By TONY BELLISSIMO
Opening week will provide a good measuring stick for the Baldwin girls field hockey team. The Lady Bruins, the Class A runners-up last year, face Garden City, defending champ Massapequa and Carle Place within a five-day stretch.
"The first five games are going to be tough," Baldwin coach Barbara Reiss said. "This is probably the youngest team we've ever had. It's a junior-oriented team and my job is to get them to mesh. It might take a while for us to jell, but I'm sure we'll get there."
The Lady Bruins are to be led by senior captains Jamie Pettit and Laura Buszko. Pettit and junior Malorie Brown will be counted on to provide the offense, while Buszko is the leader on the back line.
How quickly Baldwin comes together could depend on its midfield. Reiss is excited about the potential of junior starters Jackie DiDomenici, Stefanie Cannizzaro and Beth Marino. "They'll be the glue holding us together," Reiss said of the trio.
Sophomore Michelle Fox or junior Taylor Altman will get the nod in goal. Altman can also play a wing position.
"Our main goal is to play well enough in the conference and get into the playoffs," Reiss said. "Our success is going to depend on how hard the girls work."
Girls soccer hopeful
The Baldwin girls soccer team struggled down the stretch last fall and has moved into Conference II as a result. It opens at Valley Stream South this week.
"Conference II should be a good fit for us," said coach Don Schreier, "but I thought we'd be a good fit for Conference I also. We'll see what happens. We're playing a bunch of historically good teams."
A healthy Tricia Jaeger would go a long way into helping the Lady Bruins return to the playoffs. Jaeger missed six games last season and Baldwin lost them all. "She's the difference-maker for us," Schreier said of the senior sweeper.
Jaeger and senior All-Class stopper Mary Romano are the leaders of the defense in front of sophomore goalkeeper Jessica Stegman. Others coach Schreier is counting on to contain opposing forwards include senior Monica Powell and sophomore Erika Myrill.
"I'm pretty confident that our defense can keep us in every game," Schreier said.
Baldwin's midfield is experienced with senior All-Class selection Rachel Bogin, junior All-Class performer Maggie Ross and junior Shaun Volpe all returning.
"I think the conference is going to be a good race," Schreier said.
Girl's volleyball champions return
The Baldwin girls volleyball squad has won three of the last four Class A county championships, including the past two.
While coach Janine Heilbronn realizes her players would love nothing more than to "Three-Peat," she doesn't want them to get too far ahead of themselves.
"I think winning it all again is in the back of all of our minds, but it's too long and too tough of a season to think about in September," Heilbronn said. "We lost four starters but we have enough experienced players returning, and I think we'll be able to hang tough with most of the teams that are out there."
Baldwin, which lost last year's Long Island Class A final to Smithtown, will be tested right away with matches against Massapequa, Mepham and Oceanside within a four-day span.
Returning to lead the way is two-time All-County outside hitter Shannon Verity. The senior was a member of the gold-winning Empire State Games team this summer and shares the Baldwin captaincy with senior outside hitter Jen Forsberg.
Junior setter Emily Paul takes over the offense. Paul, who played in the Junior Olympics over the summer, along with senior Alyssa White, gives the team depth at the position. Junior middle hitter Jessica Toner and junior Meghan Shiels are projected starters as well.
Boys soccer has hard work and hustle
Baldwin boys soccer coach Peter Demakis is excited about the prospects of seeing the program return to the playoffs after a three-year absence.
"It's going to be a fun year," he said. "I'm pleased with the hard work and hustle the kids have shown in practice and scrimmages. We want to get back to the playoffs. After that, it's all of matter of which team gets hot."
Senior co-captains Matt Aksionoff and Matt Southard return to lead the Bruins, who open this week at Hicksville. Aksionoff is a three-year starter in goal, while Southard led the team in scoring a year ago and can play forward as well as midfield. "I'll be counting on those two to do similar things," Demakis said.
Senior David Magana and sophomore Danny Cepero both return to the midfield. Cepero is also listed as the backup goalkeeper. Sophomore forward Gabriel Estevez should provide scoring punch.
"Last year we experienced growing pains, but we have a lot of kids coming back," Demakis said. "We want to get off to a good start and build some early momentum."
