In an unfortunate repetition of last year’s ill-fated post-season, the Indian River’s girls’ soccer team ended their year in the state tournament’s opening round. Last year, A.I. DuPont proved too much for the girls, while this year, despite a 14-2 finish on the year, and a conference clinch, the Lady Indians couldn’t walk out victorious against Archmere Academy.


Only losses to Caesar Rodney and Tower Hill tarnished River’s record, as first-round triumph almost felt like a given for the green and gold. Archmere’s early attack was enough to give them the lead, and in spite of second-half retaliation from the Lady Indians, they finished on top, 3-0.

“We were confident in the game, but we went in defensive,” said co-captain and senior Michelle Giorgilli, “and we weren’t playing our own game. There was an improvement in the second half, but we just couldn’t get it.”

The girls had traditionally played evening games, under the lights, for the majority of their home games, but the turf field at Dover’s Wesely College may have presented a slight challenge in last Tuesday night’s game.

“The transition from grass to turf is always going to be difficult, and that may have hurt us,” said freshman midfielder Michaella Evans. “We’re a fast team, as a whole. I think we were just thrown off-guard in this game.”

Even though the year was cut short, Evans expects the girls to turn around next year and repeat the success that the early majority of the year saw.

“The loss is disappointing,” Evans said, “but the returning players know what we have to do next year, and, hopefully, we can continue what we left this year.”

Giogilli, who has competed at the varsity level since her freshman year, congratulated her teammates on a job well-done in her last year.

“We really had a strong season,” she said, “and I’m glad I was able to be a part of it.”

Working with the other athletes and turning around such an impressive record was a great finish to her high-school career.

“I was really excited to see our team perform the way we did,” Giorgilli added, “even though we didn’t get past the first round. The way we came together and played was really commendable, and it was a lot of fun.”

The things that made the team really come together may have not had been there at the start, as Evans pointed out, but the past several months have developed into memorable ones.

“In the beginning,” Evans said, “since we have a lot of freshmen that are skilled, there was a little clashing between the seniors and freshmen, but later in the season, friendships started to form. When we got on the field, it was more of a big-sister, little-sister thing, and we really worked together well and formed some good bonds.”

As Indian River’s golf team rounds out the season, first-year head coach Paris Mitchell is pleased with the way the team has come along. Three consecutive wins last week, against Cape Henlopen, Milford and Seaford, helped bring the Indians to an 8-6 record on the links.

Indian River showed no signs of weakness as they produced an eight-stroke margin over Milford, winning 182-175 at Cripple Creek, without the aid of one of their starters. Connor Vanderhook finished as a medalist, breaking into the 30’s, with a 39 finish on the day.

Junior Will Mullikin, who was attending a funeral that day, returned two days later to help take down Seaford for the away match. Both River and Seaford had yet to give up a game in the Henlopen South.

The Indians proved triumphant, winning by seven strokes, finishing 184-177.

“We started getting some consistent scores out of the guys,” said a satisfied Mitchell. “We’re getting ready for the Henlopen Conference match now, and it’s looking pretty good.”

The season has been a rather fulfilling one for the team, as most players have managed to progress the since the beginning.

“Matt Tribbett, a freshman, has become a regular starter on the team,” said Mitchell. “He’s really come a long way since the start, and is probably the most improved. He usually scores in the low 40’s. I started to put him up with Connor, and he seems to follow his lead.”

Mitchell has plenty of skill to look forward to next year, as the majority of the team will be back on the courses for IR. Paul Silveira is the team’s only senior.

“We’ve used three of four freshmen on the varsity starting team and have given them some good experience,” Mitchell stated. “We will likely have all four playing as starting sophomores next year.”

Businesses and homeowners weren’t the only ones who caught the brunt of the nor’easter early this week. High school sports were heavily affected, as Indian River softball was forced to drop their match against Newark from the schedule. Both softball and baseball saw a loaded agenda this week as the end of the season closed in upon them.

Five games were held at the Pyle Center on Wednesday, May 14, in effort to make up games scheduled for Monday and Tuesday. IR baseball squared off against Polytech, rescheduled from Tuesday, and that forced the squad to schedule Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday games this week. Polytech played a double-header Wednesday evening, starting with Delmar. Lost yet?

