Kids staying sharp

Hamilton players look to join summer league

Hamilton’s softball season began with a rematch against Section IV champion Deposit and ended in the state semifinals against eventual Class D champion Batavia Notre Dame. In between, coach Bill Dowsland scheduled plenty of tough opponents to challenge his Emerald Knights, many of them state ranked.

This summer Hamilton coach Bill Dowsland hopes to keep his kids sharp by playing in New Hartford’s 18U league at the town park in Washington Mills.

“So far there’s us, Cooperstown, Oneonta, Hamilton, Holland Patent and maybe Waterville or Clinton,” league director and NH coach John Cunningham said of the expected turnout. “We’ve been running it since 2006.”

The Tuesday night league begins July 10 and finishes on August 14. American Legion baseball teams have been playing for more than a week already, so the NH league looks to be slow to start. Not so.

“We wait until after the graduation parties,” Cunningham said then also pointed out July 4 is a Wednesday this summer, so it made sense to begin after all the festivities had passed.

Many of the teams Hamilton could play were state ranked in 2012 as well, though in higher classes, so the players would be challenged from the moment the five- inning doubleheaders begin.

“Right now I’m not sure,” Dowsland said of his team signing up. “There’s a lot of vacation conflicts. I don’t know what we’re going to do.”

That’s the challenge for coaches in small schools like Hamilton. Large schools like NH have options.

“I have so many girls I could make two teams,” Cunningham said.

Cunningham’s team begins practicing June 19 in preparation for the league. Dowsland, on the other hand, is having a meeting with his kids on Thursday to find out if they’ll have enough to take part.

“It’s a great league,” he said. “We’ve really enjoyed it.

“The kids are pumped after the Batavia game. We don’t want to end like that again. They’re ready to lift and practice and work on things.”

Hamilton has been in the league since it began. Dowsland said if the team does not take part he’d look at trying to get his girls to play in a tournament or work out this summer.

Submitted Photo by DAVID HOLLIS Hamilton’s Kendall Rusch reaches second base in the Class D state semifinal against Batavia Notre Dame on June 9. The Emerald Knights are looking to join a summer league to keep their softball skills sharp.