NYSSWA: New York State Sportswriters Association

NYSSWA rankings are updated weekly.
See the latest plus the earlier weeks'
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Leading off today: I stumbled across an interesting piece of reading that is changing my mind regarding the durability of softball pitchers.

I have to admit that I had bought into the prevailing "wisdom" that pitching a softball is a relatively natural motion, meaning it doesn't overly stress the elbow and shoulder. Back in October, Momentum Media Sports Publishing in Ithaca published a paper by associate editor Dennis Read bringing the windmill style into question.

Read's starting point was a pair of NCAA studies, including a look at 181 pitchers that found that 73 percent suffered at least one injury during the 2001-02 season. Seventy percent of those injuries were classified as chronic or overuse injuries, and the majority either sidelined the pitcher or affected her performance.

One source quoted in the piece noted that volleyball players also are risk for shoulder stress, so athletes playing both sports should raise a flag.

The whole piece runs about 3,000 words and should be a must-read for coaches and athletic trainers because it deals with preventative measures (including focusing on mechanics at an early age) and avoiding overuse.

C-NS is now on the clock: Aeriele Noll doubled twice, drove in three runs and lifted Colonie (15-8) to a 9-3 victory over Troy in a Section 2 Class AA semifinal softball yesterday. Troy (21-1) was top-ranked in Class AA in the most recent New York State Sportswriters Association rankings.

Gatorade honor for Dupra: Greece Athena pitcher Brian Dupra has been selected as Gatorade's New York baseball player of the year. The Notre Dame-bound senior is 6-0 with a 0.17 ERA and is batting .456 with 20 RBIs.

He's the first Section 5 player to snare Gatorade's state baseball honor since another Athena pitcher, Dave Allen in 1987.

Good things happen to those who wait: Nick Weiermiller, a 2006 graduate of Elmira Free Academy, has signed a letter of intent to play basketball for Texas-Pan American, a Division I program.

Weiermiller, a 5-foot-11 guard, spent a year attending IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., and improving his game. He attracted interest from James Madison, East Tennessee State and a few others.

Weiermiller averaged 21.1 points and was a fifth-team Class A all-state pick as an EFA senior but hadn't attracted much college interest.

Extra points: Skaneateles senior midfielder Stephanie Rice had a monster game with 11 goals for the Lakers (18-1), defending state champions, in a 15-10 girls lacrosse victory over Westhill in the Section 3 Class C semis. She has 95 goals this spring after scoring 99 as a junior. . . Niagara-Wheatfield’s Aaron Foote broke the Niagara Frontier League's meet record in the 1,600 meters with a time of 4:18.52, knocking the superb Joe Dunlap (4:23.7 for Grand Island in 1992) out of the book.

9/11/24: Mass. school forfeits over male opponent

9/10/24: Regents table vote on expanding mixed competition

9/9/24: Shot clock experiment will change lacrosse

9/7/24: Garden City sets L.I. football record

9/6/24: Lawsuit takes aim at N.C.'s NIL ban

9/5/24: New York's Week 0 football intrigue