Sports

Genesee Region USBC Association Tournament produces numerous high scores. Click on Pin Points at the top of the page for Mike Pettinella's latest column.

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Unity is a good thing, especially when it brings together students with development disabilities with same-aged, non-disabled students for competition on the bowling lanes.

For the first time, Medina Central School took part in the North Division of the Unified Bowling League – a Section 6 program that took place throughout the month of February.

The Medina team squared off against four schools – Newfane, Clarence, Sweet Home and Akron – winning all four matches, before taking first place in a season-ending tournament at Brad Angelo Lanes in Lockport against those schools plus Starpoint and Niagara Falls.

Each team had eight bowlers – four special education and four regular bowlers – who took part in two-man Baker style (where bowlers alternate frames) matches.

“It was a positive experience for everyone involved, including the coach,” said Rob Dennis, director of transportation for Medina schools who served as the team’s director and coach.

Dennis said the team had five special education students along with many student partners. Team members were Ian Wagner, Jessica Granchelli, Lydia Bataglia, Ian Joseph, Elissa Blount, Morgan Allis, William Brazwell, Alex Allis, Morgan Crossett, Brandie Carson, Jackson Touhey, Enzo Gulliani, Joe and Tom Biacelli, Gracie Cogovan and Steven Secore.

“We couldn’t have been successful without the support of Eric Greenlief, Jim Foss and Tom Allis from the bowling center along with proprietors Gerry Allen, Dr. David Stahl and Chris Bacon,” Dennis said. “My team practiced well over 80 games in this short season, and the lanes supported all our students in this new program.”

Dennis, who is a certified coach through the United States Bowling Congress and coordinator of Medina’s youth bowling program (with his wife, Tina), also thanked Athletic Director Eric Valley, Superintendent Mark Kruzynski and the Medina School Board for their support.

On Saturday March 24th the Batavia girls softball program held a Bat-a-thon called "Strike Out Cancer." The event raised more than $3,000 by all three teams in the program, from Modified-JV-Varsity.

The players did a tremendous job getting sponsors and each player was given the opportunity to hit 20 pitches in the batting cage.

For each ball hit, the girls raised money for the softball program and Genesee Cancer Assistance (GCA). GCA Board Member Nickie Fazio was on hand for the event.

"The girls did a great job with this wonderful event and I couldn't be more proud of them," Nickie Fazio said. "It is so nice to be able to contribute to our community."

"Thank you to everyone for their generous support," said Coach Jim Fazio.

Photos and story submitted by BHS softball team.

Press release:

The Batavia/Genesee County Police and Fire Ice Hockey Team is playing in the third Annual Police and Fire Hockey Tournament in Buffalo this April.

The Batavia/Genesee County Police and Fire team is comprised of members of the City of Batavia Police Department, City of Batavia Fire Department, Genesee County Sheriff’s Office, and Town of Batavia Fire Department.

The tournament is played at Harbor Center in Downtown Buffalo, and has participants from law enforcement and fire departments from all over the Northeast and Canada. This year’s tourney is April 20th and 21st.

The team is greatly appreciative of its sponsor, Kenny Mistler, owner of Ken’s Charcoal Pits and Bar-B-Q, located at 59 Main St., Batavia. Kenny has continued to support first responders in the community, and this is the second year of helping the team participate in this tournament.

For those wishing to watch some exciting, fast-paced hockey at no cost, and cheer their local first responders on, head to Buffalo this April!

Submitted photo: This year's team with sponsor Kenny Mistler and mascots Sammy and Diesel.

The Batavia Ramparts 18U Empire team won the Rock and Roll Tournament championship this past Sunday in Cleveland, Ohio.

The team won all three preliminary games leading up to Sunday's final where they won by a score of 6-1.

Photo and information provided by Michael Freeman.

From the Zonta Club at Batavia High School:

Let Us Learn Madagascar 5K Run/Walk, sponsored by Batavia High School’s Zonta Club, will be held on Sunday, April 29.

Z-Club members are excited to invite you to participate in this charity run/walk that benefits educating girls in Madagascar.

Registration at 1 p.m., race begins at 2. The race starts and ends on Denio Street, near the Muckdogs' baseball field.

