Sectionals played for Coach Masi

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N. Y. » Sometimes sports are more than just wins and losses.

For Saratoga Catholic softball and baseball team’s sectionals have been played with varsity softball head coach and math teacher Daniel Masi in mind.

Masi suffered a stroke on Tuesday that put him in the hospital in the ICU at Albany medical center. He is in critical condition according to Saratoga Catholic athletic director Phonsey Lambert.

Masi is the varsity girls basketball coach as well as the varsity softball coach and the JV soccer coach.

The softball team played Monday against Hoosick Falls, hoping for a win that would bring the Saints’ record to .500 in league play — the record needed for a playoff

berth. However, the Saints lost to move to 7-9 on the season.

But Masi didn’t give up hope.

Lambert, also the Saints’ baseball coach, said Masi came to him and asked if he would help Masi draft a letter to the league petitioning the softball team into the playoffs.

“It was a good year for our girls in the conference and they had much more strong conference from top to bottom,” Lambert said. “He asked me if I would consider starting a petition to get into sectionals, I told him I would and drafted up a letter on Monday night. He feel ill on Tuesday, so I wanted to make sure we followed through with the petition. I got in contact with our league rep of the Wasaren league and told them I would be sending this in and she said it could go either way, but she would let me know in the morning.”

The next morning is when the students found out during mass what had happened with Masi.

Lambert said it was a tough day for the school, but it was also the day the softball team got some much needed good news.

“We had students in, who kind of knew what was going on,” Lambert said. “They were very sad, especially the softball players, because he was very close. When we left the prayer service I noticed I got a text message that the team would participate in the sectionals based on a couple of quality wins they had in the league and the hardship with coach Masi. Principal Lombard and I brought the girls into my office, we had a ball for them to sign and told them they had reached Coach Masi’s goal of making it to sectionals. We realized how upset they were and understood if they wanted to compete or they wanted to leave that day because it was a tough day for all. I gave the girls 15 minutes to come up with a decision and they came back to my office and were unanimous that they wanted to play for coach Masi.”

The softball team headed to Granville to compete for the chance to make it into the playoffs and played their strongest game of the season. The girls came out and got a 6-1 victory and moved on to the quarterfinal round.

Lambert said that after the game Principal Lombard, himself and dean of students Maria Izzo brought the game ball signed by all the girls to Masi in the hospital and told him they made it through round one and would take on Greenwich.

The softball team lost to Greenwich, the No. 1 seed in Class C, 10-0, but the team made it further than people expected and played with a lot of heart.

On Thursday, the baseball team started its playoff run against Tamarac.

Lambert said that playing for Masi gave the team a little extra motivation.

“These kids are resilient and they face adversity,” Lambert said. “This is a beloved teacher these guys have in school and they wanted to do it for coach and they did it. They had a little bit extra, not that they needed any more motivation, but that was something that they wanted to carry into the game. We all put coach’s name on our hat and it was good.”

Lambert said that Masi is one of the biggest staples at Saratoga Catholic and is a huge part of the students and his lives.

“Coach Masi is one of my real good friends and he loves this school and theses kids,” Lambert said. “He is all about the purple and gold. It doesn’t matter what level he coach, I had him coach modified girls, i had him coach Varsity girls, he helped out with the bowling team, the softball team, different levels of soccer at the school and he did it with passion, everything with him is passion and very few people can say that don’t like coach Masi, he is just beloved and one of the pillars at our school no question.”