Here we go again: Troy High gets dissed by the Times-Union

 Each week, the Albany Times-Union releases its weekly rankings of the top teams in Section II in baseball, softball, lacrosse, & flag football. You would think Troy High would be among the tops in softball as well as flag football.

Nope.

The baseball & softball rankings were released online on Monday, and appeared in Tuesday's print editions. Lacrosse is in today's print editions, and flag football tomorrow.

Of the four sports, Troy only appears in the flag football rankings.

At number 5.

Like, seriously?

Entering play today at home vs. Ravena, the Lady Horses have won six in a row, and their path to the top is blocked by teams from-----wait for it----the Suburban Council. The political bias couldn't be more obvious. Troy beat Niskayuna on Monday, 27-12, for their sixth straight win. The excuses are obvious. The strength of schedule argument comes into play, considering that Troy blew out Lansingburgh and KIPP Tech Valley, both 1st year programs in flag football, and their lone loss was a 1 point heartbreaker to Holy Trinity.

Through 8 games, the Lady Horses have outscored their opponents, 310-66, averaging just over 8 points allowed per game, while averaging just shy of 40 points a game. Those are numbers more closely associated with the men in tackle football.

As of press time, Tuesday's women's lacrosse match at Albany Academy hadn't been reported. Both teams went into the game at 4-3. Neither made the rankings. We're hoping there's something in the paper tomorrow.

Softball has won seven in a row going into today's game at Ichabod Crane, easily the class of the Colonial Council after blowing away Mohonasen last Friday. Again, strength of schedule is an argument keeping Sean Geisel's ladies out of the top 5. Their only losses were to Suburban Council contenders Colonie & Averill Park. Troy & Mohon are the only Class AA teams in the Colonial, and both are getting the Rodney Dangerfield treatment.

We have no argument for the men's lacrosse & baseball teams, as they've been struggling this season. Their poor records justify their absence from the rankings. In what has been a phenomenal season for the women at Troy, it is political bias, regardless of what they say to the contrary, just like in volleyball during the fall.

To Michael Kelly and the sports staff at the Times-Union, I say this. Do better.

News & notes

 While Albany Academy alum Kennedy Swedick has finished her sophomore season for Virginia, another prodigy is developing in the 518.

Mario Vilardi is just 10. His father began taking him golfing when Mario was 5, and, earlier this month, Vilardi finished 2nd in the Putt, Drive, & Chip event preceding the Masters in Augusta. I think we'll be seeing more of Mario down the road.

Time to take a look at some weekend scores:

High schools:

Softball:

Friday:

Colonie 4, Niskayuna 3.

Averill Park 11, Albany 4.

Columbia 11, Shaker 0 (5 innings).

Ballston Spa 11, Saratoga 10.

Bethlehem 7, Guilderland 4.

Burnt Hills 5, Shenendehowa 1.

Ichabod Crane 9, Schalmont 6.

Mechanicville 18, Cambridge 0 (5 innings).

Duanesburg 22, Schenectady 0 (5 innings).

Hudson Falls 11, Gloversville 2.

Ravena 19, Voorheesville 4 (5 innings).

Mayfield 24, Middleburgh 1 (5 innings).

Tamarac 16, Greenwich 4 (5 innings).

Holy Trinity 13, Academy of Holy Names 4.

South Glens Falls 12, Broadalbin-Perth 0 (5 innings).

Canajoharie-Ft. Plain 10, Cobleskill-Richmondville 4.

Berne-Knox-Westerlo 7, OESJ 5.

Hoosic Valley 23, Waterford 1 (5 innings).

Fort Edward 10, Warrensburg 4.

Fort Ann 17, North Warren 0 (5 innings).

Salem 8, Granville 7.

Cohoes 6, Lansingburgh 2.

Queensbury 14, Schuylerville 1 (5 innings).

Whitehall 3, Lake George 1.

Northville 7, Germantown 5.

Galway 21, Fonda-Fultonville 0 (5 innings).

Argyle 9, Corinth 2.

Saturday:

Niskayuna 9, Mechanicville 8.

Mayfield 10, Hartford 8.

Averill Park 11, Queensbury 4.

Chatham 10, Saratoga 5.

Clarence 8, Shaker 6.

Frontier 8, Shaker 0.

Northville 22, Middleburgh 7 (5 innings).

LaSalle 14, Stillwater 0 (5 innings).

Cobleskill-Richmondville 4, Taconic Hills 1.

Albany 8, Saratoga Catholic 3.

Saratoga Catholic 14, Scotia 10.

Saugerties 7, Albany 0.

Coxsackie-Athens 12, Johnstown 0 (5 innings).

Fonda-Fultonville 7, Watervliet 0.

Whitesboro 5, Guilderland 2.

Guilderland 10, Rome Free Academy 2.

