BCRC headed to sectionals

The Bucks County Racquet Club 4.0 women’s tennis team captured the Philadelphia Area Tennis District championship after posting four consecutive wins over Lower Providence (4-1), Fort Washington (5-0), Chester County (4-1) and Main Line (3-2) July 24-26 at Upper Main Line YMCA.
The BCRC 4.0 women include Liz Warrier, Merry Van Dyke, Carol Kristiansen (Captain), Tina Preville, Libby Hicks,Sue Haldeman, Kay Chen, Lorraine Audet, Shana Morris, Gina DiGiacomo, Jeannine McGhie, Noreen Kemether, Debbie Modzelewski, Gigi Arnold, Sara Doran, Sacha Doyle, Michele Kiszely and Sheryl Reece.
Audet and Haldeman hail from Newtown. Hicks and Kemether are from Pennington. Arnold and Morris live in Holland. Digiacomo is from Doylestown. Debbie Modzelewski hails from New Hope.
Captained by Carol Kristiansen also of New Hope, the group travels to Veteran’s Park in Hamilton, NJ this weekend Aug. 28-30 to compete in the USTA Middle States Adult League Section Championships.

Savino poised to return to Lake Placid

By Steve Sherman
Sports Editor
After competing last month in her first ironman triathlon ever at Lake Placid, Pennington resident Elizabeth Savino says she is poised to do it all over again.
This coming from a woman who experienced so much stomach distress on the third—running—leg of the race, she had to stop and walk.
The thing is, competitors have to sign up to do the Lake Placid Tri sometimes more than a year in advance in order to be guaranteed a spot. So Liz and Hamilton resident Chris Draper, who also competed in last month’s event, signed up for next year’s ironman race before participating in this summer’s ultra marathon.
No matter.
Savino says she would have signed up either way.
“It was such a wonderful experience—monumental even,” stated Savino. “It was life-changing.”
Despite finishing—that’s all that matters, right?—the grueling super marathon that requires participants to swim 2 1/2 miles, bike 112 and run 26.2, Savino says she made some mistakes along the way including consuming too much food in the bike portion of the event. The Pennington mom and life coach says her body couldn’t process it all and it hence caused severe stomach pains that hindered her in her marathon run.
Another thing that Savino found difficult about the run was looping past the finish line with 13 miles to go in the run. By that time, Draper, a 33-year-old conditioning specialist based at PEAC Health & Fitness, had finished the triathlon in just under 12 hours (11:52:41).
“It’s hard to go past the finish line when you have to go back out and run another 13 miles,” she said. “Somehow you have to dig deep—find it somewhere inside yourself to keep moving.”
At mile 19, Savino says she considered quitting. She was dehydrated and could no longer run. So she stopped at an aid station, manned by two elderly women who offered oranges together with a slice of encouragement.
A mile down the road, Savino found it deep inside herself to pick up the pace and start running again. She finished the grueling course in just over 14 hours (14:19:36).
Savino says she’ll never be the same.
“It’s an emotional experience,” says Liz. “It helps make you a stronger person. You learn how to center yourself, regroup and keep going.”
Next up for Draper is the Florida Ironman competition that takes place in November in the Sunshine State. Savino may yet join him if she can raise the funds necessary to pay for a charity slot. If not, she says she’ll concentrate on qualifying for the Boston Marathon. She’s qualified twice before but has never run a marathon in Bean Town.
If—when?—she qualifies this time, she said she plans to run in America’s most prestigious 26.2-miler.

PENNSBURY:Have the Lady Falcons raised the bar?

Despite departures, Pennsbury hopes to keep pace with past two campaigns

By Steve Sherman
Sports Editor

Last year was head coach Lindsay Gibeau’s first season guiding the Falcons. The year before under Glenn White, Pennsbury became the first team in 10 years other than Lower Merion to win the District One Class AAA crown.
Under the spotlight in 2008, Gebeau led Pennsbury to a 9-5 record in the regular season--good enough for third place in the SOL National Conference behind Council Rock North and Abington--and a spot in the district playoffs.
In the District One AAA quarters, the Falcons shocked top seed Lower Merion, when they picked their Main Line rivals off, 3-2. For the Aces, it meant their team would not be in the state playoffs for the first time in a decade.
“It was very exciting after the previous year—winning districts,” stated senior Tara Krauss, who is lined up to play in the No. 1 singles slot at Pennsbury this year.
“Last year, we had a great run. Everybody stepped up to the plate. Certain people pulled out strong when we needed them—different people at different times. It was a real team effort.”
The question remains, can the Falcons keep this pace going? Krauss certainly seems to think so.
“Yes, [the bar is set high] but I don’t think we’re going to have a problem,” she said. “I think we’re going to do just as well as we did last year.”
Currently, the Pennsbury girls are getting ready for their first season sans Rossi, Lauren Rossi, that is, the 2009 graduate who led the Lady Falcons at No. 1 singles for the past few seasons.
Besides always seeming to manage to put her opponent away in singles play during the regular season, Rossi always managed to make her way to states on the individual circuit.
Last year, Lauren teamed up with Krauss and captured the district runnerup trophy in District One doubles play. Two years ago, Rossi made a run to states in singles play. In the year prior to that along with Krauss, Rossi also made a run to the state doubles tourney.
Now, it looks like its Krauss’ time to shine in the No. 1 slot. Tara says she welcomes the challenge and responsibility that comes with the position.
“I’ve been working up to it since I was a freshman, so I’m really excited to have it,” said Krauss. “I hope to play very well.”
Last year in district doubles play, Rossi and Krauss won in the first round against Chichester’s Rebecca Lumley and Devan Kaulek, 6-0, 6-0, and in an ensuing match with Downingtown East’s Alex Simmons and Tracey Weaver, 6-2, 6-1.
“They played the best tennis I’ve ever seen them play; they were absolutely phenomenal,” stated Gebeau.
The pair had to settle for second place at districts, when they dropped the title match to Wissahickon’s Rachel Fein and Katie Kennedy, 7-5, 7-5.
At states, Rossi and Krauss defeated Raneem Rajaoub and Meredith Manchester from Williamsport, 6-1, 6-4, in a first round pairing before falling to Julie Stroyne and Caroline Nixon of Peters Township, 6-4, 7-6 (7-2) in the quarterfinals.
“That was exciting for both of us. We teamed up when I was a freshman and she was a sophomore—my very first year playing," stated Krauss. "And we made it to states [the next] year so we were excited to do it again. That was our goal.”
“We seemed to have very good team chemistry; we play well together.”
Now, not only will the Falcons have to find a way to win without Rossi, they’ll have to do it without 12 other players who have since departed including Paige Deiner, Danielle Raftery and Corinne Hansen.
Deiner and Raftery were part of a No. 1 doubles team that made it to the district quarterfinals. Hansen was half of the No. 2 doubles team that helped Pennsbury past Lower Merion in the district team tournament.
Raftery and Deiner rebounded from a 6-4 loss in the district quarterfinals to outpace Emely Levyn and Xiun Liu, 6-3, 6-4. Then, Hansen and current sophomore Lauren Zawacki defeated Kara Silberthau and Rebecca Wahrman, 7-5, 6-2 to help seal the win for the Falcons.
Before last season, Hansen, now graduated, and Zawacki, then only a freshman, didn’t know one another. Nevertheless, Gebeau said the pair worked well together from the start.
“Despite them not knowing each other, fireworks went off; they clicked from the get-go,” Gebeau stated. “They complemented each other with very strong ground strokes, being able to come to the net together and put the ball away.
Despite the departures of so many, Krauss seems to think that Pennsbury can do well again this season.
“I think we’re going to do awesome this season,” she said. “I know the team has very high hopes.”
The team has such lofty expectations, says Krauss, because it currently has a group of incoming freshman and some others stepping up from junior varsity.
That group would include freshmen Katie Reilly and Nicole Raftery, sophomore Marisa Millenson as well as returning varsity sophomores Kathleen Raftery and Emily Nelson.

Smeraglio seizes Marston Cup--again

Newtown's own amateur golfer Glenn Smeraglio hits a tee shot Aug. 19 in the Marston Cup tournament.

