Greeley Laxers Ranked No.2 in NYS; Surging Panas Wins Diamond Tourney

By Ray Gallagher, Examiner Sports Editor @Directrays

When we were student athletes “back in the day” at Lakeland High School, my buddies and I inflamed an old acronym to death most mornings before homeroom when we trolled the Horace Greeley Quakers behind their backs #NoInternet: A.B.G., which meant Anybody But Greeley. That’s how much we obsessed the Quakers when guys like Rick Erenberg, a ninth-round Pittsburgh Steelers draft pick out of Colgate, were stomping us on the gridiron in the wee ‘80s, or when the Quakers put up a hardwood hundy on us in, perhaps, the worst beatdown of my sports career.

Jealousy got us nowhere, but it was what it was when it came to rooting against our Chappaqua-based rivals. As time went on, I still clung to that acronym when I began my sports writing career back in 1989. After all, I was less than a decade removed from the Erenberg-inflicted face-plant off a kick return he took to the house #Ouch.

As I grew wiser (#AsIf!) I let it go and began to accept Horace Greeley for its relevance in many sports, but my buddies, oftentimes, gave me a good ribbing over Erenberg and the 104 points the Quakers dumped on us one year after they won the sectional hoops title in 1980.

Fast forward to 2025 and I found myself rooting hard for Horace Greeley, ranked No.13 nationally by USA Lacrosse (public schools). The Quakers looked like a team on a mission for 3.5 quarters before they got a tad sloppy down the stretch but still held on for an impressive 11-10 victory against high-powered visiting Greenwich (CT) on a balmy (finally!) Saturday afternoon.

The 2025 Quakers, led by All-Section seniors – UMass-bound Matthew Byrne and Bucknell-bound Jameson Blakeslee – have drawn rare comparisons to the 1994 Quakers led by Mark Whaling, Greg Peters, Brett Tucker and Dennis Byrne, which lost the last of three straight championship setbacks at the hands of, you guessed it, 42-time Section 1 champ Yorktown. Those trailblazers paved the way for three more championship losses in 2002-03-06. The Quakers will also recall 2024: Yet another title tilt with Yorktown, yet another loss. The end goal for 2025 is to put all that behind them and deliver Greeley’s first Section 1 title after going 0-7 in previous championship settings, 0-6 against Yorktown.

“We definitely need to clean some stuff up, but happy to have pulled it out against a skilled offensive Greenwich team,” Quaker Coach Ben Potash said. “We are really focusing on one game at a time and getting better every day.

“The 1994 Quakers were special and we appreciate the comparisons,” he added. “Really, I am happy with my seniors and their leadership this year, added with the juniors through the freshmen, who are stepping up! All three Lukes having good games will be good for us; Kaplow, Dessi and Tavolacci. We’ve got some big ones with Rye and Somers coming up here, so we will see where we really are.”

There were some issues down the back stretch, which the Class B state-ranked (No.2) Quakers (7-0) will need to clean up before they take aim at two-time reigning champion No.12 Yorktown, which is hoping to clean some things up as well with some easier games upcoming before the Huskers (3-3) face Wilton, Ridgefield, Rye and Mamaroneck.

“Completely agree, it was a bit sloppy (in the end),” Blakeslee said. “Definitely need to clean it up before great teams like Rye and Somers coming up.”

Blakeslee (4G, 1A), Jake Gashi (3G, 2A), freshman Luke Dessi (2G), Byrne (1G, 5A) and Tighe Dolan (1G) all supported sophomore G Luke Kaplow (12 saves), including back-to-back, point-blank soaks with just over 1:30 left in the third and another crucial stop at 5:00 of the fourth. Greenwich’s Dean Kemp scored with :26 left, a man-up goal, but M Luke Tavolacci took the ensuing faceoff, barely, before Coach Potesh called a quic timeout before Tavo lost possession with 21.4 left. Blakeslee drew a penalty at 12.9 to seal the deal.

“Tavo has been playing great and our wings have been getting in there and helping out,” Blakeslee said. “I think we know what we need to clean up and fix it up.”

