The Ballston Spa Athletic Hall of Fame class of 2020. Photo provided by Stuart Williams.
BALLSTON SPA — The Ballston Spa Athletic Hall of Fame committee has selected the following inductees into the Class of 2024:
Tyler Barnes (Class of 2018)
Wayne Evans Jr. (Class of 1998)
Jordan Hipwell (Class of 2017)
Mark Lawrence (Class of 1990)
Donald Monaco (Class of 1961)
Tom Talbot (Class of 1968)
1978 Varsity Football Team
A ceremony to honor the inductees will be held on Saturday, April 27 at 1 p.m. in the Ballston Spa High School auditorium. Tickets are available to the public for $10 and may be purchased at the door.
Adirondack Thunder hockey players Brendan Less and T.J. Friedmann celebrated the grand reopening of Dunkin’ at 95 Saratoga Ave in South Glens Falls. The duo signed autographs and posed for pictures with fans. Photo by Super Source Media Studios.
A young boy learns archery as part of the New York State 4-H Shooting Sports program. Photo via New York State 4-H.
BALLSTON SPA — 4-H is offering a beginner shooting sports course for boys and girls 12 and older on Tuesday evenings beginning March 5. All participants must be enrolled in 4-H. Instruction will take place at 556 Middleline Road in Ballston Spa.
Youngsters can learn the basics of air pistol, muzzleloader, rifle and shotgun, archery, hunting and wildlife. The course will focus on safety, ethics, and personal responsibility. A $50 course fee will cover the cost of ammunition and supplies.
To register, visit pub.cce.cornell.edu/event_registration/main/events_landing.cfm?event=SC4HShootingSportsSpring2024_241.
Any questions can be sent to Leland at glb76@cornell.edu.
Photo of a girls’ flag football game via the New York State Public High School Athletic Association website.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — While Josh Allen and Tommy Devito are licking their wounds during the NFL offseason, a new football league will debut in New York State.
Saratoga Springs High School is participating in a girls’ flag football program that will begin this spring and include 12 other teams from the Suburban Council. “Last year, Troy High School was the only team in the area that had a formal girls’ flag football team,” said Saratoga Superintendent of Schools Dr. Michael Patton. “What started just a few years ago with a conversation, now has led to a full-fledged opportunity for girls to participate in flag football.”
The league’s ten-game season will feature five home and five away games. The season will end with a league championship similar to a sectional championship. The winner of the league title will then have an opportunity to capture a state championship. The state title game, hosted by the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA), will be on June 2 at SUNY Cortland.
As of press time, regular season schedules and coaching positions for the Saratoga team were still being determined. At the end of last year, 65 Saratoga girls had already signed up to participate.
“There’s not a lot of cost to getting this started,” Dr. Patton said, “but the nice thing is that it has all been provided by the [New York] Giants or through USA Football.” The Giants donated $30,000 to help launch the league. The funds will be split between participating schools. USA Football is also donating equipment such as flags and balls.
“I think there’s a lot of interest and momentum moving forward with the girls’ flag football program,” Dr. Patton said, “not only at the local level, but state and national level and Olympic level.”
In October 2023, USA Football announced that flag football will make its debut in the 2028 Olympic games in Los Angeles. Scott Hallenbeck, CEO of USA Football, said in a statement that flag football’s inclusion in the Olympics was “an acknowledgment of the sport’s tremendous international growth and appeal as a fast, exciting and competitive sport.”
Image: Aerial map of the Skidmore campus and baseball fields provided by The LA Group Landscape Architecture and Engineering/Skidmore Athletics. Image text added by Saratoga TODAY.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Skidmore baseball team is getting a new turf field that will accommodate more fans and “enhance the team and spectator experience,” the college announced last week.
Construction will soon begin on the $3.4 million project, which is being financed primarily by donors. The new field will be on Daniels Road, northwest of the school’s main campus, and will be ready in time for the spring 2025 season.