His putter may have been ugly in appearance, but Glenn Smeraglio’s round wasn’t as the Commonwealth National Golf Club member carded a 6-under-par 66 to win the fifth edition of the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s Marston Cup Wednesday, Aug. 19 at Cedarbrook Country Club (par 72, 6,833 yards) in Blue Bell.
Smeraglio, who hails from Newtown, also won the Marston Cup in 2006.
“The more I read about Max Marston, the more impressed I am,” said. “To win a tournament with his name on it is special. To be on it twice is an honor.”
Smeraglio attributed his success primarily to an aesthetically hideous flatstick that had been tucked away at home.
“Obviously, I putted good,” he said. “I’ve been playing pretty good all year and not making any putts. Today, I broke out a new putter from the basement. It was the ugliest thing I could find. Ugly was good. It seemed to have a good feel. The greens were soft. You could go right at the pins.”
Smeraglio played alongside William McGuinness of Tavistock CC, the 1996 Amateur Champion, and defending Marston Cup Champion Chip Lutz of LedgeRock GC, who both carded a 4-under-par 68.
“I think that’s important,” Smeraglio said. “Everyone was pushing each other to make birdies. I think we had 16 birdies in the group.”
Smeraglio set the tone early with a downhill, left-to-right breaking 15-footer for birdie on No. 1 (par 4, 395 yards).
“I said, ‘Wow. Maybe this putter’s OK,” he said.
Smergalio rocketed his 3-wood over the green on No. 6 (par 5, 550 yards), but chipped up and converted a 2-footer for birdie. After making the turn at 2 under, Smeraglio, 49, fired three straight birdies. He smashed a 5-iron 195 yards to the front fringe and two-putted for birdie on No. 10 (par 5, 530 yards). On No. 11 (par 4, 380 yards), his approach 9-iron soared 140 yards and settled 15-feet from the flagstick. Smeraglio then cleaned up the birdie putt. He blasted a 3-hybrid from 209 yards out on No. 12 (par 5, 515 yards) and again two-putted for birdie.
Smeraglio nearly registered a birdie on the par 3, 13th hole, but his 25-footer stopped just shy of the cup. He dug deeper into red figures the next hole, though, after smashing his 4-iron uphill from 190 yards out to 15-feet. He drained the downhill birdie putt.
“That’s the best hole out there,” Smeraglio said.
Smeraglio will next attempt to qualify for the USGA Middle-Amateur Championship Aug. 31. at Links GC.

Big League Baseball-Gray takes fifth

The Big League Baseball (15U) Gray team finished fifth MCYSA/USSSA Summer International Championship that took place recently in Illinois.

The Big League Baseball (15U) Gray team finished fifth in a 40-plus team field that competed in the MCYSA/USSSA Summer International Championship which took place July 24 to Aug. 2 in Crystal Lake, Ill.
In all, there were 46 premier 15U teams from nine countries that took part in the tourney. Affiliated with Jeff Mantos Big League Baseball Academy in Newtown, the Gray team is coached by Harry Daut and includes players from eight area schools.
In five pool play games, BLB Gray placed first in their division. Gray took on five more opponents and kept winning until they were ousted from the tourney in a quarterfinal loss suffered at the hands of a team from Texas.
Some of the foes that Gray defeated emanated from Illinois, Arkansas, Massachusetts, Kansas and as far away as Brazil.

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BLB Gray 15U BASEBALL
Harry Daut, Bensalem
Jesse Dannin, Bensalem
Zach Hizer, Bensalem
Gabe Alvarez, Bensalem
Kelvin Ortiz, Bristol
Phil Marks, Council Rock
Kurt Sowa, Father Judge
Paul Golden, Father Judge
Paul Buckley, Holy Ghost
Chris Crawford, Holy Ghost
Tim Lazor, Holy Ghost
Darren Heisse, Neshaminy
Michael Young, Notre Dame
Paul Gosselin, Pennsbury

Former Bucks resident guides U.S. to a win

Guided by a former Bucks resident, Team USA won the gold medal in the World Games Ultimate flying disc competition with a 13-6 win over Japan on July 21, exacting revenge for its only preliminary round loss.
Earlier in the day, the Japanese defeated the United States, 13-11, in the final qualifier to earn a spot in the gold medal game, but the U.S. capitalized on its size advantage and superior skills to control the final.
Team USA jumped out to a 7-4 lead at halftime and was rarely threatened in the second half despite the Japanese team’s effort to mount a comeback. Clockwork execution on offense and tight defensive play paved the way to a decisive victory for the Americans.
The U.S. is guided by former Morrisville resident Greg Connelly, who earlier this year, was selected by the Ultimate Players Association (UPA) to coach the 2009 USA World Games Ultimate team.
A graduate of Pennsbury High School, Connelly brings a wealth of domestic and international Ultimate experience to the position. In college, he played for the University of Pennsylvania where he made nationals appearances in 1989 and 1991. He continued his Philadelphia Ultimate career by playing for the Rage in 1994 and '95.
Connelly then headed west and played for Furious George from 1996 to 1999, where he made a semifinal appearance at the 1997 World Ultimate Club Championships.
Connelly coached the University of British Columbia women's team from 1998 to 1999 and women’s club team Brute Squad from 2002 to 2003. Since 2007, he has co-coached open club team Ironside, which made it to the quarterfinals in 2007 and finals in 2008. For the last three summers he has trained and coached the Chinese Taipei National Mixed team, leading them to a bronze at the 2007 Asia Oceanic Ultimate Championships.
In addition to playing and coaching the sport, Connelly has done extensive work building the UPA's Observer program. He has also spent time during the last three Septembers running Ultimate training sessions in Croatia and Slovenia.
Greg, the son of Tom and Judy Connelly of Yardley, currently resides in Waltham, Mass., Where he is employed by Vertex Corporation as a bio-physicist.

