Granville sports round-up, May 26, 2022

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The Granville Golden Horde baseball team saw their season come to an end at the hands of Maple Hill last week. (Photo by Stacie Arnhold)

Horde wins, loses in sectional play

By Keith Harrington

Granville’s baseball team opened sectional play with a home game against Stillwater of the Wasaren League and the contest turned out to be as good a baseball game as the fans at Ken Burch Field may ever see.

Granville’s Caleb Nelson and Stillwater’s Shea Brown hooked up in a pitching duel as the six-seed Golden Horde advanced with a 1-0 win over the 11-seed Warriors in a Class CC opening round contest.

Granville won in dramatic fashion with a walk-off in the bottom of the eighth.

In a game that lasted only an hour and 25 minutes, the teams were tied 0-0 heading to the bottom of eighth and Brown had a no-hitter going for Stillwater. Nelson was dealing as well, allowing only three hits.

In the extra frame, Cody Nelson broke up the no-hitter with a leadoff single. He moved to third on a passed ball and scored on Caleb Nelson’s RBI walk-off single.

Caleb Nelson finished with 15 strikeouts and only walked one.

Brown finished with a two-hitter and 11 strikeouts.

Cody Nelson was also instrumental behind the plate, throwing out a pair of Stillwater runners, extinguishing scoring threats by the Warriors.

Jaxson Mueller was 1 for 3 for the Stillwater.

Granville moved to 10-4 on the season. Stillwater finished the season at 5-11.

On Friday the Golden Horde went on the road to try their hand against a very good Maple Hill squad and highly regarded hurler Gaven Van Kempen. With Major League scouts looking on and clocking the Wildcat’ ace with radar guns behind home plate, Van Kempen led Maple Hill to a 13-3 victory.

Maple Hill hitters gave Van Kempen all the offense he would need and then some in the first inning. The Wildcats roughed up the Golden Horde for six runs and never looked back.

The Golden Horded attempted to inch back into the game by plating a pair of runs against Van Kempen to make it 6-2.

The Wildcats responded in a big way, scoring five runs in the in the bottom of the frame to extend the lead to 11-2. Maple Hill added two more runs in the sixth to provide the final score.

Van Kampen gave up just two hits in four innings of work, striking out seven.

Jerry Stalker was 3 for 4 for Maple Hill with two home runs and four RBIs. Sam Gemello, Jack Wildcroth and Colby Frazier doubled for the Wildcats.

Logan Harrington doubled for the Golden Horde. Nathan Rathbun also had a hit.

Maple Hill advances to the semifinals with a 14-4 mark. The loss closed the book on the Granville season with a record of 10-5.


Granville adds Unified Basketball to athletics

By Keith Harrington

Granville has added another sport to its athletic program.

This year the Golden Horde will participate in their inaugural season of Unified Basketball, and so far the program has been successful, in more ways than one.

“This is the most amazing experience,” said Katie Barber, who coaches the team with athletic director Justin Nassivera and Lisa Meade. Kerri Jennings serves as a student coach.

The New York State Public High School Athletic Association and Special Olympics New York work in conjunction to offer Unified Sports to NYSPHSAA member schools. Project Unify is made up of three main components, inclusive sports, youth leadership and advocacy, along with whole-school engagement.

About 1.4 million people worldwide take part in Unified Sports, breaking down stereotypes about people with intellectual disabilities in a really fun way. Many high-profile professional sports organizations, including the NBA and Major League Baseball and the NCAA, support the program.

Barber is the highly successful coach of the Granville field hockey team and is enjoying her experience with the Golden Horde Unified Basketball squad.

“It’s a mix of students with special needs who are the athletes, and then students with no disabilities that are “partner” players,” Barber said. “Their job is to help out the others on the court.”

Granville had played two games so far. The Golden Horde lost their first contest, 42-39, to Queensbury on May 17.

“They lost a tough one but every student on the Granville team scored,” Barber said.

