Sunday, April 12, 2015: Brockport softball ace DiMartino to miss season

   Leading off today: Julia DiMartino's senior season is over before it started following news that Gatorade's 2014 New York softball player of the year underwent surgery in February and won't be able to pitch again until the late summer.

   The Brockport star felt pain in her upper right arm while leading her team to a second straight Section 5 Class AA championship last spring as a junior but managed to pitch throughout the summer.

   "I didn't want to think there was something wrong with it," DiMartino told the Democrat and Chronicle.

   An MRI in October revealed a torn labrum, eventually leading to surgery in February. The plan is to have her ready to go for fall softball at Liberty University, the Virginia school coached by former U.S. Olympic team star Dot Richardson.

   Brockport opens its season Monday against Victor. Without DiMartino, a two-time all-state first-team pick sporting a 61-9 record, first-year Blue Devils coach Mary Karen Wheat will rely on senior Taylor Light as the No. 1 pitcher.

   "Taylor was ready to take on more innings," Wheat said.

   On the move in Sec. 3: Syracuse Henninger football coach Dave Kline is expected to be named the new coach at Cicero-North Syracuse at Monday's school board meeting, Syracuse.com reported.

   The North Syracuse Central School District board of education agenda lists Kline's name under "consideration of personnel" on the meeting agenda. He will replace Joe Sindoni, who was not retained after two seasons.

   Last season, Kline led Henninger to an 11-1 record and the Section 3 Class AA championship. The Black Knights lost in the state semifinals to eventual state champion Jamestown. Kline became Henninger's head coach in 2004.

    Residency issue uncovered: Section 1 officials told The Journal News they plan to investigate following the paper's report that Woodlands girls varsity basketball star had to withdraw from the school after it was determined she allegedly was not a legal resident of the district.

   The 13-year-old student withdrew from the district after The Journal News asked district officials why she was allowed to attend eighth grade at Woodlands Middle School when public records show her legal address is in Garnerville in Rockland County, the paper reported last week.

   "There was no need to review the residency in question before the Journal News brought this to our attention," Greenburgh Central School District interim Superintendent Tahira Dupree-Chase said in a written statement.

   Dupree-Chase did not elaborate on how the girl was allowed to enroll in the district, whether the coach played a role in bringing her to Woodlands or how residency is verified. The paper did not identify the student, who said she played on Woodlands coach Ty Postell's New Jersey-based AAU team.

   The girl attended North Rockland schools in seventh grade. Woodlands' 2014-15 roster listed two eighth-graders, including one who played for Postell on the New Jersey Sparks' 14-under team.

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   The girl's parents are going through a divorce; the paper reported her mother, who has custody, lists a Garnerville address -- outside the district's boundaries. The district would not say what address the girl used to register or whether officials met with her mother.

   Steve Young, Section 1 girls basketball coordinator, told the paper he will speak to sectional Executive Director Jennifer Simmons about implications for the school district, including forfeits. Woodlands lost to Irvington in the Section I Class B quarterfinals in late February.

    Bouncing back: If you're looking to play two boys lacrosse games in two days, there are many options out there easier than taking on Connetquot on Friday and then Yorktown on Saturday.

   But that's the schedule Ward Melville coach Jay Negus signed up to play. The results were both mixed and impressive -- a 10-9 loss in double overtime vs. Connetquot, followed by a 14-5 triumph against Yorktown, the defending state Class B champ, to improve to 4-1 in the young season.

   Jake McCulloch had six goals, Dan Bucaro had one goal and six assists and Ward Melville outscored Yorktown 11-1 in the second half.

   "It seemed like we were the ones that played in overtime (Friday), and they were the ones who were fresh," Yorktown coach Dave Marr told Newsday. "They seemed to have a little bit of pep in their step, and we were slow, a step behind."

    Extra points: Brittni Lai, a first-team all-state basketball player for Irvington in Class B in 2011 and '12, has left the Marist College women's program, the college announced last week. Lai appeared in 65 games in two seasons at Marist. In the 2014-15 season, she was second on the team in assists with 94, and was fifth in scoring at 4.4 points per game.