muckdogs

We are very lucky in the Batavia area to have the Batavia Muckdogs!  We almost lost them a couple years ago, but the Rochester Redwing organization was kind enough to step in with financial and managerial assistance to keep the team in Batavia.

I try to attend most games, and I'm a season ticket holder.   What I notice is that the stands are virtually empty for the majority of games.   What alot of people don't realize is that if we don't get better attendance at these games, we're in danger of losing the team again!  

I've been attending the games for 12 seasons now - and I've made many many friends around the park, and had alot of fun volunteering with the Muckdogs Booster Club on many occasion.  

Everyone that's currently attending the games - invite a friend!  spread the word!

Businesses - we need to keep this valuable asset in our community!   Encourage your employees to attend! put out schedules for your customers!

For those that have never been - it's truly a fun evening of baseball, on-field antics, and a wonderful community event!   give it a try!

We have the lowest ticket prices around to see baseball on a professional level!

Let's keep our Muckdogs where they belong!   In Batavia!!

Matt "The Hammer" Hamill, a UFC fighter with Western New York ties, will appear at Dwyer Stadium on Saturday when the Batavia Muckdogs take on the State College Spikes.

Game time is 7:05 p.m.

Hamill will be on hand to sign autographs for an hour before game time, and for an hour after he throws out the first pitch.

The popular UFC fighter attended RIT and while a student there, he was was a three-time NCAA Division III National Champion in wrestling.

Matt, who is deaf, also has a silver medal in Greco-Roman wrestling and a gold medal in freestyle wrestling from the 2001 Summer Deaflympics.

He was a contestant on the third season of The Ultimate Fighter reality television show, training under Tito Ortiz in the 205 lb weight class. He is currently 7-2 in his 9 professional Mixed Martial Arts fights.

The Democrat and Chronicle engages in some idle speculation, raising the possibility that this could be the last year of baseball in Batavia.

The article leaves the impression that the writer has spoken with officials of the Red Wings and that the operator of the Muckdogs is undecided about the Muckdogs' future.

The average attendance this year has been 988. The article says that's down from 1,199 last year, but doesn't note that the Red Wings have instituted something new in counting attendance at NY-Penn League stadiums: Telling the truth. There's no inflation in the count this year.

The Red Wings would get only 10 percent of the sale price if the team were sold prior to next season.

Batavia (28-29) held Staten Island (33-23) to just three hits to avoid the sweep and to inch back closer to .500 in the 5-0 win.

Scoring started early as the Muckdogs plated one in the 1st.  Alan Ahmady reached on a walk and came in to score on the next at-bat on a double by Matthew Adams.

They broke the game open by scoring four in the 6th.  Devin Goodwin started off the inning with a double and scored on a RBI single by Adams.  After Jon Edwards walked, Luis De La Cruz hit a double down the left field line to score both Adams and Edwards.  De La Cruz came home later in the inning on a wild pitch.

Chris Corrigan (2-2, 2.89) got the win in the start going five innings with three hits, three walks and one strikeout.  Justin Smith followed him to get his first hold of the season.  Smith went three innings with one walk and five strikeouts.  Tyler Lavigne closed out the 9th with a strikeout.

Adams finished 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI.  Goodwin and De La Cruz both had doubles.

The majority of the New York-Penn League now has two days off for the All-Star break taking place in State College.  Good luck to Muckdogs Alan Ahmady, Luis De La Cruz and pitcher Santo Maertz in the game.

Staten Island (32-22) was able to jump out to an early lead that Batavia (27-28) could not answer, resulting in the Muckdogs ending their five game win streak in the 6-2 loss.

The Yankees scored one run in the 1st and 2nd innings and then two more in the 3rd and that was all they would need.

Batavia scored their first run in the 6th inning on a solo home run by Jon Edwards.  They scored again in the 8th after bases were loaded on a Ryan Jackson single, Alan Ahmady walk and another single by Matthew Adams.  Jon Edwards then grounded into a double play that allowed Jackson to come in to score.

Michael Blazek (3-8, 4.53) suffered the loss in the start.  He went five innings with five runs on nine hits with two walks and five strikeouts.  Kevin Siegrist followed him throwing three innings with one run, two hits and three strikeouts.  Andres Rosales finished out the game in the 9th, striking out three while allowing one hit.

Edwards finished 2-for-4 with a homerun, RBI and run scored.

The Muckdogs (27-27) got their record back up to .500 by completing the sweep of the Lake Monsters (24-29) by winning 7-1.

Scoring began in the 5th starting with a double by Jon Edwards and a RBI double by Luis De La Cruz.  Ivan Castro then had a base hit to score De La Cruz and Castro came into home himself on another double by Michael Swinson.

They added one more to make it a 5-0 game in the 6th.  Matthew Adams took the second pitch of bottom of the inning over the right field wall.

Vermont was able to avoid a shut out by scoring one run in the 7th but Batavia answered right back with two more insurance runs in the 8th.  Edwards singled and then Niko Vasquez got his second homerun of the season.

Starter Dan Calhoun (1-0, 1.48) got the win, going six strong innings with three hits and six strikeouts.  Tyler Leach followed him through one and two-thirds with one run on one hit with a walk and a strikeout.  LaCurtis Mayes sat down the Lake Monsters quickly to end the game on two strikeouts and a groundout.

Edwards finished 2-for-4 on the night with a double, RBI and two runs scored.  De La Cruz and Castro also had two hits each with one RBI and one run scored.

Tomorrow night the Staten Island Yankees come in to town.  As always, there will be fireworks Friday night and Saturday is team photo giveaway.

It took a full nine innings, but Batavia (26-27) was able to come through to beat Vermont (24-28) by a score of 4-3.

With the score deadlocked at 3-3, Luis De La Cruz led off the ninth inning with a single. Devin Goodwin followed with a walk.  Michael Swinson then put down a perfect sacrifice bunt moving both runners in scoring position.  With the potential winning run already on third, the Lake Monsters decided intentionally walk Ryan Jackson, loading the bases.   And that was all the Muckdogs needed as Alan Ahmady came up with a sacrifice fly to score the winning run.

Josh Squatrito (2-1, 1.89) picked up the win after entering the game in the eight to record the final out on a strike out. He then proceeded to go 0-2 on each of the three batters he faced in the ninth, striking out all three.

Batavia pitchers notched 16 Ks on the evening.

Batavia jumped out to an early 3-0 lead after the 2nd inning.  Kyle Conley started the scoring off with a solo homerun to left field.  Later, Niko Vasquez and Luis De La Cruz picked up base hits and bases became loaded when Goodwin walked.  Swinson then singled to score two.

The Lake Monsters answered with two runs in the 4th and tied things up in the 8th, but the Muckdogs were able to prevail.

Jesse Simpson went four innings in the start, letting in two runs on five hits with three walks and six strikeouts.  Tyler Lavigne followed him in one inning of work with a strikeout.  Justin Edwards filled in the other two and two-thirds innings, giving up one run on two hits while striking out five.

Conley finished 2-for-3 with a homerun, double, RBI and run scored.  Vasquez and Swinson both went 2-for-4, Vasquez with a double and a run scored and Swinson with two RBI.

Alan Ahmady, Santo Maertz and Luis De La Cruz have been named to this year's NYPL All-Star team.  The game is to be held next Tuesday, the 18th, in State College.

Ahmady is currently batting .311 with 23 RBI and 11 doubles.  Maertz has been one of Batavia's best relievers, with a 1.21 ERA and 25 strikeouts in 22.1 innings.  De La Cruz has started the majority of the season behind the plate.  He has thrown out 34% of the runners attempting to steal on him.

The host Spikes have a fun-filled three days planned for the All-Star break, including a concert, fan fest and baseball clinic.

Batavia (25-27) kept things going in the right direction to start off their six game homestand by taking down Vermont (24-27) 10-3.

The Lake Monsters struck first, scoring one run in the 2nd on a solo homerun.  But the Muckdogs scored one of their own in the 5th and followed with three runs each in the 6th and 7th to put the game away.

In the 5th, Jon Edwards singled and came home later to score when Luis De La Cruz reached on an error.  They broke things open on base hits in the 6th.  Michael Swinson, Ryan Jackson and Alan Ahmady all singled and Matthew Adams followed with a double to score three in the inning.  Then again in the 7th, De La Cruz reached again on another error before Ivan Castro and Swinson had back-to-back doubles.  Swinson was able to come in on a passed ball.

Vermont was able to score two runs in the 7th, but it was too late.  As if a 7-3 lead wasn’t enough, Batavia added another three runs in the 8th.  Edwards singled and De La Cruz and Castro both walked to load the bases.  Jackson then also was delivered a walk to score Edwards.  With bases still loaded, Ahmady picked up two RBI with a base hit.

Justin Smith had the start, going five innings with one run, two hits, one walk and five strikeouts.  Chris Corrigan (1-2, 3.34) followed him to get the win.  Corrigan went one and two-thirds innings with two runs on two hits, two walks and one strikeout.  Santo Maertz got his second hold pitching one and one-third innings with a walk and a strikeout.  Andres Rosales finished out the game in the 9th with just one hit.

Swinson finished 2-for-4 on the night with a double, two RBI, two runs scored and a stolen base.  Ahmady went 2-for-4 with three RBI.  Adams stayed hot as a Muckdog, going 2-for-5 with a double and two RBI.

*Also to note: Guillermo Toribio returned to Quad Cities last week where he played 32 games to start the 2009 season.  Also, pitcher Scott Schneider made the move up. Schneider had a .092 ERA and 47 strikeouts in 39.1 innings in his first professional year with the Muckdogs.

