Margaretville softball advances in D

The Blue Devils' junior pitcher struck out 13, walked none and allowed one hit as Margaretville advanced to the Section Four Class D softball championship with a 1-0 semifinal victory over Deposit.

"She was pitching to location," said Margaretville coach Rich Harty, whose team last reached the Class D title game in 1999, but lost to perennial power Afton. "She has such pinpoint control and our catcher (Patti Nolan) does a super job because she doesn't move her glove."

Bernhardt, who Harty said is the best pitcher the Delaware League has seen since 2000 Roxbury graduate Tamara Snyder, allowed a single to Lanie Jones in the top of the fourth inning.

That nearly turned into a run for No. 3 Deposit (14-6) as Jones stole second and moved to third on an error. Facing a second-and-third situation with one out, Bernhardt struck out a batter and got another to fly out to Shauna Mead in right field.

No. 2 Margaretville (16-0) scored its run in the bottom frame.

Justine Allen singled and Kate Rapin was inserted as a pinch runner. Mead singled and Nolan reached on error to load the bases. Heather Russell's sacrifice fly to deep right field scored Rapin with the winner.

Deposit got out of the inning with a 5-3-2 double play, turning two for the second time in the game. The Lumberjacks also erased a leadoff triple by Savannah Hinkley in the first inning with a 1-3-2 double play.

Allen paced Margaretville with a 2-for-3 effort.

Losing pitcher Courtney Gifford struck out eight and walked none in a six-hitter.

Harty said the title game — against the winner of today's semifinal between Morris and host Afton — will be played at 1 p.m. Saturday at the BAGSAI Complex in Binghamton.

MARGARETVILLE 1, DEPOSIT 0

SECTION FOUR CLASS D SEMIFINAL

3-Deposit (14-6) 000 000 0 — 0 1 2

2-Margaretville (16-0) 000 100 x — 1 6 2

Courtney Gifford (L) and Amanda Stevens. Jenna Bernhardt (W,15-0) and Patti Nolan. 2B — Patti Nolan (M). 3B — Savannah Hinkley (M).

Baseball

Stamford 11, Milford 4

Top-seed Stamford (18-2) fell behind in the first inning, 3-0, before scoring seven times in the bottom of the frame en route to a Section Four Class D semifinal victory.

Lucas Schrull's two-run homer highlighted Milford's first inning, but the Wildcats allowed six walks and two hits to let the Indians take charge.

Winning pitcher Shane Derry struck out seven and walked two in four innings.

Stamford reliever Paddy Power struck out five and walked one for the Indians, who play Schenevus for the Class D sectional title at a time to be determined at Oneonta State on Saturday.

Nils Oesterle paced Stamford at the plate, going 2-for-3 with four RBIs.

STAMFORD 11, MILFORD 4

SECTION FOUR CLASS D SEMIFINAL

5-Milford (13-4) 300 001 0 — 4 6 3

1-Stamford (18-2) 700 031 x — 11 6 1

Matt Brandow (L), Ryan Campbell (1), Matt Brandow (5), John Steen (6) and Joe Scianablo. Shane Derry (W,8-1), Paddy Power (5) and Josh Sparkes. 2B — Willie Laible (M), Nils Oesterle (S). HR — Lucas Schrull (M).

Schenevus 7, Jefferson 0

James Moretti struck out nine and walked one in a complete-game victory for No. 6 Schenevus (17-4), which scored three times in the opening inning of a Class D semifinal. Dan Spano's two-run single to right field came on a full count with one out to highlight the inning for the host Dragons. Spano finished 2-for-3 with three RBIs and Moretti drove in two runs. Jefferson finished the season at 13-5.

SCHENEVUS 7, JEFFERSON 0

SECTION FOUR CLASS D SEMIFINAL

7-Jefferson (13-5) 000 000 0 — 0 5 2

6-Schenevus (17-4) 300 031 x — 7 5 0

Zach Bulka (L) and Jim Rasi. James Moretti (W,9-1) and Jamie Webster.

Golf

CSC League Tournament

Cooperstown's Nick Feinberg finished among the top three golfers at the Center State Conference Tournament on the par-72 Leatherstocking Golf Course. Feinberg shot a 75, five strokes off the pace of winner Todd Czepiel of Adirondack.

