The Chaminade baseball team's 7-2 win over Holy Trinity on Friday saw both sides energized by the showdown within the game. It was the battle of the McCrea brothers. Brendan McCrea is a senior centerfielder for the Flyers while junior Dan McCrea is a part-time third baseman at Holy Trinity.

The two squared off in a game last year when Brendan placed a bunt down along the third base line. He beat out his younger brother's throw for an infield single. It's been the talk of their Hicksville family home ever since. 

A lot must go right for the two to go head to head in a game, and the perfect storm of chance came together in the bottom of the sixth inning on Friday. Dan didn't start the game, but by this point had been subbed in at third base. Up stepped his older brother and Chaminade's leadoff hitter.

Finally, Dan got his shot at revenge when Brendan grounded a 2-and-2 pitch down the line. Dan gloved it and threw out his brother to howls from both dugouts. So now the two are even. 

"This could be the last time we ever face each other,'' Brendan McCrea said. "Maybe we'll see them in the playoffs.''

Brother, I hope so.

Posted by Jason Molinet at 11:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

With all the hype surrounding the polls I thought it would be fun to throw it out there and have a Long Island High School football tournament. Take the top eight schools in the Large Schools and the top eight schools in the Small Schools and make a fantasy tournament.

Too bad we couldn't get the sectional directors to just have a charity doubleheader and have St. Anthony's play either Floyd or Bellport in the first game and Freeport or East Meadow or Garden City play against either Chaminade or Holy Trinity in the second game. Imagine how much money could be raised for charity. There'd be 10,000 people at Stony Brook for a Bellport-St. Anthony's game. At $5 a head that's 50 grand for a great cause.

But until the powers that be smarten up and reach out let's have some fun. Take your best eight teams and put them in a Division I tournament and play it out. Do the same thing with Division II and the small schools.

Give us the final score and the scoring summary and a five line highlight on each game. That would be four quarterfinal games, two semifinals and a championship. I'll post my tournament results next week. We may print your best bracket with the most interesting story lines just before the playoffs. Good luck and have fun.

Posted by Greg Sarra at 12:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBacks (0)

With each passing season we say goodbye to the seniors and reload with the underclassmen in the hope that they can carry on a winning tradition. Seven programs jump right out at me as consistently the best. It starts with St. Anthony's, Bellport and Floyd. And you can add Freeport, Garden City, Babylon and Bethpage to that elite group of schools. I really thought this would be the year that St. Anthony's would finally falter.

The rest of the CHSFL has improved markedly and the Friars are young in 2006. If ever there were an opportunity for someone to take down the black and gold this might be the season. So I picked Holy Trinity to bear the burden of stopping St. Anthony's impressive league regular season winning streak. It was the first time that I've picked against St. Anthony's in our four years of picking games. [I learned a few things about the black and the gold last night]. The Titans played the Friars close for a half. With the score tied at 7, St. Anthony's coach Rich Reichert went into the locker room and spoke about focus and tradition and exhorted his players to knock off the nonsense that comes with 105 yards in penalties in the first half. Great teams meet a stiff challenge with resilience and resolve.

St. Anthony's scored 28 unanswered points turning a competitive game into a blowout. In the second half of games the St. Anthony's factor kicks in. What team can keep up with a team that starts 22 different players? By the fourth quarter, Holy Trinity, which plays many players both ways, was understandably tired. I tip my hat to Holy Trinity, an excellent football team, not quite as deep as St. Anthony's.

And I graciously stand down as St. Anthony's met the challenge and proved me wrong. The picks are a fun outlet for fans and players. They are only opinion and thought provoking. I had to laugh last night when the huge St. Anthony's throng was chanting "you can't kick" after the Trinity kicker flubbed a kickoff. They should have been saying "you can't pick" as I hid under the cover of the hood of my jacket. See you next week!

Posted by Greg Sarra at 5:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The U.S. Army All-American Bowl, an all-star football game featuring the nation’s top seniors, just released its list of 400 top nominees. They include four Long Island standouts. That number will eventually be pared to 80.

Former North Babylon running back Jason Gwaltney earned the honor two seasons ago. Can one of these locals make the cut? Recruiting expert Tom Lemming breaks down each. Here is a look at each nominee and Lemming’s comments:

Ronnie Cameron, DE from Holy Trinity: “Ronnie Cameron is a powerhouse who can dominate at the point of attack and gets good leverage. He has a quick first step, bends his knees well, and shows good field awareness.”

Mario Dattilo, OL from Centereach: “Mario Dattilo dominates as a run blocker and has good initial quickness off the ball. At 290lbs, he is very agile and plays the game with a lot of intensity.”

John Elliott, OL from East Meadow: “John Elliott has the quick feet needed to play left tackle at the next level. He gets off the ball quickly and does a good job of sealing off defenders when pass blocking. He sets a solid base, and shows good mobility and lateral quickness.”

Michael Pepe, QB from Bellport: “Michael Pepe has the arm strength and mobility to be an impact at the major college level. He's got great size, a nice loose arm, smarts and confidence. He can move around the pocket and does a good job of avoiding pass rushers.”

Posted by Jason Molinet at 11:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)