St. Anthony's 9, Shenendehowa 7.

Mepham 7, Burnt Hills 4.

Colonie 14, St. Mary's-Lancaster (PA) 3 (5 innings).

Cicero-North Syracuse 4, Colonie 2.

Sunday:

Burnt Hills 7, Watkins Glen 0.

Burnt Hills 1, Clarkstown South 0.

Shenendehowa 3, Pine Plains 1.

Deposit-Hancock 10, Colonie 8.

Shenendehowa 7, Burnt Hills 2.

Women's lacrosse:

Friday:

Schylerville 20, Scotia 0.

LaSalle 8, Albany 4.

Cohoes 13, Greenwich-Cambridge 2.

Corning-Painted Post 15, Queensbury 7.

Saturday:

Shenendehowa 12, Bethlehem 11.

Columbia 25, Averill Park 13.

Saratoga 12, Guilderland 8.

Rush-Henrietta 17, Queensbury 5.

Sunday:

Irondequoit 17, Queensbury 4.

Men's lacrosse:

Friday:

Schenectady-Mohonasen-Schalmont 14, Broadalbin-Perth 1.

Voorheesville 15, Troy 8. Confirms what I had suspected about this game.

Guilderland 8, Ballston Spa 7.

Johnstown 17, Greenwich-Cambridge 9. The Sir Bills host Troy tonight.

Cicero-North Syracuse 14, Shenendehowa 5.

Saturday:

Fordham Prep 14, Guilderland 5.

Saugerties 9, CBA 5.

South Glens Falls 23, Red Hook 3.

Palmyra-Macedon 17, Voorheesville 2.

Schuylerville 10, Mechanicville-Stillwater 7.

Fayetteville-Manilus 12, Shaker 11.

Auburn 10, LaSalle 2. 

Victor 9, Niskayuna 6.

Baseball:

Saturday:

Watervliet 17, Catskill 2 (5 innings).

Germantown 6, Greenville 2.

Saratoga Catholic 12, Hoosick Falls 0 (5 innings).

Greenwich 4, Stillwater 3.

Fonda-Fultonville 11, Johnstown 3.

Port Jervis 14, Chatham 4 (5 innings).

Ballston Spa 6, LaSalle 4.

Saranac 7, Fort Ann 5.

Niskayuna 11, Ichabod Crane 3.

Richfield Springs 10, Canajoharie-Ft. Plain 7.

Burnt Hills 5, Queensbury 3.

Utica Proctor 27, Guilderland 3 (5 innings).

Colleges:

UAlbany:

Baseball won 2 of 3 from NJIT, with a 6-0 loss on Sunday preventing a sweep.

Softball won 2 of 3 from UMass-Lowell, defeating Olivia DeCitise and the RiverHawks, 4-3, on Sunday. DeCitise (Troy) pitched back-to-back complete games for Lowell, going 1-1, to run her season record to 15-9.

Men's lacrosse closed its regular season with a 9-8 win over NJIT.  The Great Danes host UMBC in the America East tournament Thursday night.

Siena:

Baseball won 2 of 3 from Sacred Heart, winning Sunday's game 10-2.

Women's lacrosse advanced to the MAAC semi-finals after beating Mount St. Mary's, 9-8.

Softball salvaged the final game of a weekend set vs. Merrimack with a 1-0 on Senior Day Sunday.

Troy High sports review, through April 24

 As we approach the end of April, there are a couple of hot teams that should stay hot going forward.

Flag football:

Current record: 6-1.

The Lady Horses have won 5 in a row. Hudson was the latest victim, losing 31-6 at home to Troy on Friday. 

Consider this for a moment. Troy has outscored their opponents by a ridiculous margin of 283-54. Ouch, babe!! This averages out to Troy averaging 40+ points a game through 7 games while allowing an average of just under 8 points a game. If this sounds familiar, well, we've seen the men's tackle football teams be just as dominant over the years.

Next: The road trip continues at Niskayuna on Monday, before returning home to play Ravena on Wednesday, followed by a road game at Mohonasen on Friday.

Softball:

Current record: 7-2 (5-0 Colonial Council).

Mohonasen was the latest victim on Friday, as the Lady Horses won by mercy rule yet again, to the tune of 18-0. Yipes! Wednesday's game vs. Lansingburgh has been pushed back to May 8. A game vs. Holy Names that was supposed to have taken place earlier this month at home has been shifted to a road game at the NYS Correctional Facility (?) on May 15.

Next: LaSalle comes in on Monday. After that, it's a road trip to Valatie to play Ichabod Crane on Wednesday before hosting Albany Academy on Friday. Three tough opponents stand in the way of a perfect league record.

Baseball:

Current record: 3-6.

