Athletes Cited by Coaches
The following were the spring teams’ most valuable players at East Hampton High School — Dylan Carroza, baseball; Brendan Damm, boys lacrosse; Allison Charde, girls lacrosse; Kathryn Hess, softball; Milton Farez, boys tennis; Ashley West, girls track, and Taylor Harned, boys track.
Of Carroza, his coach, Ed Bahns, said in the recent athletic awards dinner program devoted to the seniors’ accomplishments: “He enjoyed a very successful four-year run on the varsity level, starting for the Bonackers on the mound every year. Using pinpoint control and a change of speed, he showed that he was a true student of pitching every time he took the ball. Dylan, who was an accomplished pitcher even as a freshman, never took his skills for granted, and constantly worked during the off-season to improve. As a senior, he became the first Bonacker to be named as an all-county player in four seasons.”
Mike Vitulli said of Damm, “Brendan is a versatile midfielder who excelled on offense as well as defense. He was our offensive leader, our top defensive midfielder, and our main face-off man. He was one of our captains, who led by example, and gave 100 percent effort in all of our games and practices. He scored a team-high 40 goals and had 17 assists this season. He received all-county honors for the second year in a row, and finished his career seventh all-time in East Hampton scoring history.”
Of Harned, Chris Reich, the head coach of the boys track team, said: “Taylor has been a spring track athlete for three years and unfortunately we’ve only been able to work with him for two of them. Taylor has been the easiest athlete to coach while also producing the greatest gains in achievement. In his last season of spring track Taylor has been named all-county in the discus, placing sixth in Suffolk County with a throw of 144 feet 4 inches. Taylor also competed in the division championship in the discus, though in dual meets he also competed in the high jump and pole vault. Taylor has molded himself into a great multi-event athlete while also excelling in the classroom.”
In other spring awards, the following were named most-improved: Ryan Joudeh and Cameron Yusko, baseball; Skylar Loesch, boys lacrosse; Amanda Thompson, softball; Daniel Ruggiero, boys tennis; Lena Vergnes, girls track, and Keaton Crozier and Jacob Hands, boys track.
Coaches awards went to: Frank Grande, baseball; Eric Tortorella, boys lacrosse; Alex Fulham and Samantha Dombkowski, girls lacrosse; Meghan Hess, softball; Zachary Newburger, boys tennis, and Saoirse McKeon, girls track.