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Batavia Jr. Blue Devil Summer Basketball Camp will be Aug. 14-18 at John Kennedy School, cost is $65

By Billie Owens

The Batavia Jr. Blue Devil Summer Basketball Camp will be held from 9 a.m. to noon Aug. 14-18 at the John Kennedy School gymnasium.

The camp is open to boys and girls entering grades 3 through 8 in the fall. Cost is $65 and includes a camp T-shirt.

Campers are asked to bring their own basketball and put their name on it.

The camp will feature Coach Jim Fazio, the Batavia Jr. Blue Devil youth director, and youth coaches and current and former Blue Devil players.

The focus will be on the offensive fundamentals of the game, including shooting, passing, dribbling, and ball handling, with a major emphasis on shooting. There will be daily contests with full court and half court games.

Please note that Batavia City School District is not responsbile for any injury that may happen during camp.

Checks should be made payable to:  Batavia Boys Basketball Boosters; mail to Jim Fazio, 5190 Ellicott Street Road, Batavia, NY 14020.

To contact Coach Fazio, call 356-0901 or email  jfazio@gvboces.org

With payment, please provide the following information and include a parent's or guardian's signature:

  • Camper's name
  • Address
  • City
  • Age
  • Grade child will enter in the fall
  • School
  • Phone number
  • Medical concerns
  • T-shirt size (specify youth -- small through extra large, or adult -- small through extra large)

John Kennedy School is located at 166 Vine St. in the City of Batavia.

Five-week camp gives girls a good shot at success in basketball

By Howard B. Owens

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As many 50 young girls, grades 2 through 8, have just completed the new Fall Ball Training Camp run by Tom McCulley and Otis Thomas in the renovated Notre Dame High School Gym.

The camp was offered to girls attending either St. Joe's or Batavia City Schools.

"There’s not really a whole lot going on for girls this age," said McCulley, who takes over from Dave Pero as head coach at Notre Dame this season. "We thought this would be a way to get them ready for the upcoming season no matter where they may be playing."

The camp is designed to get the girls in basketball shape for the season, drill them in fundamentals and help them learn how to focus, follow directions and participate as a team member.  

McCulley said this training will help the girls as they move up to higher levels. It's a lot harder for a coach to work with an incoming freshman, say, who hasn't had this kind of experience.

The camp ran for five weeks.

This was the first year for the camp and given its success, McCulley expects it to become an annual event.

"The girls love it," McCulley said. "They’re excited about it. They show up every week, so obviously, they want to do it. It gives them a chance to compete and to learn how to compete, learn how to prepare and stay focused and take direction, so when they do get up to the higher levels, at least they have a foundation to build upon."

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Elba youth major league team wins playoff game

By Howard B. Owens

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Photo and article submitted by Drew Muehlig.

The Elba Lancers used an explosive four-run fifth inning to surge past Sweden Clarkson 5-2 in youth major league baseball playoff semifinal action Thursday night.

Elba’s Zach Howard led off the inning with a single up the middle. He subsequently stole second base and made his way to third on an errant throw. Howard then raced home on a passed ball, sliding across the plate safely to tie the score at 2-2, firing up the Lancers' bench in the process.

Caden Muehlig followed moments later with a one-out triple to deep right-center field. He would score the go-ahead run on the next pitch as Randy McIntire doubled him in for his second RBI of the game. Nate Esten and Gage Chamberlain also notched RBI doubles as the inning continued. When all was said and done, Elba had a 5-2 lead heading into the top of the sixth inning.

Howard took it from there, sandwiching a foul pop catch between two strikeouts to end the game. He finished with six strikeouts in relief to pick up the win. Starter CJ Gottler kept the Lancers in it, striking out seven, giving up two unearned runs, as Elba struggled early in the field.

McIntire led Elba offensively with two hits and two stolen bases. Brendan Thompson added a single for the Lancers (14-1). Elba will host the league championship Saturday against a team yet to be determined.

Sweden Clarkson finishes the year 13-2.

Team New Era/Extra Bases tryouts this summer for fall baseball league and tournament play

By Billie Owens

Press release:

Current summer baseball players ages 9 thru 14 can extend their season through the fall with Team New Era Fall Elite Travel Teams.

Teams will participate in league and tournament play in September and October.

Tryouts will be held at our Depew training facility, 3950 Broadway as follows: Current summer players ages 9 thru 11: Monday June 6th at 6 p.m. and Wednesday July 13th at 6 p.m.

Current summer players ages 12 thru 14: Monday June 6th at 7:30 p.m. and Wednesday July 13th at 7:30 p.m. 

