Sports

 It must have felt like hell for the Hornell community.

It has been exactly one month since the tragic death of Hornell football player Dillen McCormick, a loss that devastated a town, a football family and all of Section 5.  The passing was a total shock and under circumstances that are as tough as can possibly be for a family to deal with.

But Dillen's family has been able to survive the crushing loss of a son, and a brother, in do so in many ways because of the love and support shown by the football program and fans from all throughout Section 5.

News of Dillen's death quickly spread as a thread was started on Section 5 Talksback, just hours after the news broke in the town of Hornell. Athletes and fans from everywhere from Bath to Oakfield-Alabama to Geneva and all over one of New York State's largest sections delivered classy, touching and supportive messages. McCormick's passing made an impact on people that were related to him, were friends with him and had never met him.

If you had never met the young man, you very well have heard enough about him by now to feel like you did. One message sent to me personally by one of Dillen's good friends described him as a weight lifter, a class clown, a daredevil, athletic, funny and a kid that loved his family and his friends more than anything else.

Whatever the reasons for Dillen's tragic death, it could never take away from the person that he was and the amount of people he touched in his life can never be in doubt. The evidence is in the Talksback thread, and when you look at the 279 members that are members of a Facebook group set up in his honor.

Or just pay attention on I-390 when you drive past Hornell, where you will see a rock decorated for Dillen. 

The football team rallied around Dillen as well, with the Section 5 Class B semifinal game against Geneva played the weekend after his passing. Legendary coach Gene Mastin asked his players if they wanted to forfeit the game or play, and Dillen's friends took the field in honor of their fallen friend. The Red Raiders lost the game, 21-12, but the result was more than could be expected as football was probably the furthest thing from those kid's minds.

Those closest to Dillen, his family, have been through a lot but are doing okay as well. Darrin and Carol - Dillen's parents - are back to work, doing well and have presumably had the pain of a son's death eased by the kids that are showing support. In the message I mentioned earlier, Mr. and Mrs. McCormick are described as "the most kind, loving, welcoming people you could ever meet." In this hard time, they have opened their home to many of Dillen's friends, giving them as much support as they are receiving in return.

Anybody with a brother or sister could only imagine what Dillen's brother Pat has had to go through. He was pulled out of a football practice and informed of his brother's death. The two were very close.  But he is back to school and playing on the Hornell jayvee basketball team this winter. Pat has seen some great relationships develop with friends of his older brother, which has hopefully helped him through this difficult time.

It is always tough when a high school kid loses his life and it is easy to look at the negatives of a devastating loss. But in just a month, there are a lot of positives to come out of a big negative. Dillen may be gone, but he has united a town, a football community and all of Section 5.

          Yesterday I hauled the canoes away from the creek bank. They’ll spend the winter nestled up against the garage.

              Having looked forward to the autumn for so long, how could it have passed so quickly? There’s a month left before the winter solstice, yet Mother Nature closed the door somewhat abruptly. I don’t mind the snow, but I could do without the prolonged cold snap that comes with it.

              Once the first snows cover the countryside, I find it hard not to think about Christmas. Remembering a cluster of bittersweet I came across during the archery season, I returned to fetch some for my wife. Minus the foliage, Claudia likes to use the vine with its red and yellow berries for Christmas decoration.        

            While snipping sections of vine I could hear geese honking, but the surrounding cover was so dense not much of the sky was visible. Looking up, I had no clue where they were.  

            After exiting the woods and loading the bittersweet into the back of the pickup I could see geese all over the sky. While the honkers flew about in all directions, the northwest sky became dark gray. Minutes later it began snowing once again. The snow intensified, and despite the squall, geese were still flying. One sizeable flock was landing in a grain field. With wings cupped and locked, they dropped lower to the ground in a driving snow.

            Watching the geese negotiating the elements, I thought of Zeke Kehlenbeck and his retrievers. I know he would have appreciated seeing those honkers in the snow. At the time those geese were touching down, Zeke was probably deer hunting with his dad, Aaron, and brothers, Tyler and A.J.

 In recent years we’ve crafted a corn stalk tepee for our grandsons. Seeing it cloaked in white tells me it’s nearly time to put up the Christmas tree - all three of them!     

 For this area, if a high school basketball program has one or two players that move on to play the next level, it's a pretty remarkable achievement.

The Batavia boys basketball program makes one or two playing in college look like nothing, as five former Blue Devils are playing at the Division III level, with the best-of-the-best in the area.

