Sorry again for doing that but talking about controversial issues here in a "column" that only gets about 5000 reads per week is not really what I am into doing even though I’ve touched upon some of these things in the past.
I’ve heard about and witnessed many things that are absolutely controversial while running around the state watching games and talking to people for almost 7 years now. I’ve seen my share of illegal activities, immoral acts, and questionable practices that could make for some interesting reading, but I don’t care to delve too deeply into things of those natures. It is intellectually dishonest of me to NOT report on what I see and know when it comes to how such events effect the athletic endeavors of all involved, but that is the choice that I make most of the time.
It is therefore ironic that there are times when I will get a negative e-mail because I mention some high school athletes name in an instance, for example, that one loses their temper in a game. I remember a particular example a couple years ago when I wrote that someone "lost her composure" in a game, which absolutely impacted the outcome of the game I was covering. I received a message shortly thereafter from the athlete’s parents stating that I should be more positive when writing. The TRUTH in that case was the athlete was so way out of control that she should have been kicked out of the game for her outburst and probably suspended from the team. I was trying to be diplomatic while reporting the FACTS in the game, but it can be difficult to please everyone.
I have then thought that I should write whatever is the plain truth regardless of the situation and let it lie out there for all to decipher later. I have also thought that I should be downright controversial and add my personal opinions to each and every case that is controversial because controversy sells and I could use some money to pay off some bills.
But I was an investigator for a long period of time prior to trying to make a new way of living for myself with all this stuff and there are things I would rather not deal with any longer. I like to keep the sports part as simple as possible and as entertaining as possible for myself. As much as I am into this to promote our athletes, I am also into this for as much fun as I can get as well. I can do without hate mail most of the time, although I like to push buttons every now and then.

We will have a very mini edition of the Diamond State Games this year. It looks like it will be just one event, Flag Football, due to extreme popular demand. Since we already have commitments from eight teams, we will press on and hold that event July 20. So if you would like to enter a Flag Football team, drop a line and I’ll hook you up with the information you will need.
I knew that was going to happen. I have been getting calls wondering about the 2002 Diamond State Games, but the calls haven’t come from anyone wishing to pick up the 50k I would need to run the whole thing yet. Since I am still fighting off bankruptcy from last year I am not in any hurry to add to that difficulty and finance it with my own money again.

There is one other small issue to cover before talking about some special achievements from this past week and that is regarding scorekeeping. One word to describe the scorekeeping problem is "atrocious". There isn’t any continuity in scoring games and recording statistics across the state and it does make for trouble along the way. Softball is one of those sports that requires some accuracy when keeping score and the young and inexperienced people who draw the task of keep the book try hard but fall short all too often. The particular problems are deciding what is a hit and what isn’t and what might be a stolen base and what might not, for example. Since college coaches like to have statistics in their hands while looking at videotape of a potential recruit, these statistics need to be accurate. There are high school coaches who are talking about straightening out these problems, and it would do the sport good for that to happen.
That’s all for that.