NESHAMINY:Lucky 13 take the next step

By Steve Sherman
Sports Editor

While the rest of us gear up for yet another varsity season here in lower Bucks County, there are 13 student athletes from Neshaminy High School who have already moved on.
Four of the students are members of the football team that went 12-2, captured the SOL National Conference championship and earned a berth in the District One Class AAAA finals.
Five are members of Rich Reice's soccer teams including boys co-captain Kyle Soroka, who led his team to the District One Class AAA finals as well as a berth in states.
Three are field hockey players, members of Lisa Pennington's squad that captured a District One Class AAAA championship, 25 years after Pennington and her crew did it, guided by former skipper and Athletic Director Sheila Murphy.
Two of them are soccer players headed to the same school at West Chester University including 2009 Neshaminy graduate Jennifer Anne Hutchinson who led the SOL National conference in scoring last year.
“It’s an awesome feeling. All your hard work and all those years that you put in and all the money that you put into it,” stated Hutchinson on her commitment to WCU.
"You’re taking the next step into your future; hopefully, it takes you even further—semi-pros, pros.
"It’s an awesome feeling to have all that training take you somewhere.
"I can rest easy knowing that I have a scholarship.
"It’s an amazing feeling; I love it."
Hutchinson considered Bloomsburg and East Stroudsburg but chose to play for the Golden Rams instead.
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Neshaminy senior Jay Colbert, a 6-1, 230-pound fullback who plays the end on the D-line, is headed to the University of New Hampshire. Jay made his college choice based on the winning attitude that always seems to prevail at UNH.
“It feels great,” says Jay. “It’s pretty much the next step in my life; it’s been a blessing to get this far.”
Last season, UNH head coach Sean McDonnell led the Wildcats to their fifth consecutive appearance in the NCAA FCS Championships and advanced to the quarterfinals for the fourth time during a five-year span. New Hampshire posted a 10-3 record, capturing the Colonial Athletic Association North Division title.
“Every year, New Hampshire wins games and they’re always in the playoffs every year,” said Colbert.
“They do a great job with their coaching staff.
“They always get the right guys in the program—good guys.”
A winning program coupled together with hard work made the Wildcats an attractive team to join, said Colbert. The similarity to Neshaminy football was uncanny, he noted.
“Their program is just like Neshaminy’s. Guys get in the weight room; they work—they work hard. They have great coaches. The coaches get after you and they WIN games.”
Last year, after dropping a non-league opener, the Redskins didn’t lose a game, going 9-1 in the regular season together with a trio of playoff wins over Downingtown East, Ridley and Garnet Valley. While Neshaminy finally met its match in the district championship with North Penn, the ‘skins had a nice season at 12-2 overall.
“It was a great run--an awesome season; I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
“It was just great to be playing with your friends well into the postseason—guys you had been through the whole process with.”
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Moriah Allen is gearing up for her first season with the Villanova Wildcats a team that has been picked to finish in fifth place in the Big East in a preseason coaches poll. Today Aug. 19) the Cats travel to University Park to take on the Nittany Lions in a scrimmage before heading to Drexel to battle the Dragons Aug. 22.
“It’s really exciting. I’ve been coming to school for 13 years working hard for field hockey. Now, it’s finally the day—it’s final; I’m going to Villanova.”
Allen joins Pennsbury alum Megan Goelz, who could see time as the No. 1 goalkeeper after spending her freshman year in a reserve role.
Villanova opens the season Aug. 30 in Norfolk vs. Old Dominion before traveling to a tournament in Fairfield, Connecticut and the Vonnie Gros Classic Sept. 11-12 in West Chester.
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Zach Turchi is headed to LaSalle to play soccer. He spent some time reminiscing over his last season at Neshaminy, which started out slow and ended with a hot streak the size of Haley’s Comet.
“We started out shaky. Our season--we didn’t know where it was going. Then, all of a sudden, we came on strong. We started playing real good and we just came out with big wins.
Neshaminy defeated Lower Merion in the district semifinals on penalty kicks before falling to Downingtown West 1-0 in the district final and again in the state semis.
“That’s where we shine--in the playoffs; we kept winning.”
Turchi likes the fact that he chose LaSalle.
“They have a real good program. They have a lot of talent,” he says of a team that went 2-14-3, 1-8-0 in the Atlantic 10 Conference.
“Last year wasn’t their best, record-wise. They beat a lot of good teams; but they had a lot of one-goal losses.”
Turchi also looked at Rider but wanted an urban campus that was close to home. The Explorers open Sept. 1 at 7 p.m. at Bucknell. Niagara comes to McCarthy Stadium at 1 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 6 for LaSalle’s home opener.
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Lyndsay Pierson is headed to the University of Pittsburgh, a team that finished in fifth place in the Big East American Division at 7-11-1 (4-6-1) then lost its Big East Tournament opener, 1-0, to Louisville.
Pierson also considered UNC-Charlotte and Delaware. She’ll play the midfield post for Pitt head coach Sue-Moy Chin who returns nine starters from last year’s team including the Panthers’ three leading goal scorers in senior Ashley Habbel, sophomore Katelyn Ruhe and junior Liz Carroll.
Pitt kicks off its season with six non-conference matches beginning with an opening home game against Buffalo on Aug. 21 at Founders Field. The Panthers host rival and nationally ranked West Virginia on Sept. 18 for their first conference match of the season.
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Diana Rowan, meanwhile, readies herself for the soccer season at West Chester, where she joins classmate Jennifer Anne Hutchinson. Rowan believes the soccer program at Neshaminy got her to the next level.
“Coach Reice is an awesome coach; he has experience as a winner himself. He was an awesome player and he knew what it took for us to get to the next level.
“We had a lot of potential last year. This year, we played as a team and we came together. We won game after game and we turned around and we looked and we were undefeated.”
After winning the SOL National Conference, the ‘Skins made it to the district semifinals and a consolation before heading to states where they made it as far as the state quarters.
Rowan, along with Hutchinson will play for Golden Rams head coach Betty Ann Kempf, a third year skipper who in 2008 guided WCU to a 14-3-5 record overall and 8-0-4 in the PSAC East.
In a preseason poll, the Rams were tied with Bloomsburg in first place votes.
But first Kempf will have to find a way to replace Lauren Boyer and Brittany Yetter.
Last season, Boyer led a West Chester defense that allowed just 17 goals in 22 games for a 0.72 goals-against average. Yetter led the way offensively with 27 points on 9 goals and 9 assists.
Boyer was later bestowed with PSAC East Player of the Year honors and Yetter was named an NSCAA First Team All American. Together, they helped the Rams earn a berth in the NCAA Division II Sweet 16.
“The girls are one big team and it’s like a family,” said Hutchinson of her new team. “The coach is amazing. The past two years, she’s taken them far and they’ve won. She seems like someone you can actually connect to.”
West Chester opens Aug. 28 on the road against Dominican before coming home to face Bloomsburg Sept. 2.

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Neshaminy’s Lucky 13

Jay Colbert, New Hampshire, Football
Dan Shirey, Villanova University, Football
Paul Carrezola, Rutgers University, Football
John Zavorsky, Kutztown University, Football
Kyle Soroka, Villanova University, Soccer
Zach Turchi, LaSalle University, Soccer
Marlaine Schneider, Rider University, Field Hockey
Moriah Allen, Villanova University, Field Hockey
Alexa Doyle, Kutztown University, Field Hockey
Kelli Kerr, Millersville University, Soccer
Lyndsay Pierson, University of Pittsburgh, Soccer
Diana Rowan, West Chester, Soccer
Jennifer Anne Hutchinson, West Chester, Soccer

Solebury finishes a fine season

The Solebury Spiders 10-year-old baseball team had a great season, posting a 9-5 record which earned them a playoff berth in the tough 'A' Division of the Suburban Travel League.
The Spiders also posted several big wins over playoffs teams, and many of the losses could have gone either way.
Solebury enjoys playing against the likes of Warrington, which won the Cal Ripken state title at the 10-year-old level. Then in the summer season, the team did well in the Amwell Tournament as an 11-year-old team, before it got rained out.
The squad always loves playing in Amwell, and did well, despite playing a year up in age. The team then entered the Southampton Tournament, and after a tough opening day loss, rebounded with four wins in four days to take the crown as Solebury's bats really came alive.
Spider highlights included an 11-0 win over Tanney, which was undefeated and had won the tournament a year before, a 13-run first inning in the semis against Mount Airy, and a solid 7-2 triumph in the finals against Roslyn.
Solebury then entered the District 30 10-year-old Little League tournament and though they did not win it, had a fabulous time. The Spiders went 4-2 in districts and had a great showing for a solebury squad, as the District 30 teams are always tough teams, and this year, Newtown won the state title for the 10s.
Despite being shorthanded, the squad almost made it through, and really really had great time during the tournament.
For the season, the team got great play from SS/P Nate Wilson, C/SS/P Danny Freeman, C/P Matt Paulus, 1B/P Brendan Shadle, 3B/2B/P Brandon Griffing, 3B/of Matt Fest, CF Jack Mckenna, and Of Andrew Mardirossian. Wilson and Freeman made the All-Star team.
The summer team got great help from Jason Janora, Tucker Wittman, Morgan Shadle, and John Sharkey, and the travel team got big contributions from Danny Doherty and Julian Leistrum.
Thanks to all the parents and brothers/sisters for all the support and Solebury baseball!

