Sports

Ben Fero throws off the bullpen mound as pitching coach Tyler Kavanaugh monitors his session on Monday. Photo from SBU Athletics

Spring was in the air on Jan. 18 as the Stony Brook baseball team’s pitchers and catchers held their first official workout in preparation for the regular season.

And with temperatures in the mid-40s, the Seawolves were able to hold their workout outdoors at Joe Nathan Field rather than at one of the program’s indoor facilities.

Position players are due to begin formal practices Feb. 1.

It’s been 313 days since the Seawolves’ last game — a 4-2 victory against Merrimack last March 11. Stony Brook had been slated to begin America East play three days later with a doubleheader against Hartford.

“We felt like we were peaking at the right time heading into conference play,” coach Matt Senk said. “So we’re excited. We were the defending champs. So we’re looking forward to defending our championship and can’t wait to get started.”

Stony Brook did get in a relatively normal workout schedule this past fall, albeit without games against other teams.

And with the bulk of the seniors having returned for the 2020-21 academic year after gaining an extra year of eligibility — coupled with a new freshman class that was touted by Collegiate Baseball as among the best in the nation — the Seawolves figure to again make noise in 2021.

Stony Brook produced a .673 winning percentage in America East play during the decade of the 2010s (159-77-1).

In game-situation matchups in the fall, upperclassmen Brian MorriseyBrian HerrmannJared MilchAdam Erickson and Sam Turcotte combined to produce a 2.65 ERA with 52 strikeouts, 12 walks and a .198 opponent batting average in 51 innings.

Herrmann returns as a redshirt senior this season after missing last spring due to injury, while Morrisey and Milch are seniors and Erickson and Turcotte now are graduate students.

“Certainly what we bring back on the mound, I think, is going to be impactful,” Senk said. “… Those guys were strike-throwers, pounding the zone, and were really displaying some plus stuff — fastballs, breaking balls — and really challenging our hitters. All those things will lead to success for the team in the future.”

 

 

The Newfield boys fencing team had their hands full in their season opener at home where the Wolverines fell to visiting Sayville 17-10 on Jan. 16. Unlike past seasons, the gym was eerily quiet in the age of COVID-19 as no spectators were permitted. Newfield was back out on their home strip two days later where they out-paced Commack 18-9 to even their early season. 

Mouhamadou Gueye drives during the first half of Sunday’s game against UNH. Photo by Andrew Theodorakis

Coach Geno Ford gathered the Stony Brook men’s basketball team by the home bench after last Sunday’s loss and told his players that he was proud of their effort and toughness. “The results are not what we signed up for,” Ford added to his team. “And we have to stick together.”

Unfortunately, Stony Brook suffered a heartbreaker Sunday afternoon. The Seawolves were edged by New Hampshire, 67-64, at Island Federal Arena. UNH swept the back-to-back games after Stony Brook returned from a 20-day COVID pause. The Seawolves had entered that pause on a five-game winning streak.

With the team’s deadlocked at 62, Nick Johnson’s layup for UNH with 93 seconds remaining provided a two-point lead for the Wildcats. Tykei Greene and Mouhamadou Gueye then were whistled for offensive fouls the next two trips down the floor for Stony Brook (6-6, 4-2 AE). Still, after a shot-clock violation by the Wildcats, spurred in part by a block from Gueye, the Seawolves had another opportunity in a one-possession game.

Juan Felix Rodriguez then was fouled while driving with 14.2 seconds remaining and the Seawolves trailing 64-62.

Rodriguez missed both free throws. And New Hampshire converted a pair of free throws at the other end for a four-point lead. A potential game-tying three-pointer shortly before the buzzer from Rodriguez also came up short.

“It’s a frustrating loss,” Ford said. “I thought the guys really battled. I thought we physically tried hard. We missed a bunch of free throws in the last six or seven minutes that we had been making most of the game. And I think losing some possessions in there really hurt. And give them credit. They hit a couple of real timely threes.”

Frankie Policelli’s driving layup with 3:18 remaining had staked Stony Brook to a 61-59 lead. However, Qon Murphy answered with a three-pointer for UNH shortly thereafter to give the Wildcats a one-point advantage. Greene then sank one of two free throws with 1:53 remaining to even the score at 62.

