J-Y Alumni Still
Playing Together

By Rob Potter
HAWLEY, PA — August 29, 2000 – Although several members of the the Diehl Trucking softball team wore gray t-shirts with red shorts Saturday at the Fourth Annual Chic’s Co-Ed Softball Tournament, they probably would have been just as comfortable wearing orange jerseys and black shorts.
Four members of the Diehl squad —Tammy Burr, Lynn Hubert, Rachel Krantz and Sue Zieres — are Jeffersonville-Youngsville Central School graduates who proudly wore the orange and black Lady Trojan uniforms during their scholastic softball days.
This summer, Burr (JYCS Class of 1994), Hubert (’96), Krantz (’99) and Zieres (’94) helped Diehl Trucking post a 13-3 record and capture second place in the Wayne County Women’s Softball League.
The four were joined on the team by fellow J-Y alum Harika Kabakci (Class of ’99) and Delaware Valley graduates Farrah Fink (Class of ’95) and Anna Tesseyman (Class of ’99).
Playing on the same team is nothing new for Burr, Hubert and Zieres, however. The trio spent three seasons together on the Lady Trojan varsity squad and have played for the Diehl team the past two seasons.
“It’s a blast,” said Hubert, who is an RN at Community General Hospital in Harris. “We all know each other well and it’s easier to play with people who have been your teammates before. And it helps that we’re all best friends.”
While Zieres — the Western Sullivan League softball MVP in her senior year — is still firing fastballs and change-ups to her friend and catcher Burr, things are not quite the same as they were in high school. One obvious change is that the women are a few years older. Another is the competition level of the game.
“This is a different kind of fun,” said Zieres, who is the reservations manager at the Villa Roma in Callicoon and was an assistant coach for the 1999 J-Y softball team (which included Kabakci and Krantz). “It was more serious in high school. And I miss the bunting and stealing [of high school].”
Zieres and Burr formed a battery for three years at J-Y, and in 1996 both went to the junior college national softball tournament. Burr played for Orange County CC and batted over .400 for the Colts. She received honorable mention in Region XV softball that season. Zieres played for Herkimer County CC and in her freshman year compiled a 12–2 record with 2.30 ERA.
While adult summer league softball and scholastic softball have slight differences, the weekend co-ed tournament was also a bit different.
“This is a fundraiser for the cancer society so win, lose or draw, I’m having a good time,” said Burr, who is the manager at the Fitness Factory in Monticello and a personal trainer. “In the regular season, we would get down on ourselves whenever we lost. But today we’re having a blast and raising money to help fight cancer.”
The charity tournament, which benefits the Wayne County Chapter of the American Cancer Society, required that each team have 10 players competing. Five of the ten had to be women and five had to be men, which made for gender equity in the field and in the batting lineup.
Among those joining Burr, Hubert, Krantz and Zieres were regular season Diehl Trucking coaches Mike Goodenough, Mark Konopki and Ed Navetta and Konopki’s wife, Diana.
Diehl Trucking had mixed results in the tournament. In its first game Saturday morning at Bingham Park in Hawley, Diehl’s couldn’t muster any offensive attack versus Muller Auto Sales of Milford, Pa. Muller slammed Diehl by a 15-0 final.
But the squad came back in its second game versus Metzger Construction of Tyler Hill, Pa. Hubert led off the bottom of the first with a solid single, which turned out to be a good sign for the team as Diehl went on to a 10-5 victory. Hubert scored twice and Krantz added a pair of singles and an RBI. Zieres picked up the win on the mound and had a single, while Burr recorded a triple and an RBI.
In a pitching duel versus Ashley Chevrolet of Honesdale, Zieres struck out several Ashley’s batters and did not allow a single run. Krantz singled in the game’s only run as Diehl moved on, 1-0.
But Diehl Trucking was eliminated from the tourney in its very next contest, the fourth consecutive game it played in the humid conditions. The Boathouse, a team sponsored by a Lake Wallenpaupack restaurant, knocked off Diehl, 3-1.
Muller’s Auto Body went on to win the two-day, 16-team charity tournament.