batavia

There is further proof that being a solid role player for the Batavia High basketball team is a great place to start if you want to get into college coaching.

Last week we reported that Joe Zinni had recently accepted an assistant coaching position with Saginaw Valley State University women's basketball, and now Russ Phillips is moving up the ladder at his college alma-matter, SUNY Cortland. He will be serving as the top assistant to coach Tom Spanbauer this winter.

Phillips led Batavia's team on the floor as a point guard and that knowledge along with the work ethic it takes to play BHS coach Buddy Brasky's high-octane pressure defense has translated well into his coaching career.

 Phillips went right from his playing days to coaching when he started working as an assistant coach for the Batavia jayvee program in 2004. 

He picked up valuable experience as an assistant with both the jayvee and varsity squads at BHS for two years. During that time he also was the head coach for four different Rochester Area Players AAU teams. He also worked as a member of the Board of Directors for RAP where he was involved in planning AAU tournaments.

Phillips has also been Brasky's assistant coach for the Western Scholastic boys basketball teams at the Empire State Games for the past two summers.

At Cortland, he got his start in college coaching as a team manager during the 2006-2007 season, where he handled film work along with game and practice preparation.

He was promoted to student-assistant coach last year.

His work in assisting Spanbauer, scouting, coordinating practice and game day video along with breaking down statistics earned him the top assistant position.

Phillips appears to be on the fast-track to achieving his career goal of being a head basketball coach for a college team.

 The Batavia football team is having a long, but great bus ride home from Midlakes.

That's because the Blue Devils scored 28 fast points and beat the host squad 41-7 Friday night.

"It would be a very long ride home without the W," Batavia coach Dan Geiger said. 

Vinny Pedro returned the opening kickoff 84 yards to start the ball rolling.

Midlakes then marched down to the Batavia 1-yard line, but fumbled the ball.

Rob Williams picked it up and took it to the house.

After Batavia got the ball back, Williams had the carry on Batavia's first offensive play of the game. He took it 55 yards for the score.

Again, Batavia got the ball back and Williams got another carry. He took this one 85 yards for the TD.

"The great this is that Rob ran behind Todd Logsdon and Adam Hausfelder on both plays," Geiger said. 

Anthony D'Aurizio had a touchdown run and Chip Chapman returned a fumble 40 yards for a score.

Williams finished the game with five rushes for 150 yards and two touchdowns with D'Aurizio gaining 91 yards with the score on just eight carries.

Pedro gained 75 yards on 15 attempts as Batavia picked up 336 yards and three TDs on 35 attempts as a team.

Hausfelder had nine tackles, Logsdon had eight and Devonte Rolle made four stops and intercepted a pass.

Batavia (2-2) will play Penn Yan next week.

 Just a reminder, we have two big local games tonight and I will be doing coverage of both.

Le Roy is looking to improve to 4-0 and get ready for a stretch of big games to end the regular season with a game against Canisteo-Greenwood at Hartwood Park.

I will be at this game with my camera and video camera to show you what the Oatkan Knights are all about.

Batavia is traveling to Midlakes and trying to even up at 2-2. Coach Dan Geiger will be calling me after the game and I will be relaying the details as soon as possible.

Make sure you check back to The Batavian tonight for the fastest, most in-depth coverage possible of these games.

 Brighton's defenders made things difficult for the Batavia boys soccer team Thursday.

The Blue Devils had a few chances to score, but fell behind early and wound up getting shutout 2-0 in the Monroe County League game.

The Barons attacked early and had a shot to score 13 minutes in when a shot hit the crossbar atop the net. They took the 1-0 advantage just moments later when Sean Rose got one past Batavia keeper Jordan Brown.

Brighton kept the pressure high early in the first half, with Batavia's defense making some key stops, including a penalty kick attempted just after the goal was scored.

The Blue Devils had their best chance to score in the final six minutes of the opening half.

With about 5 1/2 minutes remaining, Batavia had a corner kick.

Brighton goalie Jake Bonar stopped two difficult shot attempts and a third went sailing over the net.

The Barons had a corner with less than a minute left before the break, but never got a shot off.

The momentum that Batavia had built near the end of the first half vanished fast at the start of the second half as Michael Patchen scored off a pass by Joe Shapiro at the 42 minute mark

Batavia had a few chances to score, but not many quality opportunities because of the Brighton defenders. Bonar had 11 saves for the Barons, who are 2-3 in the league and 3-7 overall.

Brown made nine saves for Batavia, which drops to 0-4 in the league and 4-6 overall.

UPDATED WITH VIDEO

Six new members will be inducted to the Batavia Blue Devil Hall of Fame on Saturday, October 18 at Terry Hills Restaurant and Banquet Facility.

Nancy Viola worked in athletics and served as Athletic Director from 1981-1998, where 14 Batavia teams won Section 5 championships, including a New York State football title in 1981.

Viola was a chairperson for Section 5 girls basketball from 1975-1997 and NYS girls basketball from 1978-1982.

She earned the 1985 Jean Giambrone Rochester Press Radio Award, was inducted into the Section 5 basketball HOF in 2001 and is a member of the Rochester Red Wing Walk of Fame.

Jonathan Walton was a 1974 graduate after playing four years of varsity basketball and three years of both football and baseball, 

Earned all-county honors in both basketball and baseball. He earned second-team all-county honors when he helped the Batavia basketball team go 19-2 during his junior year.

Walton played baseball and basketball at Buffalo State College and was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1974.

1964 graduate Douglas King played four years of football, bowling and baseball at Batavia and earned the Judd-Guinlock MVP award as a co-captain during his senior year.

King led the 1964 bowling team with a 194 scoring average.

Compiled an 11-3-2 record on the mound as a senior, tossing a no hitter, four one-hitters and four shutouts.

He was named the best male athlete at BHS in 1964 and was awarded the Mary Delbridge Citizenship award.

King was scouted by the Pittsburgh Pirates, N.Y. Yankees and San Francisco Giants.

Thomas Vincellos is a 1961 graduate and ran four years of cross country and track, and wrestled one season.

He was the Section 5 cross country champion as a senior and led Batavia to four straight Genesee-Wyoming team titles, setting the course record twice.

Vincellos was the best athlete of senior class and earned the Babe Ruth Sportsmanship award in 1961. He was also a three-time recipient of the Dominic Valle Cross Country MVP award.

1943 graduate Don Johnson played football and ran track for four years while playing baseball and basketball for three each.

He was awarded the 1943 Cope-Dowd Award for excellence in Track & Field and was named to the 1943 Section 5 basketball tournament all-star team.

Johnson earned a letter in four sports in his junior and senior years.

Ralph "Buddy" Houseknecht is a 1968 graduate and played three years of baseball and two years of football and basketball.

He won the Judd-Guinlock MVP award as captain of the football team as a senior. Was also a captain on the baseball team.

Houseknecht was named best BHS athlete in 1968 and received a scholarship to Edinboro State College in Pennsylvania where he played football.

Has been a long-time Batavia High School and Blue Devil Athletics supporter as member of Batavia Rotary Club and as President of Pepsi-Cola Batavia Inc.

The 7th Annual Induction Ceremony has a social hour beginning at 5 p.m., followed by a 6 p.m. dinner.

Tickets are available at the Athletic Directors office at Batavia High School. For more information you can call 585-343-2480 ex. 2003

A third straight home loss to start the season would have meant the Batavia football team was going to be looking at a nearly impossible climb to get into the Section 5 Class B Tournament.

But the running of Anthony D'Aurizio and Rob Williams made sure that that climb is going to be a little less difficult as the Blue Devils offense outgunned visiting Waterloo 41-28 at VanDetta Stadium Friday night.

The scoring output shows the ability of the offense, which put up 33 points in a difficult 34-33 overtime loss against Pal-Mac.

Williams rushed for 203 yards and three touchdowns on 19 carries while D'Aurizio had 180 yards and two scores on 21 attempts.

After Rich Chilson kicked off the scoring for the Indians with a 15-yard run just 1 1/2 minutes into the game, Batavia got cooking.

D'Aurizio ripped off a 42-yard run that set up a 1-yard quarterback keeper for a touchdown by Joe Canzoneri. The Troy Ireland extra point gave Batavia a 7-6 advantage.

Kevin Sessler punched one in from two yards out and after the two-point conversion failed, the Indians led 12-7 to end the opening quarter.

D'Aurizio scored from 2 yards out and had a conversion run to put Batavia up 15-12 before Sessler capped off the first half scoring with a two-yard run for Waterloo, with the extra point making it 19-15 Indians at intermission.

Batavia owned the third quarter.

After receiving the opening kickoff, D'Aurizio had a 12-yard run, Williams ripped one off for 21 yards and D'Aurzio capped off the drive with a score from 10 yards out.

Ireland pounded the ensuing kickoff and Waterloo didn't get much of a return. That was compounded by a block in the back penalty, which meant the following drive started at the 5-yard line.

Waterloo didn't move the ball and had to punt. 6-foot-1 Joe Schlossel blocked that punt and Batavia took over at the Indian 2-yard line.

Williams scored on the next play, giving the Blue Devils a 28-19 lead.

After Batavia's defense caused another three-and-out, Waterloo had to punt and Williams put the nail in the coffin when he ripped off a stunning 75-yard touchdown run. Ireland's kick made the score 35-19.

The Indians did drive and Chilson scored on a 10-yard run to get the score within 10 points early in the fourth quarter.

Waterloo then recovered the onside kick.

Jordan Cook nailed a 29-yard field goal and it was a one score game with about 4 minutes left to play.

Batavia struggled to move the ball and was in a fourth-and-2 situation with 3:21 left

Coach Dan Geiger decided to punt the ball away - despite the urging of several players to go for it with the ball at their own 38. But Canzoneri drilled a perfect punt, which was downed at the Waterloo 13-yard line.

The Indians never moved the ball and turned it over on downs, allowing Williams to cap off the game's scoring with a 13-yard TD run.

Waterloo had very little time to attempt to get back into the game, but Devonte Rolle intercepted a Cook pass to ice the game.

D'Aurizio led the defense with 11 tackles, with Ireland making 10 stops and Adam Hausfelder getting nine. Vinny Pedro had seven tackles and blocked an extra point for Batavia (1-2).

Waterloo falls to 0-3.

UPDATED WITH VIDEO

 I just wanted to leave a reminder that I will be at the Waterloo at Batavia game tonight, so please check back shortly after the end of the game for complete coverage as well as results from other area games.

I just thought I should give a big thanks to everyone who has supported my work with the Muckdogs this season! I'm glad to hear/see that so many of you appreciated the stories and blogs and my work in Batavia while there. I am quite jealous I didn't get to be there as we took the title! My parents were at the game and were giving me the play-by-play. They said it was amazing...wish I was there!

I first have to thank Howard and Philip for getting me involved with TheBatavian and letting me borrow the computer to do video while I was in Batavia...that will be great for my resume! Shirley, Dave, Travis, Casey, Naomi, Dan, Will, fellow interns, etc: I am honored to have been part of such a great team!  Big thanks, too, to all the fans I've met and got to know this season. It was so nice to meet all of you and chat at games!

I'm very busy here at Kent State already. For our student-run TV station, TV2, I assistant produce, anchor the news on Thursdays at 6:30 and take part in our sports show SportsCorner. I also produce a news package every week for the station/class. For our online news site I write a sports blog and I work for Kent State Athletic Communications, which includes working all the football, basketball, baseball games, etc (this will be my 3rd year working with Kent State baseball...obviously you know where my heart lies sports-wise :-) )...I think that's everything....most of my news stories will be posted on my youtube site (http://www.youtube.com/user/AFMissMollie) and all our newscasts, shows and blogs are at KentNewsNet.com...so check it out and keep in touch! I'd love to hear from you all! You can also e-mail me at mradzin1@kent.edu.

Thanks again to everyone! I hope to hear from you soon!

When I first met Joe Zinni, he was a tall, skinny basketball player for Batavia High School, that was obviously not a top scoring option.

He knew his role on the court and basically wound up being an assistant coach on the floor for BHS coach Buddy Brasky.

He's turned that attitude into a coaching career.

Zinni will be an assistant women's basketball coach at Saginaw Valley State University this winter and will be responsible for recruiting, tape exchange, scouting, academic progress, strength and will have responsibilities during practices and games.

"I'm very excited for this opportunity, especially at such a young age," Zinni told me Thursday night. "I've worked under great people who have helped me get to where I am. My goal of making it to the Division I level is now realistic, so I will be working harder than ever to try and get there shortly."

Zinni was a forward at BHS, but will be working primarily with the guards at Saginaw Valley.

He landed this coaching job primarily because of his work with Genesee Community College last season.

The Cougars went 24-6 and wound up finishing as one of the top eight schools in the NJCAA Division II Nationals.

After graduation from Batavia, he spent 2002-2007 as an assistant coach at both the junior and varsity levels at his home school, working with the forwards.

Zinni assisted the 2005 Section 5 Class A championship winning team that made the state tournament for the first time ever.

He has worked as an AAU and RAP coach and was an assistant coach for the Western Regional boys basketball team at the Empire State Games the past two years.

Zinni is a 2006 graduate of Buffalo State College and also has an A.S. degree from GCC.

Here at the Batavian, we wish him the best of luck and know he is going to represent Batavia well as a big-time women's basketball coach.

The 22nd Annual Labor Day 5k Run and Walk by the Batavia Area Jaycees was held on a great sunny day.  Proceeds will benefit the Genesee County Aids Task Force.

Here is the link to the results:

http://geneseeny.entrexp.com/documentview.asp?docID=608

Thanks to everyone help sponsored and made the event run as well as it did!

www.geneseeny.com/bataviajaycees

Don't forget, on Monday, September 1, 2008 is the Batavia Area Jaycees 22nd Annual Labor Day 5K Run & Walk.  Proceeds will go to a local community organization: Genesee County AIDS Task Force.

Registration begins at 8am at MacArthur Park with the Race begining at 10am.

Day of the race registration is $15 for runners, $10 for runners.

