Sports

Press release:

Batavia, NY – The Batavia Muckdogs, Class A affiliate of the World Series Champion St. Louis Cardinals, today announced ticket prices, packages and game times for the seven Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees games that will be played at Dwyer Stadium in 2012.

The Yankees will play at Dwyer Stadium on the following dates and game times:

• Friday, April 20 vs. Norfolk (Baltimore Orioles Affiliate) at 7:05 p.m.
• Saturday, April 2 vs. Norfolk at 1:05 p.m.
• Sunday, April 22 vs. Norfolk at 1:05 p.m.
• Monday, April 23 vs. Norfolk at 12:05 p.m.
• Saturday, May 5 vs. Pawtucket (Boston Red Sox Affiliate) at 7:05 p.m.
• Sunday, May 6 vs. Pawtucket at 1:05 p.m.
• Tuesday, June 12 vs. Louisville (Cincinnati Reds Affiliate) at 11:05 a.m.

Individual game ticket prices for those games will be as follows:

Box Seats                                           $9

General Admission (Adult)                  $8

General Admission (JR/SR)                 $7

The Muckdogs will also be offering a ticket package that will allow fans to see all seven Yankees games at Dwyer Stadium next season. Those prices are as follows:

Yankees Ticket Package

Box Seats                   $50

General Admission     $43

Current Muckdogs season seat holders will have the opportunity to reserve their seats for the Yankees games at $50 for box seats and $43 for General Admission. Seat holders will have until Jan. 1 to reserve their seats for the Yankees games before they will be released to the general public. Individual seats for Yankees games will go on sale March 5.

Season tickets, coupon books, ticket packages and individual game ticket prices for Muckdogs games will remain unchanged for 2012. Muckdogs coupon books will not be redeemable for the seven Yankees games at Dwyer Stadium.

All packages are currently on sale and can be purchased by calling 585-343-5454, or in person at Dwyer Stadium from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The #3-ranked Genesee Community College Men's Soccer Team won the Region III title on Saturday, defeating Tompkins-Cortland Community College 3-1. In doing so, the Cougars also advance to the NJCAA National Tournament.

GCC started the game off at a high pace and was rewarded with its first goal after 13 minutes when Brady Smith (Brisbane, Australia) played a low ball across the box for Sean Brettel (Welwyn Garden City, London) to apply the finishing touch.

The Cougars increased their lead four minutes later when Dom Francis (Huddersfield, England) scored with the assist going to Josh Gray (Norwich, England). Tompkins-Cortland drew within one with an early second-half goal off of a corner kick. Genesee netted an insurance goal In the 71st minute when Brettel scored his second goal of the game, sealing the victory and the regional title for GCC.

Barry Kinsella (Dublin, Ireland) and Dom Francis were named to the All-Tournament Team. Sean Brettel was named Player of the Tournament.

It was a great run for Elba/Byron-Bergen in 2011, but in Rochester on Sunday, a good season came to an end at the hands of the Livonia Bulldogs.

It was a close game, but the Bulldogs were just that much better.

"Livonia made the most out of their opportunities," Coach Mike Cintorino said. "We had some opportunities that we didn’t cash in on."

Final score: Livonia 26, Elba 18.

The Lancers fought hard and while opportunities may have been missed, no major mistakes assisted Livonia.

Livonia gained more yards (297 to 244) and held the ball longer (28:51 to 19:09), but Elba/BB was able to move the ball on many of its drives, yet on a couple of drives weren't able to put the ball in the end zone.

Zack DuBois scored two TDs, gaining 161 yards on 21 carries. Matt Ramsey made two catches for 32 yards. 

Cody Taylor also scored a touchdown.

For Livonia, QB Wyatt Struble completed nine passes for 120 yards. Derek Bishop scored two touchdowns and Dustin Ayers and Josh Wester each scored a TD.

The loss clearly upset the Elba/BB players and Cintorino said the emotional reaction demonstrates how hard the players worked and how close they had grown as a team.

"We didn’t want the season to end," Cintorino said. "There’s a lot of teams that break it down in terms of family. When we broke it down to family, it meant something. We worked hard together and we just didn’t want the season to end."

If you're unable to view the slide show below, click here.

To purchase photos from this game, click here.

Spearheaded by a capable trio in the backfield and a stalwart line on both sides of the ball, the Batavia Youth Football League Bills finished the 2011 season undefeated, besting the Packers in the title game. In photo above, Cody Dioguardi prepares to take a handoff from QB Connor Logsdon.

Connor Logsdon on a keeper.

That's Anthony Gallo blocking for his backfield mates.

Yeomen work in the trenches.

Coach Zickl firing up the troops - he and Head Coach Brent Dioguardi did a fine job with the Bills. 

