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Muckdogs rained out

By Brian Hillabush

Tonight's New York-Pennsylvania League championship series game is rained out and will be made up at 6:05 p.m. Sunday at Dwyer Stadium.

The Muckdogs lead the series 1-0 and if a third game is necessary, it will be played on Monday at 7:05 p.m.

Kickers can sometimes win a game

By Brian Hillabush

With the rain coming down in buckets Saturday afternoon, it was difficult for either the Notre Dame or Attica football teams to hold onto the football.

But on one key occasion, the Fighting Irish won the game because of the job of the long snapper, holder and kicker.

Matt Thompson's extra point in the final minutes wound up being the play of the game as Notre Dame edged visiting Attica 27-26.

Holder Kevin Francis had issues holding the placement on Thompson's two previous kicks - a shanked 42-yard field goal attempt and an extra point attempt which turned into a botched play.

But after Francis scored a game-tying touchdown with 2 1/2 minutes left, Rick Lair had a perfect snap to Francis, who placed the ball for Thompson, who cashed the game winning kick.

"I just knew I had to dry my hands, relax and get it down so Thompson could kick it," Francis said. 

Thompson has hit plenty of big kicks for Notre Dame in his high school career, but this ranks at or near the top for the junior.

"I had faith in Rick Lair and Kevin Francis," Thompson said. "I just went through my routine, followed through and made it. It was any other PAT. I knew what I was doing."

The kick was the biggest play, but there were several in the comeback effort by ND, one that could have possibly escalated the Fighting Irish into league title contenders. 

"In this league, any win is coveted," ND coach Rick Mancuso said. "The competition is very steep. We are very fortunte to have come out in the second half and put forth the effort we needed to do for the win. I'm very proud of these guys."

The larger Attica squad got a 12-yard touchdown pass from Brandon Rollings to Brock Minnick early in the first quarter. After the extra point attempt was missed, Notre Dame answered back with a Mike Pratt 1-yard TD run.

Thompson added the extra point for the 7-6 lead.

Attica then started taking control of the contest.

Shawn Dupuis returned a punt 65 yards for a score, Luke Pariso intercepted a pass and Dave Jennings scored to give the Blue Devils a 20-7 halftime lead.

Pratt - who finished with 115 yards and three TDs on 22 carries - dove in from a yard out to start the second half after Francis returned the opening kickoff 60 yards.

Notre Dame got an intereception by Greg Barr and was off and running again. After Pratt ripped off a 31-yarder, Kevin Schildwaster dove in the end zone after finishing off an 11-yard scamper.

 

The rain had turned from a slight drizzle into a full-out downpour at this point.

This was when the extra point snap was bobbled and Thompson had to throw the ball way before the old "linebacker kills kicker" thing happened.

Attica and Notre Dame had some struggles until the rain started slowing down a little bit early in the fourth quarter.

Rollings had a 70-yard run on a quarterback keeper for Attica. Notre Dame was penalized half the distance to the goal line because of a facemask call.

On a first-and-goal at the 5, Andy Ruddock eased his way into the end zone. The conversion run failed and Attica led 26-20 with about 10 minutes left.

The two squads exchanged punts and the Fighting Irish started a drive with just over six minutes left on the clock at their own 42, knowing it was now or never.

Without a touchdown, they were going to fall to 0-2 and basically be eliminated from contention in the race for the Genesee Region League title.

There weren't any big yardage plays, but there were two big penalty plays on the drive.

Attica was called for pass interference after an incomplete pass on a fourth-and-3, then jumped offsides on the next play.

Junior quarterback Nick Bochicchio couldn't get a grip on the ball on a first-and-goal from the 9, but shoveled it to Francis, who took scored a touchdown that tied the game at 26 with 2 1/2 minutes left.

"It was raining the entire second half and we weren't throwing," said Francis, who caught six passes for 32 yards. "We tried to catch them off their feet. Bo didn't really throw it, it was like a baseball toss. I saw an opening and got in."

Thompson, who is a true kicker and attended several camps over the offseason, then drained the kick.

Attica did have a chance as Rollings tossed a 32-yard pass to Dupuis and then had a 10-yard run.

But an offensive interference call set up a fourth-and-very long, which was incomplete ending the game.