After snapping a 3 game losing streak in clipping Lansingburgh on Wednesday, Trevor McCarthy's club dropped a 10-3 decision to Mohonasen on Friday.

Next: Same schedule as softball. Home vs. LaSalle, which has owned the Troy boys in recent years, and Albany Academy, on the road at Ichabod Crane, plus a road trip to Ballston Spa on Saturday.

Women's lacrosse:

Current record: 4-3.

The winning streak ended Friday with a 19-4 thumping at the hands of Voorheesville.

Next: The ladies stay on the road at Albany Academy on Tuesday before returning home to play Cohoes on Thursday. Then, back on the road for a rematch with Mohon/Schenectady/Schalmont on Friday.

Men's lacrosse:

Current record: 2-5.

Not a good week. From what we can gather, the laxmen fell to Voorheesville as well on Friday night.

Next: The road trip continues at Johnstown on Monday, then back home Wednesday night vs. Greenwich-Cambridge before a rematch with Hoosick Falls-Tamarac on Friday at Hoosick Falls.

News & notes

 After winning a state title with CBA last month, JJ Osinski is changing schools and leagues.

Osinski, who will be a senior next season, is transferring to Albany Academy, now in NEPSAC. Brother Austin will stay at CBA, so the Brothers will be just fine.

Hudson Valley Community College is undefeated no more in baseball.

The Vikings split a doubleheader with Cayuga Community College Wednesday, losing the nightcap after extending their winning streak to 21 in a row in the opener. 24 hours later, HVCC swept Cayuga at Bruno Stadium. All four games went 7 innings except Thursday's opener, which went 5 due to the mercy rule.

I wonder if Cayuga plays the theme of native son Rod Serling's Twilight Zone at their ballpark........

Thursday's high school scores:

Women's lacrosse:

Guilderland 18, Ballston Spa 5.

Emma Willard 20, Voorheesville 4. The Jesters pick up their first win of the season.

LaSalle 10, Hoosick Falls-Tamarac 9.

Suffern 15, Burnt Hills 8.

Bethlehem 16, Columbia 5.

Johnstown 15, Academy of Holy Names 10.

Troy def. Mohonasen-Schalmont-Schenectady. Score has not been published as of press time. The Lady Horses have won 5 in a row.

Men's lacrosse:

Bethlehem 18, Columbia 3.

Niskayuna 17, Averill Park 5.

Glens Falls 15, Amsterdam 4.

South Glens Falls 22, Hudson Falls 0.

Burnt Hills 14, CBA 12.

Saratoga 11, Colonie 3.

Queensbury 10, Scotia 7.

Baseball:

Maple Hill 12, Berlin-New Lebanon 0 (5 innings).

Softball:

Amsterdam 14, Mayfield 2 (5 innings).

Ichabod Crane 14, Voorheesville 2 (5 innings).

Coxsackie-Athens 14, Catskill 6.

Chalk up another win for the NY Phoenix, as they defeated Reading, 111-105, at M & T Bank-Mohawk Harbor Arena on Thursday. The teams meet again Sunday at 3 at Mohawk Harbor.

A quick reminder that due to NFL draft coverage, tonight's Mets-Rockies game will be on WXXA (UFL football shifts to Grit for the night).

News & notes

 A trio of former Section II basketball stars are back home to join the Albany City Rocks for a weekend series of games in Atlanta.

Tre'dell Faison & Devon Maloney (LaSalle) and Stetson Merritt (Troy) spent the season with different teams in NEPSAC. Mahoney helped Newman School capture the NEPSAC Class AAA title after coming off a wrist injury in the preseason. Merritt landed honorable mention status in Class AAA while playing for New Hampton in New Hampshire.

Siena's men's lacrosse team dropped a 14-6 decision to Merrimack on Wednesday to fall to 11-4 overall, 7-2 in the MAAC. The Saints allowed 5 goals in the 2nd quarter, and never fully recovered.

Wednesday's high school scoreboard:

Baseball:

Troy 3, Lansingburgh 2. The Flying Horses snap a 3 game losing streak and an accompanying scoreless streak.

Cobleskill-Richmondville 13, OESJ 3.

Mohonasen 6, Cohoes 2.

Women's lacrosse:

Queensbury 21, Hudson Falls 0.

Men's lacrosse:

Mechanicville-Stillwater 11, Schenectady-Mohonasen-Schalmont 2.

Greenwich-Cambridge 10, Hoosick Falls-Tamarac 8.

Softball:

Lansingburgh @ Troy was postponed for unknown reasons. The game was rescheduled for Friday, May 8.

Shenendehowa 10, Shaker 4.

Corinth 14, North Warren 10.

Ballston Spa 7, Niskayuna 1.

Averill Park 3, Burnt Hills 0.

Colonie 5, Albany 1.

Saratoga 10, Guilderland 5.

