Leading off today: A situation that his left the Section 9 community in the dark for three weeks took a turn Wednesday with a report raising the possibility that an "ax to grind" is behind the absence of one of winningest softball coaches in state history.
Bruce Guyette, who owns 647 career victories and has guided Minisink Valley to 13 Section 9 championships, was removed from coaching duties on May 7 after district officials were made aware of allegations against him. He has not attended practice or games since. The Warriors, ranked 12th in the state in Class
AA, are scheduled to play Warwick on Thursday night for a berth in the Section 9 championship game.
Citing several sources, the Mid Hudson News reported Guyette's removal came after a parent lodged a complaint against the 65-year-old coach for high-fiving the man's daughter and inadvertently grazing her backside while following through.
"I think this situation has been blown way out of proportion," a father of two girls who played for Guyette said. "It was incidental contact, and it could have been discussed. I don't know that Bruce even knew that it happened. I think (the complainant) has an ax to grind with Bruce. He has always complained about him and his coaching style."
Two other parents made comparable comments suggesting an ulterior motive to the allegation.
The coach, the complainant, and a district spokesperson all declined comment to Mid Hudson News.
Scorebook's accuracy at root of protest in Section 11
One day after winning a Suffolk County championship on the tennis courts, the Ross School boys tennis team's triumph was upheld by a Section 11 protest committee.
The controversy began shortly before Ross School took on Bayport-Blue Point on Tuesday when the eligibility under the NYSPHSAA's representation rule for one of the athletes in third doubles for Ross came into question during the lineup exchange.
According to
Newsday, the coaches agreed to play the three singles and four doubles matches that might make a protest moot, but Ross pulled out a 4-3 victory by winning the last two matches -- in the third set.
The paper's account of what transpired said the Ross scorebook didn't appear to confirm the player's eligibility before the match. Afterward, however, his name was listed on enough match rosters from the regular season to satisfy the representation rule.
Asked if the player's name appeared to have been written in different handwriting, the paper reported Section 11 tennis coordinator Mensch replied, "It certainly looked that way."
Section 11 heard the protest the following day.
"The committee found that the player in question had met the state requirement to be eligible for the postseason," Executive Director Tom Combs said. "The investigation included the review of the Ross scorebook. And we looked to see if the individual in question had the appropriate number of matches to comply with the representation rule. We found that he did meet the requirements, which deems him eligible for postseason play."
Here's my question though: If the scorebook was going to be a significant piece of evidence in a potential protest hearing, wouldn't the smart move have been to leave it in Mensch's possession after the lineup exchange?
Milestone
Anthony Raio's first of six goals (to go along with five assists) on Tuesday was the 266th of his lacrosse career, making the Half Hollow Hills attackman Long Island's all-time leading scorer.
HHH defeated Smithtown East 20-9 in the Section 11 Class A semifinals.
Raio entered the contest tied with John Glenn's Matt Triolo on the goals list.
"(Triolo) is one of my club teammates, so now I have bragging rights over him," Raio said. "I had zero goals and four assists late in the first half, so the record wasn't necessarily on the forefront of my mind. It's obviously good to have those accolades, but credit to all my teammates. They've assisted me plenty of times, so I wouldn't have this record without them."
