the high school athlete.” And, “If you mess with your brain, you mess with your body. Without any doubt, the brain and central nervous system must be at optimal functional level, if optimal athletic performance is to take place.”

Underwood goes on to describe that athletes tend to see drinking as “partying”, “the reason for socializing” and “what you look forward to”. He also notes the escalation from “try it”, “get a buzz”, “get drunk”, to “regularity.”

In mentioning drinking games, Underwood describes them as “another form of competition”, and quotes kids as saying, “This is just what we do.”

It’s slide 16 that has the data that’s hard for any athlete to ignore: the effects of a hangover reducing performance by 11.4% and players that drink being twice as likely to become injured.

That slide also states that intoxication inhibits muscle recovery, muscle performance, muscle synthesis, the immune system, hormone production and compromises reaction time.

That’s all obvious to anyone who’s ever tied one on, ZZ Top or no ZZ Top.

By Benito Vila

In every game there are moments that make the game for one team and break it for the other. Saturday’s county Class C and D championship contests were no different.

In the noon game, Greenport used a 14-2 second quarter run to get ahead of Bridgehampton and go on to earn their fifth consecutive Class D title with a 58-35 win.

In the 3 p.m. game, Stony Brook battled Southold evenly until falling behind by five at the end of the third quarter. Making up that deficit in the fourth, the Bears took the title on a three-pointer and a free throw in the final minute, winning the Class C crown 50-48 and ending the Settlers’ perfect season.

Next up in the county tournament is the Class B champion, either Center Moriches or Wyandanch, at noon on Sunday at Farmingdale State.

Put Backs & Bombs

After the Porters pulled out to leads of 7-2 and 10-4, the Killer Bees came back to close to within 11-8. With their defense denying Greenport, a miss, a steal and a traveling call kept the Bridgehampton offense from taking the lead.

After a Porter free throw, an Ainsley Wyche bucket made the score 12-10 Greenport with forty seconds to go. That was as close as the Killer Bees would get, a mental let down allowing a put-back basket with thirty seconds left, the Porters going up 14-10.

And then things turned against the Bridgehampton side, Greenport’s Jalen Shelby tossing in a pair of long threes to quickly make the score 20-10. The Killer Bee’s Evan Marzan took an in-bound pass from Wyche to close the gap to 20-12, but a pair of put-back baskets by Tremayne Hansen extended it again to 26-12.

A 7-0 Bridgehampton run closed the second quarter, Marzan, Wyche, Cesar Banados and Nate Hochstedler all tallying points. The half-time buzzer broke that spell, leaving the Killer Bees down seven, at 26-19.

Put-backs and bombs were the Killer Bees undoing again in the third, the Porters getting two second-shot buckets underneath and two more three-pointers from Shelby to push the score to 36-21 mid-way in the third. Greenport upped its lead to 20 early in the fourth and 26 late in the fourth, before Oscar Reyes hit the Killer Bees’ only three-pointer of the game in the last minute to make the final a 23-point differential.

In their last games wearing yellow and black, Wyche totaled fourteen, Marzan eleven, Banados four and Jamal Hires one. Reyes’ three and Hochstedler’s two closed out all the scoring for the Killer Bees.

Shelby’s twenty, eighteen coming from behind the arc, led the Porters. Teddy Stevens tossed in eleven and Hansen ten. All-County standout Dantre Langhorne had nine.

Pandolfi Does It

Stony Brook nearly upset Southold February 11, the Settlers protecting their home court and their perfect season, 51-50.

That home court advantage wasn’t there this time for the 18-0 Settlers in the Class C game, the Bears’ Tim Pandolfi coming through late to lead his team to the title. Scoring twelve of Stony Brook’s last thirteen points, Pandolfi’s unconventional fall-away three-point shot gave the Bears their first lead with 20 seconds left and his three free throws iced the game.

The game was still in question at 50-48 when the Settlers’ John Cepelak fired off a three-quarter court shot at the buzzer that nearly went in. That miss set off a celebration for the Bears, who joined the Lady Bears as county champs.

Despite their obvious youth, Adam is a third grader at Sag Harbor Elementary and John is a sixth grader at Pierson, both boys are experienced wrestlers, earning All-American status last year at the Northeast Nationals in York, Pa.

Next up for the pair, who travel to Finest Fitness in Patchogue several times a week in the winter to train with the RaZor Wrestling Club, are the New York State championships in Endicott, N.Y. on March 5. The last tournament of their season is the Ohio Tournament of Champions in Columbus, Ohio on April 24.

The boys do wrestle locally in their off-season, occasionally working out with Bonac varsity coach Joe Russo and his assistant (and father) Lou Russo in the East Hampton youth wrestling program.

In nailing down their county titles this past weekend, Adam pinned all four of his competitors in the 65-pound Intermediate Division while John overcame a three-time state champion in winning the 85-pound Novice Division.

There was no way of knowing which way the basketball season would go for the Pierson Lady Whalers this winter. With only one returning starter, several players new to the sport and a number of eighth graders coming out for the team, coach Dennis Case acknowledged at the time, “This will certainly be a rebuilding year or two but I feel we are going in the right direction.”

The girls surprised their coach a bit, coming in at 7-5 and earning the number four seed in the county playoffs. Unfortunately that finish matched them against undefeated Stony Brook in a first round semi-final last Tuesday.

The Lady Bears prevailed 51-28 in that game before going onto earn the county Class C title last Friday in a 40-16 drubbing of Southold.

Stony Brook takes on Class B champion Center Moriches tomorrow with a chance to play for the county’s small school championship next week. The Lady Bears will also move into the state Class C tournament once the county tournament is complete.

A Bright Future

In talking about his girls’ elimination game this week, Coach Case said, “We could not generate offense in the first quarter and that was the difference, we were down 22-3. In the second quarter we only gave up five points. We adjusted nicely on ‘D’ with everyone helping out.”

“The last three quarters they outscored us by only four. We played hard the entire game. I was proud of my team’s intensity throughout.”

Looking ahead, Case added, “We have a bright future. We had four eighth graders on the floor at times at the end of the season. Next year we will be better and more experienced. We are joining a spring league in Hampton Bays starting in April and the Brookhaven League this summer.”

Overall, Coach Case called the season a “success”, and there are few who will dispute that, his team reaching the county playoffs for the fourth consecutive year and junior co-captains Sami James and Sarah Barrett both being selected All-League.

Winter Sports Banquet

Pierson’s wintertime varsity and JV student-athletes will be honored March 4 at 7 p.m. in the high school auditorium. The basketball and cheerleading teams will be acknowledged, along with the shared-sports athletes who competed in bowling, swimming and wrestling for East Hampton.

After the auditorium festivities, each team will also celebrate individually in separate classrooms with friends and family before everyone comes together again for ice cream in the cafeteria.

The shared sports athletes from the fall, who missed out on that ceremony, will also be recognized at the March 4 event.