June 5, 2025 • 35 mins
From underdogs to champions – Rome Free Academy's softball team has rewritten their program's history under first-year coach Cowell. After 32 years without a sectional title, this junior-heavy squad finally climbed the mountain by embracing a philosophy that's as simple as it is powerful: believe you belong, play with confidence, and never fear the moment.
What makes this championship run remarkable isn't just breaking a three-decade drought – it's how they've done it. Freshman pitcher Emelia Szymanski has emerged as a dominant force in the circle, displaying control well beyond her years. Meanwhile, the versatility of players like sophomore Sage Pelton shifting positions and Gianna Greer embracing the outfield demonstrates the team-first mentality that's become their hallmark.
Coach Cowell's "attitude and effort" mantra resonates through every aspect of this team. When they found themselves trailing against West Genesee in terrible conditions, they rallied for a comeback victory. When they faced Baldwinsville in the sectional finals, they jumped out to an early lead and never looked back. The team's chemistry is palpable – they even wore temporary tattoos of Coach Cowell's face during their semifinal victory, showcasing the joy they bring to competition.
The impact reaches beyond today's roster. Young girls throughout Rome now have homegrown champions to admire, creating a pipeline for future success. As women's sports continue gaining deserved attention nationwide, this Rome team represents the best of what high school athletics can offer – skill, determination, and authentic connection.
As they prepare for their regional matchup against Lancaster, the Black Knights remain focused yet loose. With potential state semifinals in Binghamton on the horizon, they're embracing each moment of this extraordinary journey. Want to witness history in the making? Follow along as Rome softball continues their quest toward the ultimate prize.
Thank you for listening!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Rocky (00:15):
The.
Coach Emily Cowell (00:35):
Good evening everybody.
Welcome to the Rock Pile hereTonight.
The Rock Pile brings you aspecial edition of the Mohawk
Valley Sports Watch, differentday and time Tonight.
I wanted to get Coach Cowantonight before their big
regional game this weekend, soI'm excited to talk to her.
I got a lot of good stuff forher tonight.
I went back and actuallywatched.
I spoke to Coach back inmid-April so I went back to
(00:57):
watch that interview this weekand I got a lot of stuff to
bring up from that interview.
But I'm really excited to talkto her.
Bring up from that interviewbut I'm really excited to talk
to her.
And what a great story this RFAteam has been this year and
Coach has done a fantastic jobin her first year with this
group, so I'm excited to talk toher.
If you're watching on Facebook,you're watching on YouTube, any
of the social media channels ifyou have any questions for
(01:18):
Coach and you put them in thecomment box, I'll try to bring
over some questions tonight.
As many as I can Follow me onYouTube.
Hit the subscribe button.
All the stuff will be playedback so you can make sure you
don't miss anything fromtonight's show.
So, without further ado, let mebring Coach on.
Coach, let me just switch us uphere and there we go.
(01:40):
How are you?
I'm great, thank you.
How are you?
I'm doing pretty good.
I went back to our lastinterview.
You and I spoke on April 13thand you were pretty much just
getting off the bus from.
You played the game againstShenandoah and Gilderland and I
went back and I watched it andsome of the stuff on there.
(02:01):
I got to tell you you werepretty spot on for what you said
then to where you are today andthere's a few things I said.
I said to you and I'm lookingat my notes.
I said what are some thingsthis team needs to do to win
sectionals?
And you said no one they canwin, expect to win, play with a
chip on their shoulder, believethey belong and gain confidence.
(02:24):
And I got to tell you, coach, Idon't know you, but I followed
you guys this season.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
And they take after the personality of you.
I appreciate that.
I mean.
No matter what I feel like, ateam is always following the
personality and the expectationsof their coach, and that's the
job of the coach, isn't it?
You know what I mean.
But it's not just me.
Like my assistant coach, markBeer, he's known these kids
since they were little tykes inelementary school.
He's been coaching them a longtime too.
It's both of us, it's thecommunity, it's their parents,
(02:56):
it's their travel ball coaches.
They were built for this moment, and when I was talking to you
about it back in April, itwasn't just a guess.
We knew what we had to do andwe went out and did it, and I am
so extremely honored to havebeen part of the journey and the
ones to help them walk acrossthe finish line so far.
Coach Emily Cowell (03:18):
I know you were really confident too,
because when I was talking toyou about this team and I always
joke with Coach Snyder, who'sthe Notre Dame girls basketball
coach, and I tell him every yearI'm like if you have any
assistant coaching spots open,I'd love to come on, because
every year these teams getyounger and younger and they're
really good.
And you talked about yourroster and you said you really
(03:38):
just can't screw this thing upand you can really plug and play
girls.
The lineup from top to bottomis real good, but talk to us a
little bit about because you dohave a lot of young kids that
played for you this year and youhad some kids step up too.
Speaker 3 (03:53):
Yeah, absolutely.
You know a couple of young kidsthat have really stood out,
obviously freshman AmeliaSzymanski, in the circle, I mean
she was my one and only ace onJV no offense to a junior that's
also on the team this year.
Emma Lopez she was our backuppitcher just in case last year
on JV.
But the way that she's beenable to step up to this next
(04:17):
level and throw the ball reallywell on defense we follow her
lead and we always try to haveher back in the batter's box and
try and score her some runsbecause we know how hard she's
working and how well she'sthrowing the ball.
You know.
Besides that, I would also haveto mention sophomore Sage
Pelton.
This is her third year onvarsity and she's really stepped
(04:39):
up a lot, she's matured a lotand actually she's been put in
some different positions a lot.
And actually she's been put insome different positions.
Like you know, she was a thirdbaseman mainly for coach
Klasinski the last couple ofyears and with the obvious
addition of Haley Bostwick inour in our infield it's kind of
been a domino effect with wheresome of the other girls are
(05:01):
placed and Sage has kind ofearned a spot over at second
base and has played very wellfor us over there and she's kind
of owning it.
And then also Gianna Greer.
You know she's another one.
She was on her first year ofvarsity last year, saw the field
a little bit last year, was putin some big situations last
(05:23):
year but you know she went outand earned a spot this year.
She had to work, she had tobattle with some other kids and
in the end she got theconfidence and she started doing
some really great stuff in thehitting lineup and it earned her
her spot.
And you know I always kind ofjoke with her a little bit
(05:43):
because Gianna has always had alove for the infield.
She loves being a middleinfielder, she loves getting
ground balls and being in theaction in the infield.
And she actually earned a spotin the outfield this year
because of her speed and herability to move side to side and
go after some balls.
And you know one thing thatI've had to help coach her with
(06:05):
is that a starting spot is astarting spot.
You know what I mean Like goown it and be proud of what
you've been able to accomplish.
You know, and I know that fromexperience, when I was a
freshman in college I had neverplayed the outfield or any other
position besides third base andshortstop.
And my freshman year in collegeI ended up being a catcher,
(06:26):
because our one and only catcherended up dropping out.
And then, after that, mysophomore year, I ended up being
a starting right fielder, youknow you just own the spot, you
just go out and play and, in myopinion and this is something
that I've tried to say to all mykids it gives you a new respect
for the game when you're ableto play a bunch of different
positions.
(06:46):
So, you know, those are mythree youngest players and they
really stepped up and I'm proudof them.
Coach Emily Cowell (06:52):
One thing I remember talking with you about
back in April was I really likedthe confidence in your voice
and as a coach, you got to beconfident.
I'm the same way.
There wasn't a game on theschedule that I didn't think we
could win.
We might've been outnumberedagainst some teams, but I you
know that attitude andpersonality is contagious with
(07:13):
with your players and I thinkright now, from when we talked
in April, you told me you reallylearned something about this
team after those two gamesagainst Gilderland and Shen.
What have you learned the mostabout your team?
Here you are coming off asection three title and then now
you head into the regionals.
Take me back to April.
You got off that bus.
What have you learned aboutthis team at this point in the
season?
Speaker 3 (07:37):
The most important thing that I've learned about
this team is that we're not justtalk, we walk the walk.
We believe what we say and weband together no matter what the
situation is Something that Ialways harp with every single
team that I coach, no matterwhat sport, no matter what level
.