Zander Wilson led Granville with 12 points, including two 3-pointers. Dean Angove and Cody McMorris-Lawless scored six points each. Connor Martin, Eli Douglas and Andrew Barnes scored four points apiece. Shawn Sparks chipped in three.

In their next game, Granville took a 15-8 lead in the first quarter and held off Glens Falls, 39-31. An 8-4 fourth quarter was a key for the Golden Horde.

Wilson led the way once again with 13 points, nine from beyond the arc. McMorris-Lawless and Barnes each chipped in 12. Martin added two more.

Barber praised partner player Cody Devino for his leadership on the team and commitment to helping others.

“Team captain and partner player Cody Devino is a true team player and helps everyone on his team. During the game with Queensbury, Cody was even helping to get the ball to one of the Queensbury players that was struggling to make a basket,” Barber added.

Granville is now 1-1 on the season.

The Granville roster:

Dean Angove…52…sophomore…player

Andrew Barnes…50…senior…player

Kody Devino …54…senior…partner

Eli Douglas…53…sophomore…partner

Matthew Getty…35…junior…player

Connor Martin…31 …senior…player

Cody McMorris-Lawless…45…junior…player

Brent Perry…43…junior…partner

Shawn Sparks…33…junior…player

Kyia Walker…23…junior…player

Natali Walker…51…junior…partner

Zander Wilson…55…freshman…player


Granville’s Amber Gibbs competes at the Wasaren League meet last week at Stillwater High School. (Photo by Stacie Arnhold)

Granville, Whitehall compete in league meet

By Keith Harrington

The Granville and Whitehall girls and boys track and field teams competed at the Wasaren League championship meet at Stillwater High School. Greenwich claimed the girls championship and Warrensburg the boys title, but the Golden Horde and Railroaders had some notable performances.

In the girls meet, Granville placed 10th with 17 points. Amber Gibbs was responsible for 16 of the Golden Horde’s points. She finished second behind Nina Sgambelluri of Greenwich in the 1500- and 3000-meters accounting for eight points each event.

Nicole Arnhold earned Granville’s other point, placing first in her section of the 400-meter hurdles. Arnhold was ninth in her flight of the triple jump.

Madeleine Johnson won her section of the 400-meter dash for the Golden Horde.

Alexa Weaver was third in her flight of the 800 meters.

The Granville team of Nicole Arnhold, Laura Arnhold, Johnson and Weaver were second in their flight of the 4×100 relay.

Natalie Morin finished third in her flight of the discus throw.

Whitehall finished in 12th place as a team with six points. Presley Gosselin was credited with all of Whitehall’s points with a third-place finish in the high jump.

Dory Gosselin placed first in her flight of the shot put for the Railroaders. She was also second in her section of the 200-meter dash.

Alexis Macleod won her flight of the triple jump.

Amelia Lyng was second in her flight of the 800 meters.

Ava Stone placed third in her section of the 100 and 400 meter hurdles.

Julia Arquette was fourth in her flight of the long jump.

The Granville boys finished 14th with three team points. Tim Pratt picked up one of the Golden Horde’s points with a sixth-place finish in the 100 meter hurdles. Pratt was fifth in his flight.

Quinlan Fitzpatrick placed fifth in the discus throw for Granville’s other two points.

Alex Torres and Ethan Gibbs were first and second in their section of the 100-meter dash. They were third and fourth respectively in the 200 meters.

Tristen Teer won his section of the 400 meters.

Carter Powell was fourth in his section of the 800 meters.

Quinn Johnson was eighth in his flight of 3200 meters. Powell was 10th in his flight of 1600 meters.

The Golden Horde foursome of Pratt, Gibbs, Powers and Fitzpatrick finished first in their section of the 4×100 meter relay.

Torres placed fifth in his flight of the long jump.

Nick Powell was fourth in his flight of the discus throw.

Whitehall didn’t register any team points but still had some solid showing. Louis Pratt and Jonathon Martindale were second and third in their section of the 100-meter dash.

Elijah Rubrecht and Logan Terry were fifth and sixth in their flight of the shot put. Rubrecht was fifth in his flight of the discus throw.