FC Bucks won it all for Pawlowski

Vipers’ made officers’ death a title quest

By Steve Sherman
Sports Editor
The FC Bucks Vipers (E-PA) made history this summer when they capped their national tour off with the slimmest of victories over Ohio Elite.
In so doing, the group became the first girls soccer team in Pennsylvania to claim a U.S. Youth Soccer national championship.
While this group of girls--together since they were 8-years-old--had been down this road before, coming up short in last year’s national championship, this year’s run took on significant meaning in February when Philadelphia Police Officer John Pawlowski Jr. was gunned down in the city’s Olney section.
Pawlowski was Vipers head coach Eddie Leigh’s son-in-law, married to his daughter Kim, a 2007 graduate of St. Joseph’s University and all Atlantic-10 midfielder for the Hawks who watched the Vipers grow from youngsters into future Division-I prospects.
Pennington School senior Kaitlyn Kerr, an FC Bucks forward, detailed the team’s relationship to their coach’s daughter.
“She came to many of our practices; we were close to her,” stated Kerr. “She had just gotten back from her honeymoon so it was a real heartbreaker.”
This year’s U.S. Youth Soccer Region I Champion, the Vipers pulled off their unlikely victory July 26 on a Maddie Evans goal that sent the girls home with the Francis J. Kelly Cup.
The quest for the cup this season was completed in honor of Pawlowski after the policeman was gunned down breaking up an altercation between a cab driver and his assailant.
“Coach [Leigh] is like a second father to us,” explained Kerr. “When that happened, it hurt everybody on the team.”
“We wanted to do this--to win it for him, for Kim for Police Officer Pawlowski.
“When we first heard about what happened, we just wanted it so much more,” stated Heidi Sabatura, a forward from Lawrenceville. “The tragedy increased our passion for winning.”
In a national tourney that began July 21 at Citizens Bank Fields at Progin Park in Lancaster, Massachusetts, FC Bucks kicked off the tournament with a 3-1 victory over Pleasanton Rage. Evans ignited the Vipers with a pair of strikes. Sabatura, a recent Pennington School graduate headed to Villanova, chipped in with a goal of her own.
Heidi detailed the Vipers’ quest for national glory.
“Mr. Leigh has had a rough year with his son-in-law getting killed,” she said.
“When that happened, we tried to put all of our effort into winning.
It was a force that lasted the entire 2009 campaign.
“It seemed like we were thinking about [Pawlowski’s killing] all season long,” explained Sabatura. “We tried to make things better for coach so we went ahead and gave it our all.”
As an encore, FC Bucks blanked Edmond Soccer Club (ESC Black), 2-0, Thursday, July 23. Jen Hoy, a forward from Sellersville who is headed to Princeton, opened up the scoring for the Vipers and Sabatura finished things off with her goal that came off a feed from Kerr.
On Sunday morning, the last day of the tourney, the Vipers took on Ohio Elite, a Cincinnati team that won Region II this year. Ohio entered the finale with an identical 2-0-1 mark, having battled FC Bucks to a 2-2 deadlock on July 24.
In the championship however, after the sides battled to a scoreless standoff in the first half, Evans scored the game’s only goal in the 70th minute, sending the girls home national champions.
“This is what we looked forward to for years and years,” stated Sabatura. “This was always our goal. It’s just incredible--we finally reached it and won.”
When tragedy first struck, it naturally pulled Leigh from the grips of the team. Among other things, the head coach was busy helping Kim take care of baby John III, whom she’d been pregnant with at the time of her husband’s killing.
No worries; assistant coach Richie Sheridan made sure that FC Bucks didn’t come unglued, said Kerr.
“He was always there when Coach Leigh could not,” explained Kerr. “And he brought something extra to the team; we never would have been able to win it without him.”
It was that type of team chemistry that helped win the national title, said Kerr.
“We’re not just a bunch of superstars,” stated Kerr. “Other teams have nationally-ranked players; we don’t.”
“We come together as a team and work together as a group.”
Even the head coach was on board with the girls’ reasons for winning.
“The kids were just devastated at everything that happened,” stated Leigh. “This was just something they wanted to do.”
Mission accomplished, it would appear.

Welch wins gold at RC Henley Regatta

Newtown resident Lindsay Welch (pictured, center) was part of the gold medal winning entry of Vesper Boat Club at the 127th Royal Canadian Henley Regatta held recently in St. Catherine’s, Ontario, Canada.
With Welch rowing in the No. 4 seat, the Vesper women won the prestigious HIH Presidents Trophy in the Senior Women’s Eight Event. In winning the Aug. 6 event, the group outpaced the New York Athletic Club by two seconds.
"It was a tough race," stated Welch. "Going in, we thought we could do well and we just gave it our all, rowed our best race.
"It was a great moment at the end."
The Henley is the largest rowing regatta staged in North America and regularly welcomes teams from more than 125 clubs across three continents. During the scholastic season, Welch rows for Purdue University. In order to stay in tune, she recently joined the highly regarded Vesper Boat Club, which is based on the banks of the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia.
This has been a very busy summer for Welch. In June, she trained with the United States National U23 Team in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Though not selected for the boat that competed in the recently completed 2009 World Championships near Prague in the Czech Republic, Welch is optimistic about her chances in 2010.
“The U23 camp was a great experience that gave me the chance to row with some of the best collegiate and post-graduate rowers in the country. It was an intense, ultra-competitive and challenging month in which I learned a great deal about myself and the sport.”
Over the past three years, both Welch and the Purdue Crew Team have enjoyed a great deal of success on the water. Last spring, Welch was selected as the Most Valuable Oarswoman by the Purdue Women’s Team. She was also named to the 2009 American Collegiate Rowing Association All-American First Team after her junior season.
This fall, Welch will begin her senior year at Purdue. She is anxious to return to school and begin training on the Wabash River for what she hopes will be a very successful campaign for the Boilermakers. With the loss of just one senior from the top Varsity 8 Boat, Welch expects big things from herself and her teammates this year.
Highlights of the upcoming fall and spring seasons include the Milwaukee River Challenge, Head of the Rock (Rockford, IL), the San Diego Classic, the Southern Intercollegiate Rowing Association (SIRA ) Championships in Oak Ridge, and the all important Dad Vail Regatta held in Philadelphia each May.
A 2006 graduate of Stuart Country Day School in nearby Princeton, Welch is the oldest daughter of Rick and Susan Welch, who live with her siblings, Matt and Kelly, in Upper Makefield.

No pansy football league here

Three area players punch tickets to the LFL

By Steve Sherman
Sports Editor

The Lingerie Football League has made final roster cuts and the results are in.
It looks like three area players who tried out for the Philly Passion have earned spots on the team.
Jaime Diamonds, a New Hope retailer from Ewing, Jackie Danico, a model from Levittown and Dana DiZillo a salon manager from Bensalem, have all made it past final roster cuts which were released on Wednesday, Aug. 5.
In case you're not tuned in, the LFL is women playing arena-style football on Friday nights in their underwear. Unlike the uniforms worn in the NFL, these players don sports bras and bikini briefs along with the helmet and shoulder pads. A lace choker and garter belt serve as accessories.
According to Diamonds however, the girls were put through their athletic paces in a two-week training camp that recently wrapped up at Tri-State Sports in Aston.
Diamonds said that weekday workouts at training camp consisted of three-hour sessions in which players were tested for their athleticism. The length of the workouts doubled on weekends. And of course, the girls’ ability to play offense, defense and special teams came into play too, she said.
“Just because it’s the LFL doesn’t mean that it’s some pansy football league,” stated Diamonds. “All of the girls worked very hard to make spots on the team.
“It wasn’t easy.”
Diamonds made her way onto the team at corner and quarterback. At defensive corner, she was named to the LFL’s All-Fantasy team. On offense, she’ll split time with Danico under center.
As a former Blue Devil (Ewing High’s mascot), Diamonds competed in scholastic soccer, softball, swimming and basketball. She was the varsity catcher all four years at Ewing. Now a New Hope retailer, Jaime says she is just looking for an outlet for her athleticism.
“I feel like I could play any position on the team,” said Diamonds. “They [coaches] felt the corner was a good place to put me on defense because I’m fast and very athletic.
“As for the quarterback, playing softball for 20 years has given me some good arm strength so I can throw the ball pretty far.”
A new entry into the LFL that will play its home games at Trenton’s Sovereign Bank Arena (SBA), the Passion joins a 10-team league that will kick off its inaugural season on Sept. 4.
Philadelphia won’t open its season until Oct. 30 and that game will be on the road at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum against the New York Majesty. The Passion's first home game won't be until Nov. 6 vs. the Miami Caliente at SBA.
The LFL is an offshoot of the Lingerie Bowl, a pay-per-view event that began in 2004 during Super Bowl XXXIX halftime activities, incidentally, the same year of the Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunction. Since then, the NFL has toned down Super Bowl halftime activities and Lingerie Bowl promoters have advertised their show as something a little more exciting than say Paul McCartney, Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen and company.
Danico, meanwhile, is a 25-year-old model who has appeared on FOX News’s “Strategy Room" and “The Howard Stern Show.” She was once named Stern's "Bowling Beauties Champion."
According to Danico, her photos have appeared three times in Maxim Magazine, Healthy Aging magazine twice and also in Body magazine. Once, she appeared in Maxim as their Verizon Wireless Girl of The Month.
In addition to being featured in the current Hooters calendar, Danico has also made appearances on ESPN2, MSNBC, Comcast Sports Network and several other Philadelphia-based broadcast outlets.
Her background as a soccer player, a competitive dancer (tap, jazz, ballet) and gymnast made her a top prospect.
DiZillo, meanwhile, will split time between defense and special teams. She was also recently named to the LFL’s All-Fantasy team at kicker. Dana says she developed great leg strength playing varsity soccer at Conwell-Egan Catholic from 1999 to 2001.
Defense is Dana’s specialty however, she says. At 5-8, she’ll line up as one of the taller safeties in the league.
“I don’t get intimidated and I’m always down for a good hit,” said DiZillo. “I’m pretty intense—and I like defense.”
While some players--the actors and the model-types--were initially attracted to the LFL for public relations and marketing purposes, Dana says she’s in it for purely athletic reasons.
“I’m just in it for the sport. I modeled and did all that but it’s not really my scene any more,” she says. “I’m a huge football fan and this is fun. It keeps me in shape and I enjoy it.”
***
The Passion’s home finale at SBA is set for Dec. 11 vs. Tampa and the regular season ends Dec. 18 at Chicago vs. the Bliss.
According to the LFL’s own Power Rankings, Philly is ranked number two behind the Dallas Desire. The team is expected to go undefeated in the Eastern Conference. Dallas is expected to win all their games in a tougher Western Conference.
If the games play out the way the pundits predict, wouldn’t that be something if Philly faces Dallas in this year’s Lingerie Bowl?
Let the games begin. The league kicks off Sept. 4 at Chicago’s Sears Centre Arena in a battle between the Chicago Bliss and the Miami Caliente. LFL President Mitch Mortaza is promising an entertainment extravaganza that will feature national recording artists and former Chicago Bears greats.
Hmmm.
It certainly makes one wonder what a guy like Dick Butkus thinks of women running around the gridiron in their panties and bras.
But don’t say that to DiZillo.
“Every play that you could imagine the guys run in the NFL, we do in the LFL,” said Dana. “It’s pretty intense—there’s a lot of hitting, a lot of roughhousing and tackling.”
I guess we’ll just have to see for ourselves come Nov. 6 at SBA.
***
NOTES: The first Lingerie Bowl featured Team Dream vs. Team Euphoria and took place at the Los Angeles Coliseum. The show returned in 2006 and again in 2007 but has been canceled by promoter Horizon Productions for the last two years.
In January, Lingerie Bowl VI was canceled when the host venue--a Florida nudist camp--couldn’t promise the fans would show up in the stands with their clothes on.