Players need only attend one tryout.

For more information see www.teamnewerabaseball.comor contact Rich Wozniak at 716-681-3001.

Photos: GLOW Ducks kickoff 2015 season with new Mighty Mites team

By Howard B. Owens

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The GLOW Ducks youth football program opens its 2015 season today at Notre Dame's football field, and for the first time, it fielded a team of 5-,6- and 7-year-olds, who needed quite a bit instruction as the game progressed.

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Youth basketball camp will teach hooping fundamentals

By Howard B. Owens

Area youngsters who enjoy basketball are encouraged to sign up for the Batavia Junior Blue Devils Basketball camp, which starts Aug. 10.

The five-afternoon camp at Batavia Middle School is open to boys and girls grades 3-8.

The cost is $60 per player, which includes a camp T-shirt.

Participants are asked to bring their own basketball every day.

Coach Jim Fazio, Junior Blue Devil's youth director, will lead the camp and coaches will include current and former Blue Devils players.

The camp focuses on offensive fundamentals such as shooting, passing and dribbling, as well as sportsmanship, fair play and safety. There will be daily contests and full court games.

For more information and to sign up, download the registration form (pdf).

Bulldawgs holding youth football and cheer camp this weekend

By Howard B. Owens

Press release:

The Batavia Bulldawgs Youth Football & Cheer program will hold its 5th Annual Extreme Youth Football and Cheer Camp. This year’s camp cosponsored by Extreme Streetwear will be held at GCC Fields this Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, July 9-11.

Walk-up registration still available. Cost for the camp is only $30.

Campers will receive quality instruction from USA Football certified coaches, a camp T-shirt, and lunch at the end of camp on Saturday July 12th.

Camp on Thursday and Friday will run from 4 to 6:30 p.m. with check-in at 3:30 p.m., and Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon with check-in at 8:30.

The camp is open to ALL athletes no matter what league affiliation between the ages of 5 to 13 years old by Dec. 1st. Birth certificate is required.

Camp training is stationed-based -- campers are divided by age and experience level so each athlete receives the right level of instruction and support. The Bulldawgs staff and volunteers will teach techniques, skills, and appreciation for all football positions and cheerleading in a fun positive way!

For more information, please contact League Commissioner Barry Warner-585-217-1213; Cheer Director Kinu Fortes 585-813-3219; or by e-mail at bataviabulldawgsfootball@gmail.com

Ramparts place three teams in state championship matches

By Howard B. Owens

Press release:

The Batavia Ramparts have placed all three of their Tier III Travel hockey teams in the New York State Championship ship tournament being held March 13th-15th in Amherst. This is a historical event for the 36-year-old organization.

Batavia’s PeeWee (12U), Bantam (14U) and Midget (16U) teams have all qualified as the first seeds for this event. PeeWee coach Jeff Bower, Bantam coach Mike Reich, and Midget coach Marc Staley have worked their teams hard this season and given their teams the tools they needed to succeed.

The Midget and Bantam teams finished their seasons in first place in League play with records of 12-1-1 for Midget, and Bantam 19-1-1. Although the PeeWee’s finished 3rd in League play with a record of 11-4-1 they qualified first for the state tournament by losing only one of their qualifying games.

The Ramparts Hockey organization has only two state titles since its inception, and has never placed three teams in the tournament, let alone three first seeds. Coaches, parents and the Batavia Ramparts organization are proud of their tremendous accomplishments. Thanks also to our team sponsors, Reed Eye Associates -- PeeWee III, Castilone Chrysler Dodge Jeep -- Bantam III, and Logo It -- Midget III.

Mini Titans win championship

By Howard B. Owens

The Oakfield/Elba Titans in the Mini Division won their league's championship today, beating Albion 27-19.

Photo and info provided by Kevin Zito.

Sign-ups announced for Junior Blue Devils hoops program

By Howard B. Owens

The Batavia Junior Blue Devils Boys Basketball program, for grades one through six in City Schools, opens Nov. 8.

The Saturday programs at John Kennedy School are free, though there is a fee for league play.

The program is coached by Jim Fazio, youth coaches, and current Blue Devils varsity players. It will focus on offensive fundamentals, including shooting, passing, dribbling and ball handling. There will be contests with full and half-court games. 

Participants will have the option to join league play, which runs January through March.

For more information, contact Jim Fazio at (585) 356-0901 or jfazio@gvboces.org.

