SPRING SPORTS: NEWARK VALLEY'S STIFFARM WAS LOOKING FORWARD TO SPRING SEASON (2020-04-19)

BY TIM TAYLOR
Tioga County Sports Report
NEWARK VALLEY — This was looking like a season when the Newark Valley softball team would put up a serious challenge for an IAC divisional championship — only to have Covid-19 throw a wrench into the works.

Competing in the league's grueling Division 3, the Cardinals were coming into the season confident they could hang with defending division and Section IV Class B champion Waverly, and perennial powerhouse Notre Dame.

The 2020 season was looking promising for NV when practices began March 19, mainly because the Cardinals were returning a bunch of seniors — the all-league battery of pitcher Cassidy Hoffmier and catcher Marissa Berghorn, all-star second baseman April Simmons, Sarah Mertson at first base / outfield and center fielder Jordan Stiffarm. NV was also boasting an all-league shortstop in junior Allie Wandell.

Stiffarm, who played in the shadows of her all-star teammates last season, did make a few opposing teams sit up and take notice with some solid play in as NV went from a 4-12 team in 2018 to a 10-8 squad in 2019. She was looking forward to an even more successful 2020.

"I was really excited for softball this year, so it's really upsetting, but we all are in high hopes!" she stated.

"We basically had the same team as last year because we only lost one senior last year," she added. "There were multiple younger players who are phenomenal athletes who would really impact our team this year. Most of players can play multiple positions so I was looking forward to see how (coach Jason) Monte was going to move people around in the field."

In addition to the veterans coming back to NV, rivals Waverly and Notre Dame suffered key losses.

The Wolverines lost their star player, two-time first-team all-state pitcher Wendi Hammond, to graduation, along with their catcher and best outfielder. ND graduated its pitcher and first baseman while longtime coach Steve Weber resigned due to conflicts with the school administration.

Waverly ended the season ranked fourth in the Class B state rankings while Section IV boasted state champ Edison and five more state-ranked teams (Harpursville, Greene, Notre Dame, Candor, Tioga) in Class C, where NV competed during the postseason. Despite a move to Class B this season, the Cardinals were still expecting to be competitive.

"I personally feel like we won’t resume, just with how bad everything is getting throughout the world," Stiffarm said. "It honestly sucks because this year I was just hoping, just like the rest of the seniors, that this could be our season to do something great."

Although she will be playing volleyball when she heads to Tompkins Cortland Community College this fall, Stiffarm had high hopes for herself on the diamond this spring.

"My expectations for myself were to improve on my hitting and just become a better player and athlete going into college," she said.

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IN PHOTO: NV's Jordan Stiffarm. ... TCSR STOCK PHOTO.