Czepiel beat teammate Mason Swancott, who shot a 74, for medalist honors. Adirondack cruised to the league team title with 144 strokes. Sauquoit was second at 162. Cooperstown finished sixth in the 21-team tournament

Cooperstown's Josh Weeks shot a 93. The top two players from each team, based on season averages, were invited to the CSC championships.

CSC LEAGUE TOURNAMENT

at Leatherstocking Golf Course, par-72

Two best players from each team count toward team scoring. A total of 21 teams competed.

Top 10 team scores: 1, Adirondack 144; 2, Sauquoit 162; 3, Ilion 163; 4, Mt. Markham 165; 5, New York Mills 167; 6, Cooperstown 168; 7, Hamilton 169; 8, Oriskany 170; 9, West Canada 172; 10, Frankfort 181; T10, Westmoreland 181.

Top four individuals: 1, Todd Czepiel (Adirondack) 70; 2, Mason Swancott (Adirondack) 74; 3, Nick Feinberg (Cooperstown) 75; 4, Mike Seeber (Mt. Markham) 77.

DL Championships

Stamford won the Delaware League title for the first time in head coach John Kincheloe's six seasons, easily beating second-place Roxbury, 369-391.

The top four of six scored in the tournament, which took place at the par-70 Stamford Golf Course.

Stamford's Gov Govern earned medalist honors with an 81. Ryan Cole of Roxbury was the only other player to break 90, finishing at 84. Three players tied for third at 90, but Roxbury's Adam Albanese earned the third-place trophy by matching cards. Stamford loses seniors Govern, Brian Gray, Kevin Barnes and Mitch Sanik to graduation at the end of the school year.

DELAWARE LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIPS

at Stamford Golf Course, par-70
Top four of six players

Team scores: 1, Stamford 369; 2, Roxbury 391; 3, H-T 408; 4, Windham 441; 5, Davenport 461.

Stamford: Gov Govern 81, Brian Gray 90, Kevin Barnes 94, Brian Rybicky 104.

Roxbury: Ryan Cole 84, Adam Albanese 90, Mike Andryshak 106, Jason Hinkley 111.

Hunter-Tannersville: Chris Backlund 90, Jeremy Thompson 104, Scott Hommel 105, Tyler Yager 109.

Windham: Mike Giordano 106, Mike Hertler 107, Mike Londi 112, Luke Schildhorn 116.

Davenport: Justin Mole 94, Donald Utter 112, Charlie Whitmore 113, Stacey Sakellariges 142.

Tennis

State Tournament

Oneonta High's doubles team of Brian Rothermel and Ben Kabat advanced in the state tennis tournament at the National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows. Rothermel and Kabat defeated Poughkeepsie's Eddie Sepulveda and Sharukh Shaw of Section Nine, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.

"They played really well," OHS coach Kevin Vandersommen said. "They carry each other."

The two will play Cory Parr and Ryan Tolkin of Section Eight at 8:30 a.m. today in the single-elimination tournament.

Track and Field

Section Three State Qualifiers

Cooperstown 400-meter girls relay team qualified for the State Meet with a season-best and winning time of 52.30 seconds at Liverpool.

Cooperstown coach Connie Herzog said the time was an FAT clocking, meaning it could be translated to a handheld mark of 52.1. Senior Paula Lind, sophomore Liz Christman, senior Suzanne Clarvoe, and junior Steph Smith had a previous best of 52.8 last week at the Section Three Class C Meet.

"That's significantly faster than they've run," Herzog said, "and they can go faster."

The quartet will compete at the State Meet next weekend at Rush-Henrietta. The winners in each event qualified for states.

SECTION THREE STATE QUALIFIERS

at Liverpool —Cooperstown girls results

Steeplechase: 3, Sarah Deane 8:31.38.

Pentathlon: 4, Karen Phillips 1,866 points.

100 hurdles: 5, Sarah Child 17.0.

400 relay: Paula Lind, Liz Christman, Suzanne Clarvoe, Steph Smith, 52.30.

1,600 relay: 5, Bridget Quinn, Anne Kennedy, Chantelle Heroux, Steph Smith, 4:16.18.

Pole vault: 2, Steph Smith 8-6.