Race Entry: $15 for individuals (prior to April 29); $20 race day registration; $50 for a team registration of five runners/walkers. *Teams need to combine and submit registration forms.

If you have any questions feel free to contact:

• mlholsopple@bataviacsd.org
• jcorbelli@bataviacsd.org
• ldisanto@bataviacsd.org

Teams representing Mancuso Bowling Center and Mount Morris Lanes are in first place in the Open and Women's Team divisions, respectively, after the first of two weekends of the 12th annual Genesee Region USBC Association Tournament at Mount Morris Lanes (Team event) and Livingston Lanes in Geneseo (Doubles & Singles events).

Go to www.bowlgr.com for for unofficial standings through Sunday, March 18.

Competition resumes on Friday and there are plenty of openings for both Team and Doubles/Singles events. To enter, contact Mike Pettinella, GRUSBC association manager, at 585-861-0404 or at mikep@bowlgr.com.

In the Open Team event, Barber's Five (Mancuso's) leads the way with 3,336, followed by Medina Lanes at 3,204. Gerry Barber paced his team with 673 scratch while Aaron Verheyn posted 731 and Ray Neuman 712 for the Medina squad.

In the Women's Team event, King & Her Court is in first place with 2,444 (four person team) and Hawks (Medina Lanes) are in second at 2,408. Karen Henry's 548 series led the King & Her Court team, captained by Jan King.

Other event leaders:

Open Doubles -- Mike Cunningham and Chris Huntz (Perry Bowling Center), 1,343; John Wolff and Ron Lawrence (Mancuso's), 1,335.
Women's Doubles -- Cathi Fournier and Karen Henry (Mount Morris Lanes), 1,251.
Open Singles - John Wolff, 744; Chuck Bobo (Mancuso's), 678.
Women's Singles -- Cathi Fournier, 628.
Open All-Events -- Gregg Wolff (Mancuso's), 1,943; Casey Palmer Sr., 1,935.
Women's All-Events -- Cathi Fournier, 1,996.

Competition will take place in three divisions -- Open (men and women), Women and Scratch (men and women). In the Open and Scratch divisions, teams are comprised of five players; in the Women's division, teams consist of four players.

Handicap is set at 90 percent of 215 in the Open and 90 percent of 200 in the Women's.

Entry fees are $25 per person per event and $10 for optional All-Events.

Head Coach Jim Fazio (far left) with Assistant Coach Mark Janes (far right) along with members of Batavia High School Girls Softball Team receive a check for $1,000 from owner Kathy Ferrara yesterday afternoon at Batavia's Original Pizzeria, Batavia. 

The girls did a great job promoting this event and in honor of International Womans Day on March 8th, Ferrara said she decided to match their fundraising efforts.

"I believe empowering women is important in our community and these young ladies represent a strong future, so I wanted to help them raise funds towards their trip," she said.

The team has been fundaising since December when they saw an opportunity to play ball in Myrtle Beach, S.C., and add games to their schedule in warmer weather.  

Chris Bardol of Brockport kept the hot hand for a second week as he registered an 834 series last Tuesday in the G&W Vending League at Rose Garden Bowl in Bergen.

Bardol topped the list of area high scores with games of 288-257-289. Last week, he posted a 776 series in the league.

Dave Emler of Rochester popped a big 278 game en route to a 759 series.

At Medina Lanes this morning, Jackie Jurinich came oh so close to perfection as she rolled a 298 game in the Sunday Roll-Offs League. The right-hander came a bit high on the final ball, leaving the 6-10.

For more high rollers in the Genesee Region, click on the Pin Points tab at the top of the page.

Mike Pettinella's Pin Points column will appear on Thursday.

Franklinville Panthers led after the first quarter 18-8 by senior 5'10' Allyson Haskell. Elba's senior Emily Reynolds (pictured above) was held to just seven points on the night along with Leah Bezon (pictured below) guarding Danielle Haskell from Franklinville. The Panthers extended thier lead 32-17 at the half and continued the pace.

Second half Panthers had a lead as much as 29 points but Elba's strongest scoring fourth quarter came up short with a final of losing 60-40. Elba's Freshman Maddie Muehlig led in points for the lancers with 10 on the night, 0 for 6 from three-point range.  

