All pop pops remain in play every day
Simpatico in sports - Sharing Sussex County pop pop status, Costen Shockey and I became sideline friends through Delmar versus Cape field hockey games. Once I finally met the sports legend of Georgetown baseball, a lefty first baseman who had a cup of coffee with the Phillies, I always sought him out, me carrying a blue chair, Costen driving a motorized cart. Last October, Delmar played at Cape on a hot Saturday in one of the greatest regular-season games ever played. Delmar beat Cape in overtime 2-1. I sought out Costen at halftime just for a stop and chat. I grew up two blocks from Connie Mack Stadium. Costen was a Georgetown boy. We made a connection. We talked about field hockey, not baseball. I learned of Costen’s passing from his son Curt. “Hey, Fredman, I wanted to let you know that my dad, Costen, passed away early this morning. I know he really enjoyed talking to you at Ella’s hockey games and the sports coverage you give to all the athletes. He mentioned it to me often.” After that great Cape-Delmar game, I grabbed a photo of Ella Shockley and Josie Hollamon, who rewarded me by actually saying my name, “Thanks, Fredman.” All pop pops are always in play every day. Journey on!
Shutdown and rebound - Cape girls’ lacrosse lost the 2020 season to the pandemic, which in 2022 has everyone counting backward on their fingers to 2009 wondering what happened to year 14. The senior class of 2020 included Talbot Buck, Meredith Lockwood, Lola Messick, Anna Stanfoski, Sawyer Walker, Lee Lee Wilson and Delaney Zolper. I say they were going to win until someone proves differently. The next year’s senior class of Haley Craig, Alex Best, Emily Monoigle, Jocelyn Leach, Lindsay Rambo, Riley Keen and Destiny Kusen won the 2021 state title. And sophomores on that 2020 team who played on the 2022 state title team were Kelly Bragg, Maren Buckaloo, Molly Mendes and Ella Rishko. Megan Smith was a freshman on that team. Lexi Truitt, Grace Totten, Sierra Manifold, Sara Naar, Mikayla Lindsey and Mackinzie Brown were JV players in 2020 and on the varsity roster in 2022. Players on the 2022 team that came from no-sports middle school in 2020 were Montana Jones, Lindsey D’Ambrogi, Landon Diehl, Lulu Rishko, Olivia Burkentine, Grace Wiggins, Carrie Clausius, Anna Suillivan, Hannah Abel, Lexi Nowakowski, Anna Lopez and Lina Frederick. Cape returns seven starters from the 2022 team. There are 23 total eighth-grade players from Mariner and Beacon and a loaded seventh-grade class.
Wallaby Wyatt - Oddly enough, I nicknamed Josh Wyatt “Wallaby'' when he played attack for Cape lacrosse in 1996-98, and then somewhere in his Milton household, there was an actual wallaby hopping about. The end of Josh’s senior season – 25 years ago – after Cape had gone 19-0 under coach Steve Aubrey and won Cape’s first state championship of boys’ lacrosse, Josh walked into my classroom, handed me his beaten-up, battle-tested stick and said, “This may not mean much to anyone but me, but I want you to have it for always being there covering our journey.” Tradition never dies. That stick lies among my camera equipment. I move it about every day. I know someday it will find its way back into a Cape game.
Power of you - It is true, the power of you, and ironically, that power comes from sharing with others and realizing the world is not all about you, but that’s where it starts. Lauren Willey, 33, out of Salisbury, rolled a time of 28:33 on Memorial Day at the Highway One Companies 5K in Dewey Beach. She is my fist-bump friend. There are just so many amazing and inspirational stories on the running scene. I make connections, and runners thank me for always being there. Before talking to Lauren Monday morning, I had to wipe glaze from my eyeball that had fallen off a Wawa donut onto the eyepiece of my camera. We are all simpatico and silly rabbits.
Mohawk Airlines - My uncle Donnie was a captain for Allegheny Airlines. He gave me airline stickers, which I pasted onto the walls of my bedroom. One was Mohawk Airlines, which had a picture of a Mohawk Indian, but why? Mohawk merged with Allegheny in 1972. Now in 2022, Cape baseball and lacrosse boys are getting mohawks before going into state championship games. The Cape lacrosse girls have won 13 state titles in a row and 165 straight games against Delaware competition, all without mohawk haircuts. The Mohawk people were part of the Iroquois Confederacy, and their history is rich. Maybe all athletes should take a class on the Iroquois Nation before rocking a mohawk haircut?
Snippets - Salisbury University with Broadkill Beach’s Brock Hilligoss on the roster is back at the Division III World Series of baseball in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, which begins Friday, June 3. The University of Virginia with Cape’s Jake Gelof opens regional play Friday, June 3, versus Coastal Carolina in Greenville, N.C. Liberty University with Cape’s Mason Fluharty and David Erickson will open tournament play against Oklahoma in Gainesville, Fla. Go to ncaa.com and get lost in multiple platforms haunting the bonus room to your sports subconscious. Go on now, git!