It's the life lesson of there'salways two things that you can
(07:57):
control.
And if, if any of my girlsright now are watching, they're
rolling their eyes going oh herewe go again.
Right they they've heard me saythis a million times, but you
know you don't really get ituntil you get it.
But the two things that you canalways control is attitude and
effort.
You know you can be down fourruns, five runs and going into
the top of the seventh.
When you just traveled toSyracuse, when we went to go
(08:18):
play West Jenny in terribleweather, really, really
difficult field conditions, wink, wink, but the umpires weren't
on our side either.
And we're down and you knowwhat?
We banded together and we endedup coming away with a 9-7 win.
We're never out, it doesn'tmatter the score, we just play
(08:40):
hard and it just.
You know, you just feel goodabout your team when you can
step into battle, even whenyou're down and you just keep
playing hard.
You know we all want to put theteam on our back and we all
want to just try our best andgrind it out.
Nobody's scared to play, andthat's huge not playing with any
fear.
Coach Emily Cowell (09:01):
And Coach, we talked about the TVL and I
know you said the TVL was goingto be really good this year, and
again that statement couldn'tbe more true.
I mean, whitesboro finished13-2.
New Hartford won 13 games,camden won 16 games, notre Dame
won 11 games.
And here you guys are too.
Talk to us.
I mean that TVL was brutal fromstart to finish.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
Yeah, I actually I really love and appreciate how
competitive our league is.
You know, coming from somebodythat played and coached at
Herkimer College, you know wewould kind of beat up on some
teams in our conference and thenwe'd have to suddenly turn it
on when we got to regional play.
And when you're challenged allseason long, it just sets you up
(09:47):
and it just builds.
You know you get to experiencesome things and you get to kind
of learn what kind of team youare and you're not shocked when
it comes to postseason play andend of season play, like how
amazing is it that we got allthese TVL teams, section
champions, we got TVL teams thatyou know I mean wow, and how
(10:09):
awesome is it for our local area.
You know we're producing a lotof amazing athletes and listen
all you college coaches outthere.
Come see us play.
Come see Utica Whitesboro, rome.
Come see us play, because wehave excellent athletes here in
the Mohawk Valley.
It's not just in Syracuse, it'snot just in Rochester, it's not
just in Section 2, albany.
(10:29):
Come see us play because we canplay.
Coach Emily Cowell (10:32):
Yeah, amen, I say that about all sports.
We have a lot of good talent inthis area across the entire
Mohawk Valley, so I agree withyou, coach.
The other thing is, coachconfidence.
I mean winning's contagiousright.
I mean your team right now hasthat swag to them and you know,
as you said, your team's neverdown and out.
You get behind, your team findsa way to rally together and
(10:55):
come back.
And you've been ahead whereyou've stayed ahead.
You've been behind where you'vecome back.
How much confidence right nowdoes this team have going into
the weekend?
Speaker 3 (11:03):
You know what, going into this weekend, I feel like
we have maintained the same andI mean that in the best way
possible, we're not making themoment too big, we're not
getting too rallied up, because,you know, especially when it
comes to postseason play, it'sabout what team shows up and
what team gets over the hype,because if you start hyping
(11:24):
something up, you start playinga little bit tighter.
You know you start makingmistakes.
If you just show up and do whatyou've been doing all season
and trust the process and trustyour fundamentals and trust your
routines, then you're going toshow up and play, you know, and
that's just something that we'vejust we've maintained that all
(11:44):
season long and, and in timeswhere we haven't, we've had to
learn our lesson, you know?
Um, so that's we.
Just we sit back, we trusteverything that we've done so
far and we're just going to keepdoing that this weekend.
Coach Emily Cowell (11:53):
How fun is your team having?
I saw the little pie action inyour face last night.
Speaker 3 (11:59):
Yeah, actually, I think I still got a little bit
of whipped cream in my eye.
Coach Emily Cowell (12:04):
I was like she's got to take the shades off
, like she's got to get thosesunglasses off.
But how fun is your team having?
Speaker 3 (12:11):
So much fun.
How about this?
I'll tell you this funny story.
So we're at OCC for thesemifinals and we're about ready
to play Fayetteville Manliusand we've been so hungry for
this game since the last time.
This is our third time playingthem this season and you know
what, when you see a team threetimes, you just get a little
(12:31):
extra hungry for that game.
Yep.
And you know what I'm walkingaround, you know chatting with
the girls and I actually broughtour um game ball from the first
ever game that we played thisseason, my first game as a
varsity coach and our first winof the season.
It was at home against fm, andI had all the girls sign it,
(12:52):
because I'm really sentimentallike that and I keep, I keep
game balls like left and right.
But I walked through while theywere all playing catch and I
said touch the ball, becauseit's got good vibes on it and
everybody's touching, touching,they're still throwing and
whatnot.
And I have a couple girls comeup to me and go coach.
I got it and they touched itand they went like this and they
(13:13):
held it a little while longer.
They're all wearing temporarytattoos of my ugly face on their
arm.
Coach Emily Cowell (13:24):
That's awesome, though you gotta have
some funny, you gotta have somelaughs, it's a long season.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
God, I love it.
Yeah, man, I absolutely love it.
I mean, it's just who we areand I wouldn't change them for
the world.
I love how they bust my chops.
I mean I, you, everybody makesmistakes.
Sometimes I'll I'll be tryingto say something really serious
and then I'll accidentally saysomething silly and they just
they never let me get away withit, which is great.
I mean I just love thechemistry of our team.
Coach Emily Cowell (13:47):
So, coach, I asked you about pitching too,
and after that April bus, thatbus trip there.
When you got back and you saidyou had three, three pitchers
and you know, I think you saidMadison Saffin was like the Greg
Maddox, she doesn't throw hardbut she, you know, she hits her
spots.
And then you had so tossy tothrows really hard.
And then you got this freshman,Amelia, who's unbelievable, and
she's only a freshman.
Talk to us about this pitch andstaff.
(14:09):
That's really got you.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
Yeah, I mean obviously I think, gosh, I'm
such a sucker.
Sometimes I want every kid toplay all game.
You know what I mean.
It's really tough to make thesedecisions sometimes about who
goes in the circle and whodoesn't, and where else they're
playing, and I want to get everykid in the game.
(14:30):
But overall I'm so pleased withhow each and every one of those
girls have played and thrown,and you know I said it back in
april and I'll say it again thatyou know these three are
excellent pitchers and they allprovide something different.
You know and it's all based onum, who we're facing.
I think amelia has proved thisseason that she is as good as we
(14:51):
expect her to be, um, andespecially something with her
style.
Um, hitters have a really hardtime picking up the ball.
With her pitching style.
You know the way that shereleases the ball, the way that
she loads up when she's ready topitch, and she's proven that.
I mean, you know you look backat her ERA.
You look back just simply onhow many walks she's had.
She's she averages, I think,maybe only two walks a game, six
(15:16):
or something like that.
A game.
That's really cool, especiallyas a freshman, goodness you know
.
Same thing with Soph and Maddie.
If you know, if Amelia isn'tthrowing or they're starting to
time her up or anything, we knowthat we can go to either one of
those two right away and thechoice of who goes in the circle
kind of depends on who we needin the infield.
(15:37):
You know, sometimes Maddie, weneed to keep her in the infield
because we need to have her inthat spot or whatever.
Or sometimes we know that thehitter's style that we've seen
so far, we know that they're notgoing to be able to catch up to
Soph's fastball.
You know, and actually speakingof pitchers, we actually
brought up a JV player, seventhgrader Wendy.
Coach Emily Cowell (15:59):
Reno, I was just going to bring it up, yep.
Speaker 3 (16:01):
Yep.
So, and I'll tell you what,coach Beer and I have looked at
each other a few times and wedidn't bring her up by accident.
She deserves to be with us.
She's thrown an incredible JVseason.
I mean, my goodness, I think.
I think the lowest amount ofstrikeouts she had in a game in
JV was maybe like 13 or 14.
(16:22):
That's, you know, one or twoevery single inning.
The girl throws, strikes.
She throws really well, shehits her spots.
She's got a great changeup.
