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Newfield

By Steven Zaitz

With their playoff hopes hanging in the balance, Newfield Wolverine starting pitcher Matthew Hesselbirg fired a no-hitter on Friday, May 3 against Northport to keep his team alive in the postseason hunt. 

The senior righthander struck out seven Tiger batters and walked two over seven innings and despite not allowing a hit, fought through several troublesome innings when Northport put multiple men on base.

The Wolverines scored single runs in the fourth and fifth innings to secure the 2-0 win. Newfield right-fielder Brandon Seddio drew a one-out walk in the fourth and then stole second. Tiger pitchers Tyler Roethel and Vincent Staub combined to walk three batters in a row to force in Seddio and give the Wolverines a 1-0 lead. Seddio would knock in center fielder Kevin Brown in the fifth inning with a single to make it 2-0.

Meanwhile, Hesselbirg got harder to hit as the game wore on.  The Tigers had a man on second and third in the second inning but Roethel flew out to Brown to end the frame. Tiger catcher Reid Johansen reached on an error in the fourth and advanced to third on a ground out and a wild pitch. But he got no further. Hesselbirg struck out the side in order in the fifth and faced the minimum in the sixth.

He hit Tiger third-baseman Cody Hammer with one out in the seventh and allowed a walk to right-fielder Sean Buchanan to put the tying runs on base.

But Tiger pinch hitter Anthony Sylvanus hit a sharp grounder to shortstop Cayden Davis, who started a 6-4-3 double play to end the game and give Hesselbirg his no-no. 

Roethel pitched 3 2/3 innings and was charged with the run in the fourth. He struck out four. Side-armer Vincent Staub pitched the final 2 1/3 for Northport.

Newfield (7-9) needs to sweep Centereach in a three-game set this week to make the playoffs.  Centereach is the first-place team in Suffolk Conference III. Northport (10-8) has clinched a playoff spot, despite the loss, and will play Sachem East to close the season.

– Photos by Steven Zaitz

Newfield’s Riley Firenze tries to score on a wild pitch as Northport pitcher Jamie Gould covers the plate. Photo by Steven Zaitz

By Steven Zaitz

Getting off the bus, deuces were not very wild for the Newfield softball team last Friday.

The Wolverines dropped their first two games by a combined score of 20-6 and were in an early 2-0 hole against Northport on the road. It has been a full trip around the sun of futility for the Lady Wolverines as they had lost 14 games in a row dating back to last season — a streak that started exactly one year prior,  April 5, 2023 with a 12-9 loss to crosstown Centereach.

To make matters worse, the Wolverines ran themselves out of a potential big inning in the first when they had runners on first and third with no outs but failed to score.

But a three-run third, ignited by ninth-place hitter Emily Wall, gave Newfield its first lead of the season. The very long and ugly worm that was this 14-game losing streak was starting to turn. 

Senior starting pitcher Riley Firenze, who wears the number two on her back, shut the Lady Tigers down for the rest of the game, allowing only two hits after the second inning and striking out four. Newfield tacked on four runs late and secured a 7-2 victory – their first since starting the 2023 season 2-0.

“Getting this win was tremendous for our team and for the future of this season,” said Wolverine head coach Amanda Catapano. “Sometimes all it takes is that one win to get back into the groove and back to playing the softball that we know our girls can play.”

In addition to her monumental mound work, Firenze was the hitting star of the game. She had two doubles and a triple against Lady Tiger starting pitcher Jamie Gould. 

“I enjoy watching our team work hard,” said Firenze. “We are growing and improving every day.”

Despite taking the losses against Lindenhurst and Connetquot, Firenze’s stuff was on-point against the Tigers.

“Riley was locked-down on the mound after allowing those two early runs,” said Catapano. “She showed great speed and spin on the mound and she and Teresa Cotty called a wonderful game behind the plate helping to keep Northport batters on their heels using many off-speed pitches at the perfect times.”

Cotty, the cleanup-hitting catcher, had two hits and two RBIs on the day.

For Northport, only two of Gould’s runs allowed were earned, but she dealt with a lot of traffic on the basepaths, giving up 11 hits. 

Left Fielder Lilly McCabe had a two-RBI single that knocked in Jillian Ryan and Gabby Smith-Centero. 

Gabby Weissman had a pinch-hit single in the seventh inning and Kiera Murphy made a sparkling play in right field to end the third inning. 

