BY CHUCK SLATER
EXCLUSIVE TO NORTH COUNTY NEWS + VIEWS

   Once again, as he was in last year’s inaugural season of the Rockland Boulders, Briarcliff’s Bobby Blevins is the ace and opening-game pitcher for the team in the independent professional Canadian-American League.

   Returning manager Dave LaPoint confirmed that at a team practice on its Provident Bank Park home field in Ramapo, Rockland County. Blevins, a righthander, was scheduled to start May 17 on the road against the Quebec Les Capitales, then will be on the mound again for the home opener against the Newark Bears on May 22.

   “He was our ace last year and he is again,” said LaPoint, a former big-league pitcher.  ”He likes to stay in the game and loves to compete.  He’s a workhorse and that’s a big commodity for a manager."

BY CHUCK SLATER
EXCLUSIVE TO NORTH COUNTY NEWS + VIEW

As with John Jay High (profiled in this space previously), Somers High also has a highly successful boys golf team – 13-2 heading at this writing – with an upfront contribution from a surprising source, an eighth grader.

Christian Cavaliere, all of 14, plays No. 2 (as does John Jay sophomore Nicole Morales) and likewise has the best average on his team by a small margin over the No. 1, Chris Malisse. Both Tuskers are on track to compete in sectional play beginning May 14.

     Malisse, a junior who was No. 2 last year, had heard about the young golf talent from his friend and fellow junior, Carly Cavaliere, the older sister.

     “She told me he was really good,” related Malisse, who took a cautious wait-and-see attitude. “Then when practice started, I saw Christian play and I thought, ‘Wow, he really is good.’ ”

As a sophomore, John Jay's Nicole Morales could win the boys Section 1 title.

BY CHUCK SLATER
      "Lou Quinn gave me a great gift," says John Jay boys golf coach Ray DiStephen.
     The gift is the current John Jay golf team. It may well be the best in the area and remains undefeated 11-0 in Section 1 competition. Quinn, despite a highly successful 2011 season, decided to end his tenure as golf coach and turned the reins over to DiStephen.
     Seven of Quinn's 11 golfers graduated last June but a solid nucleus returned and the newcomers proved unexpectedly good.

Chuck SlaterBY CHUCK SLATER
EXCLUSIVE TO NORTH COUNTY NEWS + VIEWS

May 2nd, 2012 -- The undefeated Lakeland/Panas girls lacrosse team was hurting when it hosted Bronxville April 30. Injuries disrupted the lineup. The team seemed out of sync.

So Emma Bozek, the brilliant midfielder freshly returned from a stint with the United States U21 (under 21) team, went out and scored 10 goals. It was a school record, the most in the storied history of a super-successful program coached by Sharon Sarsen, and the most tallied by anyone, boy or girl, this season.

“We had a lot of injuries so she just stepped up,” Sarsen said of Bozek. “She’s a superior athlete.

“We’ve had three different girls who have scored nine goals in a game but she beat them all.”

Bozek also had three assists in the 19-14 victory.

BY CHUCK SLATER
NORTH COUNTY NEWS + VIEWS

     Before going out to pitch against Panas on Wednesday (April 25), John F. Kennedy Catholic High School junior Schuyler Bates told coach Bob Fletcher, “I really feel good, really strong.”

     Then the 6-4 power pitcher threw a no-hitter, winning by 5-0 on just 62 pitches with eight strikeouts.

     “He was in total control,” said Fletcher. “He was ahead of the hitters the entire game.”

     The no-hitter raised the right-hander’s record to 2-1 and elevated JFK to 6-4.

Chuck SlaterBy Chuck Slater
NORTH COUNTY NEWS + VIEWS
      As a junior at Mahopac High School, Marisa Kamelgarn had her finest season on the golf course, becoming one of two girls to win the boys Section 1 championship.  Now as a junior at Morehead State University in Kentucky, she has just completed a special junior season.
     On Wednesday, April 25, Kamelgarn finished in a two-way tie for first place at the three-day Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) championship.  Her 72-73-77-222 on the neutral Greystone Golf Course in Dixon, Tenn., led the Eagles to second place overall.  She also led the OVC conference with a 74.5 strokes-per-round average and was selected its Golfer of the Year.

 BY CHUCK SLATER

Yorktown reliever Brian Redahan has contributed two wins and two saves to his team's 5-1 record to date.Yorktown High has a rich and proud baseball heritage. Sean Kennedy, coaching the Huskers’ varsity for a 10^th year, had a string of 15-win seasons from 2004 through 2008 followed by highly successful records the next two seasons.

Then last year the team went 3-17.

Chuck SlaterBY CHUCK SLATER

     There were 12 minutes and 26 seconds left to play on the recent Friday the 13^th of April. In its most important early-season matchup, the Fox Lane girls’ lacrosse team trailed Yorktown by two goals – the same Yorktown that had defeated it in the Class B section championship game last season. Fox Lane captain Sammy Jo Tracy, coming back from a herniated disc in her lower back which cost her most of the pre-season, was scoreless, tired and hurting.

     So all Tracy did was put in three goals in those closing minutes. Fox Lane 10, Yorktown 9. The first goal was a highlight-reel, behind-the-back shot.

     “Physically, I’m not close (to top form),” Tracy said afterward. “I still have a lot of pain but a captain has to step up. And I’m getting better every day.”