You know she does good stuffand she might only be 12, 13
years old, but she plays likeshe's been there and she
deserves to be with us and we'renot afraid to put her in the
circle if we need to.
Coach Emily Cowell (16:43):
Yeah, I mean that's great signs for the
future.
You've got some young talentcoming up, which is great.
The program's going in a greatdirection it's in great shape.
So I want you to talk a littlebit about your top three four
hitters and your lineup is solidtop to bottom.
But I just want you to talk tome a little bit about Kennedy
Campbell and what she brings toyour table, and then Michaela
(17:04):
Howard too, but again top tobottom.
Haley Boswick this year, whodidn't play much last year, but
Madison's right there, butthey're all juniors.
Speaker 3 (17:14):
Yeah, man, we're very junior heavy.
It's very exciting, obviously,knowing what we've been able to
accomplish this year.
They're all coming back nextyear as seniors and they have
that experience, they have thatchip on their shoulder as a
senior.
They've all produced extremelywell for us.
I mean, let's talk aboutKennedy Campbell.
(17:34):
That kid is a thorn in theother team's side.
I mean, let's talk aboutKennedy Campbell.
That kid is a thorn in theother team's side.
She's a great leadoff hitter.
She gets on base and she is avery good base runner.
You know, running bases is justas important as pitching,
catching, hitting, fieldingRunning bases.
You have to score runs to wingames right.
So having her as a leadoff, ifshe can get on base, we just we
(17:57):
know that we're going to score arun in that first inning, you
know so.
So that's really good.
Michaela Howard, obviously thegirl just gets up, she hits for
power.
We know she's going to hit itto the green and obviously with
Kennedy and Lex and Maddie infront of her, sometimes Haley
Boswick in front of her too.
You know, we got good speed onthe bases, we got a chance to
(18:19):
score some runs.
Same thing, haley Bostwick, howabout that sectional finals and
she hits the team's very firstover the fence home run.
Well, the very first home run.
We hit the ball hard but wehaven't gotten over the fence
yet.
She hits the team's very firstone and that was so exciting and
it's not for a lack of hittingthe ball hard.
(18:40):
I mean, if you look at ourfield, our field is huge.
I bet if we had a 200-footfence we would have had more at
our field.
But yeah, that's awesome.
Maddie Safin something I love totalk about with Maddie is a lot
of times she's up to bat withrunners in scoring position and
I wish there was a way toactually go back and tabulate.
(19:00):
But a lot of her RBIs aregame-winning RBIs, you know, and
we don't really realize that atthe time because it may have
only been the third or fourthinning, but there are a lot of
game-winning RBIs.
The girl is a gap-to-gap hitter.
She puts the ball in playreally well and also in her
position I've had to bunt hermany times and the team's
backing up because they knowthat she can hit and when she
(19:22):
lays down a bunt she does a realgood job for the team.
Sometimes you got tomanufacture runs and for her to
be able to sacrifice her at batto help us do that.
Coach Emily Cowell (19:30):
That's huge coach, I can tell and I I always
ask this question the coachesthat come on like you know you,
when you got a special group ofkids, um, you know when the
season starts and I know youwere so confident from from the
beginning and it's great to seewhere this team is today.
But I can see in your faceyou're, you're really proud of
this team.
I mean it's all over your facehow passionate you are.
(19:52):
I absolutely love it, but howproud are you of this team?
Speaker 3 (19:57):
I'm so proud it's awesome.
So proud.
I said to these kids it was theonly thing I could say to them
in the pregame speech of boththe semifinals and the finals of
sectionals that I get emotionalprofessionals, that I get
(20:23):
emotional that these girls havethey've already set the
precedence and they've alreadyleft their legacy that from this
moment on, every future teamthat I coach, they're going to
have to measure up to the bar ofthis team.
Um, you know, not just play it,not just skill wise on the
field, but their personality,their confidence, their
character, these are good kids.
Coach Emily Cowell (20:45):
Yeah, I think you hit it on the button.
I mean, the bar is set so highthat every year now it's like
you've got to beat Rome.
You know Rome's not just goingto lay down, you've got to come
and you've got to bring your Agame to beat Rome.
Talk to us a little bit aboutthe finals, because I got to be
honest with you, when I saw thebracket come out, I really liked
our chances.
I'm like we got a shot.
I mean it's a pretty goodbracket.
And then CNS.
(21:06):
Actually, you know, the topseed loses to B-Vill and B-Vill
was playing really good.
You know, coming into thefinals, I mean obviously guys
were playing really well too.
You, you guys jumped out rightout of the gate.
I think it was four, nothingthrough through three innings
and amelia went I think six.
Speaker 3 (21:25):
And then soph came in and closed the door, but you
guys got off to a really goodstart.
Yeah, to be honest with you, Ikeep saying to to everybody that
our mentality is that itdoesn't matter who's standing in
the other dugout, as long as weshow up and play our best game.
I I don't know if anybody'sgonna beat us, like if every
single one of us plays our bestgame.
And you know what, even in thesectional finals, you know we've
(21:48):
got we've got a couple errors.
We still didn't play our bestgame and that just goes to show
like we still were able to win.
You know, we put the ball inplay really well.
We moved base runners reallywell.
Haley Hitz went over the fence.
We get excited for that.
Even though we didn't play ourbest game, we still go up 7-1
(22:08):
against an awesome B-ville team,someone that has consistently
given us a loss at the end ofthe season these past couple
years, and the fact that we wereable to overcome that mentally
was huge.
Um, even if it was cns on theother side, I think the chip on
our shoulder would have stayed,and I just especially, I think,
(22:29):
to be honest with you, I'm I'mthinking back actually to the
liverpool game mid-season.
That was huge for us at home,you know.
To win that game, uh, we knewat that moment that it was our
time.
Coach Emily Cowell (22:40):
So I got to put this comment up here,
Anthony.
Speaker 3 (22:43):
I know.
Coach Emily Cowell (22:43):
Anthony, thanks for tuning in.
He said Syracusecom said 6-3final is what they predicted.
They predicted you guys toactually lose on Syracusecom.
When they did all theirpredictions, they picked Beville
to win that game never, countus out I told you.
Speaker 3 (23:00):
I told you even when we were behind never count us
out.
Coach Emily Cowell (23:03):
We're not done gary says get up, dress up
and show up.
I like that one.
Speaker 3 (23:07):
Yeah, I like that one , gary yeah um so let's fast
forward, that's right.
Coach Emily Cowell (23:13):
So first sectional title in 32 years.
Um, and I was trying to go backand say 32 years.
How old was I when you?
Know, that happened.
But what did that mean to youguys?
Did you know it had been thatlong going into that game?
Speaker 3 (23:28):
I knew it had been a long time.
Actually, it's funny becauseCoach Beer, back in February I
think, maybe even March, justbefore we started tryouts, he
pulled the girls in and we wereat RFA, in the main gym, and hey
, thanks.
By the way, I just saw acomment congrats, coach, thank
you.
Um, he looked up at the wall,at the banner, and I think there
(23:51):
was only like one year on it1988 or 87, whatever it was and
he said girls, that's gonna say2025.
If everybody does what they'resupposed to do, that's your year
is going up there and we'vebeen talking about this for a
long time.
And that's just where thebelief came from.
And we knew that we had a wholecommunity behind us.
(24:13):
Um, you know, I, our parents,coaches, coaches of other sports
, our athletic director, ouradministration, our school board
, our superintendent everybody'sbeen behind us this whole time
and it means a lot.
Coach Emily Cowell (24:29):
I'll tell you one of the cool things.
So my daughter's only nine,she's a.
She's a little thing, but she'sreally fast.
So coach Jerry and coach Beersaid to me Mark said it to me
last night you got to flip herover to the left side and teach
her how to slap because she canfly.
So you're going to have to helpme with that, because I don't
know how to teach softball.
I played baseball, but not,obviously, softball.
But it was really cool becauseI was up there last night and
(24:52):
I'm watching these little girlsplay, and my daughter, who's
really competitive they lostlast night, so she was really
pissed off after the end of thegame.
But I remember coming to thegame and my daughter had said is
this where the RFA team, isthis where they play at the
varsity girls?
And it's like yeah, and shesaid she goes.
Hopefully one day I can play onthat field, dad.