Bochicchio followed up his 27-of-34 for 182 yards performance in a loss to Pembroke with an 8-of-11, 66-yard day against Attica (1-1).

The Fighting Irish are now 1-1.

HS results for Friday

By Brian Hillabush

The Batavia boys soccer team evened its record up at 2-2 with a 4-1 victory over Section 6's Newfane Friday afternoon.

The Panthers had actually opened the scoring with a goal in the first half, but the Blue Devils scored four times after the break.

Chris Grammatico scored twice with Ronnie Klinebach and Greg Kryman adding a goal apiece.

Boys Soccer

LE ROY 2, CAL-MUM 0: The Oatkan Knights recorded a third consecutive shutout and improve to 3-2 on the season.

Conor O'Halloran and Jim Mignano both scored a goal.

Phil Schwan had two assists.

Girls Soccer

 ALEXANDER 1, LYNDONVILLE 0: Rachel Pettys scored off a corner kick by Autumn Atkinson at the 30 minute mark of the first half for the only scoring of the game.

Hannah Wilson needed to make just four saves to get the shutout  as the Trojans improve to 2-2-2.

ATTICA 8, NOTRE DAME 0: Christina West banged out four goals for the Blue Devils in the blowout.

Kristie Melven, Angela Gilhoooly, Eliza Stringham and Chelsea Lynch also scored for Attica.

Notre Dame falls to 0-3.

Girls Volleyball

BYRON-BERGEN 25-25-25, OAKFIELD-ALABAMA 12-12-5: Sarah Hartman handed out 14 assists for the Bees, who are 6-0.

Jessica George had five kills and Danielle Hayes added four.

Katie Joslyn had three digs and two helpers for the Hornets (1-3).

NOTRE DAME 25-25-25, PEMBROKE 12-12-9: The Fighting Irish were led by sophomore outside hitter Liz Geandreau, who had eight kills, a block and a dig.

Kendra Wall added six assists for ND (4-1).

Pembroke falls to 1-4.

Fenstermaker helps Le Roy handle Letchworth 41-25

By Brian Hillabush

 Travis Fenstermaker was one of the stars from last year's Le Roy football team, and one of the few to not graduate.

His experience and relationship with receiver Mike Humphrey is showing as he guided his squad to a second straight victory to start the season, beating visiting Letchworth 41-25 Friday night.

The senior quarterback completed 9-of-18 attempts for 145 yards, tossing a 28-yard pass to Humphrey, who finished with five catches for 118 yards. The dynamic passing duo hooked up on two touchdowns in a Week 1 win over Batavia.

Quentin Humphrey also caught a 5-yard TD pass.

Fenstermaker also had 13 rushing attempts for 62 yards, with a 1-yard TD plunge.

The Oatkan Knights rushed for 277 yards as a team, with Andrew Alexander leading the way with 144 yards on the ground.

Jon Casper rushed for two touchdowns and Tyrone Wyckoff scored once.

Letchworth quarterback Travis Tones started the game's scoring off with a 77-yard TD run in the first quarter and added an eight yard touchdown run later in the game. He finished with 96 yards on the ground.

Bob Sampson had two receptions for 82 yards and both Chris Nevinger and Quincy Pringle had a TD run each for the Indians (1-1).

Le Roy is 2-0.

Alexander Girls nip Lyndonville 1-0

By Chad Flint

The Alexander Girl's soccer team pushed its league record to 2-1-1 and overall record to 2-2-2 with a 1-0 win over Lyndonville at home on Friday.  Lyndonville battled tough but was unable to crack a stout Alexander defense throughout the game.

Alexander scored the games only goal with nearly 30 minutes gone in the 1st half as Sophomore Autumn Atkinson sent a corner in from the right side that hit a defender and came directly to Senior Rachel Pettys who fired the ball in the left hand side of the net for the 1-0 lead.  Alexander's defense of Sophmores Savannah VanSon, Claire Hartl, Senior Rachel Nielans, 8th grader Gabby Kwiatek, and Junior Leah Johnson made that lead stand up as Sophmore Hannah Wilson had to make just 4 saves to register her first clean sheet of the season.

Alexander Junior forward Anna Dominick had a strong game up top having two great chances on net, one in each half only to be stopped by the Lyndonville keeper each time.  Alexander had roughtly a 65-35 possession advantage throughout the game and it helped wear down a tough Lyndonville team.