Four Seawolves scored in double-figures: Greene (14 points), Policelli (13), Gueye (10) and Jaden Sayles (10).

Gueye also had five blocks, giving him 101 for his career. He became the second-fastest in program history to the 100-block plateau at 45 games. Only Jeff Otchere was quicker (44). “I don’t set out to get those accolades,” Gueye said. “It kind of just happens. I know shot blocking is a big part of my game.” 

Sayles returned to action after missing Saturday’s game, but was limited to 13 minutes as he eased back into play. Omar Habwe, however, missed Sunday’s contest after being deemed unavailable shortly before tip-off. The Seawolves return to action next weekend with a pair of games at conference newcomer NJIT.

The women’s basketball team celebrates one of its many wins in 2020. Photo from Stony Brook Athletics

Few will shed any tears about turning the page on 2020. Yet, despite the absence of sports for more than eight months, Stony Brook Athletics had reasons to celebrate during the calendar year.

Among the highlights …

BANNER YEAR: The women’s basketball team produced a 22-game winning streak, 28-3 overall record, and its first America East regular-season and postseason titles — despite the conference tournament being called off entering the finals.

ORANGE SLICE: The women’s lacrosse team sent notice of its national title aspirations by beating fourth-ranked Syracuse, 17-16, in the Carrier Dome in the season opener. Ally Kennedy, who had four goals and three assists in that victory, now returns for a second senior season. She recently was named US Lacrosse Magazine’s national Preseason Player of the Year for the upcoming 2021 campaign.

OVER-ZEALOUS: Coach Anthony Gilardi’s first season at the helm of the men’s lacrosse team included three overtime winners from Caleb Pearson en route to a 5-2 record. Harrison Matsuoka was rewarded for the team and his individual success by becoming a first-round pick of his hometown Calgary Roughnecks.

PERFECT ENDING: Right-hander Dawn Bodrug tossed a perfect game against Cornell in Madeira Beach, Fla. — the softball program’s first since 2012, and only the fourth in the program’s Division I era.

ON TRACK: The track and field teams captured three individual titles on the final day of the America East Indoor Championships. Vann Moffett earned gold in the 3000 meters with a time of 8:12.69. Luke Coulter’s time of 2:24.56 in the 1000m gave him a first-place finish. And Amanda Stead’s career-best run in the 200m crowned her a conference champion.

FLYING COLORS: Swimmer Michal Liberman clocked in with a blazing time of 54.24 seconds in the 100-yard butterfly, lowering her own school record while claiming the America East title. The win marked the first individual title for Stony Brook since Renee Deschenes won the 100 backstroke in 2011.

MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENT: When baseball alum Travis Jankowski made his first appearance for the Cincinnati Reds on Opening Day, it marked the 20th season a Stony Brook product appeared in a Major League Baseball game.

HIGHLIGHT PERFORMANCES: Mouhamadou Gueye already appears in the top 10 in blocks in men’s basketball program history. Gueye also set the pace for Stony Brook appearances on SportsCenter’s Top 10 Plays over the past year (if you allow us to dip a few days into December 2019).  After being featured twice in the same countdown for highlight-reel plays against Virginia just before New Year’s a year ago, he earned another spot on SportsCenter’s Top 10 for a thunderous dunk at Vermont on Jan. 8.

PLAY BALL: Sports are back! When the women’s basketball team stepped onto the court on Nov. 25 to face Fordham, it marked the first Stony Brook intercollegiate sporting event since the Seawolves baseball team defeated Merrimack all the way back on March 11 — a gap of 259 days without action.

Here’s to a much more active 2021!

Ally Kennedy

The Stony Brook women’s lacrosse team has national-title aspirations in 2021.

Standout midfielder Ally Kennedy has the loftiest of expectations being placed on her as well. US Lacrosse Magazine on Dec. 28 named Kennedy its Preseason Player of the Year. It marked the first time in program history that a Stony Brook student-athlete received that honor.

Kennedy last week was named Preseason Midfielder of the Year as well as a Preseason All-American by the publication.