And I'm like you know what?
Madison honey, they just wonthe title.
(25:13):
She goes, they won the nationalchampionship.
I said you could say that forhigh school, honey, but but
college is the nationalchampionship.
But what I wanted to ask you,though, how nice is it though?
You see these little girls andyou know the running around
saying this is the future youknow of your program as they get
older yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 3 (25:31):
I mean our sport is growing.
I mean, look at what justhappened last night.
You know it's game one of thewomen's college world series and
we just broke a record forviewership.
You know, women's sports isgrowing exponentially and it is
showing at our level as well.
You know you can see our firstcouple of games of the season.
(25:51):
We had our usual parents andusual fans come in and then we
started winning games and all ofa sudden the all-of-cost field
is packed when we play and itjust goes to show that what we
do on the field, what we do offthe field, it, it's a legacy and
what we do today is going toimpact and, uh, affect those
(26:16):
young kids.
You know a lot of my girlsactually spend some time with
the youth program and Rome girlssoftball.
I got a couple kids thatactually have umpired some games
already, which is pretty cool.
Um, and when we go out and wehelp coach some of those younger
kids and, um, you know it's,it's a community and it starts
at that young level.
Um, and actually I have, I havemy varsity kids as much as they
(26:39):
can make sure that they alwaysgo and and cheer on the modified
team and and cheer on the JVteam as best they can.
And you know it, we got to payit forward because if you don't,
then then you're not buildingthe program.
Coach Emily Cowell (26:51):
So Sarah says we need to bring the 87
plaque up to cost from Stevensfield.
Speaker 3 (26:57):
Yeah, I actually just yeah, I just learned that the
other day actually, that theplaque is at Stevens Field.
I haven't gone over there tolook yet, but that's on my to-do
list.
You know what?
Coach Emily Cowell (27:13):
I forget, because my sister played
softball for Coach Jerry Tableand Coach Sanborn, who was the
varsity coach here many yearsago, and they played at Stevens
Fieldfield oh yeah for their,for their games.
Yeah, I, when she said that, Iwas like, oh yeah, that's right,
that's where they used to playat um.
Do you think how much of theand I agree the women's game has
gotten so big?
I was watching it last nightand anthony says it wasn't
(27:35):
obstruction.
I, I agree it was not.
I didn't think either, butagain, I don't know the rules,
like you guys do.
Um how much of the caitlin clarkthing you think is really
impact and not just you knowwomen's basketball, just women's
sports in general oh,absolutely, you know, it's uh
gosh.
Speaker 3 (27:52):
She's just been a catalyst for us, um, and I feel
she's done it in a very classyway.
I feel she's done it to alwayslook to help improve and be
positive and, and you know, ithas shown that people care about
women's sports and everybodyneeds to watch and look out and
(28:12):
softball, especially softball,is huge.
The game is is quick, it'sexciting.
You know I I don't want to be aknock on baseball or anything
because I'm a baseball lover,but baseball and softball are
very different and the speed ofthe game of baseball really
helps improve the viewership.
It's a little bit.
It's really exciting to watchbecause of that.
(28:33):
So I'm a lover of the game ofsoftball because of that reason
and I think that's definitelyhelping with the viewership.
Coach Emily Cowell (28:41):
But definitely Caitlin Clark has
been the catalyst to just kindof open people's eyes, you know
and we're all reallyappreciative of that so, coach,
take us to now preview uhLancaster, right section, uh
five six six.
Okay, section six.
As they played, they beat.
What was it?
Rush, henrietta yep yeah, sotake us through.
(29:03):
How much do we know about them?
Um?
Um lancaster's a good team yeah, lancaster's a good team.
Speaker 3 (29:11):
They got, uh, they definitely hit the ball around
the ballpark really well.
We're gonna have to play reallygood defense.
Um, our pitchers are gonna haveto hit their spots.
Um, we can't leave anything fat, leave anything, uh, over the
plate for them because they'regonna to knock it around Bottom
line.
We just got to score more runsthan they do, not to keep it too
simple, but that's just it.
We got to put the ball in playand try and make them run around
(29:33):
and make sure that the pressureon them is just as much as the
pressure on us.
Coach Emily Cowell (29:38):
I was going to say at this point everybody's
good, you don't really have nofilm and stuff to really watch.
You got to go out and do thelittle things right.
You got to put the ball in play.
You got to play solid defense.
You got to pitch, you got to getouts, uh, and all that turf,
field or grass field turf okay,yeah, I didn't know if it was
turf or grass and I know a lotof the the people in rome were
(29:59):
talking about the schedulingpiece and I'd been there before
and a lot of the Rome peoplewere so upset because it's the
senior ball.
We had it when I played and wemade it to the state final four.
Luckily we had gotten back.
But again, that's nothing withRome.
I know Coach Carey I would sayAaron Carey worked really hard,
you know, with the state to tryto make this thing happen for
(30:20):
the girls to get back.
But night game, long day forthe team bus ride out there.
Did you have any preference oftime?
Speaker 3 (30:31):
Would you have rather played earlier or played a
later game?
Are you talking about stillwith senior ball or just?
Coach Emily Cowell (30:37):
putting senior ball aside, just in
general.
Yeah, putting that aside.
Speaker 3 (30:41):
Oh, putting that aside, a late game is fine by me
, because my kids still get tohave a good night's sleep and
not have to worry about wakingup at the crack of dawn to get
on a bus.
To be honest with you all, thatstuff's out of my control, so
it's hard to have an opinion onit.
I mean, if I did have anopinion, I would really
(31:01):
appreciate it if Section 6 gaveus the grace you know they made
the mistake and we're sufferingfor it, but that is what it is.
You know we're going to put ourcleats on and we're going to go
out and play hard anyway.
Coach Emily Cowell (31:13):
So, Coach, who does the winner of your game
play, and then when would thatgame be?
Speaker 3 (31:25):
So, winner of this game, uh is going to be playing
on um friday, june 13th, andthat is the state semifinals.
And we actually just got theresult um corning beat
middletown um today six nothing.
So, uh, it's going to end upbeing corning and that is going
to be at green light.
Uh, grand slam park andbinghamton, the former bags,
former bagszai They've renovatedthose fields.
It's a beautiful complex.
Corning won today and they'vemade it to the state semifinals.
(31:51):
It's state semifinals on the13th and then, if you win, you
make it to Saturday state finals.
Coach Emily Cowell (31:58):
Last question I have for you, and I
know what your answer is goingto be You're going to keep it
simple, but what's this teamhave to do to win on Saturday
and keep playing?
Speaker 3 (32:07):
Overcome the adversity because we we will be
challenged on Saturday, like wehave not been challenged yet.
So overcome the adversity, andit's what we've been doing all
season.
We need to stay together, weneed to believe that we can do
it and when we see the adversityreset and make the next play.
Coach Emily Cowell (32:29):
Got the lineup made already, or do you
make your superstition and makeit on the way out there?
You already got it made up.
Speaker 3 (32:35):
And if you do, how?
Coach Emily Cowell (32:36):
many times is it going to change?
Speaker 3 (32:40):
I got some pencil marks in my brain.
Coach Emily Cowell (32:45):
That's all I'll say.
That's, that's the answer thatI I somehow.
I knew you were going to saythat, but well, listen, coach,
we're behind you.
I'm so proud of you and theteam and um it's great hopefully
you guys keep this thing goingand then when saturday and what
you and I will do this thingagain next week awesome, sounds
good all right, good luck coach.
Speaker 3 (33:01):
Thank you thanks guys , I appreciate everybody go roam
go, roam, thank you, lovetalking to coach.
Coach Emily Cowell (33:08):
Let me fix my uh screen here.
There we go, love talking toher, um.
She brings a ton of energy umto the table.
And I went back and, as Ialways do, I go back and watch a
lot of my past interviews and Iwas looking at some of the
notes and I'm like everythingshe said back on April 14th when
(33:29):
this team got off the bus fromplaying Shenandoah and
Gilderland was basically spot onEverything that she said and at
that time I was ready to runthrough a wall for and even just
now, listening to her, I gotgoosebumps on some of the things
that she said.