Get ‘er done, son…

Along the Ex-area baseball diamond, a really intriguing Class A WALTER PANAS club is starting to take shape again. After winning their first Section 1 title in school history and losing three D-I commits and one MLB draftee (Cincinnati Reds, Sammy Stafura) in 2023, Panas lost 1-0 in the 2024 finals to wrap up the finest stretch of baseball in Panther history. But the Panthers (6-3) had come out of the gate a tad sluggish this spring, hitting a low-point in a 10-1 loss to YORKTOWN (5-2) that dropped Coach Anthony Fata’s Panthers to 2-3. But a four-game win streak, including Saturday’s 8-3 win over visiting SOMERS in the final round of Hudson Athletics-sponsored Walter Panas Tournament, seems to have righted the ship.

Panas ace Nick DiMaso crushed a pair of home runs to knock in four runs while teammate Matt Garcia went 3 for 4 with two RBI and two runs scored. Panas C Gianni Generosa, who homered in Friday’s opening-round win over Ossining, added two more RBI against Somers to support sophomore P Vinny Lugo (6IP, 3K) for the win. Panas CF  Ryan Scozzafava, one of the most likeable kids within the Panther program the last three years, also hauled in an incredible over-the-wall grab.

Tyler Venturini drove in two runs for Somers, which advanced to the tourney finals Friday after a battle of aces. Somers P Matt Kapika chalked up the win over LAKELAND P Anthony Frobose as the Tuskers (3-4) took a 6-0 decision. Kapika went all seven frames in the opening round, whiffing 10 Hornets (4-5) and allowing just two hits.

Venturini homered off Frobose in the third and then base-loaded walks by Alex Hoffman and Jake Hopper allowed the Tuskers to scratch three runs against Frobose.

Panas and rival Lakeland will square off Monday and Wednesday this week in a home-and-home set before Panas gets another home-and-home set with a surging WESTLAKE (5-1) club. That will be followed by Dutchess power Arlington and a feisty MAHOPAC (6-2) squad before a home-and-home set with suddenly-slumping PLEASANTVILLE (6-4), losers of three-straight, including a pair to defending Section 1 Class B champion CROTON-HARMON (6-3).  By the time that stretch concludes on May 7, we’ll know if Panas has what it takes to make a third straight run to the Class A finals, which should be a very compelling playoff with Ex-area clubs repping on both sides of the bracket as the Road to Purchase is paved.

“It’s been a great three-game stretch for us,” a confident Generoso said. “We’ve started to figure it out a little bit. Earlier in the season was a little rough, losing three in a row, but I think that’s what builds character, and we’ve really come together as a team and understand what it takes to get the job done. So, you will be seeing us at Purchase pretty soon.”

GIRLS LAX TID-BITS

Class D state-ranked (No.3) PLEASANTVILLE was all the rave after the Panthers (6-1) flexed on Class B (No.12) host YORKTOWN in a 12-6 Panther win on April 17, which was highlighted by senior G Ava Berkowitz on the defensive end, with Skylar Aghen, Kayla Gooden, Elanah Lavigne and Ashley Vamossy completing the D unit, which held a superb Husker club to well below its normal output. In the draw circle, Panthers Faith Brown (3G), Ella McCourtney, and Sam Schultz (4G) were great from start to finish while Maddie Becerra (2G, 2A) and Ella Collins (2G, 2A) added to the Panther attack.

Pleasantville wasn’t messing around when it ramped up its schedule this season to include state-ranked (No.7) Class B Horace Greeley (5-1) this Tuesday in what should be a very intriguing matchup. Between P’ville, Greeley, Class B state-ranked (No.9) Fox Lane (6-1), (No.13 Class D) Briarcliff (4-1) and Yorktown (4-4), the Ex-area should be well-repped in the playoffs, in which we fully expect to see Greeley defend its title with all the dignity imaginable #ImagineWeGetAGreeleyFoxLaneFinal…

Hope y’all had a blessed holiday weekend.

 

RAY GALLAGHER/DAVID TABER/CHRIS SMAJLAJ PHOTOS