Monday, May 9, 2016: North Rockland wins 'Ace' Morabito championship

   Leading off today: North Rockland captured the title at the 36th annual James "Ace" Morabito Memorial Invitational Softball Tournament on Sunday in Herkimer.

   North Rockland defeated Pearl River 9-5 in the championship game of the 16-team tournament after advancing with a 3-0 win vs. Ichabod Crane in the semifinals. Pearl River reached the title contest with an 11-2 win over Valhalla earlier in the day.

   North Rockland posted shutouts over Iroquois and Mechanicville during Saturday action. Pitcher Kayla McDermott was selected the tournament MVP.

   More weekend notes: Ally Haskell threw career no-hitter No. 8 last week and the Franklinville sophomore followed up with No. 9 Saturday during a 4-0 win against Pioneer. Haskell struck out 13 and walked one in her third no-hitter of the season.

    • Four Saratoga Central Catholic pitchers combined on a two-hitter with 12 strikeouts as the Saints downed Warrensburg 13-0 for coach Phonsey Lambert's 500th victory. Kyle Bailey worked the first four innings to get the win and also drove in four runs in the milestone win.

    • We will have a new No. 1 team in boys Class B lacrosse when the New York State Sportswriters Association posts its latest ratings this afternoon. Donovan Welsh scored the winning goal in overtime to give Fayetteville-Manlius a 12-11 victory over Jamesville-DeWitt in a non-league game Saturday.

   The 25th-ranked Hornets led most of the game and survived a five-goal fourth quarter by No. 1 J-D that sent the game into overtime.

   Jamesville-DeWitt suffered a 9-6 loss to Class C No. 3 Cazenovia on Tuesday.

   And on that note ... : If you are of a certain age -- somewhere between 50 and deceased -- one of the first albums you may have owned was "Dark Side of the Moon," by all accounts a masterful body of work by Pink Floyd that influences any number of artists since and practically helped invent an FM radio format: Album-Oriented Rock.

   "Dark Side of the Moon" made its debut on the Billboard top 200 album chart on March 17, 1973. And then a funny thing happened: The album stayed there ... and stayed ... and stayed.

   It remained on the chart for more than 14 years -- a span of 736 consecutive weeks before the disc finally slipped out of the top 200. (It's popped back in a few times since, helped by changes in data compilation rules, and has pushed its total to over 900 weeks, easily the highest total ever.)

   I mention this because of what will happen this afternoon in boys lacrosse. Section 3 mainstay West Genesee will fall out of the Class A rankings and into honorable mention with a 7-6 record following a weekend loss to Syracuse Corcoran for its fourth setback in six games.

   Editor Neil Kerr is continuing to research the details, but as far as we can tell at the moment it will be the first time

the Wildcats, winners of 15 NYSPHSAA championships, have gone unranked in the history of the NYSSWA ratings -- an astonishing four decades going back to April 1977.

   Coaching news: Croton-Harmon has appointed Ben Martucci as the replacement for retired boys basketball coach Bill Thom. Martucci, a Croton phys ed teacher who most recently assisted at Bronxville, played for Thom from 1995-97 and helped the Tigers win their first league title in 44 years as a junior.

   "I'm just really appreciative to have this opportunity to coach not only where I played and grew up, but where I've been teaching for 15 years," he said. "It really is just an opportunity that you can't pass up."

   Thom, a member of New York state's Basketball Hall of Fame, won 396 games in 31 seasons.

   Venue change possible: The Section 4 wrestling tournament could be leaving Floyd L. Maines Veterans Memorial Arena and broken into two parts at separate venues.

   Under the proposal, Corning would host the smaller Division I field. No site has been determined for Division II, the Press & Sun-Bulletin reported.

   More later: As I mentioned last week, I have a pile of good and important stories from reporters around the state accumulating on my desk. I'll have a second blog today that catches up on all that fine work.