Bristol waves goodbye to hard luck season

By Steve Sherman
Sports Editor

Bristol sure did have a hard-luck year in the 13-14 year-old division. After posting an 8-3-1 record in the regular season, the boys finished in first place in the Bristol Recreation League.
From there, the red and white defeated Morrisville in a playoff, 11-9, despite trailing the Bulldogs, 7-1, earlier on in the third inning. Bristol then made it all the way to the championship game against Penndel but lost, 11-4. With only nine players on the bench in that game—and two of them were injured—the Bristol cause was hurt.
Still, according to head coach Fred Pirollo, the boys in red and white gave it their all.
“Even though our numbers were down in that game, the kids played very well against Penndel,” stated Pirollo.
From there, it was on to districts where Bristol’s first foe was its old nemesis Morrisville.
This wasn’t the same team that Bristol beat in an earlier playoff, however. Trailing, 7-6, in the top of the 7th inning, Derek Whitfield led off with a single then stole second base. Fred Pirollo moved him over to third base with a ground ball to second and Whitfield scored on a sac-fly to center, tying the sides at 7-all.
In the bottom of the frame, however, the Bulldogs got the run they were looking for to walk off with an 8-7 triumph. Morrisville would go on to win the District 21 Tournament.
“We tied the game but then lost in the bottom of that inning,” stated Pirollo. “It was a tough loss.”
Facing Levittown-International the next day, Bristol took their frustrations out on that day’s foe, stringing together 28 hits in a 25-3 whopping.
“I could tell the kids weren't happy,” stated Pirollo of his team’s pre-game demeanor.
Still, another day later against Levittown Pacific, Bristol came out to play in a 12-1 spanking of their opponent. With only one foe standing between Bristol and the championship, the red and white went up against another one of its nemeses in Penndel.
Bristol came out strong, producing a 7-1 second inning lead that, at the time, seemed insurmountable. With two outs however, the wheels fell off. Between them, the boys from Bristol produced seven errors in the second and third innings combined.
The team never did recover and wound up falling in that contest to Penndel.
“The kids came out strong and had the lead 7-1 in the second inning with two outs and everything fell apart for them,” explained Pirollo.
“I always tell the kids that errors will always come back to haunt you.
“And it did.”
The top three mound men for Bristol this season were Dylan Evert, Daulton Brady and Sean Coughlin. Derek Whitfield had the biggest bat for Bristol this season with a .733 average. Dylan Evert also excelled at the plate, hitting .555 as did Daulton Brady with a .500 batting average.
The team was coached by Fred Pirollo along with help from Milton Padilla and Joe Malone.
“It was definitely a team effort to get as far as we did and they were a big part of our success,” stated Pirollo of his assistants.
***
Bristol Baseball
13-14 year-old division
Sean Couglin 8th grade/ Bristol Junior HS
Dylan Evert 7th grade/ Bristol Junior HS
Derek Whitfield 8th grade/ Bristol Junior HS
Fred Pirollo 8th grade/ Bristol Junior HS
Gino Cefalone 8th grade/ Bristol Junior HS
Shane Adamson 8th grade/ Bristol Junior HS
Ryan Rigby 7th grade/ Bristol Junior HS
Chad Palmer 7th grade/ Bristol Junior HS
Trevor Leone 7th grade/ Bristol Junior HS
Michael Petrino 8th grade/ Bristol Junior HS
***
Daulton Brady 8th grade, St. Ann School
Coilean Malone 7th grade, St. Ann School
Milton Padilla 8th grade, St. Mark School

Victorino staying cool in lower Bucks

Look at the cool characters Phillies outfielder Shane Victoriano hung out with on Monday, August 10 at Sesame Place in Middletown. Victorino was at the park with friends and family. Pictured here, from left: Grover, Cookie Monster, Victorino, Elmo, Abby Cadabby and Rosita.

Warrington rock 'n rolls North Jersey

By James D’Arcangelo
For BucksLocalSports.com

It took a game and a half in this Cal Ripken Regional Tournament, but it looks like the Pack is back. The Warrington Wolfpack that is – and they are all the way back and then some.
Building strong momentum on a wave of smart small-ball and timely big hits, Warrington has outscored their opponents 26-11 in the last game and a half. They made North Jersey their latest victim, 13-3, in a mercy-rule shortened, four-inning game.
But, unlike their recent games, no comebacks or late inning dramatics were necessary in this one. T.J Anthony (pictured) pitched the complete game win for Warrington, and Ky Rossi was 2-for-3 with 3 RBI while he also turned the game with a clutch double play with bases loaded for North Jersey in the third.
Having scored 13 runs in the last five innings the night before against Maryland, the Warrington bats kept thumping pitchers as the Pack jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first, leveraging singles and strong base running.
Tommy Funk led off with a single off of pitcher Eric Nickel, and moved to second on a first baseman’s runner interference call. Brendan Parker sacrificed him over to third and Ky Rossi’s single drove him in, with Rossi taking second on the throw home. The extra base mattered when Will Moller then singled behind second to knock him home. Connor Moffat was next, safe at first when he hustled through a fielder’s choice, moving Moller to third. Moffat then drew the “pickle” play between first and second, tying up the play until Moller could score, and then taking second on the throw home. Though the scoring was over for the inning, the tone for the game was set.
Anthony threw a six pitch, 1-2-3 second to quickly get the Warrington batters up again. Brendan Parker slammed a double to right to open things, and Ky Rossi and Connor Moffat patiently took walks. Jared Conroy knocked in Parker with a hard grounder to third and was safe at first. Though the Wolf Pack left the bases loaded, a 4-0 lead after two seemed pretty insurmountable the way the Pack was batting.
North Jersey showed why they were in the tournament as champions in the top of the third. Hardly shrinking away and giving up, they fought Anthony to stay in the game. Nick Scimone led off with a hard single to left and stole second. After a walk, Al Wahl then singled off the fence in left, missing s home run by a few feet to load the bases. John Kay walked for a run, before Alex Thul knocked a single to right. Nick Yurchak then singled up the middle and suddenly not only was it 4-3, but North Jersey had bases loaded.
At this point, when the game could have gone in either direction, Ky Rossi made sure it went in Warrington’s. He snagged Kyle Dunphy’s line shot up the middle and doubled up the runner cheating off of second to end the inning. Advantage Warrington.
Indeed, they took advantage--six runs worth in the bottom of the third in a crazy array of long ball and savvy offensive play inside the diamond. Zach Dennis and T.J. Anthony smelled the blood of a pitcher who couldn’t find the strike zone, both taking four-pitch walks. Tommy Funk followed with a perfect bunt down the third base line for a single that loaded the bases.
Brendan Parker hit a hot shot to short that was kept in the infield but he beat out the first baseman’s stretch, scoring Dennis. Ky Rossi followed with a laser that hit the fence a foot short of a grand slam, settling for a double and two RBI. Jake Fitts then executed a perfect suicide squeeze play to score Funk, and North Jersey was dizzy.
Next play, Connor Moffat popped out to right, but Rossi alertly scored on an overthrow to the cut-off man. Jared Conroy reached on an error, stole second, and then scored from second on smart base running when Ray Maletz beat out an infield hit and the ball was held by the fielder.
North Jersey’s best laid plans to make it a game at 4-3 a half inning earlier spun into a 10-3 Warrington hit storm just like that.
With a new definition for efficiency, Anthony gave the North Jersey batters a buzz cut with a four pitch, 1-2-3 inning. Warrington put the game away in the bottom of the fourth. Three runs came across, starting when J.M. Clauss reached on an error, and Tommy Funk reached when the second baseman missed the tag on an evasive Clauss. Brendan Parker walked to load the bases.
The next play epitomized Warrington ball as Ky Rossi hit a sacrifice fly to right to score Clauss, and Funk tagged to third. But the play wasn’t over there as Parker took second on the delayed throw into the infield, and Funk sprinted home when the late throw went to second. After Parker stole third, Jake Fitts slammed a single up the middle to score Parker and the game ended with Warrington’s 10-run lead.
Both teams await their opponents in the single elimination round to follow, but it is clear that few teams have the momentum Warrington does when it is on top of its game. And at this point, Warrington has reached the height of its game.

