Sunday, April 14, 2019: Baldwinsville avenges OT lacrosse loss to F-M

   Leading off today: Michael Tangredi and Spencer Wirtheim scored four goals apiece to spark host Baldwinsville to a 16-5 boys lacrosse victory over Fayetteville-Manlius on Saturday.

   Austin Bolton added a hat trick for the Bees and Daniel Stehle made 16 stops in goal.

   Brendan Wilcox and Jake Walsh scored nine seconds apart and Baldwinsville took command with a 9-1 run in the first half en route to avenging an 11-10 loss to the Hornets in overtime earlier in the week.

   Baldwinsville kept F-M off the board for 31 minutes while building out its 13-1 lead.

   More boys lacrosse: James Corcoran, Riley Gray, Kevin Pimental and Matt Major had two goals apiece as Chaminade traveled to Yorktown and earned an 11-5 win. Kevin Kuttin had three assists as Chaminade remained unbeaten.

   Chaminade led 5-0 at the half. Notre Dame recruit Liam Entenmann made eight saves in the win.

   "You play these teams so you get better," Yorktown coach Sean Carney. "When you compete at this level, every little thing is going to be scrutinized. We'll break down the film and look at every ground ball, every slide, every pass. We lost the game, but this will make us better as the season progresses."

   Becker fans 22: Mahopac's Shannon Becker struck out 22 batters during a 2-1 softball victory over Colonie in intersectional action. Becker allowed just one hit and the run allowed was unearned.

   Becker has struck out 108 batters through just six games this season.

    • Marissa Stockmeyer of Maryvale struck out 17 Cheektowaga batters in a 6-4 win. earlier in the week she fanned 18 during a 10-3 victory over Pioneer.

   Another Garlow milestone: Mount St. Mary star Lois Garlow reached the 200-goal mark for her lacrosse career during a 22-8 victory against Nardin Academy. Garlow transferred to Western New York from Park City, Utah, and scored 95 goals last season as a junior.

   Garlow reached 1,000 career points during the recent basketball season.

   Girls track: Tully sophomore Brooke Rauber threw down a 2:15.38 in the 800 meters to win at the Tully Invitational. That came on the heels of a 7:09.52 steeplechase performance Thursday at the Marathon Spring Fling Invitational.

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   Deafening silence: Newburgh's school board meets in public Tuesday for the first time since the release of an 87-page grand jury report that cited "systemic failure" in the district's handling of student attendance records, athletics eligibility and the credit-recovery program.

   On the agenda is the first reading of an amended student attendance policy, which apparently will be the first peep from anyone in a position of authority in the school district since the grand jury findings.

   "This was a complete systematic failure from the top down, and it needs to be remedied," Orange County District

Attorney David Hoovler said April 4 during a news conference at which he released the report.

   The investigation examined attendance records as far back as 2012 and The Times Herald-Record reported much of the focus was on rampant absenteeism by student-athletes who should have been ineligible to compete.

   Investigators found 29 instances of students across football, boys soccer, wrestling, baseball and boys and girls track participating while ineligible. More than half of the 110 students whose records were examined averaged 100 or more class absences per year.

   There were people inside the district and on the school board who tried to address the "open and obvious attendance problem," the grand jury report said, but "for many years, both of these attempts were to no avail." The grand jury also cited indifference by the New York State Education Department.

   The scandal came to light in March 2011 when the newspaper reported that class attendance by several members of Newburgh's 2009 boys state championship basketball team was nearly non-existent throughout the season.

   The district revised its attendance policy last spring, requiring 91 percent attendance, but a data clerk in the attendance office said that it was only after being shown the policy by the grand jury that they learned of the new policy.

   "There still is no oversight. I don't believe there is still any oversight. Nobody is watching the store," an unidentified witness told the grand jury.

   A follow-up by the paper last week said at least 10 athletes were required to sit on the day the grand jury report was released because of ineligibility but at least one coach reported still not having access to attendance records.

   Meanwhile, there still has not been a comment from Superintendent Roberto Padilla.

   Approached about whether any ineligible athletes had competed this school year, AD Edgar Glascott insisted any inquiries re routed to Padilla.

   "For the fifth time, everything goes through Dr. Padilla," he said.

   Policy change in Rhode Island: Rhode Island high school coaches will finally be able to work with their players during the offseason portion of the academic year.

   At last month's meeting of the Rhode Island Interscholastic League's Principals' Committee on Athletics, the board vote 13-0 to approve the change beginning next fall. Coaches will be allowed to provide instruction to their players, seen as a way to lessen the influence of club programs.

   More reading: My column this week for The Press & Sun-Bulletin tackles the question of the toughest jobs for athletes in high school sports.