'What a ride, what a year.' Section V teams earn multiple state titles

Greeting Section V fans,

What a run for Rochester-area teams in state tournaments. There were state champions in baseball, softball and lacrosse. And plenty of incredible performances throughout. Here are just a few of the highlights.

A rebound in baseball

Will Taylor, a senior at McQuaid who has signed to play baseball at Wofford College, rarely struggled this season.

Taylor was McQuaid's co-leader in runs batted in and the team's home run leader. A left-handed pitcher, opponents failed to score a run against him in 42 1/3 consecutive innings during the season.

And he was McQuaid's starting pitcher during the state tournament semifinal against Massapequa, with a 3-0 lead to work with, thanks to his three-run inside-the-park home run in the top of the first inning.

But McQuaid's state tournament semifinal was nowhere near Taylor's best day on the mound, and he was replaced after two innings. There was more to his story in that postseason game, however.

When Daniel McAlviney suffered an injury later in the game, Taylor was put back on the mound and successfully closed McQuaid's 7-6 win that put the Knights in the state tournament final.

"I’ve never even it before," Taylor said about a pitcher being pulled, then sent back to the mound to pitch. "But I love closing.

"It was good to pick Dan up, after he picked me up, and get the job done."

Presentation to come

When a high school sports team wins a state championship, a sectional title or in some cases, a league division, it is common for its school to acknowledge the triumph with a banner.

There will be another baseball state champion banner at McQuaid.

The Knights earned their second New York State Public High School Athletic Association title June 11, when the Section V Class AA champion defeated Fayetteville-Manlius 4-2 in the tournament final in Binghamton.

When the 2019 McQuaid baseball team won its state championship, players were presented rings during the next basketball season at a varsity game.

"We’ll probably do that at a basketball game next winter," McQuaid coach Tony Fuller said. "You have to do it when the kids (former players) are home from college."

Should Section V baseball teams play best-of-three series during postseason?

Webster Schroeder seniors pass the torch

State champions aren't created overnight.

Webster Schroeder seniors Jordyn Zenkel, Hannah Secor, Maddy Spakoski, Krislyn Clement and Molly Broccolo can attest to that.

They were sophomores in 2020 when COVID wiped softball season away. As juniors, Webster Schroeder's 2021 Section V Class AA title run was remarkable, but there was no tournament beyond sectionals.

This season began shaky one month in. A vigorous regular season schedule saw the Warriors go 4-5 from April 20-30. Those losses turned Secor, Zenkel, Spakoski, Clement and Broccolo into better leaders, prevalent in their plus-50 postseason run differential, placing the 2022 Warriors in rarified air with an NYS championship.

Webster Schroeder's senior class will graduate with a 43-7 record over the last two seasons. They'll pass the torch to a large junior class led by Mikayla Bengsch, Sam Schoenhardt, Haley Kucewicz, Carley Casteline and Teagan Murphy.

"It comes down to tradition. We've been lucky to have a lot of success, and the older girls trickle it down to the younger girls," coach Meaghan Keil said. "They know our expectations and the level we want to play at. The upperclassmen really set the bar high. It makes the younger kids buy in.

"It makes my job pretty easy because everybody does buy in, they know our expectations, and want to work hard."

Victor girls win first state lacrosse title

It’s all over for Section V lacrosse and what a season it was for both the boys and girls.

For the girls, Section V had two teams in the state championship games last weekend at SUNY Cortland. Victor won the Class B title with a dominating postseason run.

After a 9-5 win over rival Canandaigua to win the Section V title, the Blue Devils won their state tournament games by 14, 8 and 9 goals to win their first state title in school history for girls lacrosse.

"We’ve been through a lot as a team, but we have so much faith in each other," Victor senior Maddy Mabbettt said.

In Class C, the Honeoye Falls-Lima girls had similar domination, winning the Section V title by an 18-8 count over Geneva, then beating state tournament opponents by 14 and 9 goals before falling to Manhasset in the Class C state final.

“We were confident we could have competed but we put ourselves in bad positions,” HF-L coach Kevin O'Connell said.

Rush-Henrietta lost a heartbreaker in the Class A semifinals and a young Palmyra-Macedon team fell in the Class D semifinals.

Canandaigua boys fall in state final

In boys lacrosse, the Canandaigua Academy Braves advanced to the Class B final, where they fell to Garden City. The Braves rode their stifling defense to the championship, winning three of their six postseason games by one goal.

A semifinal win over the storied West Genesee program is a nice feather in the CA cap but the Braves ran out of magic against powerhouse Garden City in the state championship at Hofstra University.

“What a ride, what a year,” said coach Deven York. “These kids put Canandaigua lacrosse back where it should be and they inspired a community.”

In Class A, Fairport lost in the semifinals to eventual state champ Baldwinsville.

Until next time, keep up on Section V's sports scene by going to our high school page.

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This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Rochester region high school sports newsletter June 13