Warrington walks off in wild win over MD

By James D’Arcangelo
For BucksLocalSports.com

Given the pervading trend in their games of late, the Warrington Wolf Pack may want to consider a new team name. The Warrington “7s or 6ers” maybe – as they seem to win most of their recent games in the sixth or seventh inning.
Better yet, the Warrington Walk-offs might be more appropriate as, for the third time in their last four playoff games, Warrington scored on the game’s last batter’s last swing to win. This time, Warrington scored four times in the bottom of the seventh to overcome a 12-9 deficit and post an exciting 13-12 win over Maryland Aug. 8 at the Cal Ripken 11s Regional Championships.
The game saw Warrington overcome five deficits, trailing by as much as four runs in the third, three runs in the fifth, and three runs in the middle of the seventh, before putting away the Maryland state champs. Among the game’s many heroes, the biggest stars of the game for Warrington were Will Moller (pictured), who hit the game-winning smash single up the middle to score the tying and winning runs, and Connor Moffat, who just missed hitting for the cycle (or hitting three home runs on the night, had two of his hits gone a just few feet further) as he went 3-for-4 with a single off the fence, a double off the fence, and a 2-run home run, while tallying 4 RBIs.
Maryland’s first lead came when they scored in the top of the first on a single by Nick Gardner who, after stealing second, was driven in by a Chris Moore single.
That 1-0 lead held as both teams were then quiet through the end of the second inning, Will Moller of Warrington and Matt Hanko of Maryland doing steady jobs of retiring the sides without allowing the offenses to stick. That would change, dramatically, starting in the third as the two teams combined for fourteen runs in the next two innings.
Maryland scored three times in the top of the third as Brian McCourt walked, and then Connor Kissinger’s infield hit turned into a McCourt run when Robbie Payne smacked a double to right field. Trevon Riggs knocked in Kissinger and Payne when he was very late on a Moller fastball and cue balled the pitch down the first base line for a single.
Warrington came back, big, in the bottom of the fourth, scoring five times to take the lead. A Brendan Parker walk and steal, followed by a Ky Rossi infield single to shortstop set up Parker’s run, as he scampered home on the throw to first when Will Moller ran to first and was safe on a catcher-dropped third strike.
Connor Moffat then launched a two run, one hop ground rule double to score Rossi and Moller. Jake Fitts came through when he cracked a single to right to score Moffat, and Fitts later scored when Zach Dennis dropped a hit between second and right field. Back to true Warrington baseball, the team seemed to breath a sigh of relief with its first lead of the tournament.
Maryland didn’t let Warrington’s five run fourth get them down as they came right back, taking a 7-4 lead in the top of the fifth as singles by Hanko and Nick Gardner set up a McCourt 3-run homer to right. But Warrington showed serious fortitude of its own, returning the volley with three of their own in the bottom of the inning. Tommy Funk’s infield pop dropped between first and second and, after he stole second, Moller smashed a one-bounce liner off the left-centerfield fence, scoring Funk. Connor Moffat then turned on a fastball for a 2-run homer to dead center to put Warrington back on top, 8-7.
After a quiet fifth inning where neither team scored (and as both teams seemed to be catching their breath for what would follow), Warrington and Maryland got down to business again in the sixth inning. After relief pitcher Zach Dennis picked off Nick Gardner at second (he led off with a single and steal off of pitcher Ky Rossi), Brian McCourt singled for Maryland and Connor Kissinger reached. McCourt scored as Robbie Payne singled him in. Then, Chris Moore scratched a single to score Kissinger and Maryland had grabbed a 2-run lead heading into Warrington’s last at bat.
The Wolf Pack seems most at home when coming from behind in crunch time these days. Down to having only three outs to score at least two runs, they did just that as Tommy Funk walked, and stole second. He scored on a Brendan Parker line drive off the right centerfield fence. And when Parker scored later to tie the game, the teams were off to extra innings.
Maryland’s top of the seventh reflected how very accurate the truism, “baseball is a game of inches” can be. After Dennis struck out Dakota Greening and Matt Hanko popped out to a perfectly positioned Connor Moffat in right, Nick Gardner nicked a ball down the first base line to the waiting Warrington first baseman, and it looked for a second like it would be an easy out and an easy 1-2-3 inning. But that ball rolled just foul of the first base line and Gardner and Maryland had a second life. Two pitches later, Gardner singled, then McCourt singled – and then Connor Kissinger launched a 3-run home run. The easy “1-2-3,” it turned out, represented Maryland’s two out runs in the inning and their lead going into the bottom of the seventh.
As the lights were being turned out on the adjacent fields, and with officials clearly sensing the game was just about over due to Maryland’s big lead, Warrington was, again, just settling into their (comfort) zone. Down three with three outs left this time, Jared Conroy, Ty Rossi, Ky Rossi, and Brendan Parker all hit or walked, scratching out two runs to get to within one.
With Parker on third and Ky Rossi on second, the game came down to Will Moller – and Moller came up with a line drive up the middle to score Parker to tie and Rossi to win. The 13-12 comeback was in the bank and the celebration was on for the Warrington side. Maryland was left to shake its head in disbelief, the latest victims of the Wolf Pack’s walk-off magic.
Moving on to pool play, Warrington took its big win momentum into a game against the North Jersey champions. Maryland, meanwhile, regrouped to play South Jersey. But no matter how future matchups in this tournament would play out, it would be virtually impossible to top this battle for drama and excitement.

Gunerman takes runnerup with partner

Joseph Gunerman (R), of Yardley Country Club, and teammate Vince Boyle (L), of Torresdale-Frankford CC, took the runner-up trophy in the Francis X. Hussey Memorial tournament held recently at Rolling Green GC.

Joseph Gunerman
Junior Golf
Yardley News Athlete of The Week

Joseph Gunerman, of Yardley Country Club, and teammate Vince Boyle, of Torresdale-Frankford CC, took the runner-up trophy in the 24th Francis X. Hussey Memorial July 27 at the par 71, 6,338-yard Rolling Green Golf Course. The duo carded a 3-under-par 68 on the day.
The pair was outpaced only by the team of Mike Amole, of Huntingdon Valley CC, and Paul Carbone, Jr., of Old York Road CC, who rode strong putting to triumph in the 24th annual tourney with a 4-under-par 67. The Huntingdon Valley residents registered seven birdies on the day.
Andrew Keeling and Colby Lederer, also of Yardley CC, placed sixth after carding a 3-over-par 74.
Steven Altieri and Will Young of Hopewell Valley Golf Club took seventh place with a 4-over 75.
Daniel Hayes, III, and Max Matejik, of Yardley CC, placed eighth with an identical score of 75.

