Another big week: Boys track team continues dominance;

golf team impresses with strong play, nary a weakness Jessica Menges has nice outing, pitches lady Eskimos to extra innings victory over Rome Catholic Is it me, or does the Spring sports season seem to fly by like no other? It feels like we just got started and, here we are, staring at the closing weeks.

I, for one, will miss the action but, on a positive note, am greatly looking forward to the joys of summer. Undoubtedly, there are a plethora of students who will second that motion!

Varsity Track and Field

With League and Sectional meets on the near horizon, the guys and gals got in a fine tune-up last Wednesday, May 11 at Remsen.

Oriskany and Morrisville-Eaton were also on hand to round out the field.

The girls looked solid as they cruised to a second-place team finish, with Remsen taking home top honors.

Two of the top performances came from Maddie Phaneuf and Caitlyn Bailey, who each earned first and second place ribbons.

Phaneuf’s were in the 1500 (1st) and 800 (2nd), while Bailey’s occurred in the 100 high hurdles (1st) and 400 intermediate hurdles (2nd).

Lauren Holt continued her strong season with a second place finish in the high jump as well as third place in the pole vault.

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Meanwhile, the guys dominated the meet and won going away. None was more impressive on the day than Connor Rockhill, however.

All Connor did was to win the high hurdles and 400 hurdles, place second in the high jump, and then wrap up the remarkable showing by breaking his own pole vault record with a mark of 13 feet.

Also adding a slew of points was Ethan Kress, who won the triple-jump and discus while placing third in the long jump to boot.

Lance Frymire had a terrific meet, winning both the 100 and 200 meter dashes as he had personal bests in both events.

Trevor Godemann also took home two first place ribbons, winning the 400 and 800 meter runs, not to mention second place finishes in the long jump and triple-jump.

And while Kevin Kress, still recovering from a muscle pull, isn’t quite ready for his running events, he tried his hand at the pole vault for the first time and surprised everyone with a third place.

There are two other team members who are coming on strong and will likely have an impact on the scoring in the coming weeks.

They are Dane Daiker, who continues to improve in the pole vault and high hurdles, as well as Jason Landl, who pointed at the Remsen Meet in the 100 meter dash (2nd place).

Boys Varsity Baseball

It’s been a particularly tough season for the boys, largely due to the quality of opponents in their league.

Despite fine coaching and great effort by the players, there are times when you just don’t have the horses to get it done based on the guys in the opposite dugout, which appears to be the case this year.

The New York Mills game on Thursday, May 12 was a perfect example. Mills leads the division, and it’s easy to see why.

While Mike Salsbury and Dan Heroux each managed a double, aided by a Parker Clemans triple, the opposition’s bats were scorching, leading to an easy victory for Mills, who remains undefeated in the division.

The same went for Hamilton on Friday, May 13. They jumped on Old Forge with six runs in the first inning and never looked back, rolling to an 18-2 win.

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Next up was Poland on Saturday, May 14, a team that the Eskimos had defeated earlier in the season.

Hopes were high that they might have a repeat performance, but it wasn’t to be as they dropped the contest 11-4.

In the midst of tough times, there is always a silver lining. In this case, it is that these guys all truly enjoy the sport and relish their time on the field. In a way, it’s just like fishing. A bad day of baseball beats a good day at work anytime!

Girls Varsity Softball

With three strong opponents on their schedule, the girls had a tough task. But, if the first of these contests was to be an indicator, things were looking up.

Having traveled south to Rome Catholic on Monday, May 9, they found themselves in a barn-burner.

They fell behind 3-0 at the get-go, only to show great poise in tying things back up by the third inning.

The Eskimos then took a two-run lead in the fifth, but this time it was Rome Catholic who fought back to knot things up.

As if that wasn’t enough drama, each team added another run in the seventh, sending the game into extra innings.

After a scoreless eighth, pitcher Jessica Menges got things going with a hit, then stole second. That extra effort really paid off when Mackenzie Kelly sent her home with a timely swat of her own.

Menges then took the mound and wrapped the game up in the bottom of the ninth, earning her third win of the season.

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And if Old Forge hadn’t seen enough of New York Mills when they played the boys, the equally-solid girls’ version showed up on Thursday, May 12.

To Old Forge’s credit, they managed to keep it close most of the way, trailing by only two runs after five innings.

Unfortunately for the home team and their supporters, Mills’ bats came alive as they rattled off eleven unanswered runs on their way to victory.

Finally, on Friday, May 13, the Eskimos headed to Hamilton, yet another contender for league supremacy.

After their strong start to the week, the girls were unable to make a dent in Hamilton’s pitching. Menges, Kelly, and Katie Connell had the only hits in the defeat.

Varsity Golf

Last year was a great one for this squad of talented athletes who finished as co-champs with Remsen. If things continued as they have so far this season, the outcome would be every bit as impressive, if not more so.

Glasshill, a par 34 course, was the scene for their first outing last week on Wednesday, May 11 against Poland.

Damon Kull medaled with a 36, followed by Devin Daiker and Ben Hannah’s 38.

Colin Criss rounded out the team scoring with a 39.

If you do the math, that comes to a total of 151, which was 57 strokes better than the Tornado’s 208. All too often, we rely on hyperbole when describing game outcomes, but this really was a shellacking.

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The very next day, the Eskimos hosted Oriskany at Thendara and, while the individual scores weren’t quite as spectacular, they still routed their opponents 169-230.

Again, if you’re into stats, the team from Old Forge averaged 15 strokes better than their foes-per player!

Wrapping up the week on Friday, May 13, they traveled to Woodgate Pines to face Adiron-dack.

Keeping their undefeated streak alive, they shot an incredible 155, with Colin Criss carding a par 36 on the day.

Kull and Daiker (39 each) and Hannah (41) completed the team scoring.

That left the squad with one thing left on their plate-a date with destiny against Remsen on Tuesday, May 17.

This one, as they say, was for all the marbles. The winner would go home as League Champion and the loser… well, there are far worse things than second place, to be sure.

Alder Creek Country Club played host for the second meeting between the two teams, with Old Forge having beaten Remsen in the first matchup.

This was undoubtedly one of the tighter matches of the season, with a player from Remsen shooting a par 36 and medaling.

In the end, though, Old Forge’s rare team balance won out as they finished with a 165 to the Rams’ 180.

The Eskimo’s total was comprised of the following scores: Damon Kull (39); Colin Criss (39); Devin Daiker (43); and Ben Hannah (44)

When asked how it felt to bring the League Championship home, Coach Louie Ehrensbeck said that “The kids really deserved it. They’ve been playing well all year, and naturally everyone was hoping they could carry it through to the end.”

No doubt, they did exactly that and will now be readying for the Center State Conference Tourney to be played on Monday, May 23 at Twin Ponds as well as Sectional play.

Congratulations and hats off to our home-town champs and good luck the rest of the way!