Gold a big hit for Blue Devils
To say that Ana Gold is a big hit for the 15th-ranked Duke softball team may be an understatement.
The 5-foot-7 sophomore third baseman, a Ballston Spa High graduate from Ballston Spa, has hit 10 home runs for the Blue Devils in 29 games. As a freshman, she hit that same total in 53 games.
Gold had two homers in a 7-5 victory over rival North Carolina last Saturday to help Duke post a 7-2 record in the strong Atlantic Coast Conference. She was named ACC Player of the Week on March 7 after leading the team to a 2-1 record against Notre Dame the previous week. She hit four homers on the week, three against the Fighting Irish, with 13 runs batted in. Her 10 homers lead the ACC and are tied for eighth in Division I.
Gold has started every game for Duke (24-5) and is hitting .337 (28for-82) with six doubles and a triple to go along with her home runs. The leads the team in runs scored (35) and runs batted in (31).
Ella Payer (Saratoga Springs)
The 5-foot-9 defender is having another big season with the Bucknell women’s lacrosse team, the Bison standing at 4-3. The Saratoga High graduate leads the team in draw controls with 42 and ground balls with 15. She is second in caused turnovers with eight. She had a season-high 10 draw controls in a 22-6 victory over St. Bonaventure on Feb. 5. Payer is a two-time Patriot League second-team choice and had 82 draw controls last season which ranks second in the team’s single-season record book.
Gillian Roeder (Delmar)
The MIT junior is looking forward to the outdoor track season after wrapping up the indoor season by earning All-america honors at the Division III NCAA Championship March 11 in Birmingham, Ala. The Bethlehem graduate finished fifth out of 20 runners in the mile run with a time of 4:53.35. It was just short of her personal record in the event (4:52.78). Roeder competes in the 800-meter run and the 1,500-meter run during the spring.
Philip Matthews (Halfmoon)
The freshman helped the Paul Smith’s College men’s Nordic ski team capture its second straight individual title at the U.S. Collegiate Ski Association National Championship on March 12-13 in Mammoth Lakes, Calif., which had over 100 feet of snow entering the competition. The Shenendehowa High graduate was seventh and the third finisher for the team. He also finished ninth in the 15k freestyle. The Team Classic Sprint, the final race, was canceled due to more bad weather.
Jake Deguire (Schenectady)
Last week, this column reported that the Springfield sophomore finished with a 1-2 record on the first day the Division III NCAA Wrestling Championship March 10-11 in Roanoke, Va.
The Mohonasen graduate was 2-1 and went on to finish third at 157 pounds with a 6-1 record to earn All-america honors for the first time. It was the best finish for the Pride in that weight class since 2013. Deguire finished the season with 30 pins, the most in Division III and tied for first in the division’s alltime pin list.
Greg Dort Jr. (Saratoga Springs)
The sophomore faceoff specialist has helped the Frostburg (Md.) men’s lacrosse team open the season with a 6-0 record after kicking off the East Coast Conference schedule with a 20-4 victory over Saint Thomas Aquinas last Saturday. The Ballston Spa High graduate won 10 of 15 faceoffs. On the season, he has won 45 of 76 faceoffs (59.2 percent). He also has 19 ground balls. Dort Jr. didn’t play with the Bobcats last season, so his goal in a 15-14 victory over Lake Erie was the first of his collegiate career.
James Murphy (Niskayuna)
The 6-foot-1 junior was named Empire 8 Conference Player of the Week Monday after a big effort for the St. John Fisher baseball team in a doubleheader loss to Elizabethtown last Saturday in Elizabethtown, Pa. The Niskayuna High graduate had a triple and single in a 4-0 setback in the first game and had two home runs and plated all five runs in an 8-5 loss to the Blue Jays in the second game. Murphy has started every game at third base for the 3-9 Cardinals.
Lauren Paul (Guilderland)
The sophomore, a Guilderland High graduate, has started all nine games for the Utica softball team and is hitting .370 (10-for-27) with three doubles, a home run, eight runs scored with eight runs batted in.
Graduate student Emily Joss (South Glens Falls High) is batting .367 (11-for-30) with four doubles, a triple and a team-high 11 runs scored. Sophomore Taylor Kraft (Shaker High) has played in eight games with four starts and is hitting .429 (6-for-14). The Pioneers are 7-2 to start the season.
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