WEST SAYVILLE FLYING DUTCHMEN CAPTURE VICTORIES
AT HEMPSTEAD and NORTH BELLMORE INVITATIONAL DRILLS

The depth of performance was challenged for the Flying Dutchmen Dill Team of the West Sayville Fire Department on August 11, 2012 at the 4th Annual North Bellmore Fire Department Invitational Drill at the Four Towns Training Center in Merrick when the team faced a deficit of five points in a tie for fifth place halfway through the drill. At that stage West Sayville had only scored six points out of a possible twenty and several of their competitors appeared to have a much better chance of capturing the tournament victory than they did. However, a strong comeback in the remaining four events turned that dilemma around in short order with the Flying Dutchmen sweeping the final three contests and taking a second place in the fourth one giving them a total of twenty-five points for the day and a four point advantage over the runner-up West Hempstead Westerners when the competitors headed home.

The Yellowbirds of Copiague put together seventeen points for third place overall followed by the Roslyn Highlanders in fourth place with fourteen points and the Guzzlers of East Islip rounding out the top five with ten and one-half points. In all, nineteen volunteer fire departments, mostly from Nassau County, had a team on the course.

The come from behind win was the team’s sixth tournament victory of the 2012 season and brings the Flying Dutchmen’s total to 164 wins in the team’s 120 years of firematic competition.

West Sayville earned its points with first place efforts in the B Ladder (5.08 seconds), Efficiency (8.81 seconds), Motor Pump (6.14 seconds) and Buckets (22.65 seconds) contests, a second place in B Hose (7.99 seconds) and fifth place in the Three Man Ladder (6.76 seconds) event which was run by the backup team consisting of Joseph Quenzer and the Tenney brothers, Ryan and Danny.

In contrast, a near perfect completion of the ladder events at the 64th Annual Invitational Drill of the Hempstead Fire Department on August 4, 2012 gave the Flying Dutchmen just the start they needed to easily remain ahead of their competitors to earn their fifth tournament win in 2012. The team’s twenty-eight points for the day put them eight and one-half ahead of the second place Westerners from West Hempstead and thirteen and one-half of the Bay Shore Redskins who place third overall. The Central Islip Hoboes and Islip Wolves rounded out the top five finishers at the drill with twelve and one-half and nine points respectively. In all, twenty-three volunteer fire departments, predominately from Nassau County, had teams on the track vying for top honors.

The victory was the ninth time the Flying Dutchmen have come out on top in this particular tournament and moves the team within two of tying the North Lindenhurst Piston Knockers for most wins. The Hempstead Yellow Hornets have the honor of the second most wins with ten.
By the end of the ladder contests West Sayville had a four point lead having taken two firsts and one second in those three events for fourteen cumulative points. The team doubled that tally by duplicating their contest finishes over the balance of the tournament giving them an additional fourteen points, albeit in five events, for an easy win. At no point during the day did the Flying Dutchmen’s lead shrink to less than three and one-half points after the Three Man Ladder contest. Once again consistency and quality execution served the team well.

The Flying Dutchmen earned their points at Hempstead with first place finishes in the Three Man Ladder (6.47 seconds), B Ladder (5.12 seconds), B Hose (7.69 seconds) and Buckets (21.30 seconds) contests; and second place efforts in C Ladder (9.05 seconds) and Motor Pump (6.54 seconds).
The 2012 Flying Dutchmen Drill Team is coached by Frank R. Miller, Sr. and G. Scott Schrader and comprised of Captain Gary A. Schaum, Lieutenant Ryan Tenney, David Banks, Kristy Banks, Patrick Garrett, Michael Heerbrandt, Ryan Huguenin, Chad Leigh-Manuell, Michael Marra, Robert Marra, Frank R. Miller, Jr., Allen Newhouse, Robert Noonan, Richard Quenzer, Joseph Quenzer, Douglas Quenzer and Daniel Tenney.