The last three months have been exciting if you’re a sports fan from the town of Bethlehem.
From a Delmar resident leading his college lacrosse team to an NCAA title and earning a major award along the way to the local high school baseball team rallying around one of their coaches on their way to the Section II semifinals, a lot happened on the local sports scene.
The big story this spring took place 130 miles from Bethlehem in central New York where Delmar native Mike Leveille had the week of his young life. The Syracuse University senior helped the Orange win the NCAA men’s lacrosse title with a Most Outstanding Player-level performance.
First, Leveille scored five goals, including the game winner in overtime, in Syracuse’s 12-11 semifinal victory over Virginia. Then, he netted a goal and assisted on two more in the Orange’s 13-10 championship game win against Johns Hopkins.
That wasn’t all that happened to Leveille that week. Two days after winning the national title, he was picked third overall by New Jersey in the Major League Lacrosse Draft and then was traded to Chicago, where he joined his older brother, Kevin. The day after that, Leveille was named the 2008 Tewaaraton Trophy winner, an award given to the top collegiate lacrosse player in the nation.
`This week has been crazy, and it hasn’t all sunk in yet,` said Leveille hours after he made his Machine debut in an 18-14 loss to Washington earlier this month in Chicago. `I’m just glad I was able to help my team win a national title and be part of the tradition at Syracuse.`
Leveille wasn’t the only Delmar native making waves on the national collegiate lacrosse scene. Syracuse junior Katie Rowan was a Tewaaraton Trophy finalist after posting the best numbers of her three-year college career. The Bethlehem Central High School graduate led the nation in scoring with 142 points (73 goals, 69 assists) as she helped the Orange reach the national semifinals for the first time in school history.
Another Bethlehem grad, Halley Quillinan, also played a major role in Syracuse’s success. The sophomore scored 63 goals and was named a first team All-American along with Rowan.
Rowan and Quillinan had the opportunity to show off their lacrosse skills locally when Syracuse visited the University at Albany in April. Quillinan netted five goals, and Rowan scored four goals and assisted on four more to help the Orange pull away for a 21-11 victory over the Great Danes.
`It’s fun to come home and play here,` said Quillinan. `We never played here in college before.`
The game was as much of a Bethlehem lacrosse alumni reunion as it was a homecoming for Rowan and Quillinan. Three former Lady Eagles played on UAlbany’s side ` Tee Ladouceur, Tricia Primomo and Mackenzie Riegel. And standing on Syracuse’s sideline as an assistant coach was John Battaglino, who coached all five players at Bethlehem.
`It’s fun because they’re great players,` said Primomo of playing against Rowan and Quillinan. `It was a lot like high school, but they picked up a few new things since then.`
While Bethlehem grads were making their mark on the national lacrosse scene, the Bethlehem Central High School baseball team was making its mark on the local scene. The Eagles won the Suburban Council Gold Division title and reached the Section II, Class AA semifinals before falling to eventual champion LaSalle 6-1.
Bethlehem accomplished all of this while watching assistant coach Pete Dorwaldt battle cancer.
`They wanted to win it for him, they really did,` said Bethlehem coach Rob Helm, who played for Dorwaldt as an Albany Academy student three decades earlier. `They really wanted to win that Sectional title.`
Bethlehem wasn’t the only school to have a successful baseball team. Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk won its first Colonial Council title in 39 years after compiling a 14-2 league record. And although the Indians fell in the first round of the Class B Sectionals, it was still a memorable season.
`We were fortunate to get some close wins this season and to get good pitching and timely hitting,` said R-C-S coach Bob Dorrance.
In other spring sports news:
The Bethlehem softball team had its finest season in years, finishing second in the Suburban Council Gold Division with a lineup that featured several underclassmen.
`I knew the girls were really talented, (but) not a lot of experience playing at the varsity level,` said Bethlehem coach Karen Gentile. `So, I expected we’d have a good season and be in contention for Sectionals, but I also thought that we might have to go through a learning curve.`
The Bethlehem girls lacrosse team survived a tough Suburban Council schedule to reach the Section II semifinals for the 10th consecutive year. The Lady Eagles lost to eventual Class A champion Guilderland in the semis.
The Voorheesville boys track and field team won the Section II, Class CC title. Its boys 3,200-meter relay team of Ryan Allison, Nathan Bub, Ian Powell and Mackey Lloyd placed second among Division 2 (small school) teams at the state track and field championships after winning the Sectional title.
Albany’s Chuck Terry and Voorheesville’s Dana Peterson won this year’s Delmar Dash in April. Terry covered the five-mile road course in a time of 25:48, while Peterson won the women’s title with a time of 31:17.
Connor Costello pitched a perfect game for Crisafulli Brothers in a May 4 Tri-Village Little League game against Andriano’s Pizza. Costello struck out 17 of the 18 batters he faced.“