You felt Dattilio in the stands at Riverheads
You didn’t have to look hard Monday to see the hand of Mike Dattilio on the pitch at Riverheads. You didn’t need a wistful mind to see it either.
Sure, believe what you wish. That’s up to you. If you think that Dattilio, after watching his girls come out slow against Clarke County, let out a sigh and produced that little bit of wind needed to push Olivia Damico’s please-go-in header over Clarke goalkeeper Haley Socha, then so be it.
Nobody is going to argue with you after the Pride’s 2-1 win over Clarke County in the opening round of the Region B tournament.
If you want to believe that it was Dattilio who, through sheer force of the afterlife, willed Kristen Moody’s head to meet the ball on Jessica Glover’s cornerkick for a picture perfect header into the net, then go ahead and thank him before you go to sleep tonight. Nobody is going to tell you were wrong.
But it didn’t take a wishful imagination to see Dattilio’s true marks. As JV coach, he helped teach Moody how to send that header toward the net off a cornerkick. As JV coach he, no doubt, had a hand in telling Damico to just angle a header, any header, toward the goal because, well, you never know what’s going to happen. You never know which shot is going to slice past the keeper and punch a hole in the net.
You felt Dattilio. Sure you did. And his widow, Marsha, who somehow shook off the shock of losing her husband a week to the day on Monday, felt him too. She felt him as the final double whistle blew. She felt him as Moody and Kristin Shomo got up from the cerebration pile at midfield, thrust their hands in the air and made a beeline for the fence.
You felt Dattilio as they swung open the chain-link fence that kept a small, but raucous, student section at bay. You couldn’t help but feel Dattilio as Shomo and Moody ran up the hill, into the fans, and swarmed around his loving wife, Marsha, with tears in her eyes. You felt him as Moody and Shomo wrapped Marsha up in a hug and peppered her cheeks with kisses.
It wasn’t Mike Dattilio himself kissing his wife on the cheek and hugging his daughters Lora and Elizabeth after the win. It was two of the many players he had a hand in developing. But you have to believe as those girls wrapped up Marsha tight as she clutched a yellow Christopher Newport hat that belonged to her husband, she felt him again. She felt him at her side. In the form of two girls that loved this coach and a team that has dedicated the rest of the season to him.
You saw that. You know you did. All you had to do what watch Marsha as the girls walked back onto the field for photos. Her eyes filled with tears. Her smile as bright at the May sun.
And another thing: Stuarts Draft boys soccer needs more lightning delays. Nuff said.
Don’t look now, but Wilson Memorial boys soccer also beat a Bull Run District team to advance in the Region B tournament. The Green Hornets’ win came over Clarke County, which, well, has won a state title or two.
Josh Miller, your table is ready.
Yeah, yeah, we know how you feel. Watered down regional play and all (and really, if any high school sports team was ever happy with just making regionals, its coach ought to have their toenails pulled out with a pair of pliers) that jazz. Yawwwn. But hey, you can’t ignore what Fort Defiance baseball did to a Division I pitcher in its 11-2 win over Rustburg.
Oh, then Stuarts Draft heads down to Heritage, pounds out 10 hits—including nine runs and two homers in the first two innings—in a 12-7 victory. A game so well played by Draft it elicited this quote from Heritage coach Paul Johnson: “Really, I didn’t know anything about them but it didn’t take us long to find out. It really says something about the kind of ball they play up there.“
You know, how they play ball up here. Home of the “weak” Southern Valley District.
Yeah, yawn again. My sentiments exactly. Maybe if R.E. Lee basketball started playing baseball, we’d see a different story.
Good on you, Sarah Toman. And good on the Green Hornets.