With the win the Genesee Region Division I title still seems up for grabs with Pembroke, Alexander, Byron-Bergen, and Holley all remaining in the mix.

Oakfield-Alabama blasts Barker 49-0

By Brian Hillabush

 Oakfield-Alabama and Barker each came into Friday night's game with 1-0 records, but the Hornets showed everybody that last week's poor second half performance in a win over Elba/Byron-Bergen won't be a problem again.

O-A scored two points in the first quarter, 27 in the second, 13 in the third and 7 in the fourth, keeping the pressure on the Raiders for all four quarters.

Fullback Brad Riner and wingback Tim Smith both had huge games as John Dowd's run-heavy offense was unstoppable.

Riner had 16 attempts for 156 yards and three scores while Smith gained 127 yards with a touchdown on just nine carries.

Smith also returned a punt 70 yards for a touchdown.

The Hornets best player that does the least amount of scoring actually put the first points of the game on the scoreboard. OL/DL Chris Williams tackled the Barker punter in the end zone in the first quarter for a safety.

Joe Natalizia had a touchdown run and Evan Kotarski's second fumble recovery of the game was in the end zone in the fourth quarter.

Derek Hicks added 10 tackles.

Pal-Mac shocks Batavia in OT, 34-33

By Brian Hillabush

The Batavia football team played like a team that should have won the game, but left the VanDetta Stadium field Friday night waterlogged with a heartbreaking 1-point loss.

Visiting Palmyra-Macedon scored and converted an extra point in overtime and the Blue Devils also scored, but a fumbled placement of the ball on the extra point wound up costing them the game.

For a program that is trying to turn the corner and start winning games, Friday night has to be one of those losses that the players put out of their minds. That's the best thing you can do after a loss this difficult to take.

"I don't know what other teams do, but we'll get back out on the field at 9 a.m. (Saturday) and get back to work, get ready for Waterloo (next week)," Batavia coach Dan Geiger said.

"I will tell (my teammates) to keep their heads up," Williams said. "Geneva went 0-2 last year and wound up being state semifinals. We have to keep our heads up and be ready for Waterloo."

Williams had just seven carries in the opening week loss to Le Roy, but was easily the best player on the field for both squads Friday night.

The senior had 17 rushes for 154 yards and four touchdowns, while intercepting a pass, stopping Pal-Mac on a key two-point conversion and recovering two fumbles.

It would be shocking if this game did not earn Williams Offensive or Defensive Player of the Week for Class B.

"This is definitely the best game I've played," Williams said. "I had a game last year where I came back from an ankle injury and scored three touchdowns. It wasn't just me tonight. D'Aurizio did his part in driving up the field. Coach told me to just use my speed and get to the outside."

Pal-Mac scored right away as Dave VanLaeken ran one in from five yards out.

Williams made his first significant mark on the game just one minute later when he ripped off a 62-yard touchdown run, bouncing to the outside and blowing past every defender.

"Coach told me to do what made me special and use my speed," Williams said. 

VanLaeken helped his squad take a 14-7 lead with a 9-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter.

The Blue Devils pounded out a 77-yard drive on their next possession as Geiger mixed the carries up with Williams and D'Aurizio each making big runs.

D'Aurizo finished with 17 carries for 94 yards.

Williams scored on a 5-yard scamper, with D'Aurzio punching in the two point conversion just before the half, making the score 15-14.

The score remained the same after the third quarter because Batavia stopped a big drive by Pal-Mac by causing a fumble.

But after penalties pushed the Blue Devils into a third-and-25 situation, Pal-Mac quickly scored when VanLaeken dove in from a yard out.

With the score being 20-15, P-M went for two.

Quarterback Pete Valade found Ben Zink with a pass at the 1-yard line and Williams made a two point saving tackle at the goal line.

It felt as if a Batavia victory was meant to be as Williams returned the following kickoff 78 yards for a score. The Blue Devils were stopped inches short on the two point conversion attempt and had a 21-20 lead.

D'Aurizio caused a fumble on Pal-Mac's next drive and Williams scooped it up and ran 36 yards, setting up a Joe Canzoneri 1-yard quarterback keeper for a TD. The extra point attempt was wide right and Batavia had a seven point lead.