Mike Chmielowiec is the elder statesman of the group and is starting his senior season at the University of Rochester tonight, with a game against Pitt-Bradford.

Kevin Saunders is a junior and playing at Fredonia State and Adam Brasky is a sophomore at King's College.

Mike Hoy and Bryan Anderson are freshman, Hoy playing at Geneseo and Anderson at Roberts Wesleyan. 

Chmieloweic and Saunders both start.

"I've definitely learned a lot of different things as the years went on," said Saunders, who started 13 games as a freshman. "Being a junior I've played a lot and learned a lot of different things along the way. I've grown as a player overall."

Chmielowiec has had a tremendous career and is one of two seniors starting for UofR this season. 

"I think there is a different element to (being a captain in college)," said Chmielowiec, a political science major. "Most kids on the team were captains or the man where they are from. It's a different responsibility. Now you have guys that were the best. It's almost a different kind of leadership role."

He played every game (including three starts) as a freshman, scoring 4.2 points per game, leading the team in 3-pointers with 14. 

Chmielowiec was the MVP of the Chase Tournament as a sophomore and started all 26 games. He led the team in scoring with 12.4 points per game, also leading the team in rebounding with 3.5 per game. He had 48 assists, good for fourth on the squad.

He was third on the team in scoring last season at 12.4 per game, starting 19 games and missing some time due to injury.

Chmielowiec was recently featured on the UofR Web site.

After spending the summer living in Los Angeles and putting on over 10 pounds, he is ready for a big senior season. After that, he will either go into the workforce or play basketball overseas, where a former coach has some contacts that will be interested.

Saunders started 19 games and saw action in all 24 in his freshman season at Fredonia, finishing second on the team in 3-pointers (28) and assists (48).

He led the team in assists last year with 63 and started 13 games, playing in all 26.

Saunders is a captain for the Blue Devils this season, and his team is off to a 2-1 start. Fredonia is a team on the upswing and the hot start is big, especially with the 66-63 victory over Penn State-Behrend this week. The Blue Devils were down 18 points with six minutes to go and went on a tear at the end of the game.

 "I don't know if we are a better team this year, but we are more experienced, said Saunders, a sports management major. "When I was a freshman and sophomore, we had young guys. I was seeing a lot of minutes as a freshman, so we were young. Now the core of our team is all juniors and seniors."

Adam Brasky - son of Batavia coach Buddy Brasky - played in all 19 games for King's College as a freshman, where he played 5.9 minutes per game, scoring 1.2 points per game with nine assists on the season. King's won a conference title last season.

He expect to have a big sophomore season, and has averaged 17.5 minutes per game in the first two contests of the year.

"There is a big difference for me from my freshman year," said Brasky, a history major. "The game doesn't feel as fast as last year. It has slowed down and I feel more comfortable now."

Brasky is playing a new style of basketball compared to Batavia's high-octane, man-to-man full-court pressure defense.

"We don't press much and aren't an up-tempo team," Brasky said. "We don't want them to get to the basket and offensively we set up plays and run motion. In high school the players aren't all this good. Here you run motion and use your basketball IQ to run plays, rather than run the court.

Hoy and Anderson are just getting their feet wet in the college game, but the two freshman are off to solid starts.

Anderson was a big signing for the Raiders and starts his college career off as the backup center.

Roberts is off to a 3-1 start and Anderson has played 18.3 minutes per game, scoring 8.8 points with 4.5 rebounds per game.

"I thought that as a freshman I would only get 2-3 minutes per game," said Anderson, who is a physical education major. "There were a couple problems and one of the big guys couldn't play, so it has helped me to get more playing time. It showed the coach that I can play at this level. Myself and another freshman are the big guys right now."

Hoy is mentioned as a sharpshooter in the Geneseo Web site preview, and he's already contributing after just one game.

He grabbed four rebounds and scored two points while playing 19 minutes in the opening game victory.

"I was a bit surprised," said Hoy, who has not declared a major yet. "It was more of a surprise in the scrimmages because I didn't expect to play this much. I got a lot of time and was like 'wow'".

 Hoy - like all five former Batavia players - has found the transition to college basketball easy because of the guys he plays with.

"Playing basketball is fun for me," Hoy said. "I like all the guys on the team. It has made the transition easier. I've been really happy about that part."

With seven-straight Monroe County League Division III titles, the Batavia program has been one of the best in the area. And with five players contributing on Division III teams, it shows.