Stacy Haldeman scored 5 goals for the St. Marks lacrosse team in a 20-4 victory over Dover. She also scored 5 against Newark in an 8-4 victory and 5 against Glasgow in a 13-2 rout.
Alexis Courtney scored 5 of her own for Caesar Rodney as the Riders dropped Newark 12-8. She added five more when the Riders beat Stephen Decatur 14-1.
Alicia Montgomery pitched a no-hitter for Red Lion Christian as the Lions dumped St. Thomas More 11-0.
Heather Sartin struck out 13 Cougars in a William Penn 9-1 win over Delcastle.
Howard’s Luis Maleno whiffed 11 Wilmington Christian Warriors as the Wildcats captured an 8-1 win.
Greg Montgomery scored 5 goals for St. Andrews in a losing effort by the lacrosse team against Tower Hill. Final score, 11-10.
Jeff Ritterson picked up 7 assists for Concord in a 14-4 win over McKean.
Jackie Ciconte scored 8 times for the Tatnall lacrosse team against Friends, but Corey Leader’s 9 goals lifted the Quakers to a 15-11 win in the game.
Leigh Giacco, a freshman from Tower Hill, scored three goals for the Hillers soccer team in a 7-0 win over Red Lion Christian. The Hillers make the Delaware Sports Top Ten in just their first year of existence.
Megan Collins was credited with breaking the state record for goals when she scored six times against Smyrna as the Caesar Rodney soccer teams blew out Smyrna 13-0. The six goals gave Collins 123 for her career which surpassed Newark’s Julie Marx’ mark of 118 and Ursuline’s Kelly Romanczuk’s mark of 116. Both of those names had been mentioned as possible record holders in the games leading to Collins’ 123^rd goal. Collins added four more to her total when the Riders beat Cape Henlopen 5-0.
Patricia Casarotto scored a hat trick in the same game that Collins set the new state standard.
Billy Cecconi struckout nine batters in his very first varsity start for the Howard Wildcats. Howard’s 11-6 win over the Charter Force baseball team also gave Cecconi his first win of his high school career.
Ashley Constantini and Kortni Pedlow combined to pitch a no-hitter for St. Marks as the Spartans defeated Wilmington Christian 15-0.
Josh Coveleski scored 5 times for Caesar Rodney as the Riders beat St. Marks 12-6.
Sophomore Daphne Patterson scored 6 goals for St. Andrews in a 16-13 shootout against Sanford.
Sussex Tech sophomore Danielle Shields struckout 22 batters in a 1-0, 10 inning loss to Delmar. The Wildcats sophomore Ashley Dryden, in her third varsity season, whiffed 12 of her own in the contest. Shields’ performance followed a 10 K, 3 1/3-inning relief appearance and a no-hitter against Nandua, VA. Shields then went on to throw a no-hitter against Archmere as the Ravens picked up another victory, this time 4-1. The result? A top-ten ranking for the Ravens.
Ashley Judge scored 5 goals for the Concord Raider lacrosse team as they beat Glasgow 15-3.
Ursuline’s Corrine Cowen struckout 11 as she pitched a 5-0 shutout against Delcastle.
Salesianum actually scored runs against St. Marks Mark Romanczuk even though the Spartans picked up a 4-3 victory in the finals of the Governors Cup.
Mark Primiani had a 4-4 day with a 2-run bommalooga (see earlier Ramblings for definition) for St. Andrews and also pitched the Saints to a 12-0 victory against Friends.
Justin Taylor had a 4-4 day for Dover in an 11-3 win against Wilmington Christian.
Mt. Pleasant’s Julie Geare hit three doubles in a 6-5 win against the Glasgow softball team.
Bryce Jones scored 5 goals for Brandywine in a key Blue Hen Conference lacrosse game against district rivals Concord. The Bulldogs won 10-6 to lay claim to first place in the conference.
Middletown knocked off Caravel 2-1 in an interesting softball matchup. Nicole Shallcross out-dueled Jackie Homiak in a 2-1 upset. Shallcross transferred to Middletown after last season having been Homiak’s backup for the past three years. I watched Shallcross pitch in the Diamond State Games last year and watched her blow away a team that was half-filled with college players. The Cavaliers are undefeated at this writing and now ahead of the Bucs in the Delaware Sports rankings. (They have been in the top ten all year it is important for me to note here also.)
Ashley Dryden pitched a no-hitter for Delmar as the number-one-ranked Wildcats beat Dover 10-0.
Lenona Stancil struckout 15 for Laurel as the Bulldogs beat Smyrna 3-1.
Amanda Mucaria had a 4-4 day with a bommalooga in Newark’s 13-3 win over Christiana.
Hillary Schmidt lit up Sanford for 8 goals as Tower Hill beat Sanford 13-11. Leslie Baldino ripped 5 goals for the Warriors in the game.
Athena Manolakas scored four times for Tatnall as the Hornets blanked Concord 6-0.

