Thursday, April 18, 2019: Two Frewsburg pitchers throw home no-hitters

   Leading off today: Frewsburg was a happening place in high school sports on Wednesday as a pair of pitchers threw no-hitters on neighboring fields.

   In softball, MaKena Adams struck out 19 batters on hew way to a no-hitter as the Bears defeated Pine Valley in a Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division 2 East matchup.

   "Last year, she was a dominant pitcher," Pine Valley coach Dave Saxton said of Adams, who faced only two batters over the minimum. "She is a lot better this year. Her speed is faster and she has the best changeup of any pitcher that I have seen in years."

   In baseball, junior Aaron Hair threw a no-hitter with a career-best 14 strikeouts as the Bears blanked Pine Valley 11-0 in a CCAA Division 2 East game.

   Hair threw Frewsburg's first no-hitter since 2013. The right-hander threw 66 of his 100 pitches for strikes, despite first-pitch strikes to just 11 of 23 batters.

   "I knew I had it going around the third or fourth inning," Hair said. "I felt really good. My pitches were all working and I felt like I was throwing hard."

   Boys lacrosse: Danny Caddigan connected for five goals to lead Smithtown West to a 10-7 win over visiting West Islip in a matchup of state-ranked squads from Section 11.

   Smithtown, which is unbeaten through nine games, is ranked fifth in the state in Class A. West Islip is ranked 10th.

   Caddigan has 48 goals this season to lead all of Long Island.

   West Islip led 3-0 early in the second quarter before Caddigan scored three times during a 4-0 run that put Smithtown West ahead for good. His fifth goal gave the Bulls a 6-4 lead midway through the third quarter and his brother Matt made it 7-4 with 4:14 left in the period.

   "We just tried to get back to playing our brand of lacrosse and when we play the way we can play, I don't think anyone can stop us," Caddigan said.

   More softball: Williamsville East's Kara Leone and Summer Clark combined to pitch a no-hitter for the Flames in a 6-0 victory over Victor, the defending NYSPHSAA Class AA champion.

   Christine Mack drove in two runs with a home run and a single. Clark drove in a run with a triple.

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    • Jamesville-DeWitt senior Shayna Myrshall fired a three-hit shutout with no walks and seven strikeouts, but she also went 3-for-4 with two homers and five RBIs to beat Cortland 15-0 in a five-inning game.

   Myrshall's first two homers of the season raised her career total to 11.

   Jamesville-DeWitt, the three-time defending Section 3 Class A champion, is 3-0.

   More baseball: Cicero-North Syracuse coach Kevin Rockwell collected his 300th career victory with a 5-4, walk-off win over West Potomac (Va.) High.

   Tim Taladay drove in the winning run in three-run seventh inning a contest West Potomac led 4-0 entering the bottom of the sixth.

   Connor Gonzalski and Taladay's based-loaded hit brought home the tying and winning runs.

   Alumni news: Andre Cook has been selected the recipient of the Clarence "Big House" Gaines National Coach of the Year Award for men's Division II basketball.

   Cook was a Watervliet basketball star and coached at Hudson Falls from 1996-2004.

   He recently wrapped up his 10th season coaching at St Edward's University, which finished 30-4 and reached the Division II Sweet 16.

   "This was really one of those special seasons -- no injuries, everything clicked, very little off-court things to deal with. We have our entire starting five coming back next year, so we're expecting great things, but who knows if it's going to go perfect again?"

    • The University of Rhode Island introduced Tammi Reiss as its new women's basketball coach Thursday after spending the past four seasons as an assistant at Syracuse.

   Reiss was the fifth overall pick in the 1997 WNBA Draft after a stellar career at the University of Virginia. Before that she was a star for Eldred, graduating in 1988 as the state's career scoring leader at the time with 2,871 points.

   "From the first time I spoke with Tammi, I knew she was special," said Thorr Bjorn, URI's athletic director. "Her experience and success as a player at the highest levels of college and professional basketball are certainly terrific. What makes her even more special is the approach she takes in working with young women. I know she will be able to teach them the game of basketball, but she also will teach them leadership, accountability, teamwork and a commitment to excellence."

   On the move: Artie McCormack is leaving after 19 years as the athletic director at Irvington to take the same job at Pearl River.

   McCormack's hiring was approved at the Pearl River school board Tuesday. He will begin work there July 1.

   McCormack will succeed interim AD Stewart Hanson, who took over when Todd Santabarbara left on Nov. 26 to become Section 1's executive director.

   "Mr. McCormack also has a number of years of coaching experience and has an excellent reputation in Section 1 Athletics," Pearl River Superintendent Marco Pochintesta said in a statement. "I am confident that his experience and knowledge will benefit our health, physical education and athletics programs and meet the needs of our students."

   Sec. 6 football booster dies: Milt Dickerson, one of the founders of the Kensington Lions All-Star Football Classic in Western New York, has died after being hospitalized recently for pneumonia.