“I’m really excited for Ally,” coach Joe Spallina said. “I have watched her grow and put her heart and soul into being the best she could be, and it is incredible to see her be acknowledged. She plays with an unmatched intensity and passion. And while she scores a lot of goals, she does it all for us — draw controls, assists, ground balls and, most importantly to me, as one of the best captains this program has ever had.”

Kennedy ranks second in program history in draw controls (242), fourth in goals (193), fifth in points (248), fifth in ground balls (133) and 10th in assists (55) as she enters her second senior season.

She tallied 15 draw controls against Princeton last March 8, one shy of matching the program record set by former teammate Keri McCarthy in 2018. Kennedy registered seven points in that game, as well as in a season-opening win against Syracuse last season. 

She notched 22 goals, five assists, 47 draw controls, eight ground balls and three caused turnovers during the abbreviated five-game season.

A North Babylon native, Kennedy was an IWLCA first-team All-American as a junior in 2019. Inside Lacrosse recently had ranked Kennedy as the No. 3 player in college lacrosse today — man or woman.

“It’s an honor to receive this recognition, and is more motivation for this upcoming season,” Kennedy said. 

“I couldn’t be more excited to finally get back out on the field with the team and show everyone what we are capable of,” she added.

 

The Eagles of Rocky Point faced a formidable Comsewogue squad in the opening week of League IV bowling action at Port Jeff Bowl Jan 14. Despite falling to the Warriors 29.5 — 3.5, Eagles head coach Anthony Vertuccio, who fields a young roster, said a bright spot on the day was senior Sean Vogel. Sean has tremendous potential this season but was also impressed by his 8th grader along with three 10th graders.

Comsewogue retakes the lanes Jan 21 on the road against Middle Country at AMF Centereach Lanes at 3:30 p.m.

The Eagles were back in action Jan. 19 where they hit the road against East Hampton at The All Star lanes in Riverhead. Results were not available as of press time.

Above photo of Comsewogue junior Steven Orland; bottom photo of Comsewogue senior Joshua Rivera.

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Ward Melville High School’s boys swim team members hit the road in a League I matchup against Brentwood Jan. 15, and despite many first-year swimmers, the Patriot’s inked a 67-43 victory.

Ward Melville coach Chris Gordon said his team is very young and inexperienced but likes his team’s efforts in practice and is impressed with their attitude at their meets. Gordon stated that Brentwood has been especially impacted by COVID-19 with a smaller roster size but added they’ve not lost their energy and enthusiasm whenever they face the Patriots, adding that hopefully their numbers will bounce back next year.

The Patriots retake the pool Jan. 19 with an away meet against Half Hollow Hills.

Section XI in concert with the New York State Public High School Athletic Association approved the return of moderate to low-risk high school varsity competition which has been dormant since mid-March.

The Smithtown boys bowling team opened their season on the road against Northport in varsity bowling action at Larkfield Lanes Jan 12, and despite being edged out by the Tigers in the first two games, rallied in the third to squeak out a 17.5 to 15.5 victory.

Smithtown coach Rob Aplin said his boys never gave up — after dropping the first two games. He added that he was “very proud of the way (his team) performed and is looking forward to a great season.”

Northport coach Chris Cascone liked what he saw with returning senior captain Jack Maldavir, who has averaged over 200 so far, along with teammate Andrew Becker, who rolled a 251 in game two. Sophomore Aidan Kolbe rolled a 245 in the first game for a 670 triple along with junior Chris Lageraaen, who finished with a 619-series complemented by a solid performance by 11th grader Justin Marques.

Smithtown’s Kyle Perillo, a junior, rolled a 694 against Northport. Coach Aplin said Perillo has been the anchor of the team since day one. Smithtown’s Kevin Ramachandran is a junior and three-year varsity bowler. Smithtown junior Timothy Schiraldi, who coach Aplin said is the spark plug of the team, rolled a 3-game series of 706. Smithtown’s Jake Ryan, the lone senior on the squad, has been a consistent and solid bowler for the last four years, according to coach Aplin, who added he’ll be irreplaceable next season.

Northport who beat Half Hollow Hills the day before drop to 1-1 in the early going as Smithtown opens at 1-0 in League III.

