2005 Season

 

Ramapo, April 5, 2005 - Clarkstown South's Varsity Baseball Team traveled to Ramapo fields this afternoon on a beautiful, warm and sunny day.  Although center field looked like it may have been a little damp, the rest of the field was in good shape.  Steven Leitner and Mike Romanello pitched very well, tying up many of the Ramapo hitters with blazing fastballs mixed in with well-timed breaking balls and changeups.  South was able to scratch out 4 runs with a combination of good hitting, heads up base running and a good measure of small ball.  The final score was Clarkstown South 4 - Ramapo 0.

North Rockland, April 6, 2005 - Clarkstown South's Varsity Baseball Team looked impressive against a very tough North Rockland team today.  Eric Alessio only allowed two runs and Andrew Distelhurst closed out the game successfully for a final score of 12 to 2 in favor of Clarkstown South.  The temperature hovered in the upper 60s for most the game and the sun was out - a pleasant change from the rainy weather that has caused the cancellation of several games.

Team hitting continues to improve with most players getting in on the action today either with long shots to the outfield or well-placed line drives.  The team was patient at the plate and only swung at good pitches, allowing South to put quite a few walks into the books.

Clarkstown North, April 13, 2005 - "Sometimes the outcome isn't as important as how you get there." This pretty much summarizes the game between South's Varsity Vikings and North's Rams yesterday afternoon, a real nail-biter that showed how strong the Clarkstown South baseball team is becoming, in spite of the one-run loss.  South showed the stuff they're made of yesterday by paralyzing an excellent North team through 5 innings.  Steven Leitner pitched brilliantly to keep the score at 2-0 through five plus innings.  Andrew Distelhurst came in and relieved Leitner in the 6th.  One of the runners already on base scored but Distelhurst did not allow any other runs in the rest of the sixth which ended with a superbly executed double play.  Casey Sellers had two hits and Michael Buffamante and Alec Cartagena each had one.  The team also welcomed Dylan Kress who caught the entire game yesterday.

Through some quirky bounces of the ball and effective use of bunting, North scored the winning run in the bottom of the 7th.  In spite of the loss, the South team played superbly throughout the game.  It was clear to everyone, even to the North players and fans, that there was a lot of talent, pride, determination and a strong will to win in the other dugout.  Congratulations on the gritty performance.


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 April 15 - Pitching gem against Ramapo. Mike Romanello pitched a complete game in South's home opener on Friday the 15th.  Ramapo only managed to get 4 hits and 1 run in 7 innings of excellent pitching.  Mike had command of his pitches and impressive overall control, with no walks the entire game.  Mike Buffamante had 2 hits and 2 RBIs, Kenny Plate had a triple and Alec Cartagena had a hit and an RBI.

April 19 - Leitner does it again. Steven Leitner struck out 7 and allowed only 3 hits and 1 base on balls pitching a complete game against Ramapo.  This was the third contest between the two teams and the third win for South against Ramapo.  Using a well-located fast ball, change up and a deceptive breaking ball, Leitner showed the same kind of stuff that he had against Clarkstown North last week.

South was responsible for some impressive hitting with a triple from Kenny Plate and 2 RBIs.  The triple probably would have been a home run if there were a fence in the outfield.  Sean Darsee had a double, Travis Triano had two hits and 2 RBIs and Casey Sellers had a single.


Distelhurst on the mound

April 20 - Vikings surprise Mahopac 7-5.  South's Varsity Baseball Team has had its share of surprises, particularly having to play without the full complement of players because of injuries.  But this time, it was South's turn to surprise the opposing team with excellent pitching and some big bats.  Mahopac was undefeated except for a late loss to Lakeland, another undefeated team.  The expectation was this was going to be a very tough game for South.  Mahopac had a reputation for getting a lot of hits and scoring a lot of runs. 


Mahopac congratulating South players after the game

After giving up four runs in the first inning, Andrew Distelhurst made the necessary adjustments and never let another run score.  Mahopac was only able to score one more run off the two pitchers who came in relief.  South scored three runs in the bottom of the first, two more runs in the third and one additional run in the fifth and sixth inning.  Brian Vickers had 3 hits including a double, Casey Sellers and Kenny Plate each had 2 hits including a double, Kevin Grogan had two hits and Mike Buffamante, Sean Darsee and Travis Triano each contributed a hit.