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Compiled by Sports Editor Steve Sherman

Night haunts Wolf Packat Cal Ripken Regional opener

By James D’Arcangelo
For BucksLocalSports.com

A full moon rising.
Rolling thick fog banks blanketing the night time ball field while enabling players to see their breath in August. A night of eerie, odd happenstances was the norm as South Jersey champion, Washington Township, snatched an other-worldly 6-5 win over Warrington to open the Cal Ripken Regional Championships Aug. 6 in Shamong, NJ.
Especially chilling for Warrington, South Jersey won and scored six runs despite only getting only one base hit out of the infield.
The game started as one would expect a deep summer tournament game should. The two sides’ pitchers, T.J. Anthony, for Warrington, and Alex Krug, for South Jersey, sent down the sides 1-2-3 in the first innings, and Krug managed to do the same to Warrington again in inning two. But then things started to turn not quite so ordinary.
A single to left field by Krug started off the bottom of the second for South Jersey, and he promptly stole second. A perfectly executed bunt and run (what would normally be a sacrifice had it not been executed so well) by Phil Cresthul scored Krug from second on the accurate-but-too-late throw to first. Cresthul stole both second and third, and then scored on a dribbler to second.
Warrington came back in the top of the third as Jared Conroy drove a ball through the third baseman for a single and then stole second. Next batter J.M. Clauss drilled the same type of line drive through the second baseman and Conroy scored on the play. Jake Fitts came in to pinch run for Clauss and promptly stole second. A fake bunt by Tommy Funk pulled in the third baseman, allowing Fitts to steal the open third base, a small play which mattered a lot when Fitts scored easily on a Funk single to center two pitches later.
Tied 2-2, the game would appear perhaps ready to settle down, but that was not to be. After two strong plays on hard hit balls to second and short respectively by Ray Maletz and Ky Rossi, the tufty dense fog came into play a bit as a South Jersey drive to center dropped in unexpectedly. Two steals, a walk, another steal, and an infield hit later, South Jersey had scored two runs to go up 4-2 after three.
As the fog thickened and made for a late October-like play-off baseball atmosphere rather than early August, South Jersey scored another atypical-for-Warrington-to-allow run in the bottom of the fourth on four walks. “Big Z” Zach Dennis then came in to close out the inning, with a big helping hand from Brendan Parker as he snagged a line drive to third, and followed with a heads-up, doubling-up of the runner who tried to late to get back to the bag.
Down 5-2 going into fifth inning, things seemed to be setting up perfectly for Warrington which had grabbed late wins in most of their PA State championship tournament games. When Jared Conroy lead off with a walk, the comeback appeared to be on. J.M.Clauss reached on a force at second of Conroy. Clauss stole second, and took third on a single to right center by Brendan Parker. In a perfectly executed play, Parker got himself caught between first and second, and drew the run down. Waiting until the second baseman focused on and closed in on Parker, Clauss took off for home and scored, drawing the throw home instead of Parker being tagged out in the rundown. The late throw home allowed Parker to take second and Warrington’s brand of smart small-ball was amping up.
Tommy Funk followed with a bunt single, while Parker grabbed third. As Funk stole second, Parker drew a throw from the catcher that hit Parker on the helmet – as a result Parker scored and Funk took third. A Connor Moffat sacrifice bunt scored Funk and just like that it was a 5-5 game, momentum clearly Warrington’s.
But on this strange night, the best hit ball of the night ended up as merely the best defensive play of the night. With South Jersey flummoxed and flailing, Ky Rossi followed Moffat with a slicing rocket down the right field line, a seeming sure-shot double or triple.
But destiny chuckled at the irony of it all as South Jersey’s Michael McKeever sprinted and laid out horizontal to snag the liner for the third out. The likely game saver was his. As McKeever got up and limped back to the dug out sore and slow with the wind knocked out of him, Rossi waited in sportsmanship to high five him on the breath-taking play.
Still though, Warrington would seem to be in control of this tied game. But that was not to be. A strong play by Ky Rossi to keep a Krug shot to short in the infield became a tough luck, just-miss chance as Krug barely beat out the throw to first.
Krug’s steal of second, followed by a Cresthul perfect bunt single down the third baseline, moved Krug to third. A fielder’s choice scored Krug. And just like that, with one base hit to the outfield, South Jersey had won the game.
So South Jersey gets off to a good start in the pool play tournament, having split the six innings between their two best pitchers.
Warrington, meanwhile, can take some solace in that their overall game was far more than competitive against South Jersey. That and the fact that another set of circumstances this odd and eerie are unlikely to align and conspire against them in these regional championships.

LMT Pool three-peatsin lifeguard competition

By Steve Sherman
Sports Editor

The results of the Delaware Valley Lifeguard Competition are in and the winner is Lower Makefield Township Pool Team A—for the third year in a row.
Hosted by Betty Hess and the Lower Makefield Township Pool on Edgewood Road on Aug. 5, the competition consists of relay races using the 2005 American Red Cross Lifeguarding techniques.
The fact that LMT’s ‘A’ Team compiled the most points—63—competing in six relay events means LMT Pool has the best lifeguards in the Delaware Valley--at least until next year’s competition.
Down from 13 teams that took part in the contest last summer, only 10 squads competed in the event the first Wednesday in August.
The teams missing from last year’s competition were Newtown and Sesame Place. Oh, those two facilities competed again this year but suited up only one squad; in years past, each had two.
Coming in behind LMT Pool-A was Somerton with 54 points. Winning third place was LMT Pool—B with 45 points. Northampton (38 pts.) and Newtown (36 pts.) took fourth and fifth places, respectively.
Pinewood placed sixth with 29 points and Oxford Valley, the last team to win the championship besides LMT in 2006, placed seventh this year with 27 points.
“The times were not as good this year but overall, the first two events were spotless; everybody did everything correct,” stated Hess, who is in her 17th year directing the competition.
“In the spinal injury event, the skill level has improved a lot; we didn’t impose nearly as many penalty points as we’ve had to in previous years.”
“The submerged victim [event], we had lots of problems with. That was sloppy; we need to work on that.”
The first two skills contests are simple, says Hess, measuring the rescuer’s ability to get to his or her victim quickly. While speed is important, the strokes the rescuer takes in his or her approach counts nearly as much, explains Hess.
Another exercise requires the rescuer to retrieve a tired or exhausted swimmer. Still another event—the active victim—is similar and requires the rescuer to tow a distressed swimmer on top of an inflatable rescue device.
While the lifeguards completed the spinal injury contest with ease, the same could not be said of the submerged victim, said Hess.
“We ran into problems going down and doing things correctly,” stated Hess. “We couldn’t get the tubes in going down and we couldn’t get them right coming back up.”
Phoenix Swim Club, Wedgewood—a lifeguarding team from Prospect Park and Sesame Place garnered eighth, ninth and 10th places respectively. While Sesame Place usually fields teams with names such as Grover and Cookie Monster, this year, the kids’ facility near the Oxford Valley Mall entered as the Caribbean Amphibians.
The winning lifeguards for LMT—A included Nicole Pocetti, Whitney Gould, Dennis Guest, Emily Rowley, Kathryn Young, Matt Schzanowski, Sean Corcoran and Brad Parker.
With rain in the lower Bucks forecast the night of Aug. 5, for awhile, it looked like Mother Nature might not shine so favorably on the water rescue skills competition.
“We were supposed to have heavy thunderstorms and the skies looked pretty ominous for awhile there,” stated Hess. “But then it cleared up and the moon came out and the night was gorgeous.”
As you might imagine, most of the lifeguards are young adults in their late teens or early 20s. Yet, Sesame Place entered with a lifeguard in his mid-50s. Hess, for one, found the idea refreshing.
“He was doing a real good, competent job; his techniques were solid,” stated Hess. “It’s nice to see that it’s not just young people doing this.”
It’s also nice to see LMT Pool put its money where its mouth is. Once again, it boasts the best lifeguards in the Delaware Valley.