The Tigers had another setback on Saturday against West Babylon, but they hope to eclipse their three-game skid on Monday against Smithtown East. Newfield plays on Thursday against Sachem North, looking for two wins in a row. 

– Photos by Steven Zaitz

Fresh off their season opening road win against Copiague, the Newfield Wolverines hosted Smithtown East in their home opener where they struggled against the Bulls potent offense, trailing by two after three quarters of play.

Smithtown East junior Lucy Tomasic’s shot found its mark at the 3 minutes, 24 seconds mark of the second quarter for the Bulls first goal of the game. Teammate Shannon Pettit off an assist from Katie Cummings rocked the box midway through the third quarter for the insurance goal in the 2-0 win in Division 1 play Sept. 7. 

Northport midfielder Ricky Corbett with a header at home against Newfield Sept 14. Bill Landon photo

The Newfield Wolverines looked for that first win of this early season in a League II road game against the Northport Tigers when senior co-captain Oscar Moreno broke the ice to put the Wolverines out front 1-0 with 10 minutes remaining in the opening half. 

Northport senior midfielder Justin Besosa made it a new game midway through the second half to even the score. Both teams unable to break the tie finished the game in a draw. 

Newfield senior goal keep Carter Rothwell had twelve saves in net where Northport’s goalie Tommy Pace stopped five.

Newfield at 0-1-1 will retake the field in a home game against Bay Shore Sept 17. Northport also at 0-1-1, 2-1-1 overall, will face Walt Whitman in a road game Sept 18. Game times are 5:15 p.m. and 8 a.m., respectively.

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Centereach High School

Middle Country Central School District announced its top scholars for the class of 2021. 

Photo from MCCSD

Isabel Rodriguez of Newfield High School and Aryan Sharma of Centereach High School have been honored as this year’s valedictorians, while Ilssa Siddiqui of NHS and Priyansh Parikh of CHS have been named salutatorians.

“As we approach the conclusion of the 2020-2021 school year, it is my distinct honor and privilege to celebrate the Class of 2021’s valedictorians and salutatorians — Isabel, Aryan, Ilsaa, and Priyansh,” said Roberta Gerold, superintendent of schools. “The district is immensely proud of each of you for your ambition to adapt to, and succeed in, the scholastic challenges that were presented throughout this school year. We applaud the four of you for your stellar academic achievements and commitment to the Middle Country community. We are confident that you will continue to achieve great things in the next chapter of your lives.”

Isabel carries a 102.6042 weighted GPA at Newfield with the potential to graduate with more than 40 college credits. In addition to her academic pursuits, Isabel serves as the treasurer for the Foreign Language Honor Society and vice president of the National Honor Society. She’s also a member of the Pit Orchestra, class of 2021 student government, the Leadership Club, Environmental Club, Tri-M Music Honor Society, and member of Newfield’s girls’ varsity soccer team. This coming fall, Isabel will be attending Vassar College.

Ilsaa, who is known for her incredible work ethic, achieved a weighted GPA of 102.1250 as salutatorian at Newfield. 

Coupled with her academics, Ilsaa has served as a member of Gerold’s Leadership Club, vice president of the Environmental Club, secretary of the Foreign Language Club, is currently a member of DECA, vice president of the National Technical Honor Society, secretary of the National Honor Society, and senior editor of the Yearbook Club. She has also volunteered at the Selden Mosque as an assistant teacher. Ilsaa has committed to Hamilton College where she hopes to pursue a career in either computer science or pre-law.

During his tenure at Centereach High School, Aryan’s academic fortitude has afforded him a weighted GPA of 102.00. For the last two years of his high school journey, Aryan’s academic workload consisted of all AP courses. 

His success in these courses helped him attain National AP Scholar status. Outside of the classroom, Aryan is active in extracurricular activities and community service. He is currently the GO vice president, and formerly held the position of junior class treasurer. Aryan is a member of the National Honor Society, the Spanish Honor Society, the National Technical Honor Society, the math team, and countless other clubs which he primarily serves in a leadership capacity. 

Aryan has been accepted to, and will attend, Stony Brook University in the fall where he will study biochemistry with plans to pursue a career as a cardiothoracic surgeon.