For more details click on the 5k section at www.geneseeny.com/bataviajaycees or call 585-343-5775.

As the Muckdogs chase their first title since 1963 ( pre Muckdogs) We need noisy fans at Dwyer Stadium.4 home games left, Sun,Thurs,Fri,Sat Let's cheer our boys on as they go for the title. Of course, I'm biased but a championship would be great in 08

For Immediate Release:
Rich.Vleck@ASCSracing.com

 J.J. Mazur and Pat Powers Snag Genesee Wins Before Rain
 Rich Vleck, BATAVIA, NY, (August 9, 2008)- The Genesee Speedway expected rain on Saturday, justnot as early as it arrived.
A pair of showers hit the Genesee Speedway on Saturday Evening, the first set the start back twohours, the next one threw it out the rest of the night.
The completion of the Castle Powered Late Model Feature from a week earlier and the ProfessionalDriver Institute Mini Stock Features were the only events that would be completed on Totem PoleSmoke Shop and Gas Night.After the first shower hit the track just before the posted starting time, the decision was madeto run a features only format, scratching the heats for the evening.  The drivers were given anopportunity to run hot laps to help work the track in.
The first feature out was the Late Model event.  Last week, it took 30 minutes to run six laps. 

This week the final 14 circuits would take a mere five minutes.
J.J. Mazur, who took the lead just before the postponement of the feature, took off on the restartand checked out on the pack for his second win of the season.
“After that first win, we couldn’t get ourselves out of a hole,” said Mazur.  “We were in the topand the middle groove most of the race, but really you could put it anywhere.”
The Batavia youngster had was able to drive away from his buddy Ron Mogavero, who was able to cardhis best finish of the season, holding off a fast Jason Boyle for second.
Justin Chaddock was fast on the cushion but would struggle to make forward progress, as he wouldfinish in fourth.  Dave DuBois would round out the top-five to strengthen his point lead.

 The PDI Trucking School Mini Stock Feature was off to a fast start, with Mike Sweeney movingaround Pat Powers on the second lap and strengthening his advantage.  After a lap 7 caution forpoint leader Brandon Aradine though, Powers would make a pass on the restart and would lead untilthe final caution on the night, which would fall for rain.  The checkered flag would also bedisplayed at that point.
It was the first win this year for Powers, of Dale, the seventh different driver to score a victoryin the highly competitive division.
Mike Sweeney would place in second, with youngster Dylan Cecee third.  Dan Norton and SamanthaBurch would complete the top-five.As the caution and checkered fell in the mini stock feature, a massive thunderstorm would move inand cancel the remainder of the cards.  With less than half of the program completed, ticket and

pit stubs will be honored next weekend.  For more information, visit www.GeneseeSpeedway.com.

Genesee Speedway Results: 8/9/2008-
Totem Pole Smoke Shop & Gas Night
 Castle Powered Late Model Feature Completion from 8/2 (20 Laps)- JJ MAZUR, Ron Mogavero, Jason

Boyle, Tim Kaufman, Justin Chaddock, Dave DuBois, Pete Waldron, Aaron Johnson, Billy Burd, Rich

Hale, Jon Rivers, Doug Jones, Jim Johnson, Terry Pangrazio, Bob Babbitt, Jason Bridge, Brian

Farnsworth, Mike Childrose, Scooter Pangrazio.
 
Lap Leaders- Mogavero 1-5, Mazur 6-20.

 
Professional Driver Institute Mini Stock Feature (15 Laps)- PAT POWERS, Mike Sweeney, Dylan Cecee,

Dan Norton, Samantha Burch, Randy Barclay, Ed Neal, Alan Kemp, Duane Pingrey, Jason Hull, Mark

Forsha, Byron Dewitt, Brandon Aradine, Tom Amico, Rick Johnson.

 Lap Leaders- Powers 1, Sweeney 2-7, Powers 8-15.

This is a video I took of the liberty street fire at the end of the whole thing, I worked that day so I would have had more video but could not.

I've lived in my share of cities and towns across the country, from Miami to New York City to Albuquerque to Santa Cruz, California.

Everywhere I've lived, the locals tend to have a certain brand of self-deprecating humor, whether it's bad jokes about the tourists, the weather, or the throngs of undergraduates clogging up the streets.

But I have been impressed with the degree that Westen New Yorkers take the art form.

Consider the "You know you're from Batavia when..." group on Facebook.  (You'll need to be logged in to Facebook to see the full thread.)

Here are a few highlights:

• You have gone sledding at Centennial Park at some point in your life.
• You realize no Chinese buffet is like the ones in Batavia.
• You walk into Martins and know at least 10 people working there at any given time.
• Your football team is known for losing homecoming all the time.

It gets a little rougher from there...

Add your own entries in the comments below.