Linebacker Jake Kasmarek sizing up the Packer offense.

Penetrate and pursue...it worked for the Bills the entire game.

For each Elba/Byron-Bergen score, the Livonia Bulldogs have had an answer, though neither team has had much success with extra point tries. The score is 12-12 in this Section V Class B semifinal game.

UPDATE 3:54 p.m.: Elba/BB loses 26-18.

Notre Dame had no trouble running the ball against Geneseo in their Class D Section V championship match up, but when Geneseo needed a big play, a play action run or option, it seemed to get the job done more often then not.

The tone was set in the first four minutes of the first quarter. Andrew Mullen capped a Notre Dame drive with a 7-yard run to give the Fighting Irish a 7-0 lead. Before another 30 seconds had ticked off the clock, Geneseo's Jon Ridler, on the Blue Devil's first play from scrimmage, bolted 79 yards, and with a two-point conversion, Geneseo was up 8-7.

"Good teams make big plays and they made the big plays when they needed them," Coach Rick Mancuso said.

By the half, Notre Dame was down by three, 24-21 and the two teams combined had rushed for more than 400 yards.  

Sophomore Andrew Mullen scored all three of ND's first-half TDs, one on a 59-yard run.

The Irish took a leg up in the seesaw scoring battle when Doane McCulley took the opening half kick off 82 yards to put ND up 28-24.

True to form for the game, Geneseo countered with another big play. Xavier Copeland scored on a 55-yard run, but the Irish answered with another grind-it-out drive capped by a five-yard run by Nick Taylor.

Score, 35-32, Note Dame with 4:53 left in the third quarter.

Then the game took a decisive turn in Geneseo's favor.

After stopping the Blue Devils on their possession following Taylor's score, Notre Dame was moving the ball down the field again when QB Tim McCulley took off on a keeper. After gaining about 10 yards, he was gang tackled by Blue Devils defenders.

As the photo above shows, McCulley was in possession of the ball as his knees were down, but there was no whistle. This gave Geneseo's Ridler a chance to strip the ball from McCulley.

The Blue Devils recovered the "fumble."

"I thought his forward progress would stop," Mancuso said after the game. "I was waiting for the whistle. He was being driven back on his way down. I thought we’d get the whistle and we didn’t and they got the ball and that deflated us.

"We went from being very, very high and being very energized to being somewhat deflated and I think that kind of took a little wind out of our sails."

Geneseo scored 12 unanswered points and led 44-35 with 9:47 left in the game.

A fourth Mullen TD, on a seven-yard run, pulled the Irish within two points, but with two minutes left in the game, Copeland ripped off another 56 yard TD run, and with the two-point conversion, the Blue Devils cemented a 10-point win, 52-42.

In all, Notre Dame gained 394 yards on the ground and Geneseo ran for 409 yards and gained another 145 through the air, giving the teams a combined offensive total of 948 yards.

For Notre Dame, Mullen scored four TDs on 15 carries and gained 160 yards. Nick Taylor scored one TD and gained 221 yards on the ground.

Tim McCulley attempted 10 passes, completed four for 48 yards. He was intercepted once.

Xavier Copeland carried the ball 17 times for Geneseo, gaining 234 yards and scoring four touchdowns. He also passed for 145 yards on four completions. Jon Ridler carried the ball 18 times and gained 154 yards, scoring twice. Wes Smith had three catches for 118 yards and one TD.

On defense, Kyle Morse, Nate Woods and Andrew Mullen each had seven tackles. Jacob Tschiderer had 11 tackles for Geneseo. 

Anthony Paladino was Notre Dame's defensive player of the game. Aaron McDonald received a lineman award.

Time of possession tipped in Notre Dame's favor, 29:25 to 18:35.

"I've been very, very proud of the effort of all the kids throughout the season and today was no different," Mancuso said. "I really felt they left everything out on the field. I don’t think we got cheated at all in what we brought to the game and I think they’ve got a lot to be proud of."

If you have trouble viewing the slide show below, click here.

The Redskins capped off a perfect season by topping the Steelers on Saturday. Despite the cold temps, a good crowd was on hand to witness the season finale of Batavia Youth Football's B division.

The Steelers backfield reacts as their QB takes the snap.

Redskin's running back slips past the Steelers' defender...

and breaks into the open for a long gain,

much to the delight of Coach A. J. Martino.

Obviously, it takes more than one tackler to bring down this guy!

Steelers offense getting set prior to the snap. The Steelers played tough, but in the end...

they spent a great deal of time chasing down #32.

Three TD carries by sophomore Andrew Mullen hasn't been enough for Notre Dame to keep pace with three counter strikes, with two-point conversions, by the Geneseo Blue Devils in the first half of their Class D championship game at Shlen's Stadium in Rochester.