The Lady Indians of IR softball faced back-to-back matchups, first against St. Elizabeth’s, then Polytech. The Polytech softball team had preceded their IR game with one against Delmarva Christian under the lights.

The storm damaged field conditions throughout the state, and Wednesday was the only available slot for games, as all softball games needed to be completed by Thursday for state tournament seeding.

Still, there was some silver lining to an otherwise cloud-filled week of athletics.

“By centralizing everything and bringing all the teams here,” said Indian River athletic director, Todd Fuhrman, “it made it easier on the umpires, made it easy on bus travel, and it helps out the concession at the Pyle Center. It’s also kind of a prelude to get them ready for the state tournament, which will be hosted at the Pyle Center.”

The softball team sacrificing their Newark game may have potentially hurt them as they can, at best, finish the season 9-9 (prior to results from Wednesday’s games). A 10-9 final season score might have ultimately given them a better record, and, in turn, improved their seeding in the state tournament.

Other than a crammed schedule, baseball is still on track with their games, and a win on Wednesday against Polytech (all games after Coastal Point press deadline) would seal the conference with a 16-1 season record for the Indians, as Seaford trailed following their second loss of the season earlier this week.

Indian River’s girls’ senior soccer match was also pushed to Wednesday, May 14, due to inclement weather conditions earlier in the week. With the golf course closed on Tuesday, golf’s match at Cripple Creek, hosting Smyrna, was postponed until the following Thursday.

“Being my first year here as athletic director,” said Fuhrman, “everyone tells you, ‘Spring’s going to be hectic,’ but they don’t really realize the chaos weather like this can have.”

Indian River baseball refuses to let up, taking recent wins against Woodbridge and Caravel Academy. Their hot streak barely survived this past Tuesday, though, when they squeaked one by Lake Forest with a final score of 3-2. With the end of the season barreling down upon them and three conference match-ups still in their sights, there’s no room for error, as head coach Howard Smack and his squad fix their eyes on the state championship.

“It was one of those games where no matter what you do, noting seems to be working,” Smack said of Tuesday’s game at Lake Forest. “I give a lot of credit to their pitcher. He kept us guessing. He had an overhand curve, a drop-down curve, a decent fastball. We had a few hits, but he did a great job on the mound.”

Luis Barrientos was able to score on a home run against Lake Forest for an early lead. “Luke had some good hits, too,” Smack added.

Lake Forest’s runs both came in the bottom of the sixth inning, threatening the Indians late in the game.

“At that point,” said Smack, “Trevor [Abbott] really stepped up big-time. It really showed the senior leadership he has. We went out in the seventh inning and couldn’t get anything, but he told me, ‘I got it.’ We had Nick [Kmetz] in the hole, but Trevor did his thing.”

Capturing the final out was a bittersweet assurance for Smack, as the narrow win improved their season record to 14-1.

“You win the close ones, you win the big ones, and it’s starting to come together,” he said. “Like I’ve been telling the guys all season, you don’t want to peak too soon. The state tournament is just a few games off.

“There are a couple of little things to tweak, like hitting the cutoff man properly, and everyone knowing where they belong in certain situations,” Smack added. “We’ve got some good hitting on the team, but we’ve got to work on consistency and bunching them together. It doesn’t help you when you have the top of the lineup hitting and the bottom hitting, but nothing in between, or when your middle guys are getting them and nothing following them up.”

“I’m happy just getting four in a row. When everything works together, it clicks,” he said.

IR was set to take on Dover this Thursday afternoon (after Coastal Point press deadline).

“You can never underestimate them,” Smack said of the Dover team, prior to the game. “They may be having a bad year, but they put on their socks and shoes the same way we do.”

Following the Dover game, the Indians will face two more conference rivals, Polytech and Laurel, before the season concludes, as well as Sussex Central and Salesianum School.

“Those conference games are really big for us,” he said. “Seaford’s been playing really well, and we need to finish strong in those games that count.”

