Leading off today: If you don't think pitching is 90 percent (or more) of high school softball, please sit down and chat with Eric Coleman at your earliest convenience.

   The Chenango Valley coach made six pitching changes — situational substitutions alternating between righty Dani Koltz and lefty Taylor Hendrickson — to keep the upper hand during a 4-1 victory over Cicero-North Syracuse yesterday in the second round of the 16-school James "Ace" Morabito Tournament in Conklin.

   Koltz slugged a two-run double in the bottom of the third inning to provide the key offensive blow for the Warriors (17-3), ranked third in Class B by the New York State Sportswriters Association. C-NS, ranked eighth in Class AA, knocked out Class A No. 1 Maine-Endwell in the first round, 7-4.

   CV plays Williamsville North (No. 22 in Class AA) and Horseheads (No. 14 in AA) takes on Victor (No. 2 in A) today at 1 p.m. in the semifinals, with the title game scheduled for 3 p.m.

   Though Hendrickson started, she ended up working only two innings, surrendering a run and one hit. Koltz allowed a hit and struck out seven — including three in a row in the second inning after inheriting two runners in scoring position — in five innings.

   "We just tried to match Hendrickson up with their lefty slap-hitters," Coleman told the Press & Sun-Bulletin.

   Koltz began the day with a 2-for-2 showing and an RBI at the plate during a 7-0 win over Mechanicville.

   Meanwhile, shorthanded Williamsville North got a triple, home run and three RBIs from Jessica Wess to beat Webster Schroeder in the second round, 10-0. Wess was called up from the JVs to help out because the Spartans were missing five players who were attending the junior prom.

   Efficient at the Eddy Games: Albany may have only brought eight boys to the 69th annual Eddy Games at Union College, but coach Stan Gasorowski got the most out of them. The Falcons scored 36 points to hold off Uniondale (35), Shenendehowa (33) and Westbury (33) for team honors on a windy day in Schenectady.

   It was Albany's first team title since 1982 at a meet where depth always abounds and sometimes astounds.

   Junior Kareem Morris won the 100- and 200-meter dashes (:11.49/:22.97) and ran the second leg on the winning 400 relay (:43.75 to fend off Uniondale's :43.80), and Alex Schettino picked up critical points with a third-place showing in the pole vault. Morris and Chris Stogsdill of Marcellus (9:07.78 to break a 1981 meet record by Tupper

Lake's Marty Beauchamp in the 3,200) were selected the outstanding male athletes.

   Bay Shore took girls honors with 74 points, one better than Shen. A year ago, Bay Shore edged Holy Names for the championship, 77-76½. Geannitta McClain of Utica Proctor was the female athlete of the meet, winning the 100 and as part of the 400 relay, placing second in the 200 and also scoring fifth-place points in the 200.

   Nothing but net: Even in this era of specialization, it's not hard to find some very talented two-sport athletes. But Jonathan Benjamin of Harley Allendale-Columbia puts a twist on that because his two sports — basketball and tennis — aren't a typical combination.

   Benjamin, a four-year starter and three-year co-captain, was selected to the Class C first team by the NYSSWA after carrying his squad to within one win of the NYSPHSAA tournament in March. He was highly coveted by any number of Division II and III colleges in that sport but will attempt to make the University of Richmond roster as a walk-on next season.

   Yesterday, Benjamin and doubles partner Andrew Guzick remained undefeated in tennis and clinched a berth in the NYSPHSAA championships with a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Pittsford Mendon's Paul Barrett and Kevin Fatehchand.

   Mandatory reading alert: Regular readers of this blog know I'm an unabashed fan of the work The Times Herald-Record in Middletown. Besides its groundbreaking Varsity845.com Web site, the staff there churns out consistently good enterprise reporting.

   They did it again this morning as Kevin Witt posed this question: How important is winning in high school sports?

   Witt examined the roles of the modified, JV and varsity teams within programs, tacked on the results of an unscientific (but nevertheless interesting) reader survey and got interesting perspectives from players and coaches on how much emphasis is placed on winning.

   And I'm not going to give it away here because you really should go read the whole story, but he wraps up with story of a Sullivan West JV softball game that went horribly awry but serves as Exhibit A of the way a coach should handle his team.

   Extra points: Mamaroneck junior catcher Mike Rosenfeld, who broke a school record for RBIs last spring, returned yesterday from two weeks off due to a hamstring injury and hit a home run. . . . Cananstota's Jeff Willis tacked more than a foot onto his season best and broke the Section 3 pole vault record by clearing 14-7 on Friday at the Morrisville-Eaton Invitational.