Who invited them?
Ithaca College spoiled outstanding seasons for two colleges with county ties in the first round of their respective tournaments.
Springfield College men ran into Ithaca and came out on the short end of a 89-77 score on March 2 in Springfield. It was a rough end of a fine career for Mt. Everett grad Jordan Rote, who missed the last few games with a shoulder injury. His scoring and leadership was missed by the Pride as they dropped their last two games to finish 19-9 overall and 9-3 in conference.
Rote, who stands at no. 27 on the all-time high school boys county scoring list with 1,144 points, averaged 14.3 points per game for the Pride. He started the first 22 games before his play was limited by injury, and he could not compete in the big games down the stretch and the tournament.
Robbie Burke from Hoosac Valley, no. 10 on the high school scoring list with 1,393 points, had a solid season for Springfield, averaging 10 points and eight rebounds per game while playing in all 28 contests.
Burke will return next year, while Rote will graduate.
The Ithaca ladies knocked off Colby-Sawyer in the first round of the NCAA played in Gorham, Maine. The loss concluded the stellar careers of Cailin Bullett of Millbury and Taylor DeSanty of North Adams.
Their careers may be over at C-S, but they have left their names all over the career record books on their way out.
DeSanty will leave as the all-time scorer with 1,785 points, no. 1 in 3 point shots made (219) and no. 7 on the total free throws made list with 240. She averaged 17 points per game as a senior and made 81 percent of her foul shots.
Bullett set the all-time assist record with 583, and she is second all-time in free throws made with 335. Her solid senior season saw her average 12 points per game, and she shot 79 percent from the stripe.
Both Bullett and DeSanty were chosen to play in the NEWBA Senior Classic at Western New England University on March 23.
Representing MCLA in that game was Lucy Tremblay. Lucy recently concluded her outstanding career at the North Adams college. The East Greenbush, N.Y., native received many post-season honors at a recent banquet held on campus.
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Lee native Jeff Puleri headed off to Winter Haven, Fla., with his MCLA baseball squad on March 7. Coach Puleri, in his 11th year, will bring along some county talent among his young team, which includes 13 underclassmen.
Drury graduates include Chase Preite, Robert Jutras, Slayter Aubin and Tyler Benoit, while freshman Nate Alibozek of Hoosac Valley will play some outfield and do some pitching.
Pittsfield High School will be represented by Dale Clark Jr., Christian Robitaille, Derek Lescarbeau and Mike Mancivalano, while Taconic grads Rory Slattery and Ryan Shook will see action on the Florida swing.
The lone senior, outfielder Joe Duncan of Wahconah, will be back to run wild on the bases and hopes to surpass last season’s 23 stolen bases.
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Springfield native, and first-year head coach at Brown University, Mike Martin is a finalist for the 2013 Joe B. Hall Award, which goes to a rookie D-1 coach. Among the other 10 candidates for the award are Kevin Ollie of the University of Connecticut and Richard Pitino of Florida International University.
Joe B. Hall, the former coach of Kentucky who succeeded Adolph Rupp, is one of three men to have won an NCAA Championship as a player and a coach. Dean Smith and Bob Knight are the other two.
Posted by Dick Syriac
on April 4, 2013. Filed under Berkshire Sports Guy,Columns,Opinion,Sports.
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