“Castle Diamond has been a wonderful home for our baseball team for many years, but between the expected aging of a well-loved facility, costs and challenges associated with renovating the current site, and the growth of both our program and Division III sports overall, it’s time for a move,” said Gail Cummings-Danson, assistant vice president for student affairs and director of athletics, in a statement.
“Our current field has a lot of history, a lot of memories,” said Ron Plourde, head baseball coach. “At the same time, it’s also brought a lot of challenges, and we’re grateful Skidmore and our fans see the value of this move for our program and Skidmore Athletics overall.”
Photo of Mike McFerran as Skidmore baseball’s assistant coach via Skidmore Athletics.
OAKLAND, CA — Another Skidmore baseball alum has made it to the major leagues. Mike McFerran, an assistant coach and pitching coach for Skidmore College from 2017 to 2020, has been hired by the Oakland Athletics, the team announced last week.
“Mike is a phenomenal coach and an even better human being,” said Skidmore’s head baseball coach Ron Plourde. “He’s one of the brightest coaches that I’ve had the pleasure of working with.”
McFerran has joined the A’s player development staff as the pitching performance coach. Prior to his new role in Oakland, McFerran was the pitching lab coordinator and director of player development at Wake Forest University.
2024 Media Day photo of two Skidmore baseball players by Joshua Dalsimer.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — It feels like Skidmore baseball is everywhere these days.
Last year, Thoroughbreds catcher Jackson Hornung became the first athlete in school history to be drafted by a professional team when he was selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in the MLB Draft. Last week, former Skidmore pitching coach Mike McFerran was hired by the Oakland Athletics. As the college’s baseball program steps into the spotlight, recruiting talented players is getting easier. “We’ve seen just in terms of the overall quality of recruits, I think it’s gone up a tick certainly,” said Head Coach Ron Plourde.
With a bright horizon, Skidmore is preparing for its first game of the season on March 2 at Baruch College. “I think we have very high expectations,” Plourde said. “Despite graduating a really talented group of seniors, the bulk of our pitching is back, and we have a really good core of returners.” Although the Thoroughbreds have won recent division championships, their goal this season is to “make a good run at a Liberty League championship,” Plourde said.
With only a couple weeks until opening day, the team is looking to solidify a few positions. “Our middle infield had a complete turnover so that’s an area that we’re looking to replace,” Plourde said. “Aside from first base, we’re wide open at short, second, and third.”
The third spot in the starting rotation is also up for grabs. “We should know by the end of our Florida trip who that third guy is,” Plourde said. Skidmore is scheduled to play nine games in the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic in Fort Myers, Florida beginning March 10.
This year’s roster also features a whopping 11 freshmen, at least one or two of whom may earn some significant playing time this season.
Coach Plourde shared his team’s full roster with Saratoga TODAY:
Portrait of Abner Doubleday courtesy of the Saratoga Room, Saratoga Springs Public Library.
BALLSTON SPA — “Baseball is undoubtedly a pure American game, and its birthplace Cooperstown, New York, and Abner Doubleday entitled to first honor of its invention.” Abner Graves wrote these words in a letter to the editor of the Beacon Journal newspaper in 1905. Graves’ letter changed baseball history, but it was all a lie.
“This is a great example of fake news,” said Ballston Town Historian Rick Reynolds. “Fake news can take on its own life and become reality.”
Graves’ letter was written in response to Albert Spalding, founder of the Spalding sporting goods company, who was attempting to discover baseball’s origins. “Spalding felt that there needed to be a beginning for baseball, so he established a commission,” Reynolds said. Graves heard about this commission and “made up this story that Abner Doubleday was the beginning of baseball.”
Not only was Doubleday not the inventor of baseball, there’s scant evidence he had anything to do with baseball period. “He kept incredible diaries and journals of his life,” Reynolds said. “Never in any of his journals or any of his writings is baseball or anything like baseball ever mentioned.”
