Here & There Column 6-29-10

Coaches and members of the Class D State Champion Livingston Manor Central School Lady Wildcats softball team enjoy the parade and activities honoring them on June 23.

Bringing Home The Bacon

The word championship is defined by Webster's dictionary as "a competition held to determine a winner" and the word champion is defined as "superior to all others."
All of the above came true on June 12 in the community of Waterloo, NY for the Livingston Manor Central School Lady Wildcats as they won the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class D softball championship which gave Livingston Manor its first state title in school history.
Dreams do come true and the dedication and early season goals set by this excellent group of athletes and coaches proved that hard work "brings home the bacon" which in this case is the schools first state championship.
We witnessed on several occasions, since we live a block away from the batting cage used for training on the Manor athletic fields, the intensity that these softball players had when practicing and honing their athletic skills.
These state championship runs don't get handed to you and this championship team and their coaches made unbelievable sacrifice to reach their goal.
There were different heroes throughout the 2010 season run for Livingston Manor and of course it does help to have an athlete and pitcher of the caliber of Marissa Diescher who's dominating pitching and great hitting skills have already rewarded her with a full scholarship to Division 1 Penn State........and she still has one more year of high school eligibility which could very well lead her championship team (minus three graduating seniors) back to the State Class D championship in June of 2011.
A community parade honoring this championship team was held last Wednesday evening followed by ceremonies and speeches from community, state and school leaders with light refreshments served in the parking lot of the Water Wheel Junction. A proud community offered their sincere congratulations to both the team and Section Nine coaches of the year Kevin Clifford and Charlie Hicks.
We add our congratulations for a job well done Lady Wildcats and the history you have made will long be remembered by the Livingston Manor community and the County of Sullivan.