Download: Sign-up form (pdf)

Photos: Batavia Bulldawgs tuning up for another football season

By Howard B. Owens

As we move into August, football is in the air. The Batavia Bulldawgs started practices this week with sessions in the late afternoon at Kibbe Park. The first league games are Aug. 16, with Batavia hosting Attica at Lions Park.

Young baseball team off to good start in inaugural season

By Howard B. Owens

Jane Johnson shared this picture of the Batavia Clippers 8-and-under baseball team, sponsored by Graham Manufacturing, who she said are off to a good start in the team's first year.

A portion of her e-mail:

The Batavia Clippers 8U Travel Baseball team took 2nd place in their division and 3rd place overall last weekend in the Honeoye Falls Mendon Youth Baseball Midsummer tournament. The team played teams from Canandaigua, Fairport, Mendon, Pittsford and Rochester.

This weekend the team plays in the Clarence Youth Baseball Travel Team Tournament at the Clarence Meadowlakes Park. The team matches up against teams from Clarence, Amherst, Williamsville, Orchard Park, Lancaster, Akron, Buffalo, Evans, North Tonawanda, and Grand Island.

The Clippers team is led by Coach Ben Buchholz, Coach Sam Antinore, and Coach Jeff Grazioplene. The Clippers players are all members of the Batavia Minor League.

Team members are: Jay Antinore, Bronx Buchholz, Joe DiRisio, Dane Dombrowski, Cole Grazioplene, Jake Hutchins, Alex Johnson, Cal Koukides, Jameson Motyka, Carter Mullen, Sheldon Siverling, Malcom Wormley.

Baseball team still trying to understand ruling over illegal bat that put them in last place

By Howard B. Owens

The Pine Tar Incident. It's the most famous "illegal bat" issue in the history of baseball. A home run in 1983 by George Brett was wiped out by an umpire, but at least the league didn't strip the Kansas City Royals of all their wins that season.

Unfortunately for the 11- to 12-year-old Tri-Town Dodgers of the Seven Towns League, league officials are forcing them to enter the playoffs as a last place team, essentially erasing their eight regular season wins because a player used an illegal bat.

League rules state that if a player uses a bat not approved for Little League use, the hitter is ruled out and any runners on base cannot advance. There is no other punishment stipulated in the written rules.  

For the Tri-Town Dodgers, based in Alexander, the punishment has gone beyond the written rules. The team was dropped to last place, despite its 8-4 record, which at the time was third best in their division. The standings are important because they effect seedings for tournament play.

There's no other rule violation that carries a penalty of team losing its standing in its division. That sort of punishment isn't contemplated in the written rules at all. The harshest written penalty for a player rule infraction is a three-game suspension for fighting.

Commissioner Brian Krawczyk has not responded to a pair of phone calls requesting comment.

In an e-mail discussion the league officials ruling sent to team manager Christopher Hausfelder, Krawczyk said the ruling was a safety issue "that would make everybody safer for years to come" and that Hausfelder should advise his players should buck up and to learn to accept that bad things happen life.

"I fully understand that it has really effected your team," Krawczyk said. "However, if handled properly, we can all learn something from this situation. Life brings adversity and how you handle that adversity can define who you are. If I was you, I would communicate to your players that they are still the same team that worked very hard and had a great season. Yes, the road to the final destination will be a little tougher. But, we have achieved great things as a team and as a team we will continue to work hard right up to the final out."

The illegal bat was used in the team's 10th game, June 12. Hausfelder said it was bought by the player and no coach noticed it until it was too late. It's the only illegal bat incident on Tri-Town's 11-12 team, though there was a prior, unrelated incident, with the 9-10 team.

For some third-party perspective, The Batavian called James "Beef" Soggs, well known in Batavia for his commitment to youth sports. Soggs serves on the Batavia Little League Board of Directors and is a Little League coach.

"I've got to say, it's ridiculous," Soggs said.

If this was more than a one-time issue with the same team, perhaps a harsh punishment would be an order, but for a one-time incident, he couldn't understand why the team would be knocked down to last place.

"That's really strict punishment for the whole team for something one player did," Soggs said. "That's pretty drastic to move a team from third place to last place."

For George Brett, the umpire was eventually overruled and he got his home run back. For the Tri-Town Dodgers, there is likely no reprieve. It's already the second round of playoff games tonight, with the Dodgers doing the best they can as the bottom seed.

Batavia Ramparts win silver medals at Empire State games

By Howard B. Owens

The T.F. Brown's Squirt III Batavia Ramparts Hockey Team garnered silver medals at the Empire State Winter Games held Olympic Center in Lake Placid this weekend.

Batavia was the #1 seed going into the final rounds after winning their first three games. They lost the gold medal round to the Rye Rangers.