Pal-Mac answered back with just seconds left on the clock.

It took less than three minutes to march down the field and VanLaeken scored again, this time from three yards out and just seven seconds left on the clock.

A too many men on the field penalty pushed the extra point attempt back five yards, but Nick Bauer hit the kick to tie the score at 27.

Batavia had one play to try and score but after Williams nearly broke away, he was stopped for a 20 yard run.

Keegan Kinslow had a 6-yard TD run in the opening possession of overtime, with Mauer hitting the kick to give Pal-Mac a 34-27 lead.

Williams then had a 17-yard scoring jaunt for Batavia in its possession, but with the rains getting heavy, the placement was fumbled and a pass attempt fell to the ground incomplete.

D'Aurizio led the defense with 12 tackles and Troy Ireland added 10. Joe Stachowski had six tackles.

 

(Note: no photos from the game because my camera got drenched and I lost everything)

 

Curtis homers in ninth to give Muckdogs game one victory

By Howard B. Owens

Jermaine Curtis homered in the ninth inning Friday night to give the Batavai Muckdogs a 4-3 victory of the Jamestown Jammers in Jamestown.

The come-from-behind victor gives the 'Dogs a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three New York-Penn League championship series.

Trailing 3-2 entering the ninth inning. the Muckdogs got to Jammers closer Jared Yecker (nine saves during the regular season) for three hits and two earned runs, including Curtis' blast.

Start Scott Gorgen twirled six spectacular innings of shutout ball and left the game with the lead, but relief pitcher Ramon Delgado surrendered all three of the Jammers runs.  Because Delgado was still on the mound to open the bottom of the ninth, he gets credit for the win tonight.

Poetry reading pitcher Jason Buursma picked up his second post season save by retiring the final Jamestown hitter.

The long-time Western New York rivals meet again Saturday night at Dwyer Stadium for game two of the series.  Game time is 7:05 p.m.

Batavia game coverage tonight

By Brian Hillabush

Check out the site later tonight as I will have results from the Batavia High football game along with results from other area contests.

Sleds of Stafford Snowmobile Show

By Philip Anselmo

Don't forget! Sleds of Stafford Snowmobile Club will be holding the second annual Vintage Snowmobile and Snow Show Saturday at BW's Restaurant in Pavilion, rain or shine—and it's looking more like it will be rain. You can find BW's at 11070 Perry Road.

Admission is $2 per adult, and kids 12 and under are free. All proceeds from the event will benefit Mercy Flight. Register between 8:00 and 11:00am. Judging starts at 11:00am.

Check out the Sleds of Stafford Web site for all the details.

HS results for Thursday

By Brian Hillabush

Le Roy's soccer team didn't get a win, but they didn't get a loss either.

The Oatkan Knights couldn't score a goal and finished with a 0-0 tie against Avon in a Livingston Conference matchup Thursday.

Megan Lowe had five saves for the shutout in goal for Le Roy (2-1-1).

Danielle Sancillo stopped 10 Le Roy shots for the Braves.

Here is some other high school action from Thursday:

Boys Soccer

WHEATLAND-CHILI 2, LYNDONVILLE 1: Garhett Varin assisted a goal by Brandon Callahan with eight minutes left in the game to give the Wildcats (7-0) the victory.

Greg Arlaukas also scored for W-C.

Cody Dix scored for Lyndonville (2-3).

BYRON-BERGEN 2, ATTICA 1: Cory Longhini kicked in the game-winning goal with 7 1/2 minutes left to pace the Bees (2-1-1).

It was his second goal of the game as he scored earlier, just 16 seconds into the game.

Wyatt Bush scored for the Blue Devils.

Girls Volleyball

PITTSFORD MENDON 25-25-25, BATAVIA 20-23-23: The Blue Devils lost a tight one. 

Fiona Wahlen had 15 digs and Becky Salisbury added nine for Mendon (1-2).

Batavia is 1-1.

Zinni, a future WNBA coach?

By Brian Hillabush

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.

Hello

By Brian Hillabush

Yesterday was crazy and I never got a chance to formally say hello.

I started my day at 9 a.m. in Fairport, which for me was a heck of an accomplishment, came home and took a short nap and then was out at the Muckdogs game. Throw in the photography and writing and it was insane.