But so proud of her, so proudof this team and I'm excited to,
no matter the outcome.
This has been a fantastic seasonfor coaching and girls and I'm
(33:53):
hoping they continue with thisjourney and and get a chance to
play in the state final four andbeyond that.
I'm hoping I get a chance totalk to Coach again next week,
but I want to make sure that Ithank her for coming on with me
here tonight and thanks foreverybody that tuned in to
listen here tonight.
I know it was an off night forthe Mohawk Valley Sports Watch,
but I wanted to get her on livebefore the game on Saturday.
(34:14):
I didn't want to talk to herthe day after win or lose.
I wanted to get her thoughts onthe season and prior to.
So I appreciate everybodytuning in tonight to the Mohawk
Valley Sports Watch.
As coach says, go Rome, go Rome.
Girls.
Best of luck to you on Saturday.
Have a good evening everybody.
The.
Coach Emily Cowell (00:35):
Good evening everybody.
Welcome to the Rock Pile hereTonight.
The Rock Pile brings you aspecial edition of the Mohawk
Valley Sports Watch, differentday and time Tonight.
I wanted to get Coach Cowantonight before their big
regional game this weekend, soI'm excited to talk to her.
I got a lot of good stuff forher tonight.
I went back and actuallywatched.
I spoke to Coach back inmid-April so I went back to
(00:57):
watch that interview this weekand I got a lot of stuff to
bring up from that interview.
But I'm really excited to talkto her.
Bring up from that interviewbut I'm really excited to talk
to her.
And what a great story this RFAteam has been this year and
Coach has done a fantastic jobin her first year with this
group, so I'm excited to talk toher.
If you're watching on Facebook,you're watching on YouTube, any
of the social media channels ifyou have any questions for
(01:18):
Coach and you put them in thecomment box, I'll try to bring
over some questions tonight.
As many as I can Follow me onYouTube.
Hit the subscribe button.
All the stuff will be playedback so you can make sure you
don't miss anything fromtonight's show.
So, without further ado, let mebring Coach on.
Coach, let me just switch us uphere and there we go.
(01:40):
How are you?
I'm great, thank you.
How are you?
I'm doing pretty good.
I went back to our lastinterview.
You and I spoke on April 13thand you were pretty much just
getting off the bus from.
You played the game againstShenandoah and Gilderland and I
went back and I watched it andsome of the stuff on there.
(02:01):
I got to tell you you werepretty spot on for what you said
then to where you are today andthere's a few things I said.
I said to you and I'm lookingat my notes.
I said what are some thingsthis team needs to do to win
sectionals?
And you said no one they canwin, expect to win, play with a
chip on their shoulder, believethey belong and gain confidence.
(02:24):
And I got to tell you, coach, Idon't know you, but I followed
you guys this season.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
And they take after the personality of you.
I appreciate that.
I mean.
No matter what I feel like, ateam is always following the
personality and the expectationsof their coach, and that's the
job of the coach, isn't it?
You know what I mean.
But it's not just me.
Like my assistant coach, markBeer, he's known these kids
since they were little tykes inelementary school.
He's been coaching them a longtime too.
It's both of us, it's thecommunity, it's their parents,
(02:56):
it's their travel ball coaches.
They were built for this moment, and when I was talking to you
about it back in April, itwasn't just a guess.
We knew what we had to do andwe went out and did it, and I am
so extremely honored to havebeen part of the journey and the
ones to help them walk acrossthe finish line so far.
Coach Emily Cowell (03:18):
I know you were really confident too,
because when I was talking toyou about this team and I always
joke with Coach Snyder, who'sthe Notre Dame girls basketball
coach, and I tell him every yearI'm like if you have any
assistant coaching spots open,I'd love to come on, because
every year these teams getyounger and younger and they're
really good.
And you talked about yourroster and you said you really
(03:38):
just can't screw this thing upand you can really plug and play
girls.
The lineup from top to bottomis real good, but talk to us a
little bit about because you dohave a lot of young kids that
played for you this year and youhad some kids step up too.
Speaker 3 (03:53):
Yeah, absolutely.
You know a couple of young kidsthat have really stood out,
obviously freshman AmeliaSzymanski, in the circle, I mean
she was my one and only ace onJV no offense to a junior that's
also on the team this year.
Emma Lopez she was our backuppitcher just in case last year
on JV.
But the way that she's beenable to step up to this next
(04:17):
level and throw the ball reallywell on defense we follow her
lead and we always try to haveher back in the batter's box and
try and score her some runsbecause we know how hard she's
working and how well she'sthrowing the ball.
You know.
Besides that, I would also haveto mention sophomore Sage
Pelton.
This is her third year onvarsity and she's really stepped
(04:39):
up a lot, she's matured a lotand actually she's been put in
some different positions a lot.
And actually she's been put insome different positions.
Like you know, she was a thirdbaseman mainly for coach
Klasinski the last couple ofyears and with the obvious
addition of Haley Bostwick inour in our infield it's kind of
been a domino effect with wheresome of the other girls are
(05:01):
placed and Sage has kind ofearned a spot over at second
base and has played very wellfor us over there and she's kind
of owning it.
And then also Gianna Greer.
You know she's another one.
She was on her first year ofvarsity last year, saw the field
a little bit last year, was putin some big situations last
(05:23):
year but you know she went outand earned a spot this year.
She had to work, she had tobattle with some other kids and
in the end she got theconfidence and she started doing
some really great stuff in thehitting lineup and it earned her
her spot.
And you know I always kind ofjoke with her a little bit
(05:43):
because Gianna has always had alove for the infield.
She loves being a middleinfielder, she loves getting
ground balls and being in theaction in the infield.
And she actually earned a spotin the outfield this year
because of her speed and herability to move side to side and
go after some balls.
And you know one thing thatI've had to help coach her with
(06:05):
is that a starting spot is astarting spot.
You know what I mean Like goown it and be proud of what
you've been able to accomplish.
You know, and I know that fromexperience, when I was a
freshman in college I had neverplayed the outfield or any other
position besides third base andshortstop.
And my freshman year in collegeI ended up being a catcher,
(06:26):
because our one and only catcherended up dropping out.
And then, after that, mysophomore year, I ended up being
a starting right fielder, youknow you just own the spot, you
just go out and play and, in myopinion and this is something
that I've tried to say to all mykids it gives you a new respect
for the game when you're ableto play a bunch of different
positions.
(06:46):
So, you know, those are mythree youngest players and they
really stepped up and I'm proudof them.
Coach Emily Cowell (06:52):
One thing I remember talking with you about
back in April was I really likedthe confidence in your voice
and as a coach, you got to beconfident.
I'm the same way.
There wasn't a game on theschedule that I didn't think we
could win.
We might've been outnumberedagainst some teams, but I you
know that attitude andpersonality is contagious with
(07:13):
with your players and I thinkright now, from when we talked
in April, you told me you reallylearned something about this
team after those two gamesagainst Gilderland and Shen.
What have you learned the mostabout your team?
Here you are coming off asection three title and then now
you head into the regionals.
Take me back to April.
You got off that bus.
What have you learned aboutthis team at this point in the
season?
Speaker 3 (07:37):
The most important thing that I've learned about
this team is that we're not justtalk, we walk the walk.
We believe what we say and weband together no matter what the
situation is Something that Ialways harp with every single
team that I coach, no matterwhat sport, no matter what level
.
It's the life lesson of there'salways two things that you can
(07:57):
control.
And if, if any of my girlsright now are watching, they're
rolling their eyes going oh herewe go again.
Right they they've heard me saythis a million times, but you
know you don't really get ituntil you get it.
But the two things that you canalways control is attitude and
effort.
You know you can be down fourruns, five runs and going into
the top of the seventh.
When you just traveled toSyracuse, when we went to go
(08:18):
play West Jenny in terribleweather, really, really
difficult field conditions, wink, wink, but the umpires weren't
on our side either.
And we're down and you knowwhat?
We banded together and we endedup coming away with a 9-7 win.
We're never out, it doesn'tmatter the score, we just play
(08:40):
hard and it just.
You know, you just feel goodabout your team when you can
step into battle, even whenyou're down and you just keep
playing hard.