Pictured are Head Coach Jeff Bower, Assistant Coach Brian Frieday and players Drew Bower, Vincent DiRizio, Matthew Frieday, Levi Grimm, Zachary Howard, Austin Hunt, Collin Kratz, Chase Pangrazio, Dominic Peracciny, Connor Peterson, Eric Pfalzer, Sean Pies, Jace Rademacker, and Max Tenney.

Photo and information submitted by Robert Grimm.

Ramparts representing Western Region in tournament at Lake Placid

By Howard B. Owens

The T.F. Brown's Batavia Ramparts Squirt III Hockey Team is participating in the Empire State Winter Games, being held Feb. 6 through 9 in Lake Placid. The team posed for a picture prior to lining up for the opening ceremonies at the Olympic Center. They will play four games with a chance to win gold, silver or bronze medals. The Ramparts are the Western Region representative in this invitational tournament.

Information and photo submitted by Robert Grimm.

Hockey team sponsored by city firefighters wins tournament

By Howard B. Owens

The Batavia Mites Firland Flyers Hockey Club played in a three-day tournament in Greece recently and went undefeated to win the team's division. The Flyers participation in the tournament was only possible because of a generous donation by the City of Batavia Professional Firefighters Association. To show their appreciation, the Flyers and their coaches wanted to pose for a picture with members of the firefighters association.

Batavia sixth-graders win hoops tournament in Rochester

By Howard B. Owens

The sixth-grade Batavia Blue Devils won the Community Youth Basketball Tournament in Rochester this past weekend.

Game summaries by Bryan Falitico:

Game 1: Starting off against the hometown team CYP in our first
game we came out sleepwalking. Strong efforts from our bigs inside on both
ends of the court we were able to fight our way back from being down 11
points. Alex Rood had six points, Andy Clark three, and Jake Humes four, with all
three having monster rebounding games we came up short in the end, losing
33-30.

Game 2 -- vs. Brighton: Building off the fire we started to play with in
the second half of the first game, we came out strong and pounded the ball
inside. Jake Humes led with 10 points, and Andy Clark had eight. The real
key to our win vs. Brighton was behind the leadership of our point guards,
who not only chipped in point wise, but also great ball protection and
finding the open man in transition. Max Rapone had four points, Bryce Reigle had six
and Luke Grammatico had four. Final score BHS 43, Brighton 34.

Game 3 -- HFL: Day 2 we were without one of our bigs inside so in order for
us to be successful other key guys needed to step up in the absence. Andy
Clark had eight points, and the White brothers, Cam and Caeden, came to play.
Cam had six points and Caeden had five, including a game-changing basket drive
that resulted in a (point) and one opportunity. He sealed the deal with the free throw.
Matt Beach and Alex Rood both came up big on the boards in Jake's absence to
help us get the win 35-30.

Game 4 -- vs. Eastside: All around contributions helped us seal the win. Big
game again from Caeden White with 11 points. Cam pitched in five points of
his own, and again Andy Clark, Alex Rood, and Matt Beach controlled the
boards, helping set up our guards to push the ball for some easy baskets. Luke
Grammatico had two points, Josh Weis had four, Bryce Reigle and Max Rapone
both had a number of great passes inside that set up our bigs for easy
baskets. Final score 37-25, tournament champions.

Bulldawgs announce annual football and cheer camps

By Howard B. Owens

Press release:

The Batavia Bulldawgs Youth Football & Cheer program will hold its 4th Annual Extreme Youth Football and Cheer Camp. This year’s camp, sponsored by Extreme Streetwear, will be held at Kibbe Park on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday July 11th – 13th. Cheer Camp will be Friday and Saturday July 13th and 14th.

Registration for the camp will be Friday June 28th from 6 to 8 p.m. and again on Saturday June 29th from 9 to 11 a.m. at the Batavia City Centre. Cost is $30 for football and $25 for cheer camp.

Camp on Thursday and Friday will run from 4 to 6 p.m. with check-in at 3:30 p.m. and Saturday from 9 to Noon with check-in at 8:30 a.m.

The camp is open to ALL athletes no matter what league affiliation between the ages of 6 to 13 years old by Dec. 1st. Birth certificate is required.

Camp is a stationed-based training where campers are divided by age and experience level so each athlete receives the right level of instruction and support. The Bulldawgs staff and volunteers will teach techniques, skills, and appreciation for all football positions and cheerleading in a fun, positive way!

All campers will receive quality instruction from certified coaches, a camp T-shirt, and lunch at the end of camp on Saturday July 14th.

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