Now that I've got a moment to actually sit down and think, I would like to tell you all a little about what I'm going to be doing here at The Batavian.

I love high school sports and want to take the coverage I gave readers at The Daily News for eight years and take it to a new level here. Print newspapers are fading fast (ask Jay Mariotti) and the Internet gives me the opportunity to do so many new and exciting things.

I have some blogging experience but am still pretty raw, so bear with me as I work on that writing style. 

I will be trying to get out to as many games as possible to shoot video, take photographs and blog, giving the great local athletes the best coverage possible.Video intrigues me a ton because I've done very limited work with that and think I can do some excellent work with that. Expect to see video highlights and interviews with local athletes in the very near future.

I am a huge football fan and you can expect to get the best coverage of area teams here in the coming weeks. My quick previews that I wrote at 3 a.m. is just the beginning of what you will see every Wednesday or Thursday.

I'll be covering games Friday night and Saturday afternoon, then doing some in-depth stuff during the week to preview games. Come sectional time, you will get to know everything about the squads making runs here at The Batavian.

I did a basic roundup of local scores last night, but I would like to get local coaches involved with posting blogs to give great coverage of their own teams. I will start making calls next week and asking soccer, volleyball and cross country coaches to directly post their results on the sports page.

Rather than having to wait for tomorrow's Daily for a couple paragraphs on each game, you will be able to come here and read exactly what the coaches saw just after the game ends.  Imagine how well you will get to know, for example, about the Alexander girls soccer team if coach Chad Flint posts after every game. Please let your coaches know about this opportunity if they have not seen The Batavian yet.

Those coaches that do post regularly will stand a much better chance of seeing me out at a practice with my video camera, doing special features on players and the team. 

High School athletes, parents and fans can also register and post comments on any blog. 

Please feel free to contact me at any time if you have story ideas or just want to talk high school sports. My AIM screen name is hillabush12, my cell phone number is 585-993-4662 (expect to hear anything from rap music to Jimmy Buffett when you call) and my e-mail is brian at thebatavian dot com. And don't be shy if you see me at a game, come say hi.

I'm looking forward to meeting many new people and giving my home community the best sports coverage in the coming years.

Long-time WNY rivals to meet for NY-P championship

By Howard B. Owens

After eliminating Lowell Wednesday night in a hard-fought 3-2 victory, the Batavia Muckdogs will face the Jamestown Jammers Friday night in an effort to secure the team's fourth league championship in its seven-decade history.

Surprisingly, the NY-Penn League site's story on the championship series gets it wrong, saying that Batavia is going for its first-ever title. (Surely, the Jammers, as one of the leagues original teams, has won championships before -- and we know they've made the finals before, because Batavia beat Jamestown in 1945 -- but I couldn't find any history of the team from before the 1990s.)

Last night, Adam Veres, who was 1-1 with a 4.35 ERA in the regular season, may have pitched the career game of his young professional career.  He went seven innings and gave up only 1 run and two hits while striking out seven.

From the NY-P story referenced above:

"We feel great right now, this was obviously the biggest game of the season," Veres said. "We've got a lot of high-spirited guys that want to go all the way with this."

...

"I was really amped up to get this start," he said. "I was locating the fastball to both sides of the plate and the ball was moving real well. I just wanted to prepare for this one just like any other game, but this one obviously meant a little more."

Ramon Delgado struck out the side in the eigth to preserve Batavia's selendor 3-1 lead.

Closer Adam Reifer was shacky in the ninth, giving up a walk, a hit and a run, but held on to pick up the save, retiring Lowell's Ricardo Burgos on a called third strike while all 800 or so Batavia fans were on their feet clapping and cheering.

Friday's opening game will be at 7 p.m., and then the teams return to Batavia Saturday for a 7 p.m. game. If game three is necessary, it will be played at Dwyer on Sunday and the game time will be 7 p.m. (oops, make the 6 p.m.).

UPDATE: Here's how the Batavia franchise finished in each year it fielded a team 1939 through 1997 (actually, the Batavia Indians seasons are here (including a 1957 finals appearance), and the Batavia Pirates made the finals twice, winning in 1963; and the Batavia Trojans made the finals in 1977). The Jamestown Falcons won five titles in nine championship appearances. The Jamestown Expos won twice in four appearances. The Jamestown Tigers made the finals once.

HS football previews

By Brian Hillabush

 

 

Pal-Mac (0-1) at Batavia (0-1)

7 p.m. Friday

The young man with the ball in his hands needs to have it in his hands a lot more than he did last Friday night.

Rob Williams had seven carries for just 17 yards, but is the most talented athlete on the Batavia roster, and should get a lot more touches against Palmyra-Macedon, which lost to a talented Livonia squad 14-7 last week.

Batavia coach Dan Geiger gave the ball to Anthony D'Aurizio a bunch of times in a 27-13 loss against visiting Le Roy last week, and the senior did a great job. But Williams has a proven history of putting his squad on his back and carrying them. 

He could line-up at quarterback, running back or wide receiver, but he needs to touch the ball more than seven times if the Blue Devils are going to get a first win.

If Williams gets 15 touches in the game, Batavia should run away with this one at home.

Junior quarterback Joe Canzoneri faced some pressure against a very talented Le Roy defense last week and will find this week a lot easier, so he could get the ball in the hands of Williams, Vinny Pedro or wild card Devonte Rolle. Any of those playmakers can bust out for a big play at any time.

Batavia's defense did a great job against a very talented Le Roy team, so expect a markedly better effort against a squad that has nowhere near the talent the Oatkan Knights have.

 

 

Barker (1-0) at Oakfield-Alabama (1-0)

7 p.m. Friday

 

O-A wingback Tim Smith was the best story of Week 1.

He rushed for 114 yards and three touchdowns after quitting on his teammates last year, and has proven to be a solid scoring option for the Hornets.

He will get his share of carries, along with fellow runner Jason Stanley and fullback Brad Riner. Smith talked about apologizing to his teammates in Monday's Daily News, and should be a leader on the field Friday night.

If the Hornets struggle with the run - which hasn't happened since coach John Dowd walked onto the O-A campus - then the passing game will be as good as it has been since he has shown up.

A.J. Kehlenbeck has experience and Tyler Tamblin played out of his mind last week, so  tight end Noah Seward would be a great GR fantasy football choice.

Another name you might not have heard of that could rush for over 100 yards would be sophomore Matt Ososolojaikonaowaksianskowdkonwoski (however you spell or say it).

He played in the sectional tournament loss last year and was awesome. The young man nicknamed the "OZ man" has had his issues holding onto the ball, but  could be the best young talent in the league.

Barker has improved under coach Bill Bruning, but O-A will run away with this game.

 

Letchwoth (1-0) at Le Roy (1-0)

7:30 p.m.

Two of the most respected coaches in Section 5 face-off in this one.

Letchworth's Tim McMullen might not have a roster that has a ton of stars, but the indians will play hard.

Le Roy and coach Brian Moran proved in a win over Batavia last week that solid players step in and fill roles every week.

The Indians will try to slow things down, but LR quarterback Travis Fenstermaker will have a huge game.

Le Roy won't win by 30, but should win pretty big.

 

Pembroke (1-0) at Alexander (0-1)

1:30 p.m. Saturday

While quarterback David Kleckler blew up last week, watch for running back Mike Dibble. He will rush for over 150 yards and at least one TD.

Alexander will continue to get better, but playing one of the "big 3" will not lead to a win.

 

Holley (0-1) at Elba/Byron-Bergen (0-1)

1:30 p.m. Saturday

Elba/B-B has too much talent.

Brandon Spurling rushed for almost 200 yards against Oakfield-Alabama last week and should be the top option this week. He comes from the Le Roy youth program and will do well.

Zach Green almost rushed for 100 yards and will provide a great support system. 

Holley gave Barker a great run, but E/B-B has too many athletes.

 

Attica (1-0) at Notre Dame (0-1)

1:30 p.m. Saturday

In what might be the game of the week in the GR, the quarterbacks are the show.

ND slinger Nick Bochicchio went 27-34 for 182 yards in the opener, meaning the Fighting Irish aren't exactly a power-running offense.

But Kevin Schildwaster and Mike Pratt can run the ball.

Attica's Brandon Rolling might be the best quarterback in the league, but Andy Ruddock might be the best running back in the league. Attica can put up a lot of points in a lot of different ways.

No other GR game will lead to more points than this one.

 

Local HS scores for Wednesday

By Brian Hillabush

Byron-Bergen and Notre Dame have the two girls volleyball teams with the most recent state experience.

The Bees won a few state titles and the Fighting Irish made the finals twice.

It was the Bees, who are hit hard by graduation every year but still remain the top program in the Genesee Region League, that came out on top in Wednesday's contest.

B-B scores were 25-25-26 while ND tallied 20-8-23.

Mary Cocking was the top Byron-Bergen performer with nine digs and 15 kills, with Alli Phillips adding 14 digs.

Sarah Hartman handed out 15 assists with a pair of aces for the Bees (5-0).

Notre Dame (3-1) was led by Kendra Wall, with five helpers.

Other high school results from Wednesday are:

 

Girls Volleyball

LYNDONVILLE 27-25-25-23-25, PEMBROKE 25-18-27-25-21: Samantha Skryp was big at the net for the Tigers, getting 15 kills, nine blocks and five aces.

Kelsey Brown pitched in 11 kills, 11 assists and five aces for Lyndonville (3-3).

Danielle Kelsey had 10 kills for the Dragons (1-3).

 

Boys Soccer

LE ROY 1, AVON 0: Cody Niccloy's penalty kick in overtime was the only goal of the game, helping the Oatkan Knights improve to 2-2.

Russell Schultz had five saves in net for LR.

 

Girls Soccer

PEMBROKE 1, ALEXANDER 0: Alyssa Reeb earned her third shutout of the season, making 12 saves.

Nicole Sharick had the game winning goal off a pass by Katie Hackett.

The Dragons are 2-0-1.

BYRON-BERGEN 4, ATTICA 0: Maylee Amesbury scored once and dished out an assist for the Bees (2-2-1).

MacKenzie Heale and Kim Oliveri each scored for B-B.

 

NY-P league president thinks future is bright in Batavia

By Brian Hillabush

When times were rough and it looked like the failures in the management of the Batavia Muckdogs franchise was going to cost the city a team, New York-Pennsylvania League president Ben Hayes admits he was on the fence. 

He said after the sixth inning of tonight’s game that it was tough for him to back keeping one of the NY-P’s original franchises in the league because of how bad things were. But he didn’t pull the plug because of Batavia’s history and because of the job done by the Rochester Red Wings.

He was impressed that the first playoff appearance for the franchise in eight years has brought out plenty of fans – 789 to be exact - on a chilly Wednesday night in September.

Combine the on field victories and the progress made in rebuilding the historic franchise and the league feels good about the Batavia situation.

“This is a win-win,” Hayes said. “What Naomi Silver and the Red Wings – Dan Mason, Gary Larder – what they have done is an experience in professionalism that is top-notch in Minor League baseball.”

Of course, everybody knows about the terrible financial problems that nearly left Dwyer Stadium without a team this summer, and how Naomi Silver and her Red Wings stepped in the bail out the team.

When the situation looked its worst, Hayes ducked phone calls by the media. The Muckdogs were not my beat at The Daily News, but I heard reporters talk about the frustrations of not getting a phone call (or three) returned.

He had no problem speaking to me now that I'm at The Batavian, shortly before the Muckdogs picked up a 3-2 victory over Lowell to advance to the league championship series.

Hayes was sitting with Silver and expects that the disappointing attendance figures for this season will not be a problem next year after the Red Wings get a full offseason to work on promotions.

“They got started very late in the marketing season,” Hayes said. “The other clubs started marketing two weeks after the season. The Rochester Red Wings didn’t take over operation of the club until the end of March. It was very, very late in the season, so to speak. I don’t think you will see anything different, but over an extended period of time the momentum will be a lot different. The problems have been fixed (with the stadium and the finances). Now they can focus on other things.”

While the former professional baseball player turned league president is optimistic, he realizes that there is still work to be done – the biggest of which is the support of local baseball fans, or rather, lack their of.

Batavia was 13th out of 14 teams in the NY-P in attendance at 43,167 during the regular season. Those numbers are going to have to go up.

Hayes says that the sellouts can’t just come on the 4th of July. Batavians need to get out to watch some quality Minor League baseball at a reasonable price.

