Southern Tier Sports ReportCORNING — After back-to-back trips to the state final four the Corning Hawks are back to work preparing to kick off their season on Tuesday.
A year ago the Hawks reached the final four after winning the state title the previous season.
Corning takes on Johnson City on the road Tuesday. The Hawks are a young team, with just one senior — all-state standout Mattisen Johnston, who is committed to play at Albany.
“We’ve got a nice group,” Corning coach Mike Johnston Jr. said. “We lost some quality players last year. We had three seniors that obviously played intramural roles for us for several years, making runs to state championships and the final four. Then Lauren Teribury, our right fielder, moved to North Carolina, so we lost four starters.
“We have a ton of kids that were up for us, role players for us that are going to have to step up for us this year. We return one senior, which is big for us because it happens to be our pitcher. It allows our other kids to be more comfortable, they understand where they fit in. Right now we are sorting things out, getting kids in the right positions early in the season. The season starts a week sooner than before. You have to be prepared to go outside and play in the elements. You live in the Northeast, that’s par for the course.”
It was a busy preseason for Johnston Jr. as he coached the boys until the last weekend of the season as they played in the state semifinals on Friday, just a few days before the softball team is set to kick off their season.
“Keenan Tolbert, coaching varsity baseball, has been awesome to work with. He switched his gym time so I could go back-to-back. That’s programs working together. We have done a good job with each other doing that. We are appreciative of hi. I can go to basketball practice and then go right to softball so I’m not here sitting around the whole time.
“We are excited. Basketball playing in the final four and the start of softball season and the excitement of getting into the season. March 24 is our first game at Johnson City. Then we head down south after a couple games to play in the Myrtle Beach Grand Strand Classic, which we always enjoy. It’s a great team bonding opportunity for our kids and their families and we always look forward to that.”
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PHOTOS BY BRIAN FEES
PHOTO GALLERY FROM PRACTICE:
