PHOTO Sunday’s Champions: At center, 99-year-old Evelyn “Grandma Ev” Card, Masker’s honorary First Lady of Apple Pie, celebrates with Sunday’s first- and second-place finishers, Adam Kuczynski and David Reisner, surrounded by their families and friends. The competition brought plenty of cheers, laughter and friendly rivalry to the orchard’s closing weekend, proving that winning isn’t always measured by how much pie is left on the plate.
At 15, Roque Sorocki Conquers Masker’s Grand Finale as the Orchard’s Legendary High-Top Apple Pie Defends Its Title
New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania share the podium in a memorable championship that closes Masker’s 2026 harvest season — but the biggest winner may have been the pie itself.
By Kat Leslie | Warwick Valley Dispatch
WARWICK, N.Y. — Somewhere in America, professional competitive eaters may want to make room for a new contender.
He is 15 years old. His name is Roque “Rocky” Sorocki. And this past weekend, at Masker’s Orchard in Warwick, he demonstrated an extraordinary ability to make apple pie disappear.
Not a slice. Not a generous helping.
Over two pounds of apple pie. In two minutes.
That’s approximately one pound every 60 seconds, a pace that would challenge most grown adults and probably alarm a few cardiologists.
The teenager from NYC, emerged as the grand champion of Masker’s inaugural 2026 Apple Pie-Eating Contest, defeating a field of qualifying weekend winners who returned to the century-old orchard for one final showdown.
His reward? A seven-day getaway in a three-bedroom villa at Westgate Lakes Resort & Spa in Orlando, Florida, with enough room to bring the family along for a Disney-area vacation.
Not a bad return on two minutes of work.
His fellow contestants certainly thought so.
“Well deserved,” said second-place finisher Adam Kuczynski.
“The kid should go pro,” added Don, who finished third.
After witnessing Rockie’s performance, it was difficult to argue with either of them.
Three States, Three Winners — and One Legendary Pie
The weekend grand finale brought together winners from the weekly competitions held throughout the fall.
Each contestant faced a Masker’s High-Top Apple Pie weighing 3.15 pounds. The rules were simple: eat as much as possible in two minutes. The judges weighed what remained.
The less pie left, the better the result.
Third place went to Pennsylvania, represented by Don, who left 1.47 pounds unfinished.
Second place went to New Jersey, where Adam Kuczynski of Garfield will be taking home the bragging rights. His remaining pie weighed 1.46 pounds.
That’s a difference of just one-hundredth of a pound — approximately one-sixth of an ounce.
In a competition involving three-pound apple pies, the margin was practically a crumb.
Then came Rocky.
The 15-year-old New Yorker consumed over two pounds in the allotted two minutes, leaving the competition, and much of the audience, wondering what they had just witnessed.
New York took first place with a very impressive 1.12 lb result. New Jersey took second. Pennsylvania took third.
Three states had arrived at the championship table. All three went home with something to celebrate.
But only one went home with a Florida Disney vacation.
The Cheering Squads Almost Stole the Show
If the competition at the table was impressive, the competition among the spectators was nearly as entertaining.
Some contestants arrived with family members. Others brought friends, supporters and enough enthusiasm to make the afternoon feel like a championship sporting event.
The most memorable cheering battle involved supporters of Adam and a particularly spirited group rooting for David Reisner of Wayne, New Jersey, contestant whose earlier victory had earned him a place among the season’s returning champions.
David’s daughters were not content to sit quietly and hope for the best.
They came prepared.
Armed with a microphone, an original cheer and the kind of confidence that would make a professional cheerleading squad reconsider its rehearsal schedule, the girls took command of their section of the crowd.
Their chant was simple, catchy and impossible to ignore:
“David, David, don’t be shy — eat that Masker’s apple pie!”
Before long, spectators were joining in.
The girls kept the rhythm going. Their father kept eating.
And the orchard discovered that a competitive apple-pie contest could generate nearly as much enthusiasm as a high school football game.
David did not disappoint his cheering section, securing second place in Sunday’s contest session and giving his family another reason to celebrate.
It was the sort of moment that explained why Masker’s experiment had become more than a novelty.
The competition was entertaining.
But the families made it memorable.
For the children, it was an afternoon cheering for Dad.
For Dad, it was an opportunity to demonstrate that fatherhood sometimes requires extraordinary sacrifices.
Including making apple pie disapper at a speed normally reserved for industrial equipment.
And for everyone watching, it was a reminder that a little silliness, shared among family and friends, can become a memory that lasts considerably longer than the contest itself.
Grandma Ev and More Than Two Centuries of Warwick History
Presiding over the grand finale was someone who knows a thing or two about apples, pies and the passage of time.
Evelyn Card, better known as Grandma Ev.
At 99 years old, Masker’s honorary First Lady of Apple Pie brought the wisdom and fairness of someone who has had considerably more time than most people to develop an informed opinion about dessert.
Card, who continues working as post-production manager at the Warwick Valley Dispatch, was recently honored as Orange County’s Citizen of the Month and received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Warwick Valley Rotary.
Her presence added something no scoreboard could provide: history.
Masker’s Orchard was established in 1913. Grandma Ev was born in 1926.
Together, the farm and its First Lady of Apple Pie represent more than 212 years of combined history — generations of Warwick families, apple harvests, farm traditions and an extraordinary number of pies.
Some of the orchard’s oldest trees trace their origins to its earliest years.
And here they were, together in November 2026, watching a teenager eat apple pie faster than most people could serve it.
There is something wonderfully Warwick about that.
The Other Champion: Masker’s High-Top Apple Pie
There was another champion at Masker’s this weekend.
Unlike Rockie, it didn’t have to travel from New York City.
It was made right there at the farm.
Masker’s signature High-Top Apple Pie entered the competition carrying a title of its own.
In 2025, the Warwick Valley Dispatch named it the Hudson Valley’s Readers’ Choice Best Apple Pie following reader nominations and a blind tasting of pies purchased from area bakeries, farm stands and orchards.
Judges evaluated crust texture, aroma, apple integrity, sweetness, acidity, spice balance and overall flavor.
Masker’s stood out for its buttery crust, pronounced apple aroma, generous filling and distinct slices of fruit that retained their texture rather than collapsing into applesauce.
This year, the Dispatch revisited the competition, again soliciting readers’ opinions and comparing pies from regional orchards and bakeries with staff and independent tasters.
The result was familiar: Masker’s High-Top Apple Pie finished first again.
For the second consecutive year, the orchard’s signature pie defended its place at the top of the Dispatch’s tasting.
So what makes it special?
For starters, the High-Top is no ordinary apple pie. Its regular family size version contains up to three pounds of apples, according to owner Mike Martucci, creating the generous dome that gives the pie its name.
But size alone doesn’t make a great pie. Otherwise, every bakery in America would simply purchase a larger pan and declare victory.
The difference begins with the fruit.
Masker’s grows more than 17 apple varieties, including heritage and heirloom selections rarely found in supermarkets. Some contribute sweetness, others acidity, fragrance or texture. Blending varieties creates layers of flavor that a single apple cannot always deliver.
Then there is the farm itself.
Situated on the slopes of Warwick Mountain, Masker’s benefits from the area’s distinctive growing conditions. Some longtime customers credit its mature trees, including varieties connected to the orchard’s earliest plantings. Others point to the mountain microclimate.
Whatever the precise contribution of each, the judges agreed on the result: a pie with remarkable flavor, texture and freshness.
And there was one more distinction our secret shoppers noticed before taking their first bite.
At Masker’s, you may actually have to wait for your pie.
At several competing locations, pies were already boxed and waiting on shelves.
At Masker’s, the customers, including our secret shoppers, often had to wait while freshly baked High-Top pies came out of the oven, cooled and were packaged.
There is a difference between buying a pie and waiting for one, that just finishes baking.
One is a transaction.
The other is an experience.
And when the apples are grown on the same farm where the pie is baked, that experience becomes part of the appeal.
Readers interested in the original tasting process, judging criteria and the story behind the High-Top can revisit the Dispatch’s September 3, 2025, article, “It’s Official: Hudson Valley Apple Season Opens — and Masker Orchards Wins Readers’ Choice for Best Apple Pie.”
Note from the Editor
In the interest of fairness, the Warwick Valley Dispatch deliberately waited until the conclusion of the 2026 apple-picking season to announce the results of this year’s Best Apple Pie tasting competition. The decision was intentional: no participating orchard, bakery or farm stand should receive an unfair promotional advantage or a potential boost in sales during the height of the harvest simply because its pie earned the top honor. By holding the announcement until the season had ended, the Dispatch sought to ensure that the recognition remained exactly what it was intended to be — an independent assessment of quality, not a marketing advantage for any particular business. The pies were judged on their merits, not their ability to generate additional sales.
The Orchard Closes, but the Pies Aren’t Finished
The championship also marked the closing weekend of Masker’s 2026 harvest season.
Unlike many orchard attractions that have expanded into year-round entertainment businesses, Masker’s remains closely tied to the traditional rhythms of a working apple farm.
Located at 45 Ball Road in Warwick, New York, on the scenic slopes of Warwick Mountain, the orchard has welcomed generations of families since 1913.
Its principal crop is apples. Its best-known products are made from apples. And its season follows the harvest.
Visitors come for the trees, the mountain views, the opportunity to drive directly into the orchard and pick their own fruit, and the familiar autumn favorites: fresh-pressed cider, apple cider doughnuts and, of course, those remarkable pies.
The farm’s gates may now be closed for the season, but there’s good news for anyone hoping to bring a little Masker’s tradition to the holiday table.
Masker’s award-winning High-Top Apple Pies will be available for Thanksgiving and Christmas through special holiday orders and a limited number of participating retailers, including Sam’s Meat Warehouse.
Holiday quantities and availability are limited. Customers are encouraged to visit maskers.com for updated ordering information, participating locations and availability.
After all, Thanksgiving without apple pie is technically possible.
But why take the risk?
A Champion to Remember — and a Challenge for Next Season
In the end, Rocky took the championship. Adam took second. Don took third.
David and the other contestants took home memories, laughter and the satisfaction of having earned their places in a season-long competition.
Families cheered. Children invented chants. Friends celebrated.
And Grandma Ev watched over the proceedings with the perspective of someone who understands that the most important part of a community tradition isn’t necessarily who finishes first.
It’s whether people want to come back.
Masker’s inaugural contest produced multiple champions, but nobody seemed to leave feeling defeated.
And on one point, the contestants were remarkably united.
They LOVED the pie.
Which raises an interesting question: How do you measure the quality of an apple pie?
You can study the ingredients, evaluate the crust, compare flavors and conduct blind tastings.
Or you can put a three-pound pie in front of a hungry 15-year-old and see what happens.
At Masker’s, they’ve now tried both.
The results have been impressive.
Rocky Sorocki may have set a remarkable standard for future competitors, but he has also given Masker’s something valuable for next year.
A record to chase.
A title to defend.
And a challenge for anyone who believes they can do better.
Perhaps the next champion will come from Pennsylvania.
Perhaps New Jersey will reclaim the top spot.
Perhaps another NYC teenager will arrive with an appetite that defies reasonable explanation.
Or perhaps the next great pie-eating prodigy is sitting somewhere in Warwick right now, unaware that a remarkable athletic career may be waiting for them in the bakery.
As for the pie, its reputation is already secure.
For the second consecutive year, Masker’s High-Top has earned recognition as the Hudson Valley’s “Best Apple Pie”.
Just ask Grandma Ev, the 99-year-old First Lady of Pies who has seen nearly a century of pies, apples, and Warwick life.
Or ask Rocky, the 15-year-old who has just added his name to the orchard’s history.
Between them are 84 years, a century-old farm and a rather extraordinary amount of apple-pie experience.
Here at the Warwick Valley Dispatch, we’ve tasted the competition. We’ve counted the votes. We’ve watched the judges.
And now we’ve watched the contestants.
Our conclusion? Masker’s has produced two champions worth remembering: a pie that keeps winning the taste tests, and a teenager who apparently doesn’t believe in leaving any of it behind.
Next season, new challengers will take their seats.
Rocky may have won the vacation.
But anyone hoping to claim the crown will first have to conquer the real defending champion.
Masker’s Apple Pie.