You know we all want to put theteam on our back and we all
want to just try our best andgrind it out.
Nobody's scared to play, andthat's huge not playing with any
fear.
Coach Emily Cowell (09:01):
And Coach, we talked about the TVL and I
know you said the TVL was goingto be really good this year, and
again that statement couldn'tbe more true.
I mean, whitesboro finished13-2.
New Hartford won 13 games,camden won 16 games, notre Dame
won 11 games.
And here you guys are too.
Talk to us.
I mean that TVL was brutal fromstart to finish.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
Yeah, I actually I really love and appreciate how
competitive our league is.
You know, coming from somebodythat played and coached at
Herkimer College, you know wewould kind of beat up on some
teams in our conference and thenwe'd have to suddenly turn it
on when we got to regional play.
And when you're challenged allseason long, it just sets you up
(09:47):
and it just builds.
You know you get to experiencesome things and you get to kind
of learn what kind of team youare and you're not shocked when
it comes to postseason play andend of season play, like how
amazing is it that we got allthese TVL teams, section
champions, we got TVL teams thatyou know I mean wow, and how
(10:09):
awesome is it for our local area.
You know we're producing a lotof amazing athletes and listen
all you college coaches outthere.
Come see us play.
Come see Utica Whitesboro, rome.
Come see us play, because wehave excellent athletes here in
the Mohawk Valley.
It's not just in Syracuse, it'snot just in Rochester, it's not
just in Section 2, albany.
(10:29):
Come see us play because we canplay.
Coach Emily Cowell (10:32):
Yeah, amen, I say that about all sports.
We have a lot of good talent inthis area across the entire
Mohawk Valley, so I agree withyou, coach.
The other thing is, coachconfidence.
I mean winning's contagiousright.
I mean your team right now hasthat swag to them and you know,
as you said, your team's neverdown and out.
You get behind, your team findsa way to rally together and
(10:55):
come back.
And you've been ahead whereyou've stayed ahead.
You've been behind where you'vecome back.
How much confidence right nowdoes this team have going into
the weekend?
Speaker 3 (11:03):
You know what, going into this weekend, I feel like
we have maintained the same andI mean that in the best way
possible, we're not making themoment too big, we're not
getting too rallied up, because,you know, especially when it
comes to postseason play, it'sabout what team shows up and
what team gets over the hype,because if you start hyping
(11:24):
something up, you start playinga little bit tighter.
You know you start makingmistakes.
If you just show up and do whatyou've been doing all season
and trust the process and trustyour fundamentals and trust your
routines, then you're going toshow up and play, you know, and
that's just something that we'vejust we've maintained that all
(11:44):
season long and, and in timeswhere we haven't, we've had to
learn our lesson, you know?
Um, so that's we.
Just we sit back, we trusteverything that we've done so
far and we're just going to keepdoing that this weekend.
Coach Emily Cowell (11:53):
How fun is your team having?
I saw the little pie action inyour face last night.
Speaker 3 (11:59):
Yeah, actually, I think I still got a little bit
of whipped cream in my eye.
Coach Emily Cowell (12:04):
I was like she's got to take the shades off
, like she's got to get thosesunglasses off.
But how fun is your team having?
Speaker 3 (12:11):
So much fun.
How about this?
I'll tell you this funny story.
So we're at OCC for thesemifinals and we're about ready
to play Fayetteville Manliusand we've been so hungry for
this game since the last time.
This is our third time playingthem this season and you know
what, when you see a team threetimes, you just get a little
(12:31):
extra hungry for that game.
Yep.
And you know what I'm walkingaround, you know chatting with
the girls and I actually broughtour um game ball from the first
ever game that we played thisseason, my first game as a
varsity coach and our first winof the season.
It was at home against fm, andI had all the girls sign it,
(12:52):
because I'm really sentimentallike that and I keep, I keep
game balls like left and right.
But I walked through while theywere all playing catch and I
said touch the ball, becauseit's got good vibes on it and
everybody's touching, touching,they're still throwing and
whatnot.
And I have a couple girls comeup to me and go coach.
I got it and they touched itand they went like this and they
(13:13):
held it a little while longer.
They're all wearing temporarytattoos of my ugly face on their
arm.
Coach Emily Cowell (13:24):
That's awesome, though you gotta have
some funny, you gotta have somelaughs, it's a long season.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
God, I love it.
Yeah, man, I absolutely love it.
I mean, it's just who we areand I wouldn't change them for
the world.
I love how they bust my chops.
I mean I, you, everybody makesmistakes.
Sometimes I'll I'll be tryingto say something really serious
and then I'll accidentally saysomething silly and they just
they never let me get away withit, which is great.
I mean I just love thechemistry of our team.
Coach Emily Cowell (13:47):
So, coach, I asked you about pitching too,
and after that April bus, thatbus trip there.
When you got back and you saidyou had three, three pitchers
and you know, I think you saidMadison Saffin was like the Greg
Maddox, she doesn't throw hardbut she, you know, she hits her
spots.
And then you had so tossy tothrows really hard.
And then you got this freshman,Amelia, who's unbelievable, and
she's only a freshman.
Talk to us about this pitch andstaff.
(14:09):
That's really got you.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
Yeah, I mean obviously I think, gosh, I'm
such a sucker.
Sometimes I want every kid toplay all game.
You know what I mean.
It's really tough to make thesedecisions sometimes about who
goes in the circle and whodoesn't, and where else they're
playing, and I want to get everykid in the game.
(14:30):
But overall I'm so pleased withhow each and every one of those
girls have played and thrown,and you know I said it back in
april and I'll say it again thatyou know these three are
excellent pitchers and they allprovide something different.
You know and it's all based onum, who we're facing.
I think amelia has proved thisseason that she is as good as we
(14:51):
expect her to be, um, andespecially something with her
style.
Um, hitters have a really hardtime picking up the ball.
With her pitching style.
You know the way that shereleases the ball, the way that
she loads up when she's ready topitch, and she's proven that.
I mean, you know you look backat her ERA.
You look back just simply onhow many walks she's had.
She's she averages, I think,maybe only two walks a game, six
(15:16):
or something like that.
A game.
That's really cool, especiallyas a freshman, goodness you know
.
Same thing with Soph and Maddie.
If you know, if Amelia isn'tthrowing or they're starting to
time her up or anything, we knowthat we can go to either one of
those two right away and thechoice of who goes in the circle
kind of depends on who we needin the infield.
(15:37):
You know, sometimes Maddie, weneed to keep her in the infield
because we need to have her inthat spot or whatever.
Or sometimes we know that thehitter's style that we've seen
so far, we know that they're notgoing to be able to catch up to
Soph's fastball.
You know, and actually speakingof pitchers, we actually
brought up a JV player, seventhgrader Wendy.
Coach Emily Cowell (15:59):
Reno, I was just going to bring it up, yep.
Speaker 3 (16:01):
Yep.
So, and I'll tell you what,coach Beer and I have looked at
each other a few times and wedidn't bring her up by accident.
She deserves to be with us.
She's thrown an incredible JVseason.
I mean, my goodness, I think.
I think the lowest amount ofstrikeouts she had in a game in
JV was maybe like 13 or 14.
(16:22):
That's, you know, one or twoevery single inning.
The girl throws, strikes.
She throws really well, shehits her spots.
She's got a great changeup.
You know she does good stuffand she might only be 12, 13
years old, but she plays likeshe's been there and she
deserves to be with us and we'renot afraid to put her in the
circle if we need to.
Coach Emily Cowell (16:43):
Yeah, I mean that's great signs for the
future.
You've got some young talentcoming up, which is great.
The program's going in a greatdirection it's in great shape.
So I want you to talk a littlebit about your top three four
hitters and your lineup is solidtop to bottom.
But I just want you to talk tome a little bit about Kennedy
Campbell and what she brings toyour table, and then Michaela
(17:04):
Howard too, but again top tobottom.
Haley Boswick this year, whodidn't play much last year, but
Madison's right there, butthey're all juniors.
Speaker 3 (17:14):
Yeah, man, we're very junior heavy.
It's very exciting, obviously,knowing what we've been able to
accomplish this year.
They're all coming back nextyear as seniors and they have
that experience, they have thatchip on their shoulder as a
senior.