O'Neill survives wild startto World Series of Bowling

TAYLOR, Mich.--The inaugural Professional Bowlers Association World Series of Bowling got off to a wild start yesterday, (Aug. 6) but in the end, Bill O'Neill, Bucks County's own pro bowler, earned a place in September's Motor City Open stepladder finale.
The fifth and last berth in the finals was settled when O’Neill defeated Rhino Page in a one-game roll-off, 190-171.
O’Neill, the only non-titlist among the top five, was elated. “That was something,” he said. “I’ve never been part of anything like that, especially considering I was more than 100 pins away from the show with four games to go. I bowled 740 for three games just to give myself a chance. And then to make this show is something special. It’s going to be four legends and me.”
Hall of Famer Walter Ray Williams Jr. of Ocala, Fla., stood on the top rung for the stepladder finals of the Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour Motor City Open.
Williams entered the final position round match at Taylor Lanes tied for the top spot with fifth-round leader Chris Barnes of Double Oak, Texas, and defeated the 2007-08 PBA Player of the Year, 185-173. Ironically, the top two players were one-two at the start of match play on Wednesday and bowled a tie match.
Meanwhile, on the adjacent pair of lanes, Hall of Famer Pete Weber of St. Ann, Mo., had clinched the third spot in the five-player stepladder final round, but by defeating Finland’s two-handed specialist Osku Palermaa, 258-205, he knocked Palermaa out of the finals.
Palermaa’s fate was sealed because on the next pair of lanes, O’Neill, of Southampton, and Page of Wesley Chapel, Fla. – who were tied for fifth place going into the position round – bowled a 218-218 tie to remain tied for fifth.
That’s because the fourth spot was taken by Tommy Jones of Simpsonville, S.C., who rolled a 300 game against Eugene McCune of Munster, Ind., to jump past O’Neill, Page and Palermaa in his final game.
Williams, who is seeking a 46th career title to extend his own PBA record, said he came into the final comfortable about his chances of remaining in the top five, “but after that I wanted to be the leader. Winning one game for the title is a lot easier than winning two, I don’t care what anyone says.”
Barnes battled Williams for the lead throughout match play. “I thought I bowled pretty good today,” Barnes said. “I was 60 pins over (a 200 average) for my first three games in the morning, but I looked up and I had lost 130 pins to Walter Ray. But he’s the best all-time, so you can’t feel bad about that.”
Weber, a 34-time PBA champion, was content to lock up the third position. “Not bad,” he said. “This is the second time in my 30-year career I’ve made a TV show in the first tournament of the year.”
Jones, who bowled only the third 300 game of the tournament, said he got lucky. “The other side of the center played completely different,” the 12-time PBA Tour winner said. “Fortunately I made the most of the opportunity. Now it’s all on me. I didn’t bowl very well last year, so now it’s a matter of making good shots and getting on the TV show more often.”
The Motor City Open stepladder finals will be held Saturday, Sept. 5, at Thunderbowl Lanes in nearby Allen Park for broadcast of ESPN on Sunday, Nov. 1, at 1 p.m. Eastern.

***
LUMBER LIQUIDATORS PBA MOTOR CITY OPEN
Taylor Lanes, Taylor, Mich., Aug. 6

FINAL MATCH PLAY STANDINGS (After 39 games, including match play records and bonus pins; top five advance to stepladder finals Sept. 5 at Thunderbowl Lanes in Allen Park, Mich.)
1, Walter Ray Williams Jr., Ocala, Fla., 15-8-1, 9,302
2, Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, 16-7-1, 9,260
3, Pete Weber, St. Ann, Mo., 16-8, 9,169
4, Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., 13-11, 8,935
5, Bill O'Neill, Southampton, Pa., 13-11, 8,907

THY qualifies 25 for nationals

THY had an incredibly successful performance recently at the 2009 YMCA National Long Course Swimming Championships. The meet was conducted in long course meters at the University of Maryland from July 27 to 31.
THY qualified 25 swimmers for this year’s Nationals. They finished in 11th place in the combined scoring for their highest Long Course Championship finish ever, improving three places on last year’s 14th place. The THY women finished in fifth place for their best performance in any national meet.
There were 89 individual swims by THY athletes at these championships. Seventy-three of the 91--a staggering 80 percent--were lifetime best swims. This was particularly impressive in light of the fact that the overall meet percentage of improved times for all teams was 55 percent.
THY individual national championship finalists included Madeline Barlow, 15th, 200 IM (2:27.68), 14th, 100 fly (1:05.13) and 17th, 200 back (2:23.25); Courtney Beidler, 2nd, 400 IM (4:59.48), 4th, 400 free (4:24.02) and 4th, 800 free (9:06.79); Kate Dillione 6th, 200 free (2:08.54), 13th, 100 fly (1:05.17) and 18th, 50 fly (29.74); Tommie Dillione 19th, 100 free (1:00.19); Alexis Houser 21st, 100 free (1:00.63); Kylie McKenzie 9th, 200 breast (2:43.38) and 18th, 100 breast (1:16.89); Shane McKenzie 10th, 400 IM (4:44.91) and 16th, 200 back (2:14.47); Alexander Naglich 13th, 400 free (4:13.40), 13th, 800 free (8:48.13) and 14th, 1500 free (16:47.19); James Sturner 15th, 200 breast (2:31.56) and 23rd, 100 breast (1:10.90).
Courtney Beidler’s 400 free and 400 IM were USA Swimming LCM Junior National and SC Senior National qualifying times. Her 400 free, 400 IM and 800 free were SC Junior National qualifying times.
All five of the women’s relays advanced to the championship finals (top eight) for the first time in THY history. The 400 free relay placed second; the 200 free relay placed fourth; 800 free relay, fourth; 200 medley relay, seventh and the 400 medley relay finished fifth.
These five THY relays also set new team records: women’s 200 free relay (Kate Dillione, Tom Dillione, Alexis Houser, Beidler) 1:50.00; 800 free relay (Kate Dillione, Tom Dillione, Alexis Houser, Beidler) 8:39.08; 200 medley relay (Barlow, Kylie McKenzie, Kate Dillione, Alexis Houser) 2:03.06; 400 medley relay (Barlow, McKenzie, Kate Dillione, Beidler) 4:29.31. The women’s 400 free relay (Kate Dillione, Tom Dillione, Alexis Houser, Beidler) 3:58.83 not only set a new team record but also achieved a USA Swimming LCM Junior National and SC Senior National qualifying time.
The men’s 200 medley relay (Shane McKenzie, Jeff Sloan, Chris Doherty, Chris Pitler) also set a new men’s LCM team record in 1:57.14.
Twenty-eight individual team records were set at the championships including: Alexa Fabbri--11/12 50 back (34.74) and 11/12 50 fly (31.17); Tommie Dillione--13/14 50 free (28.23) and 13/14 200 fly 2:29.32; Kate Dillione--15/16 50 free and Open 50 free (27.82) and 15/16 100 fly and Open 100 fly (1:05.00); Madeline Barlow--100 back (1:06.88) and 200 back (2:23.25); Kylie McKenzie--50 breast (35.27), 100 breast (1:16.89) and 200 breast (2:43.38); Courtney Beidler--400 IM (4:59.48); Alex Naglich--15/16 400 free and open 400 free (4:13.40), 15/16 800 free and open 800 free (8:48.13) and 15/16 1500 free and open 1500 free (16:47.19); Shane McKenzie--15/16 200 back and open 200 back (2:13.63), 15/16 200 IM (2:15.65), 15/16 400 IM and open 400 IM (4:44.91); Jeff Sloan--50 breast (32.50); James Sturner--100 breast (1:10.42) and 200 breast (2:31.56).
Other THY national team participants contributing to the onslaught of best times were John Baxter, Danielle Bukowski, Maria Ciaralli, Maggie Dillione, Erica Fabbri, Alyssa Houser, Ellen Johnson, Kendall Kirsteier, Dylan Ludwick, Oliver McCormick, Jonathan Stanton and Sarah Wells.
Madeline Barlow and Jeff Sloan were honored to kick off a finals session by inspiring the crowd with stirring devotionals.
Serious year-round competitive swimmers interested in joining THY should fill out the contact form on the team website at: http://swimthy.worldswim.net/

Love Means Nothing takes runner-up

Love Means Nothing, a Yardley area USTA Jr. 14-and-under tennis team, recently captured the runner-up trophy in the District Championship that took place on July 14. Pictured are the players, from left: Sharon Capponi (Coach); Oliver Malary, Derek Esplin, Megan Sutton, Hannah Capponi, Isabella Cozzarin, and Kyle Sampson.

TNT reaches districts

TNT, a level 3.0 USTA tennis team that is based at the Bucks County Racquet Club recently qualified for districts held July 24 to 26 at Berwyn YMCA, making it the second year the team has reached the tournament. Bucks County Racquet Club is based in Washington Crossing. Pictured here, from left: Coach Todd Dlugosz, of Morrisville, Kim Kiendl of Doylestown, Diana Thompson (Washington Crossing), Wendy Kraus (Yardley), Pat Wahlman (New Hope), Joanne Esplin (New Hope), Noelle Finley (Newtown), Kathy Cohen (Doylestown), Tracy Hensler (Yardley), Nancy Kovacevich (Washington Crossing). Missing: Debbie Carugati of Newtown.