Franklinville will play Edwards-Knox next Saturday, March 17th, at 2:15 p.m. in the Final four at Hudson Valley Community College.

Photos courtesy of David Zuppelli.

One Genesee County girls basketball team is advancing to the regional playoffs and for another, its season is over following a pair of Section V consolidation games played Tuesday.

Elba beat Wheatland, 47-38. The Lady Lancers will play for the Far West Region Class D championship Saturday at Rush-Henrietta High School at 3 p.m. against Franklinville of Section VI.

For the Lady Irish of Notre Dame, their season is over after losing the Class C consolidation game (where Class C1's sectional champion plays Class C2's sectional champion for the right to play in the Class C Far West Regional game) to South Seneca, 61-41. For Notre Dame, Margaret Sutherland scored 18 points and Callie McCulley scored 16 points.

Press release:

Genesee Amateur Hockey Association is holding its Beginner Timbits Cross-Ice Jamboree at the Falleti Ice Rink from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. this Saturday. March 10^th.

The “draft” has occurred and teams are set. Stop down and see these mighty little hockey players in action.

Please stop into Tim Hortons for a beverage and treats to thank them for the sponsorship of the Timbits Beginner Program.

The Pembroke Dragons lost its Section V Class C1 championship battle Monday at Blue Cross Arena to Northstar Christian, 80-72.

Reid Miano scored 17 points and had 11 rebounds. Lucas Kohorst scored 15, Jamil Marable, 13, Zach vonKramer, 12, and Ethan Stone, 10.

For Northstar, Mile Brown scored 39 points.

For the second time in two years, the Lady Lancers of Elba are the Section V Class D2 champions, beating Andover in a tight game, 47-42.

It was one of those games that could have gone either way until there were less than 10 seconds on the clock and Elba had possession of the ball.

Coach Tom Redband gave a lot of credit to the win to his lone senior on the team, captain Emily Reynolds. Reynolds was the tournament MVP, giving her back-to-back MVP titles.

"(The key was) having Reynolds in there as the two-time MVP," Redband said. "The girls were able to keep their poise and take care of the ball and get some stops on defense. If you’re going to win, you want to get those stops."

Reynolds said her role was to keep her teammates calm and remind them to "play Elba basketball."

"My heart was beating fast almost the whole game but I didn’t doubt my girls for one second," Reynolds said. "I had full confidence in us. We prepared really hard."

Championships in her junior and senior seasons means a lot to her, said Reynolds, who scored 23 points.

"I hold it really dear to my heart," Reynolds said. "All of these girls are my family and it means everything to be able to win and have another championship before I graduate. I don’t want my season to end. I want to extend it as long as possible."

Maddie Muehlig scored 11 points and hit five of six free-throw attempts, including two shots to help seal the win with less than a second left to play.

Leah Bezon scored six points.

Redband said he and the girls are proud to represent Elba.

"The girls do that tremendously," Redband said. "They play the right way. They’re good sports. They’re nice people. It means a lot to me."

The Lady Irish staged a dramatic second-half come back Saturday at Rush-Henrietta, overcoming a 13-point third-quarter deficit, to beat Letchworth 42-35 and claim the Section V Class C1 crown.

It came down to defense, said Head Coach Tom McCulley, whose team held Letchworth to nine points in the second half and prevented them from scoring for more than eight minutes at one point.

"That’s who we are," McCulley said. "Hard work and gritty and score enough on offense and turn it up on defense and make teams uncomfortable."

Callie McCulley's aggression, driving for layups, with Margaret Sullivan and Stevie Wilcox attacking the boards, combined with good shooting from the free-throw line helped turn the tide.

"We’ve preached all season long, rebounds and free throws," McCulley said. "The fundamentals of the game, when you’ve got evenly matched teams, that’s what it comes down to. A lot of these games come down to free throw percentages and who wins that battles on the boards."

He praised the hard work and fight put up by Letchworth. They came out of the gate aggressive and McCulley said that put his team back in its heels. When they were down by 13, he called a timeout and told them they needed to grind it out.