They've all produced extremelywell for us.
I mean, let's talk aboutKennedy Campbell.
(17:34):
That kid is a thorn in theother team's side.
I mean, let's talk aboutKennedy Campbell.
That kid is a thorn in theother team's side.
She's a great leadoff hitter.
She gets on base and she is avery good base runner.
You know, running bases is justas important as pitching,
catching, hitting, fieldingRunning bases.
You have to score runs to wingames right.
So having her as a leadoff, ifshe can get on base, we just we
(17:57):
know that we're going to score arun in that first inning, you
know so.
So that's really good.
Michaela Howard, obviously thegirl just gets up, she hits for
power.
We know she's going to hit itto the green and obviously with
Kennedy and Lex and Maddie infront of her, sometimes Haley
Boswick in front of her too.
You know, we got good speed onthe bases, we got a chance to
(18:19):
score some runs.
Same thing, haley Bostwick, howabout that sectional finals and
she hits the team's very firstover the fence home run.
Well, the very first home run.
We hit the ball hard but wehaven't gotten over the fence
yet.
She hits the team's very firstone and that was so exciting and
it's not for a lack of hittingthe ball hard.
(18:40):
I mean, if you look at ourfield, our field is huge.
I bet if we had a 200-footfence we would have had more at
our field.
But yeah, that's awesome.
Maddie Safin something I love totalk about with Maddie is a lot
of times she's up to bat withrunners in scoring position and
I wish there was a way toactually go back and tabulate.
(19:00):
But a lot of her RBIs aregame-winning RBIs, you know, and
we don't really realize that atthe time because it may have
only been the third or fourthinning, but there are a lot of
game-winning RBIs.
The girl is a gap-to-gap hitter.
She puts the ball in playreally well and also in her
position I've had to bunt hermany times and the team's
backing up because they knowthat she can hit and when she
(19:22):
lays down a bunt she does a realgood job for the team.
Sometimes you got tomanufacture runs and for her to
be able to sacrifice her at batto help us do that.
Coach Emily Cowell (19:30):
That's huge coach, I can tell and I I always
ask this question the coachesthat come on like you know you,
when you got a special group ofkids, um, you know when the
season starts and I know youwere so confident from from the
beginning and it's great to seewhere this team is today.
But I can see in your faceyou're, you're really proud of
this team.
I mean it's all over your facehow passionate you are.
(19:52):
I absolutely love it, but howproud are you of this team?
Speaker 3 (19:57):
I'm so proud it's awesome.
So proud.
I said to these kids it was theonly thing I could say to them
in the pregame speech of boththe semifinals and the finals of
sectionals that I get emotionalprofessionals, that I get
(20:23):
emotional that these girls havethey've already set the
precedence and they've alreadyleft their legacy that from this
moment on, every future teamthat I coach, they're going to
have to measure up to the bar ofthis team.
Um, you know, not just play it,not just skill wise on the
field, but their personality,their confidence, their
character, these are good kids.
Coach Emily Cowell (20:45):
Yeah, I think you hit it on the button.
I mean, the bar is set so highthat every year now it's like
you've got to beat Rome.
You know Rome's not just goingto lay down, you've got to come
and you've got to bring your Agame to beat Rome.
Talk to us a little bit aboutthe finals, because I got to be
honest with you, when I saw thebracket come out, I really liked
our chances.
I'm like we got a shot.
I mean it's a pretty goodbracket.
And then CNS.
(21:06):
Actually, you know, the topseed loses to B-Vill and B-Vill
was playing really good.
You know, coming into thefinals, I mean obviously guys
were playing really well too.
You, you guys jumped out rightout of the gate.
I think it was four, nothingthrough through three innings
and amelia went I think six.
Speaker 3 (21:25):
And then soph came in and closed the door, but you
guys got off to a really goodstart.
Yeah, to be honest with you, Ikeep saying to to everybody that
our mentality is that itdoesn't matter who's standing in
the other dugout, as long as weshow up and play our best game.
I I don't know if anybody'sgonna beat us, like if every
single one of us plays our bestgame.
And you know what, even in thesectional finals, you know we've
(21:48):
got we've got a couple errors.
We still didn't play our bestgame and that just goes to show
like we still were able to win.
You know, we put the ball inplay really well.
We moved base runners reallywell.
Haley Hitz went over the fence.
We get excited for that.
Even though we didn't play ourbest game, we still go up 7-1
(22:08):
against an awesome B-ville team,someone that has consistently
given us a loss at the end ofthe season these past couple
years, and the fact that we wereable to overcome that mentally
was huge.
Um, even if it was cns on theother side, I think the chip on
our shoulder would have stayed,and I just especially, I think,
(22:29):
to be honest with you, I'm I'mthinking back actually to the
liverpool game mid-season.
That was huge for us at home,you know.
To win that game, uh, we knewat that moment that it was our
time.
Coach Emily Cowell (22:40):
So I got to put this comment up here,
Anthony.
Speaker 3 (22:43):
I know.
Coach Emily Cowell (22:43):
Anthony, thanks for tuning in.
He said Syracusecom said 6-3final is what they predicted.
They predicted you guys toactually lose on Syracusecom.
When they did all theirpredictions, they picked Beville
to win that game never, countus out I told you.
Speaker 3 (23:00):
I told you even when we were behind never count us
out.
Coach Emily Cowell (23:03):
We're not done gary says get up, dress up
and show up.
I like that one.
Speaker 3 (23:07):
Yeah, I like that one , gary yeah um so let's fast
forward, that's right.
Coach Emily Cowell (23:13):
So first sectional title in 32 years.
Um, and I was trying to go backand say 32 years.
How old was I when you?
Know, that happened.
But what did that mean to youguys?
Did you know it had been thatlong going into that game?
Speaker 3 (23:28):
I knew it had been a long time.
Actually, it's funny becauseCoach Beer, back in February I
think, maybe even March, justbefore we started tryouts, he
pulled the girls in and we wereat RFA, in the main gym, and hey
, thanks.
By the way, I just saw acomment congrats, coach, thank
you.
Um, he looked up at the wall,at the banner, and I think there
(23:51):
was only like one year on it1988 or 87, whatever it was and
he said girls, that's gonna say2025.
If everybody does what they'resupposed to do, that's your year
is going up there and we'vebeen talking about this for a
long time.
And that's just where thebelief came from.
And we knew that we had a wholecommunity behind us.
(24:13):
Um, you know, I, our parents,coaches, coaches of other sports
, our athletic director, ouradministration, our school board
, our superintendent everybody'sbeen behind us this whole time
and it means a lot.
Coach Emily Cowell (24:29):
I'll tell you one of the cool things.
So my daughter's only nine,she's a.
She's a little thing, but she'sreally fast.
So coach Jerry and coach Beersaid to me Mark said it to me
last night you got to flip herover to the left side and teach
her how to slap because she canfly.
So you're going to have to helpme with that, because I don't
know how to teach softball.
I played baseball, but not,obviously, softball.
But it was really cool becauseI was up there last night and
(24:52):
I'm watching these little girlsplay, and my daughter, who's
really competitive they lostlast night, so she was really
pissed off after the end of thegame.
But I remember coming to thegame and my daughter had said is
this where the RFA team, isthis where they play at the
varsity girls?
And it's like yeah, and shesaid she goes.
Hopefully one day I can play onthat field, dad.
And I'm like you know what?
Madison honey, they just wonthe title.
(25:13):
She goes, they won the nationalchampionship.
I said you could say that forhigh school, honey, but but
college is the nationalchampionship.
But what I wanted to ask you,though, how nice is it though?
You see these little girls andyou know the running around
saying this is the future youknow of your program as they get
older yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 3 (25:31):
I mean our sport is growing.
I mean, look at what justhappened last night.
You know it's game one of thewomen's college world series and
we just broke a record forviewership.
You know, women's sports isgrowing exponentially and it is
showing at our level as well.
You know you can see our firstcouple of games of the season.
(25:51):
We had our usual parents andusual fans come in and then we
started winning games and all ofa sudden the all-of-cost field
is packed when we play and itjust goes to show that what we
do on the field, what we do offthe field, it, it's a legacy and
what we do today is going toimpact and, uh, affect those
(26:16):
young kids.