April 24 - Vikings prepare field for night game.  South's Varsity Baseball Team and coaches came to the field twice on Sunday to drain off water, dry up puddles left by last night's downpour and rake all of the areas covered with sand in preparation for Sunday night's game with visiting R.C. Ketcham.  Coaches Wirchansky and Michello were right out there with the players trying to make the field as playable as possible starting at 8AM and then again at noon.  As of 1PM on Sunday, the plan is still to play the game under the lights at 7PM, hoping that the sun will stay out long enough to dry up some of the wetter areas.

April 25 - Vikings Defeat North Rockland.  On a night that felt more like it was football season, Clarkstown South's Vikings defeated North Rockland under the lights.  Although the first inning was a little rocky, Steven Leitner only allowed one hit, a bunt between the 3rd base line and the mound, through five innings.  Andrew Distelhurst pitched the last two innings and did not allow a run.  For Clarkstown, Mike Buffamante had 3 hits, including a triple and 2 RBIs, Casey Sellers and Travis Triano each had doubles.


April 29 - Romanello and Alessio combine for a 5-3 win at wooden bat challenge.  There was a quick call right around 2:30 saying that the Wooden Bat Challenge had been changed from 7PM at Zukor Park to 5PM at Pearl River.  The game actually started around 4:30 with Mike Romanello on the mound.  Mike only allowed 2 earned runs in 5 and a third innings and had 3 strikeouts.  He showed his usual exellent control with only 1 walk.  Eric Alessio relieved Romanello in the 5th inning and sat down the Pearl River batters with three strikeouts and no earned runs.  Both pitchers were composed, aggressive and showed excellent control.

South starting the scoring in the 3rd inning with some unfamiliar sounds coming off the wooden bats. Mike Buffamante hit one to the fence in left field that was ruled a ground rule double because the ball scooted under the fence. Mike also picked up an RBI for the night.  Brian Vickers had a double and a triple, scored 2 runs and picked up an RBI showing a lot of power to right field.  Sean Darsee and Casey Sellers each had two hits, and Sean Lukasiewicz, Kevin Grogan and Alec Cartagena each picked up one hit.  Catagena also picked up two RBIs for the night.  The other three runs were scored by Sean Lukasiewicz, Kevin Grogan and Sean Darsee.


Mike Romanello

Eric Alessio
 
May 2 - Vikings take third game from North Rockland.  On a cold rainy night when the field lights just weren't enough to overcome the dark menacing clouds that brought a chill to fans and parents, Clarkstown South held on to the last minute to score a winning run in the bottom of the 7th to take the third game of the series from an excellent North Rockland team.

With the new fence beckoning from just beyond the outfield, the Viking bats looked a little more powerful than usual, but not powerful enough to pop one over the fence.  Instead, the team played great defense on a day when slipping and sliding was the action du jour.  Some superb plays were made by both the infielders and outfielders - one by Steve Leitner who hustled off the mound to retrieve a bunt gone wild and throw out the runner at first.

South scored in the first inning and twice more in the bottom of the third to set the pace for the night. On the mound, Steve Leitner had two 1-2-3 innings back to back, not allowing a run until the 4th inning.  North Rockland scored 2 runs in the top of the 7th to tie the game.  Then, with several bases occupied in the bottom of the 7th, a ball hit to right field was just out of reach and took just long enough to field that South was able to score from third.

Runs were scored by Mike Buffamante, Kevin Grogan and Travis Triano who hustled across home plate twice.  Buffamante and Sean Darsee picked up an RBI, Mike Buffamante, Kenny Plate and Travis Triano each had two hits, and the other four belonged to Brian Vickers, Alec Cartagena, Sean Darsee and Kevin Grogan.


May 5 - Plate Lifts 3 Over the Fence to Help Vikings Win over Spring Valley.  Everyone said this must be some kind of record, hitting 3 home runs in the same game - and one of them a Grand Slam.  Plate also had 4 runs and 9 RBIs.  Mike Buffamante went 3 for 3 with 2 runs and 2 RBIs.  With a 12-run first inning, it didn't look like the scoring was going to stop.  In fact, to the final winning score of 25-5, contributions came from almost every player.  Four players who came in later in the game, Erik Allen, Dylan Kress, Mike Romanello and Scott Stampfl also got hits.