Columbia 6, Bethlehem 3.

Glens Falls 13, Amsterdam 4.

Ichabod Crane 13, Ravena 0 (5 innings).

Chatham 13, Germantown 0 (5 innings).

Hoosick Falls 16, Stillwater 2 (5 innings).

Duanesburg 3, Mayfield 1.

Broadalbin-Perth 6, Gloversville 2.

Schalmont 13, Voorheesville 1 (5 innings).

Greenwich 18, Waterford 0 (5 innings).

Holy Trinity 6, Albany Academy 3.

Mohonasen 7, Cohoes 6.

Flag football:

Shenendehowa 12, Niskayuna 6.

Troy 75, KIPP Capital 0. Troy bettered its own scoring record, set earlier season vs. Lansingburgh.

Tuesday's high school & college scoreboard, 4/21

 Colleges:

Softball:

Siena split a doubleheader with Mount St. Mary's, winning the opener, 3-0, then losing the nightcap, 5-0.

Colgate 9, UAlbany 1.

Union 9, Cobleskill 5.

Russell Sage 7, Hartwick 1.

High schools:

Softball:

Ichabod Crane 11, Burnt Hills 1.

Albany 13, Maple Hill 0 (5 innings).

Saratoga Catholic 20, Cambridge 0 (5 innings).

Chatham 3, Guilderland 2.

Mechanicville 14, Berlin-New Lebanon 0 (5 innings).

Tamarac 4, Hoosick Falls 3.

South Glens Falls 6, Averill Park 5.

Troy 8, Ravena 3. Uh-oh! Troy is undefeated in Colonial Council play.

OESJ 6, Northville 0.

Schalmont 2, Albany Academy 0.

Hoosic Valley 18, Stillwater 0 (5 innings).

Cobleskill-Richmondville 11, Fonda-Fultonville 3.

Whitehall 19, North Warren 2 (5 innings).

Scotia 17, Schenectady 0 (5 innings).

Baseball:

Voorheesville 5, Ichabod Crane 1. Drew Hillicoss & Tim Martin combined on a no-hitter for the Blackbirds.

Albany 9, Troy 0. Three straight shutout losses for Troy (2-5).

Women's lacrosse:

Burnt Hills 17, Guilderland 9.

Shenendehowa 12, Niskayuna 5.

Columbia 11, Colonie 8.

Shaker 22, Ballston Spa 1.

Bethlehem 8, Queensbury 4.

Men's lacrosse:

CBA 12, Averill Park 5.

Mechanicville-Stillwater 17, Hoosick Falls-Tamarac 1.

Scotia 16, Hudson Falls 3.

Colonie 9, Columbia 5.

Niskayuna 14, Shenendehowa 4.

Guilderland 12, Burnt Hills 8.

South Glens Falls 9, Schuylerville 6.

Queensbury 12, Amsterdam 3.

Saratoga 18, LaSalle 7.

The most ignored team in local sports

 Check the sports section of either the Albany Times-Union or Daily Gazette, and you'd be hard pressed to find anything on Hudson Valley Community College's sports teams. Any of them. El Cheapo Media might have something, but at last check, it usually takes them a few days to do a feature story.

Consider, for example, HVCC's baseball team, currently undefeated at 20-0 heading into a 2-day, 4-game home & home series with Cayuga Community College, starting tomorrow in Cayuga. Each team will host a doubleheader.

We bring this up because the Vikings will play an exhibition game on April 30 against the other tenants at Bruno Stadium, the Tri-City Valleycats. While this has been acknowledged on the 'Cats' website, it's not on the Vikings' schedule, which tells you all you need to know about a slight disconnect between the school and the 'Cats.

I've attended a game between these two clubs in the past, and, based on that experience, it's just sad that the Vikings have so much difficulty drawing fans. No pre-game advertising outside of the campus, if there's any on campus at all. Nothing in the papers. HVCC is 20-0, and ignored by the media. Why? Because unlike UAlbany, Siena, RPI, & Union, HVCC is a 2 year junior college. With the dwindling media resources, the Vikings get the Rodney Dangerfield treatment from the media, and an undefeated season shouldn't be swept under the rug at all.

This year's Vikings have a decided Section II vibe, in that of the 55 players on the roster, 16 of them come from Section II schools (i.e. LaSalle, Shaker, Ichabod Crane). Almost 1/3 of the roster. They're lucky if Bill Arsenault (Times-Union) can fit them into his Campus Watch column. WTEN did a feature piece on the Vikings over the weekend, so what's missing? Word of mouth. If there's not enough attendance at games, and the press isn't there, who's going to know what's going on?

The 2nd half of the Cayuga series is at Bruno Stadium on Thursday, beginning at 2 pm. Don't wait for the Valleycats to play the Vikings a week later. You'll be glad you made the trip.