Indian River will host Polytech on Tuesday, May 13, at 4:15 p.m., then travel to Sports at the Beach to go against Central on Thursday, May 15, at 6:30 p.m.

The season schedule may be winding down for Indian River High School’s boys’ and girls’ tennis team, but their racquets are all but retired. There will be no time for relaxing this weekend as the teams head to the Sea Colony tennis club on Friday, May 9, to square off in the Henlopen Conference tournament, beginning at 1 p.m.

The boy’s varsity team has slipped since their victorious win over Caesar Rodney two weeks ago that put them in the running for first place in the conference. A tough battle against Seaford and a wavering match at Stephen Decatur, a pro-set team, marked some tallies in the unfavorable column this season, bringing their record to 10-3.

Plagued by an injury to a boys’ doubles team, head coach Pat Cicala was forced to move the guys around, and although they couldn’t seal the win against Decatur, he said he was impressed with the way his team stepped up on the courts.

“I can’t say enough about how well these kids play when they’re on the court. I’ve had guys – Matt Grey, Jack Cole, Ryan Bound – who hadn’t played all year, and I played them against Decatur, and they did very well for their first time on varsity. With no seniors on the team, it looks as though next season’s team will be a promising one.”

While pro sets are the norm for Stephen Decatur, IR’s teams are accustomed to multiple-set play, in which teams aim to win the best of three sets.

“Our kids are used to playing three sets,” said Cicala, “and it can be hard to adjust to something else.”

The Indians played tough, despite falling to the Maryland powerhouse.

“The thing we liked about it,” he said, “was that the first time we played them [in a scrimmage earlier this year], we got annihilated. The matches that we played against them the other day were lost by only one game. Their coach even pulled me aside at the end and said to me, ‘You know what? Your boys came to play today.’ And they did. After the loss to Seaford, they’ve put everything into these games.”

With the win over Caesar Rodney that put them in the running for the conference championship, Cicala knew they were a target.

“We’ve had the bull’s-eyes on our back,” he said. “Being a young team, and seeing how well we can play, there are other programs out to get us. The kids now understand what they have to do. They had never been in this winning position before, and now they know what they’re capable of.”

Since the start of the year, improving was the main goal for the coach.

“I’ve told them from the beginning,” he added, “it didn’t matter if we took the division or conference, I just wanted them to improve. Now, they not only want to show they had a good season, but they want to have a good showing to prove to people that it wasn’t just by luck.

“Our kids have really been stepping it up and challenging each other at practice. The key to our success this year was having talent and skills that were all so close to each other. It encourages the kids to really bring their best game,” he said.

Girls ready for
tournament action

Girls’ head coach Karen Oliphant has had a slightly rougher run this season, as her young team fought to find their comfort on the courts. With a 5-8 record on the season, and one more game pending (Polytech on Wednesday, May 7, after Coastal Point press deadline), the girls have struggled to capitalize in their matches.

Still, Oliphant said she was looking forward to the conference tournament.

“Most of my varsity will still play this weekend,” she noted. “The seeding for the tournament is tonight (Wednesday), so I’ll have to get my ducks in a row for that.”

She plans on her second-doubles team catching a piece of the seeding for this weekend’s tournament matches, as well as her three-year, first-singles starter.

“Ramsey Ruether could definitely be competitive when she gets in there. She can play with the best of them. She just needs to want it, and as long as that fire is under her, she will be alright.”

The past two seasons haven’t been walks in the park for Oliphant since she stepped up as head coach.

“It would be nicer this year if we had some more court space,” Oliphant said, “and if I was working with an assistant coach. Those are just some fairy-tale dreams, sometimes.” She and Cicala both commented on the lack of feeder programs for tennis in the area. Financial limitations primarily restrict these programs to operate through the school.

“We had a lot of position changing this year,” Oliphant said. “Between our doubles team and exhibition, the
competitiveness was right there. I’m hoping that a lot of the girls will continue this year with private lessons. They really didn’t get the practice and lessons they needed this season, with our schedule the way it was.”

Like the boys’ team, Oliphant’s is a young one.

“We basically have the same team returning,” said Oliphant. “They’ll be competing next year on an even higher level, so we have that to look foward to.”