Direct Rays: Lakeland/Panas Dynasty Ends; Somers Suffers Loss but Remains Dignified
So Sharon Sarsen finally suffered a $h!+-eating loss in a Sectional showdown. Say it ten times real fast. I’ll bet you can’t: Sharon Sarsen finally suffered a $h!+-eating loss in a Sectional showdown… Sharon Sarsen finally suffered a $h!+-eating loss in a Sectional showdown…
Say it over and over now; because the next time you say it might be another three or four years from now, if you’re lucky. Chances are; you’re just not going to say it that often over the final third of her star-spangled coaching career that has amassed 22 sectional titles (12 field hockey, titles 10 lax) in 30 years.
But we saw Sarsen’s amazing string of eight consecutive Section 1 championships (5 girls lax, 3 field hockey) snapped during the Rebels’ 10-9 Section 1 Class A girls’ lax championship setback to No.2 North Rockland last Wednesday at Fox Lane High School.
One of the most accomplished streaks in NYS history had finally come to an end when the Emma Bozek- led Rebels (16-1-2) saw their five-year lax dynasty crumble, a dynasty Coach Sarsen built on the back of senior captain Bozek and teammates before her. There have been other great female athletes in the history of the Lakeland School district – like Kathy Cortez for you” old schoolers” (circa 1990) and Melissa Gonzalez (circa 2000) for you nu skulers – but I can’t remember any local athlete in Class A/B having an All-American championship run like Bozek did in two distinct sports.
Sarsen has been linked to some special athletes over the course of three decades of historical accomplishment, but when I think of the best she’s ever had in two different sports, I’ll bet it’ll be a long time before anybody but Bozek comes to mind, despite the loss to North Rockland, which abruptly cut short the most distinguished career in Lakeland history.
State-ranked (No.10) Lakeland/Panas (16-1-2) came up one play short against a state-ranked (No.13) North Rockland (16-0-1) club that scored the first four goals of the game and put the Rebels on their heels, but it won’t be long before Sarsen and kids like freshman Molly Fitzpatrick begin anew. Heck, even the Yorktown boys’ lax program loses one from time to time, but the great ones get right back on their horse.
“We’ll just start anew,” Sarsen said…
Bitter bloggers have a point regarding Section 1 baseball and the two rain-shortened quarterfinals last Saturday, in which Class AA Mamaroneck and Class A Somers were not permitted to get their last licks in during a pair of Section 1 quarterfinal losses (host Mamo’ lost 2-1 to Arlington while Somers lost 3-1 at Harrison).
Umpires ruled the down county fields at Mamaroneck and Harrison were unplayable after a slew of rain/thunder/lightning-induced delays lasted several hours, despite the clamoring of Section 1 baseball icon/Mamaroneck Coach Mike Chiapparelli. Meanwhile, up north in Dutchess County, umpires waited out numerous delays, affording No.6 Carmel the chance to shock No.3 RCK, the reigning Class AA champions, when Ryan Mordecai cracked a two-run homer in the top of the seventh for a 4-2 Carmel win. Its baseball, right: And it ain’t over till it’s over!
“Mamaroneck has every right to be angry,” Carmel Coach Bob Shilling said. “I’d be upset, too, if I were Chappy. That rule should be changed and you can quote me on that. Playoffs games should be finished, especially when darkness doesn’t affect the decision to wait it out.”
The only way to do that is to pay umpires by the hour in the playoffs, which isn’t a bad idea when it comes to baseball. If a playoff game runs longer than three hours, Section 1 umpires should be put on the clock, which might make them more apt to sit out prolonged delays. With two outs and a runner on first in the bottom of the seventh, thunderstorms hit the Mamaroneck region and delayed the game for about two hours, before the umpires called it. Arlington advanced without recording the final out, which didn’t sit well with Coach “Chappy”. This is in accordance with current Section 1 rules if the field is determined to be unplayable for the remainder of the day, but Mamaroneck released video footage of a field that looked very playable. The game was called around 5:30 p.m., with two hours of daylight remaining, which is the argument that Chiapparelli put forth in his protest, a protest that was denied by Section 1 officials, who dodged a lynch mob.
Then again, Mamaroneck new the forecast and should have started its game at 11:00 a.m. like so many others around the section did.
The folks in Somers, though bitter about the decision that ended the Tuskers’ season, seemed to take their rain-shortened loss better (if you believe what you see or don’t see on the LoHud baseball blog).
“It’s tough man,” Somers’ gracious captain Joe Tomasulo said. “Our seniors are going to look back on our final season and see that we lost on a rainout. But it’s only a chapter in our life and we have to move on from it. It stings a lot but well get over it.”
We can learn a lot from our kids, no?
Ray has 33 years experience covering and photographing local sports in Westchester and Putnam counties, including everything from Little League/Travel Baseball to varsity high school prep sports and collegiate coverage. He has been a sports editor at Examiner Media since its inception in 2007.
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