You know a lot of my girlsactually spend some time with
the youth program and Rome girlssoftball.
I got a couple kids thatactually have umpired some games
already, which is pretty cool.
Um, and when we go out and wehelp coach some of those younger
kids and, um, you know it's,it's a community and it starts
at that young level.
Um, and actually I have, I havemy varsity kids as much as they
(26:39):
can make sure that they alwaysgo and and cheer on the modified
team and and cheer on the JVteam as best they can.
And you know it, we got to payit forward because if you don't,
then then you're not buildingthe program.
Coach Emily Cowell (26:51):
So Sarah says we need to bring the 87
plaque up to cost from Stevensfield.
Speaker 3 (26:57):
Yeah, I actually just yeah, I just learned that the
other day actually, that theplaque is at Stevens Field.
I haven't gone over there tolook yet, but that's on my to-do
list.
You know what?
Coach Emily Cowell (27:13):
I forget, because my sister played
softball for Coach Jerry Tableand Coach Sanborn, who was the
varsity coach here many yearsago, and they played at Stevens
Fieldfield oh yeah for their,for their games.
Yeah, I, when she said that, Iwas like, oh yeah, that's right,
that's where they used to playat um.
Do you think how much of theand I agree the women's game has
gotten so big?
I was watching it last nightand anthony says it wasn't
(27:35):
obstruction.
I, I agree it was not.
I didn't think either, butagain, I don't know the rules,
like you guys do.
Um how much of the caitlin clarkthing you think is really
impact and not just you knowwomen's basketball, just women's
sports in general oh,absolutely, you know, it's uh
gosh.
Speaker 3 (27:52):
She's just been a catalyst for us, um, and I feel
she's done it in a very classyway.
I feel she's done it to alwayslook to help improve and be
positive and, and you know, ithas shown that people care about
women's sports and everybodyneeds to watch and look out and
(28:12):
softball, especially softball,is huge.
The game is is quick, it'sexciting.
You know I I don't want to be aknock on baseball or anything
because I'm a baseball lover,but baseball and softball are
very different and the speed ofthe game of baseball really
helps improve the viewership.
It's a little bit.
It's really exciting to watchbecause of that.
(28:33):
So I'm a lover of the game ofsoftball because of that reason
and I think that's definitelyhelping with the viewership.
Coach Emily Cowell (28:41):
But definitely Caitlin Clark has
been the catalyst to just kindof open people's eyes, you know
and we're all reallyappreciative of that so, coach,
take us to now preview uhLancaster, right section, uh
five six six.
Okay, section six.
As they played, they beat.
What was it?
Rush, henrietta yep yeah, sotake us through.
(29:03):
How much do we know about them?
Um?
Um lancaster's a good team yeah, lancaster's a good team.
Speaker 3 (29:11):
They got, uh, they definitely hit the ball around
the ballpark really well.
We're gonna have to play reallygood defense.
Um, our pitchers are gonna haveto hit their spots.
Um, we can't leave anything fat, leave anything, uh, over the
plate for them because they'regonna to knock it around Bottom
line.
We just got to score more runsthan they do, not to keep it too
simple, but that's just it.
We got to put the ball in playand try and make them run around
(29:33):
and make sure that the pressureon them is just as much as the
pressure on us.
Coach Emily Cowell (29:38):
I was going to say at this point everybody's
good, you don't really have nofilm and stuff to really watch.
You got to go out and do thelittle things right.
You got to put the ball in play.
You got to play solid defense.
You got to pitch, you got to getouts, uh, and all that turf,
field or grass field turf okay,yeah, I didn't know if it was
turf or grass and I know a lotof the the people in rome were
(29:59):
talking about the schedulingpiece and I'd been there before
and a lot of the Rome peoplewere so upset because it's the
senior ball.
We had it when I played and wemade it to the state final four.
Luckily we had gotten back.
But again, that's nothing withRome.
I know Coach Carey I would sayAaron Carey worked really hard,
you know, with the state to tryto make this thing happen for
(30:20):
the girls to get back.
But night game, long day forthe team bus ride out there.
Did you have any preference oftime?
Speaker 3 (30:31):
Would you have rather played earlier or played a
later game?
Are you talking about stillwith senior ball or just?
Coach Emily Cowell (30:37):
putting senior ball aside, just in
general.
Yeah, putting that aside.
Speaker 3 (30:41):
Oh, putting that aside, a late game is fine by me
, because my kids still get tohave a good night's sleep and
not have to worry about wakingup at the crack of dawn to get
on a bus.
To be honest with you all, thatstuff's out of my control, so
it's hard to have an opinion onit.
I mean, if I did have anopinion, I would really
(31:01):
appreciate it if Section 6 gaveus the grace you know they made
the mistake and we're sufferingfor it, but that is what it is.
You know we're going to put ourcleats on and we're going to go
out and play hard anyway.
Coach Emily Cowell (31:13):
So, Coach, who does the winner of your game
play, and then when would thatgame be?
Speaker 3 (31:25):
So, winner of this game, uh is going to be playing
on um friday, june 13th, andthat is the state semifinals.
And we actually just got theresult um corning beat
middletown um today six nothing.
So, uh, it's going to end upbeing corning and that is going
to be at green light.
Uh, grand slam park andbinghamton, the former bags,
former bagszai They've renovatedthose fields.
It's a beautiful complex.
Corning won today and they'vemade it to the state semifinals.
(31:51):
It's state semifinals on the13th and then, if you win, you
make it to Saturday state finals.
Coach Emily Cowell (31:58):
Last question I have for you, and I
know what your answer is goingto be You're going to keep it
simple, but what's this teamhave to do to win on Saturday
and keep playing?
Speaker 3 (32:07):
Overcome the adversity because we we will be
challenged on Saturday, like wehave not been challenged yet.
So overcome the adversity, andit's what we've been doing all
season.
We need to stay together, weneed to believe that we can do
it and when we see the adversityreset and make the next play.
Coach Emily Cowell (32:29):
Got the lineup made already, or do you
make your superstition and makeit on the way out there?
You already got it made up.
Speaker 3 (32:35):
And if you do, how?
Coach Emily Cowell (32:36):
many times is it going to change?
Speaker 3 (32:40):
I got some pencil marks in my brain.
Coach Emily Cowell (32:45):
That's all I'll say.
That's, that's the answer thatI I somehow.
I knew you were going to saythat, but well, listen, coach,
we're behind you.
I'm so proud of you and theteam and um it's great hopefully
you guys keep this thing goingand then when saturday and what
you and I will do this thingagain next week awesome, sounds
good all right, good luck coach.
Speaker 3 (33:01):
Thank you thanks guys , I appreciate everybody go roam
go, roam, thank you, lovetalking to coach.
Coach Emily Cowell (33:08):
Let me fix my uh screen here.
There we go, love talking toher, um.
She brings a ton of energy umto the table.
And I went back and, as Ialways do, I go back and watch a
lot of my past interviews and Iwas looking at some of the
notes and I'm like everythingshe said back on April 14th when
(33:29):
this team got off the bus fromplaying Shenandoah and
Gilderland was basically spot onEverything that she said and at
that time I was ready to runthrough a wall for and even just
now, listening to her, I gotgoosebumps on some of the things
that she said.
But so proud of her, so proudof this team and I'm excited to,
no matter the outcome.
This has been a fantastic seasonfor coaching and girls and I'm
(33:53):
hoping they continue with thisjourney and and get a chance to
play in the state final four andbeyond that.
I'm hoping I get a chance totalk to Coach again next week,
but I want to make sure that Ithank her for coming on with me
here tonight and thanks foreverybody that tuned in to
listen here tonight.
I know it was an off night forthe Mohawk Valley Sports Watch,
but I wanted to get her on livebefore the game on Saturday.
(34:14):
I didn't want to talk to herthe day after win or lose.
I wanted to get her thoughts onthe season and prior to.
So I appreciate everybodytuning in tonight to the Mohawk
Valley Sports Watch.
As coach says, go Rome, go Rome.
Girls.
Best of luck to you on Saturday.
Have a good evening everybody.
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