Xavier Scruggs and Kyle Conley both earned Player of the Week honors in their leagues. Scruggs is batting .556 with 3 doubles, 1 triple, 4 homeruns and 16 RBI and a remarkable 1.185 slugging percentage in his first week as a River Bandit.  Conley is batting .458 with 7 runs, 2 doubles, 3 homeruns and 4 RBI with a 1.000 slugging percentage as a Muckdog.

The Muckdog that Chelsea and I have been hosting this season got the phone call last night.  Scott Schneider will be leaving our home today to head to Quad Cities and join his former teammates. He is the second pitcher to be called up from Batavia.

Chelsea and I will miss having him around and wish him the best of luck.

A three-run bottom of the 9th put Batavia (22-26) within one run, but that’s all they could do as Brooklyn (30-17) got the sweep by a score of 5-4.

The Muckdogs scored their first run in the 5th to tie things up.  Beau Riportella walked, stole second base and then came home on a single by Michael Swinson.  The Cyclones scored four more through the last three innings to make it a 5-1 game before the Muckdogs tried to make things interesting.

In the bottom of the 9th, the rally started on a single by Kyle Conley, a walk by Devin Goowin and a single by Travis Mitchell to load the bases.  Jon Edwards followed with a single of his own for a RBI.  Swinson then hit a sacrifice fly to score another.  During the next at-bat, Ryan Jackson had a base hit to score Mitchell for the last run of the night.

Justin Edwards lasted five innings in the start with one run, four hits, one walk and six strikeouts.  Jesse Simpson (0-1, 6.00) followed him to get the loss.  He went three innings with two runs, five hits, two walks and one strikeout.  Tyler Lavigne struggled a bit in the 9th, going two-thirds of an inning with two runs on three hits with two walks and one strikeout.  Tyler Leach threw two pitches to get a pop out to end the inning.

Matthew Adams had the only multi-hit night.  He finished 2-for-5.

New Muckdog Kyle Conley had two homeruns, supplying three of Batavia’s (22-25) four runs, but Brooklyn (30-17) plated six to get the win.

The Cyclones jumped on board first in the 1st inning but the Muckdogs answered right back in the 2nd and 3rd, scoring once in each inning.  Conley had a solo shot in the 2nd.  Then in the 3rd, Ryan Jackson walked and came home on a Matthew Adams double.

But a one-run 4th, three-run 5th and one more run in the 9th for Brooklyn put the game away.  Batavia scored their other two runs in the 8th after Adams singled and Conley followed with his second homerun of the night.

Chris Corrigan went four innings in the start, giving up two runs on four hits with two walks and one strikeout.  Andres Rosales (2-2, 8.25) got the loss, facing just six batters with three runs, two hits and two walks.  Justin Smith had a good outing; he pitched the 6th, 7th and 8th with two walks and six strikeouts.  Josh Squatrito finished out the game, pitching the 9th with one run on two hits with one walk and two strikeouts.

With his two homeruns, Conley finished 2-for-4 with three RBI.  He is batting .500 with three homeruns and two doubles in three games as a Muckdog.  Adams was also 2-for4 with a double and a RBI and Alan Ahmady went 3-for-5 with a double of his own.

Eleven runs and nineteen hits usually gets the win, but that was not so for the Muckdogs (22-24) as they went down 15-11 to the Cyclones (29-17) who had fourteen hits themselves.  The Muckdogs also had four errors on the night.

Batavia jumped out to an early lead, scoring two in the 1st and one in the 2nd.  Ryan Jackson and Matthew Adams both singled.  Jackson then came home on a throwing error.  Adams came home during the next at-bat on a Jon Edwards double.  In the 2nd, Devin Goodwin had his first homerun of the season to make it 3-0.

After the Cyclones added one in the 3rd inning, the Muckdogs added two of their own in the 4th. Kyle Conley had his first homerun as a Muckdog, a solo shot to left field.  Goodwin followed him with a double and came in later after back-to-back singles by Michael Swinson and Jackson.

However, relievers Joe Kelly and Jonny Bravo found trouble in the 6th and 7th innings as Brooklyn scored four runs and three runs, respectively.  Batavia answered with two of their own in the 6th and one in the 7th, but Brooklyn’s five-run 9th inning put the game away, even though Batavia attempted a comeback in the bottom of the 9th, scoring three of their own.

Starter Deryk Hooker went four innings with one run, four hits and three strikeouts.  Kelly pitched the next two with five runs on four hits with two walks and one strikeout.   Bravo (2-1, 4.70) only faced three batters to get the loss, letting in three runs with two hits and a walk.  Santo Maertz filled in for two innings, giving up one run on one hit with three strikeouts.

Goodwin was on fire at the plate.  He went 4-for-4 with with two doubles, two homeruns, three RBI and four runs scored.  Jackson finished 4-for-6 with a double, three RBI and three runs scored.