Triple play caps key Warriors’ win

Columbia’s baseball team was mounting a seventh-inning rally against Niskayuna Monday, and in a matter of seconds, it was all over.

The Silver Warriors turned a rare triple play to finish off their 6-1 victory over the Blue Devils, and with their seventh Suburban Council win, qualified for the Section II Class AA tournament.

“It was a great game,” said Niskayuna coach John Furey. “We hit the ball. We moved guys over with bunts, and we stole bases. We got the pitching, and we fielded the ball.”

Yet Furey, in his 13th season as Niskayuna’s coach, had never seen any of his teams turn in a defensive gem like the one started by shortstop John Moore.

“We had one turned against us in a playoff game against Shaker. We had men on first and third, and they turned a double play. Our kid at third broke late, and they got him at home. I think it went 5-4-3-2,” Furey said. “That was the only one I’d seen. This is the first one for our guys.”

Niskayuna’s Chris Tyson struck Pat Puentes with a pitch to begin the Columbia seventh, and Nolan Gaige followed with a single, sending Puentes to second. Ian Gaule then ripped a line drive which Moore caught. Moore shuffled the ball to second baseman Pete Furey for the second out, and Furey fired to first baseman Joe Privitera to end the contest.

“It was a shot, and their runners were off and going,” coach Furey said. “John went to his left and caught the ball behind their runner and made a quick turn and flip, and the other guys finished it.”

Moore also started a double play in the fifth inning to back Tyson, who scattered four hits while striking out six. Tyson retired the side in order four times and faced 23 Columbia batters, two over the minimum.

suburban realignment

The Suburban Council is shifting from three divisions to two for several sports, including baseball, softball, soccer and basketball, starting in the 2008-09 academic year.

“Transportation is becoming an issue,” said Guilderland athletic director and Suburban Council president Wayne Bertrand. “With fuel costs rising, that was a big consideration on this.”

The North Division will include Ballston Spa, Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake, Niskayuna, Saratoga Springs, Shaker and Shenendehowa. The South Division will include Averill Park, Bethlehem, Colonie, Columbia, Mohonasen and Guilderland.

“The [league’s] athletic directors voted on it. We passed it along to the school principals, and they supported it,” said Bertrand.

bonacquist nets 11

Schenectady junior lacrosse standout Sara Bonacquist scored a school-record 11 goals against Emma Willard Wednesday, and is believed to be the first Section II athlete to reach that total since Tara Akstull of Shenendehowa in 2004.

Akstull had 11 goals and one assist in a 22-13 Section II Division I

first-round win over Columbia. Bonacquist also had one assist for a 12-point performance.

Meghan Devlin had set the Schenectady single-game record with seven goals Tuesday in a win over Ballston Spa before Bonacquist broke it in an 18-17 loss. The midfielder scored 10 of her goals over the final 22 minutes.

Last week, Courtney Pierce of Schuylerville notched nine goals against Johnstown, and Alexa Smead of Holy Names scored nine goals in a game with Schenectady. Ian Saunders of Glens Falls also had nine goals last week in a boys’ game against Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake.

moving up

The 15-0 Niskayuna boys’ lacrosse team has moved up four spots to No. 18 in the STX/Inside Lacrosse national high school rankings.

Gilman, Md., (17-0) is No. 1, while New York state is also represented by Ward Melville (15-0) at No. 2, West Islip (14-1) at No. 3, LaFayette (15-1) at No. 10, St. Anthony’s (13-3) at No. 12 and Chaminade (12-3) at No. 14.

Niskayuna plays at Christian Brothers Academy tonight and has Suburban Council games remaining next Tuesday at Guilderland and home Thursday against Shenendehowa. Niskayuna has won three straight Section II championships, and seven since 1994.

christner to springfield

Rugged center/forward Evan Christner, who led Voorheesville to the Section II Class CC championship game this past season, has committed to play basketball at Springfield College.

The 6-foot-4 senior averaged 16.9 points, 8.5 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.3 steals in earning first-team Colonial Council all-star honors and third team all-state Class C laurels. He led the Blackbirds in scoring and rebounding as a junior and senior, and finished with 835

career points.

state news

Red Hook’s John Kuhn, the winningest girls’ basketball coach in state history, is retiring after 35 seasons with a 619-124 record. Kuhn guided his teams to 16 league titles and 12 Section IX championships, and none of them had a losing

record.

John Volpe, who started a

50-season run of coaching basketball at the old Keveny High School in Cohoes, is also stepping down at Sacred Heart in Yonkers.

The 76-year-old Volpe won 529 games at Keveny, Gorton, Sacred Heart and Meritime College. He spent the last 12 seasons with the Sacred Heart boys, and led Gorton for 33 seasons, guiding his Wolves to 14 Yonkers City titles.

here and there

Sarah Palmer of Schuylerville tied the state freshman high jump record by going 5-8 at the Greenwich freshman-sophomore meet last week. Palmer’s 5-8 also set a school record, as did her 8-3 effort in the pole vault. . . .

Sam Roecker of Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake turned in an impressive double at last weekend’s Queensbury Invitational, winning the 1,500 in an area-best 4:33.92 as well as the 2,000 steeplechase in meet-record 7:06.07 ...

Former Niskayuna teammates Mark Bryan (Johns Hopkins) and Basil Daratsos (Navy) will be on opposite sides in Saturday’s an NCAA Division I lacrosse quarterfinal game at Annapolis. Bryan and Daratsos led Niskayuna in scoring during the 2005 season, when the Silver Warriors reached the state Class A final and set a Section II record for victories with 22 ...

The Section II girls’ lacrosse tournament starts Monday. Pairings will be announced Saturday ...

Schenectady Christian School’s varsity baseball team has four sets of brothers in George and Tony Amedore, Matt and R.J. Gallup, Mark and Steve Garrasi, and Chris and Jon Kovel. . .

Maple Hill junior Jaime Schultz pitched a no-hitter with 16 strikeouts and clubbed a pair of solo home runs in a 3-0 Patroon Conference win over Taconic Hills last Friday. Schultz and teammate Joe Duggan combined on a no-hitter in Maple Hills’ 1-0 Section II Class CC quarterfinal win over Greenwich in 2006. . . .

Schenectady junior basketball player Antonia Williams was recently honored with the NAACP Youth Leadership Award at a luncheon held at Malozzi’s Restaurant. An honor roll student, Williams was recognized for her volunteer work with the elderly, within her church and as a youth basketball coach . . .

Scotia-Glenville’s tennis tandem of Peter Casey and Scott Wade captured the Foothills Council doubles title with a recent 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 win over Brendan Rabideau and Ben Sabo of Queensbury ...

The 55th annual Fonda-Fultonville All-Sports banquet is Monday, June 2, at 6 p.m. in the high school gymnasium. Reservations can be made through the athletic office (853-3182 ext. 4225).