Centereach High School’s salutatorian Priyansh has excelled throughout his academic career and will graduate with a weighted GPA of 101.8. Priyansh’s academic workload has been punctuated with several AP courses, in which he excelled. 

He was recognized by the College Board as an AP Scholar with Distinction. Priyansh is involved in a multitude of extracurricular activities in school and in the community. In his role as GO treasurer, he played an active role in all of the activities that take place in the high school. Priyansh is also a member of the National Honor Society, National Spanish Honor Society, DECA Club, and participated on the winter track team. 

Photo from MCCSD

Post-graduation, Priyansh plans to attend Penn State University where he will pursue a degree in computer science.

Newfield win the Suffolk III championship title in a 2-0 victory over West Islip Jun. 18. Bill Landon photo

Although the bats were cracking with runners on base, it was a defensive showcase by both Newfield and West Islip who went scoreless though 5–½ innings in the Suffolk County Conference III title game June 18.

Newfield pitcher Kendal Kendrick was dominant from mound where the senior went the distance but it was Josh Jacob’s bat that decided the game in the bottom of the sixth inning when the junior ripped a shot to left field driving in two runs for the 2-0 lead.

Kendrick disposed of the last three West Islip batters in the top of the seventh to advance to the Long Island Championship game.

 Photos by Bill Landon 

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Newfield offensive linemen Roman Aponte (L) and Charlie Clark set the tone for the “O” line in a non-conference matchup against Sachem East Mar. 27. Photo by Bill Landon

 

The Newfield Wolverines’ intended opponent West Islip, was forced to quarantine after a COVID-19 test, which resulted in an unlikely pairing of the Flaming Arrows of Sachem East a D-I team against the D-IV Wolverines on March 27. The voice from the broadcast booth said they could not recall these two teams having ever faced each other, so all the scouting reports went out the window.

Down two touchdowns it was Newfield’s Devin Aviles who provided the spark for the Wolverines on an 11-yard run to tie the game at 14, his second touchdown of the afternoon. Newfield quarterback Josh Jacob the junior rolled out the pocket and connected with sophomore tight-end Kaleb Mapp to re-take the lead with less than a minute left in the half.

Sachem East answered with 2 TD runs by Virgillio Batista with only 1 extra point between them took a 27-20 lead late in the game. It was Newfield’s Brian Akbulet’s pass out of the backfield finding Joe Hackal who turned it up field for a 37-yard touchdown run to trail 27-26. Newfield thought about going for two but opted to kick the single point after to tie the game. Sachem East blocked the point after handing Newfield a heartbreaking one-point loss. 

 Photos by Bill Landon 

Senior Co-Captain Julia Ragone clears the ball up-field for the Cougars in a 3-0 road win against Newfield in a league IV match up March 23. Photo by Bill Landon

The Cougars of Centereach left no doubt who was in charge when they traveled to their crosstown rival Newfield, scoring five minutes in off a penalty kick by Centereach senior Nicole Fabris to take the early lead. Newfield struggled to keep the ball up field and found themselves defending their half of the field when Fabris struck again with a big push up the left side where her solo shot found the right corner for the insurance goal 12 minutes into the second half. Fabris wasn’t done when she buried another penalty kick with 13 minutes left in the game for which Newfield had no answer.

The win, their third in a row lifts the Cougars to 2-2-1 in league IV for third in the standings behind Smithtown West and West Islip. The loss drops the Wolverines to 0-4-1

Both teams are back in action March 25 where the Cougars host Bellport at 4:30 p.m. and Newfield has a home game against North Babylon searching for their first win of this early season. Game time is 4 o’clock. 

 — Photos by Bill Landon

 

 

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. 

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Newfield senior Mohab Ali captures his 100th career victory Jan. 29. Photo by Sophia Vitale

It was history in the making when Newfield senior and star wrestler Mohab Ali defeated Sachem East’s Luis Valdez Jan. 29 with an 8-2 decision to notch his 100th victory at 195 lbs. Ali’s current season record is 31-2 and his varsity career stands at 100-36. What makes the milestone all that more remarkable is Ali’s freshman year record was 3-21, according to Newfield Head Coach Douglas Lotten.

Senior Hunter Hughes who also won Jan. 29 at 152 pounds tied the Middle Country School District all-time career record at 132 wins. Both wrestlers are ranked number 1 in Suffolk county in their respective weight class. At the state level, Hughes is ranked 5th and Ali is 7th.