Doubleday is a significant figure not just in American history, but also in Ballston Spa. At 28 Washington Street stands a yellow house, now The Real McCoy brewery, that a historical marker declares is the birthplace of Major-General Abner Doubleday. The sign calls him “the founder of baseball.”
The sign might be inaccurate on two counts. Not only is Doubleday not the inventor of baseball, but recently there’s been some doubt as to whether the house was actually his birthplace. “There’s pretty much definitive evidence that he lived there at some point, but whether he was born there is another issue,” Reynolds said.
Regardless of where Doubleday was born, he is probably the most consequential figure in American history to have lived in Ballston Spa. Doubleday was second-in-command at Fort Sumter, where the Civil War began. He was wounded at the Battle of Antietam. He commanded the second infantry division at the Battle of Gettysburg. After the war, Doubleday was a steadfast supporter of Abraham Lincoln, and accompanied the 16th president on a train ride prior to the Gettysburg Address.
Despite this remarkable life, Doubleday is most remembered for Graves’ fictionalized account of baseball’s invention. “The Ridiculous 6,” a Netflix comedy starring Adam Sandler, lampoons Doubleday as making up baseball’s rules on the spot. In 1939, the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum was established in Cooperstown, thanks in large part to Graves’ letter. As recently as 1957, Ballston Spa featured a float in its sesquicentennial parade proudly declaring the Civil War hero to be the “founder of baseball.”
The true story of baseball’s creation is complex. Some historians point to 1840s New York City as the origin. Others believe the game evolved from 18th-century England, where a similar game called rounders was played. Hundreds of years ago, in both Massachusetts and the Carolinas, athletes were hitting balls with something resembling a baseball bat. The truth is that baseball probably evolved over time, in multiple places, as games played with bats and balls grew in popularity.
Nonetheless, the sign declaring Abner Doubleday to be the sport’s founder still stands in Ballston Spa. Also still standing is Doubleday Field, a stadium at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, where baseball was not invented.
“Americans like finality,” Reynolds said. “We like to know answers to things, and sometimes there are no answers for sure.”
Photo of the Schuylerville girls indoor track and field Section 2 championship team via Schuylerville Central School District.
SCHUYLERVILLE — The Schuylerville High School girls’ indoor track and field team won this year’s Division III sectionals, defeating Scotia-Glenville 93-82.
Sectional individual champions included Meaghan Lynch (55m, Long Jump), Keira Rogan (1000m, 1500m, 3000m), and Ryan Stark (Pole Vault). Rogan set a school record of 3:09:49 in the 1000m, and Lynch earned a new school record in the triple jump with 34’ 10.75”.
The Adirondack United girls’ hockey team celebrates its NYSPHSAA regional championship victory. Photo via Saratoga Athletics.
UTICA — With a 14-0 record, and a dogged determination to capture a state title, the Adirondack United have concluded one of the most impressive seasons among all local sports teams. At the Nexus Center in Utica last Friday, the United was crowned New York State regional champions after a 7-3 win over Kenmore-Grand Island.
The United started the title game on the wrong foot, falling behind 2-0 in the first period. But it wasn’t long before the team rebounded and finished with a dominant victory.
The bout capped off a busy post-season week for the United. On February 14, they advanced to the state final four after an 8-1 win against the North Avalanche at the Cool Insuring Arena in Glens Falls. Then on February 16, they defeated Skaneateles 6-1 in Utica in the state semifinals.
This season was only the second year that the United have existed. In their inaugural season, they finished with a 19-2 record but lost to Clinton in the state title game, 2-1. Earlier this season, the United got a taste of revenge when they beat Clinton 4-1.
“I don’t think we’re really getting caught up in any individual game because their goal is really pointing toward the end of the season,” Coach Jeff Willis told Saratoga TODAY after the United’s win against Clinton. It appears the team’s focus on winning a state championship paid off.