If not, the talk about the franchise leaving town that engulfed the city of Batavia last winter could be back in the future. He has faith that the Red Wings will do a good job with promotions, but says it is up to the locals if we want professional baseball in Batavia.

“It really depends on the community and the fans, and if they are going to support the team,” Hayes said. “There has to be enough revenue for this team to survive. The cost of umpires, the cost of travel – all the costs associated with being a minor league club. It’s not an image, it’s an endeavor. In order to put the product out there for the community, the community has to support the product.”

POETIC JUSTICE! MUCKDOGS ARE IN THE NY-PENN CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

By Russ Salway

The Batavia Muckdogs just won their playoff series against the Lowell Spinners and now are heading to the championship series against the Jamestown Jammers!  What a turn around from a city that was about to lose their long time baseball franchise!  The president of the New York Penn League was in town tonight to see Batavia win!  Its not over yet, we need the entire community, county and Rochester support to come out this weekend and cheer on our 2008 Batavia Muckdogs!  Several fans are heading to Jamestown this Friday for the first game and I expect to see every member of the city council along with  a few thousand fans Saturday night at Dwyer Stadium!  What a great story for this franchise and this community! Thank you all for your contiunued support and LET'S GO MUCKDOGS!

Brian Hillabush joins The Batavian staff today

By Howard B. Owens

In Genesee County, if you follow local sports, you know the name Brian Hillabush.

Brian has been covering sports, mostly high school sports, for the Batavia Daily News for eight years.  In that time, he has developed a solid reputation and built quite a popular following.

Today, he joins the staff of The Batavian.

Brian will be the full-time sports editor for The Batavian (you may have noticed we added a sports tab to the top of the home page the other day).  He’ll cover local sports and help anybody who wants to post their own team or league information on the site.  Besides being able to blog about sports (something he wasn’t allowed to do for the Daily News), he’s also excited about shooting video for the site – so looks for more local sports video on The Batavian.

A native of Oakfield, Brian has spent his entire life in Genesee County. He attended Genesee Community College where he studied broadcasting and managed WGCC.  He even spent a couple of months working for WBTA before embarking on his print career.

In hiring Brian, we fulfill one of our earlier promises – that as we grow, we will hire local staff, people who live in and love Genesee County.

We’re also excited to bring Brian onto our team because he’s just so dang good – a good writer who really knows local sports, has a wealth of contacts and is highly regarded by the people he deals with. We’re confident that with Brian covering sports for The Batavian, we’ll have the most timely and comprehensive Genesee County sports coverage you’re going to get anywhere.
 

St. Louis Cardinals renew agreement with Muckdogs

By Howard B. Owens

The St. Louis Cardinals seem to like what they see about Batavia so far as far as player development goes. The team announced yesterday that it renewed its contract with the Muckdogs for two more seasons, according to Scout.com.

“We’ve enjoyed our two years in Batavia,” stated Cardinals Vice President and General Manager John Mozeliak. “We are grateful for Naomi Silver and Dan Mason as they look to build a successful franchise in Batavia. We look forward to the next two years there.”

UPDATE (Philip): We received comments from Naomi Silver, Muckdogs Manager Mark DeJohn and the Cardinals VP of Scouting, John Luhnow on the contract extension.

Naomi Silver:

“We are very pleased to be able to extend our agreement with the Cardinals. When you are fortunate enough to affiliate with such an outstanding organization, you certainly hope to see it continue. We are gratified that they are eager to remain in Batavia. We have been very lucky to be with an organization which has provided us with extremely talented young players. There’s nothing better than playing in the post-season, and this year has been extremely exciting for all of us and the Batavia community.

“The Cardinals are a class organization, and we couldn’t ask for a better partner. They know how important their role has been here and they deserve a lot of credit for the great team they’ve fielded for us. They have been great to work with and we’re looking forward to continuing this relationship.”

Mark DeJohn:

“I’ve really enjoyed my time here the last two seasons and I enjoy working with the front office and stadium staff. I appreciate the improvements made to the ballpark and operation prior to this season and I look forward to working here with our young players for another two seasons.”

John Luhnow:

“The Cardinals are excited about staying in Batavia. We believe in small town minor league baseball; for our players and staff as well as the community."

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