At the half, the score is 24-21.

Mullen has scored on runs of 15, seven and 60 yards (approximately), but after each of Mullen's first two scores, Geneseo has answered with long running plays in the first series from scrimmage.

The game so far has been almost all run and no pass by either offense. Notre Dame has 277 total yards on the ground, and none in the air, compared to 244 rushing yards for Geneseo (and a bit more than 40 through the air).

UPDATE 11:33 p.m.: Final, 52-42 Geneseo. The two teams combined for 803 yards on the ground and more than 1,000 yards total offense. Andrew Mullen scored four TDs.

A third-quarter interception by Matt Ramsey helped spark the Elba/Byron-Bergen Lancers both offensively and defensively, turning a 0-7 deficit into a 21-7 victory in Saturday's Class B quarter-final playoff game against Pal-Mac.

Zack DuBois came up big again on offense carrying the ball 25 times for 262 yards and two TDs, including an 88-yard, fourth-quarter sprint that sealed the deal for the Lancers.

Ramsey had two interceptions on the day, to go along with seven tackles, and DuBois added another pick.

Cody Naylor, who carried the ball for 14 yards, also scored a TD.

Naylor had 13 tackles, including three for a loss.

Brandon Naylor had 14 tackles, including four for a loss, and two sacks.

Tom Fowler had 12 tackles, including three for a loss, and Emiliano Acosta had 13 tackles, including four for a loss.

Pal-Mac's offense: Stephen Morrell, 14 for 35, 147 yards, one touchdown, three interceptions; Derek Wager, three receptions for 44 yards and one TD; Sean Nolan, 20 carries for 80 yards.

In other weekend football action:

In Class C quarter finals, Wellsville beat Le Roy 42-14 and Attica beat Pembroke 21-6.

In the Connors Ferris Bowl games, Alexander beat Warsaw 21-6. Batavia plays ER/Granada at 3 p.m. today. 

Also this weekend, Oakfield-Alabama lost to Perry 34-28.

In JV Action, the Batavia Blue Devils finished out its season undefeated, 8-0, with a 22-16 win over Greece Olympia. Down 16-14 with 3:11 left in the game, Tyler Pratt returned a kick 92 yard for a go-ahead TD.  Also scoring were QBs Brandon Stevenson and Dakota Swimline.

PHoto of Elba's Zack DuBois by Destin Danser.

With 1:09 left in the game, Clyde-Savannah needed just one point to tie the game, but in high school football, PATs are not automatic.

Eagles Head Coach Nick Dercola decided to roll the dice on a running play. A two-point conversion would all but guarantee a win for the Eagles in the Class D semi-final playoff game.

Derrick Wright took the hand-off and sprinted to the far side corner of the end zone, but Andrew Mullen and Nick Taylor beat Wright to the goal line.

Final score, Notre Dame 27, Clyde-Savannah 26.

Through nearly three quarters of football, the Fighting Irish appeared dominant, using a ball-control running game and a well-executed defense to keep the Eagles on the ropes.

But defensive lapses in the fourth quarter by Notre Dame and a key fumble with less than three minutes to go turned a 27-13 lead into a nail-biter for the Irish.

"They’re a good team," said Coach Rick Mancuso. "When you make mistakes in a big game, good teams are going to capitalize and that’s what they did."

Mistakes by the Eagles -- particularly interceptions -- helped Notre Dame's cause.

Nate Woods helped set up ND's first TD when he picked off a pass early in the first quarter.

Tim McCulley added two more interceptions, including one with less than a minute in the first half and Clyde-Savannah threatening to tie the game at 14. McCulley pulled down a Tom Molisani pass on the three-yard line.

On offense, Nick Taylor led the way with 120 yards on 30 carries. He crossed the goal line three times.

Andrew Mullen added another TD on a 15-yard reception. Mullen also carried the ball 12 times for 68 yards and had six tackles and half a sack on defense.

McCulley was 5-7 for 33 yards and no interceptions.

Notre Dame turned by ball over twice on fumbles, including the key fourth-quarter fumble on the 43 yard line that allowed Clyde-Savannah to pull into a point.

Taylor also had six tackles and half a sack. Also with half-sack credits were Doane McCulley and Aaron McDonald.

Nate Woods returned three punts for 107 yards.

Eagle's QB Molisani was 15-30 for 249 yards.

"They throw ball over yard," said Mancuso. "But that works to our advantage to get a team like that because one of the teams that’s playing now (in the other Class D semi-final game) is also going to be a team that’s going to throw the ball, so this was good experience for our young kids."

Those other teams were Geneseo and Dundee. Geneseo won 64-16.

Notre Dame will face Geneseo on Friday in Rochester.

If you're unable to view the slide show, click here.