"I just told them you've got to contest every shot," McCulley said. "You’ve got to go after every loose ball. This is sectional finals. There’s no tomorrow if you don’t win today."

Callie McCulley finished with 15 points and was named tournament MVP. Stevie Wilcox and Margaret Sutherland scored eight points each. They were both named to the all-tournament team.

Perhaps overlooked in the accolades but not overlooked by her coaches and teammates, McCulley I said, is Morgan Rhodes, who scored nine points.

"Morgan is a spark plug," McCulley said. "I ask her to defend. I ask her to help with ball handling. She can knock down shots. She’s not afraid of the big stage and the big moment. She played huge the other night against Red Creek. She played huge for us tonight. She’s one of those unsung heroes of this tournament but coaches realize what she brings to the table."

Pavilion lost a Section V D1 championship game Saturday to Wheatland-Chili, 45-20. Pavilion was seeded #6 in the tournament and Wheatland was the #1 seed.

Kim Davis had 10 points and eight rebounds for the Golden Gophers. Lindsay Lowe was named to the all-tournament team. The game was played at Cal-Mum.

Press release:

Notre Dame announces the hiring of Joe Zambito as their Varsity Football Coach replacing Rick Mancuso who retired to spend more time with his family.

He was a highly successful Genesee Region Football and Basketball Coach at Elba from 1999 through 2006. Zambito joined the Notre Dame coaching family in 2010 as a volunteer coach on Coach Mancuso’s football staff a position he held for the past seven seasons.

His relationship with the Notre Dame side of one of Section V’s biggest rivalries began a few years earlier in the fall of 2007 with the enrollment of his nephew Vincent (Class of 2011).

It continued for the next 11 years as nephews Gianni (Class of 2010 and a current Social Studies teacher at ND), Luca (Class of 2016 Valedictorian), Nico (Class of 2018) and cousin Anthony (Class of 2021) all made Notre Dame their high school choice.

During his eight-year stint as the head football coach, his Elba teams were recognized in both the GR and Section V as being physical, well-prepared and disciplined football squads. They excelled on the field winning 3 GR Championships and the 2005 Section V Class D Championship, an accomplishment that led to Zambito being recognized as 2005 Section V Coach of the Year.

He was also a very successful basketball coach winning GR championships in 2005 and 2006, and a Sectional title in 2005 when he was both the Section V and Genesee Region Coach of the Year. During his coaching tenure, his teams also earned numerous NYS Scholar-Athlete team recognition.

Zambito, who is employed as both Race Secretary and Track Announcer at Batavia Downs, holds a bachelor's degree from SUNY Brockport. He is married to the former Kelly Degenhardt whose mother Anne Palmer (Degenhardt) is a 1966 graduate of Notre Dame.

When commenting on his appointment, Coach Zambito said,” I am looking forward to working with the student-athletes at Notre Dame to help them grow, progress and maximize their potential both on and off the field. Here Come the Irish!”

Oakfield-Alabama's fine season, which included 19 wins, came to a disappointing end Wednesday night in the Class D1 Section V semifinal playoff game against South Seneca.

The #4 seeded South Seneca knocked off the #1 seeded Lady Hornets 68-44.

Brianna Smith scored 16 points for O-A and Kylie Schlagenhauf scored 15.

In the girls' Class C1 semifinal, also played Wednesday night, Notre Dame beat Red Creek 52-48. 

Margaret Sutherland and Callie McCulley each scored 12 points, Natalie Thornton scored 11, Morgan Rhodes scored nine and Stevie Wilcox scored eight. Wilcox had 13 rebounds and Thornton had 10.

In girls' basketball tomorrow, Elba plays for the Class D2 championship in Gainsville against Andover at 6 p.m. 

Pavilion plays Saturday against Wheatland-Chili for the Class D1 championship in Letchworth at 8 p.m.

Notre Dame vies for the Class C1 championship in Rush-Henrietta at 3 p.m., Saturday, against Letchworth.

In boys' basketball, the lone Genesee County team still in the hunt for a sectional championship is Pembroke, who take on Northstar Christian for the Class C1 championship at 5 p.m. tomorrow at Blue Cross Arena.