Stony Brook University baseball player Nick Grande slides into third. Photo from SBU Athletics

Stony Brook Athletics launched its latest fundraising campaign asking people to “Believe in the Seawolves” as the university sports program faces an uncertain future.

SBU Athletic Director Shawn Heilbron accepts the 2019 Commissioner’s Cup from America East Commisioner Amy Huchthausen. Photo from SBU

On Thursday, Oct. 8, the university’s Giving Day, Director of Athletics Shawn Heilbron held a virtual town hall through Facebook Live to answer questions surrounding the status of Stony Brook Athletics for this school year and for the future. 

“Let’s have the Stony Brook Athletics story of 2020-2021 be the greatest story in our history,” Heilbron said during the town hall. “I think we’re going to do that.”

One of the major concerns, he said, was the financial standing of the university since revenue dropped throughout the COVID-19 crisis, calling it a “dramatic financial impact.”

He mentioned that the program lost nearly $700,000 from basketball, alone, and when the school closed in March, students were reimbursed their student fees which neared a $2 million loss. 

“Ticket sales, donations, corporate partnerships … you could imagine the impact there,” he said. “The trickle down comes from the state to the school to us, and many universities across the country are dealing with it.”

He said it was close to $5 million in revenues lost. 

“We’ve made some tough decisions, many staff positions are being left unfilled,” he said. “We’re very concerned about our future … schools across the country are cutting sports, these are difficult decisions that are hard to come back.”

The new fundraising campaign coined “Believe In the Seawolves” comes from asking people to do just that. “Believe in our value and commitment to this university,” Heilbron said. “If we can get people to get behind that we can come out of this stronger … It’s more than a campaign, I want it to be a movement.”

But just because COVID-19 guidelines aren’t allowing sports to be played as of right now, Heilbron they are not cancelled, just postponed. He added that fall sports were moved to the spring, which will make for a very active season. 

“It’s going to be quite an active period for us,” he said. “We’re just starting to look at what those schedules will look like and will be announced very soon.”

He said that utilizing this time now will be a springboard for next fall, and are keeping safe in doing so.

The athletes who are participating in practices now, like basketball, have a regimented screening process before hitting the court. 

“Student athletes come through one entrance, have their temperature checked and then they get a wrist band,” Heilbron said. “They can’t come in if they don’t have the wristband.”

Although it is an uncertain time for the student athletes who worked to play at Stony Brook University, Heilbron said the first day of fall semester was a good one. 

“It literally was an energetic lift in our department that they needed,” he said. “It was good to have the family back together.”

The university announced after Thursday’s Giving Day campaign, more than 240 donors combined to contribute gifts exceeding $200,000 to go towards athletics. The campaign will continue to fundraise throughout the remainder of the year. 

United Cerebral Palsy of Long Island recently announced they have partnered with the Long Island Sound Blackfish Tournament for their inaugural event scheduled to take place on Saturday, Oct. 24. The tournament is open to the public with fishing boundaries covering the entire Long Island Sound, from the Whitestone Bridge to the west, all the way to Orient Point and across to Watch Hill Pt., RI to the east.

“We are extremely excited to be teaming up with UCP of Long Island for the inaugural LI Sound Blackfish Tournament supporting individuals with disabilities,” said Barry Winter, founder of the tournament.

Registration for the tournament can be found online at www.lisoundblackfishtournament.com. The registration fee is $60 per angler, half of which will be accumulated into a “cash prize pool”, with the other half benefitting UCP of Long Island; directed towards their programs and services in support of children and adults with disabilities.

The cash prize pool will be used to award cash prizes to the 14 anglers who weigh in the heaviest blackfish. In addition, there will be a $5,000 bonus cash prize for the registered participant who catches a specially tagged fish released into the Sound sometime prior to the start of the tournament and a $1,000 cash prize for any fish weighing over 15 pounds.

“We are excited to partner with the LI Sound Blackfish Tournament and its presenting sponsor The Fisherman for such a wonderful event benefitting children and adults served by UCP of Long Island,” said Colleen Crispino, President & CEO of UCP of LI.

For more information, email lisoundblackfishtournament@gmail.com.