On a frigid Wednesday night this month, the gym at Seymour Smith Intermediate Center filled with the sound of squeaking sneakers, dribbled basketballs, and bursts of banter. The Pine Plains Men’s Basketball League was underway. First up: Dutchess Beer Distributors versus Millbrook, one of three games on the schedule. For most players, though, the league has always been about more than the final score.
The tradition began in the early 1960s, when John Soracco, a longtime Pine Plains resident, athlete, and teacher, established the league as a way to keep local basketball alive. Soracco coached in area schools until his death in 2004, but the league endured. For the past 20 years, John Blackburn has been its guiding force, taking over from Gregg Starzyk, who ran it for more than a decade.
Jim Hamburger, a retired Poughkeepsie police sergeant in his 70s, played for years. “I’m a little old for that now!” he said with a laugh. Hamburger remains a fixture on the court, though, officiating games with a steady presence, moving up and down the floor with ease. In the opening game Blackburn patrolled the opposite sideline, pulling double duty — serving as a ref before suiting up for Ronnybrook.
The league’s size has ebbed and flowed. Still rebuilding after the pandemic, it has six teams this season, up from four in 2023–24. Four squads draw players from Pine Plains, with one team each from Red Hook and Millbrook. “When they opened the league to more teams, I put something together,” said Tim Simmons, who leads Millbrook. “We always have at least five players, but with seven, we get some downtime.”
For all the competition, there is even more camaraderie. Trevor Roush, a Pine Plains forest technician and farm manager, has observed those connections through the decades. “We grew up playing with or against each other since Pee Wee League,” he said. “I’ve played against my teachers, I’ve seen fathers play with their sons.” That familiarity is evident in Dutchess Beer’s chemistry on the court, as point guard Drew Rundall orchestrates the offense, threading lead passes to cutting teammates or using screens to create his own shots.
Taking a breather after battling in the low post, Dan Moy reflected on how the league kept him connected to Pine Plains after he moved to Hyde Park. “Yeah, I’ve played with these guys since forever. I love coming back here,” he said. Like many players, Moy balances family life with hoops. “We have a 4-year-old,” he said. “We split the responsibilities. I play softball as well, but I’ve cut back on that — you find ways to make things work.”
As Moy returned to the court, Steve Kondysar took a seat on the bench. He and his brother, Dennis, run Dutchess Beer Distributors, which sponsors the team. “It runs $200 to $240 a season — we cover the $20 per team per game for the refs,” he said. “Everyone pays for their own jerseys.” But Kondysar’s ties to the league go beyond sponsorship: “I started in ’04 — 21 years! We have a four-peat in there somewhere.”
Watching from the stands, Brian Coons laughed. “I played for 16, 18 years, but I can’t run with these guys now,” he said. As Pine Plains Recreation Director, he remains involved, helping with equipment and recruiting players, and lately, supporting Reneé Shea in the newly formed Friday night women’s league.
Shea, who works at Cold Spring Early Learning Center, also coaches the junior varsity girls’ basketball team at Stissing Mountain High School. Last year, she and a friend started a women’s basketball night. “We have a great group of women who have all played basketball in the past,” Shea said. “We just want to stay active.” As a working mother of three, she understood the challenge of making time for recreation, but a core group of eight players showed up consistently for four-on-four games. This season, she hopes to expand participation. “Everyone is welcome,” she said. “With more women, we can build structure, maybe add a referee. We start up again in February.”
Back on the court, Dutchess Beer built an early lead, but Millbrook found its rhythm in the second half. Thanks to strong perimeter ball movement Millbrook started to get open for three-point shots and soon found the range. Dutchess Beer held on for a 51-46 win. Blackburn put down his referee’s whistle and put on a Ronnybrook jersey, then trotted out for some warm-up shots, continuing another night in another year of a decades-long tradition in Pine Plains.
Anyone interested in joining the men’s league can attend a Monday night shootaround at Seymour Smith (41 Academy St., Pine Plains) from 6 to 8 p.m on Feb. 10 or 24. Games are from 6 to 9 p.m. on Wednesdays. The women’s league meets from 6 to 8 p.m on Friday nights, also at Seymour Smith, starting on Feb. 21.