Coaches doing great things across the landscape of sports

The Candy Man can - Dan Candeloro is the head coach of girls’ tennis for the Caesar Rodney Riders. He was a hands-in-the-dirt, all-American defensive lineman for Delaware State and played for Bill Collick. I’m an older former offensive lineman from Temple. The first time I shook Danny Candy’s hand, one word came to mind, “unblockable,” followed by two words: “Let go.” Everybody loves Candy, and we felt bad when he couldn't get the Caesar Rodney football program up above the water line. Dan got out of the way and stepped sideways full time to coach girls’ tennis, where his daughter Sarah was a player. Father and daughter, along with Sydney Procak, are the current coaches of the Riders girls’ team that is unbeaten at 12-0 and has gone the entire season without losing a set. All victories, both singles and doubles, have been by 5-0 scores. Mining the digital storehouse, I discovered that Candy-coached Caesar Rodney teams are 47-0 over the last three seasons, with 55 straight wins since losing to Dover in April 2021. The DIAA state tournament will begin Saturday, May 18. 

Just a second - On April 24, Cape girls’ lacrosse scored with one second remaining in a 17-7 win over visiting Caesar Rodney. CR coach Gina Voss said to me, “They ran the clock on us, but only for a second.” The Riders beat enigmatic Milford May 1, running the clock 18-3 to go 9-3 on the season. Columnists like my dumb self don’t play them one at a time. We leapfrog, so I pencil in the Riders at 12-3, the same final record I see for Sussex Academy. They are both teams coached by former Cape players, Taylor Gooch and Gina Voss, and you don’t want to see them in the postseason. Cape has also worn out the CR hockey teams over the last 15 years. I said to Gina right after the Cape game, “CR has always been mysterious in hockey and lacrosse in my evaluation, going back a couple decades. They seem to have great athletic kids who play hard and look good in those blue uniforms, but against Cape they would just get rocked.” Gina looked at me sideways, a Cape kid coaching a CR team. She was allegiant to both programs. Speaking to coach Voss, I said to her as an unbiased professional journalist, “Go out there and beat everyone else on your schedule.”   

Broken scoreboard - It’s always ironically funny when I cover a game at a tech school and the equipment doesn’t work. On Wednesday, I trekked over to Sussex Tech to get some photos of unbeaten Cape girls’ lacrosse playing the winless Ravens. I knew Cape would run the clock. I just didn’t know the scoreboard would be turned off – I thought intentionally, but later heard it was broken. Assistant coach Robin Verdery came over to speak to me before the game – Robin is irrepressible, just like me – and then head coach Nataleigh Hunter sprinted across the lacrosse field to give me a hug and say hello. Nataleigh is a kid I have covered since she started to play sports. She has always been a fitness beast. I learned that the toughest day-to-day coaching requires the greatest enthusiasm from coaches to back their athletes, and Robin and Nataleigh brought that to the pitch every day. Cape won 23-0.

Too close to take - The Phillies, now 21-11, with the second-best record in baseball behind Atlanta, beat the Angels 2-1 (beating an Angel just sounds wrong) May 1, overcoming 18 strikeouts across the lineup. There is an axiom, “Attitude is the father of the action,” and watching a half-dozen batters take a called third strike seems like a Little League where a 9-year-old is congratulated for having a good eye. I believe with two strikes you should protect the plate, and with anything close, swing hard in case you hit it. 

Managerial laziness - The Phillies were protecting a 2-1 lead against the Angels in the bottom of the ninth inning with two outs and the tying run on third. Kyle Schwarber is the left fielder. Johan Rojas and Brandon Marsh are available on the bench. Schwarber is driven to the warning track and makes the final out. Nice catch, but why is he on the field? Later, the Mets would fall to the Cubs 1-0 on a game-ending fly-ball, tag-up double play at the plate. The Polar Express Pete Alonzo barreled down the third baseline. It looked like he got his paw in before the tag, but a replay challenge failed. The obvious question to Mets manager Carlos Mendoza: “Was the Polar Bear the fastest animal available in that situation? Don’t you have a cheetah or two sitting in the dugout?”       

Snippets - We are entering awards season. I think a great idea would be to award a Teammate of the Year at all high school and middle schools. Just one award covering all the programs. Mike Conley won the 2023-24 award for the NBA. Conley’s dad, now 61 years old, won a gold medal in the triple jump at the 1992 Summer Olympics. Good people at the top of sports are doing great things. Go on now, git!