Team welcomes Plate after 3rd HR

Several nice defensive plays were made in the game including a line drive that was caught by Scott Stampfl and turned into a double play by throwing to first before the runner could get back.  Several tough grounders were fielded smoothly by Travis Triano and thrown to first for an out, as were several by Alec Cartegena.

Eric Alessio pitched 5 innings and had 3 strikeouts, allowing only 3 runs.  Alessio used a nice mixture of 4 and 2-seam fastball, an effective changeup and a breaking ball that caught many Spring Valley batters off balance to get the win for Thursday's game at Spring Valley.  Sean Lukasiewicz pitched the 6th inning and Sean Darsee closed out the 7th.

 
Friday May 6 - In a game that changed direction several times, the Vikings scored 7 runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to top Suffern on a cold night that threatened rain right from the first pitch.  Suffern scored their first run in the top of the first inning, but South countered with 2 runs right away.  Then the floodgates opened and Suffern scored 5 more runs in the top of the second inning to take a 6-2 lead.  At this point, pessimists might have just figured it was all over and thrown in the towel - but not the Vikings.  They got 2 runs back in the bottom of the second to narrow the margin to 6-4.  The third inning was scoreless and Suffern tacked on another run in the top of the 4th.  South's pitching held tight during the fifth and sixth, not allowing any runs.  Then, almost as though every player on the team was thinking about the old Yogi Berra adage, "It's not over til its over," South scored an amazing 7 runs in the bottom of the sixth to make it 11-7 in favor of Clarkstown.  Steve Leitner pitched a scoreless 7th and the celebration started.


Vikings Congratulated by Suffern after 11-7 Win

Yogi would have been proud.  This was an excellent example of a team that decided they were not going to quit, and as a result, proved that baseball is one of those sports where you really can't predict the outcome in the second inning.  This remarkable comeback is only one example of the talent and fortitude that characterizes this 2005 varsity team.
May 11 - South Beats North 14-4: Eric Alessio turned in an excellent performance on the mound to take a 14-4 win over Clarkstown North on a warm afternoon, pitching a complete game and only allowing 7 hits.

Although North got off to a quick start with 2 runs in the top of the first inning, Alessio then pitched 4 scoreless innings in a row, while South scored 7 runs in the third, 2 in the fourth and another 3 runs in the fifth.  Mike Buffamante had 2 hits and 3 RBIs; Brian Vickers went 3 for 4 with RBIs while Alec Cartagena and Travis Triano each had 2 hits.  The next game is Friday at 4:30 on the North field.

                                                            S E C T I O N A L S
 May 21 - South wins first playoff game: On a day where the weather threatened several times but never delivered, Clarkstown South Varsity delivered 7 strong innings to win 4-2 over a highly-ranked team that brought an 18-6 record to the sectionals and a 10-game winning streak.  Steve Leitner pitched brilliantly only allowing 2 earned runs and 5 hits in 7 innings.  Leitner also had 9 strikeouts and only 2 walks.

Leitner's pitching performance was aided by timely hitting. Mike Buffamante (2 for 3 with a double), Sean Lukasiewicz, Kenny Plate (triple), Travis Triano and Brian Vickers had key hits that contributed to the 4 runs scored by South.  Another positive factor was South's defense.  A rapid-fire double play, tough infield plays and several outfield catches that required extra hustle were all part of the story on Saturday. 


Steve Leitner

Horace Greeley got their first run on a play where a ball that was hit to right field was called a home run.  The distance to the right field corner was only 275 feet with a small forest of trees that looked like they belonged on a golf course.  Greeley scored another run in the fourth  but nothing in the last three innings.  Eric Alessio came in to get the last outs in the 7th inning.

The next game will be against North Rockland on Monday at 4:30 on South's field.

June 2nd: Coaches Award and Team MVP.  Last night at the Sports Award Banquet, many fine athletes were honored by their coaches and team members.  For Varsity Baseball, pitcher Steve Leitner received the Coach's Award and Brian Vickers took the MVP Award.

      
Brian Vickers                Steve Leitner
          MVP                       Coach's Award
 

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