Young Pine Plains team tops Millbrook

PINE PLAINS — In his second pitching outing, junior Rob Lamont walked off the mound with nine strikeouts and four walks as Stissing Mountain High School varsity baseball beat Millbrook 6-3 on Thursday, April 21.This is an unusual year for Pine Plains, who lost 11 seniors at the end of the 2010 season.“There’s no returning nucleus to this team,” longtime coach Phil Amelio said. “This is the first time we’ve ever gone through that.”Offensively, junior Charlie Nicolich batted three for four with one run scored and one RBI. Junior Austin Miller added two runs and Jake Gomm tallied two RBIs.For Millbrook, Brendan Liakos pitched a complete game, earning five strikeouts and walking three. Kyle Cuomo hit two for four with one run scored and Connor Kyle earned an RBI.There is only one senior on the roster this year, Marquis VanDewater, whom Amelio called, “the quiet leader of the team.” VanDewater is the only player on this year’s team to compete in regional play last year, when Pine Plains took home the Section 9 title.“Nothing is the same here,” Amelio added. “You have to take the guys you’re dealt and turn them into ballplayers. You have to teach them, and that’s going to take this whole year.”Pine Plains is now 3-4 overall but 2-0 in their division. Amelio said the goal for this year is to win the divisional title.“We’re taking our lumps along the way, though, and learning as we go,” the coach said.