The preceding list of accomplishments is not all-inclusive. If I have missed something you think is noteworthy, feel free to drop me a note.

Some other things….

Goldey-Beacom college freshman Holly Kimble is leading the Lightning with 27 rbi after 29 games and is hitting over .360. Her RBI total is good for second in the CACC. She is 6^th in the conference with 8 doubles Kimble is a Sussex Central graduate.
Goldey-Beacom’s Julie Parseghian, a Cape Henlopen graduate, is in her sophomore year at Goldey and is third in the conference in stolen bases with 10. Parseghian, the catcher, is also 9^th in the CACC in runs scored.

Two other Sussex Central graduates are making their marks in the CACC softball ranks. Wilmington College’s Sandy Samsel is 7^th in the conference in hitting with a .404 average and 6^th in OBP with a .503 mark.
Betsy Lecates, a former Delaware Sports Athlete of the Year winner, is helping the Wildcats from the pitching mound. She is 9-3 (in 14 games) with a 1.62 ERA, which is good for 6^th in the conference. She is also 9^th in the conference with 52 strikeouts and third in the CACC with three shutouts.

Here are a couple of releases regarding Delaware athletes. Feel free to pass any that you might see this way, so we can post them here.

ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE WOMEN'S TRACK AND FIELD
Friday, March 1, 2002

Etown's Jill Brobst and Melissa St. Clair Eclipse Program 1500m Record at Haverford Last Chance Meet Friday

HAVERFORD, Pa. --- Elizabethtown College freshmen Jill Brobst (Wilmington, DE/Concord) and Melissa St. Clair (Chambersburg, PA/Chambersburg) eclipsed the Etown program record in the indoor 1500m by almost 23 seconds at the unscored Haverford Last Chance Meet Friday.
Brobst set the new Etown program record with a hand time of 5:00.3, and St. Clair finished right on her heels in 5:00.5.

ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE WOMEN'S LACROSSE
Saturday, April 6, 2002

Fretz Scores Eight Goals to Lead Etown Past FDU-Madison, 14-11

MADISON, N.J. --- Elizabethtown improved to 3-5 overall and 2-1 in the Middle Atlantic Conference Saturday with a 14-11 road win over FDU-Madison, which falls to 2-6 overall and 0-5 in the MAC with the loss.
The teams took a 7-7 tie into halftime. Etown went ahead to stay just 21 seconds into the second half on a Liz Fretz (Parkerford, PA/Owen J. Roberts) goal, one of a team-best eight on the day.
Jen Manns (Wilmington, DE/Brandywine), Molly Walker (Columbia, MD/Glenela Country School) and Ally Edel (Bel Air, MD/John Carroll) each lead the Blue Jays with two assists, and each added one goal scored as well.
Elizabethtown returns to action on the road Saturday, April 13 against MAC rival Drew for a 1:00 p.m. game.

Manns was leading Etown in scoring as of this date.

2002 Elizabethtown College
Women's Lacrosse Statistics

Catholic University Men's Basketball

Sowden Commits to Catholic University

Shane Sowden, a 6'8 forward at St. Elizabeth's High School in Wilmington, Delaware, has formally committed to attending The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. The Cardinals, the 2001 Division III National Champions, finished this season 26-3, with a final ranking of #7 in the nation. They are the only team in the nation to have reached the "Sweet 16" the past five seasons.

Sowden was named First Team All-State, the first person in St. Elizabeth's history to make 1st Team All-State. The team captain led St. Elizabeth's, the Catholic Conference champions, to a final record of 19-7 and a trip to the Final Four in the State Championships. It was the first time in school history St. Elizabeth's reached the Final Four.

Sowden averaged 18 points, 13 rebounds, 5 blocks, and 4 assists a game. He was second in the state in rebounding and third in blocks. Sowden averaged a double/double and also recorded four triple/doubles and one quadruple/double.

Sowden, a Blue-Gold All-Star selection, has a GPA of 4.0 and has been a National Honor Society member for three years. He will major in education at Catholic University.

Good bye