Sports

As Matt Novak, Matt McCracken and Brandon Brummert were driving back from the NCAA Basketball Tournament in Memphis, they started talking about a way to have some fun talking sports with their friends.

The trio of Oakfield-Alabama graduates decided that starting a blog was the best way to accomplish this. That was when GC Watercooler was born.

Novak created the site that night (March 30) and it went live on Friday of that week, with links being posted on Facebook and Section 5 Talksback. 

Novak currently attends Syracuse University and is a big basketball fan. He is also the top poster on Talksback. 

McCracken attends SUNY Geneseo and specializes in NFL and Brummert is a junior in college and writes about college football.

The site has more than just the three writers.

Steve Huber - who is a graphic designer that graduated from Attica - is a baseball analyst and fellow Attica grad Don Busch writes about college football.

O-A grad Travis Klotzbach writes about the NFL and current Oakfield-Alabama student Ben Cherry writes about soccer and wrestling. Casey Call - another O-A grad - writes about basketball.

Elba's Collin Stucko and Sonny Giuliano both write about college and NBA basketball while Notre Dame's Christian Bochicchio writes about college football and Shea O'Connor writes about the NFL.

These young writers are a talented group and the site offers a lot of humor to go along with news and opinions. You can check it out here.

There probably aren't too many people around who remember the players from the 1948 Batavia Clippers, but one of those men popped up in the news this week.

Joe Macko, a 6' 2", 200 lbs first baseman spent his first year of professional ball in Batavia. He smacked 11 home runs, hit .315 and also served as the team's bus driver.

Those 11 home runs would be the first of 306 he would hit in his 18-season minor league career. 

Alas, Macko never mastered hitting a curve ball, and thus never saw a single pitch in a major league ball game.

Macko was a coach with the Chicago Cubs in 1964. His son, Steve Macko, played 24 games with the Cubs before dying of cancer at age 27.

Macko, 81, who recently served as an ambassador for the Texas Rangers, was inducted this week into the Texas League Hall of Fame.

Even though the New York Yankees couldn't get a victory to open up their new stadium Thursday, it was still a pretty big day for 1995 Notre Dame graduate Dave Pero.

Many of the former greats made an appearance, the weather was great for baseball and the local man made history.

 Pero - a high school teacher in Syracuse - was the first guy to ask his girlfriend to become his fiance at the new Yankee Stadium when he proposed to Heather DeCarolos.

"There's nothing better than to kick off this opening day and this stadium by making a commitment to my future wife," Pero told the New York Daily News.

Pero, 31, got down on one knee and popped the question while The Skycoasters - a band out of Rochester - was playing the Earth, Wind and Fire song "September" nearby. DeCarolos said yes.

"I'm stunned," DeCarolos, 23, told the Daily News. "I'm on top of the world. I can't think of a better place for this to happen."

I wanted to set up a system that would allow me to record some of my interviews and then post those MP3 files to The Batavian.

Today, to test out my new system, Brian Hillabush (whom I meant to refer to as the "once and future sports editor of The Batavian" in the recording) talk a little baseball.

You can download the MP3 audio file here. The file is about 10 minutes long.  We cover the majors, Muckdogs and our recent fantasy league draft.

 The Batavia boys basketball team prides itself on its defense. And it is because of defense that the Blue Devils nearly shocked Jamesville-Dewitt Saturday morning in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class A semifinals.

J-D has been the top ranked team in the state all season long and has a senior guard that is heading to Syracuse next year on a basketball scholarship, but Batavia's game plan was perfect and they forced the Red Rams to play at Batavia's pace.  Batavia only gave up 40 points, but lost the game 40-32.

The Blue Devils came out and surprised J-D with an early run, taking an early 8-3 lead. Batavia led 10-5 after one period of play, with Andrew Hoy hitting a pair of 3-pointers.

Batavia held J-D star Brandon Triche to just two points in the opening frame.

But the Red Rams went on a 14-0 run to open the second quarter and took a seven point lead. Batavia's defense kept them in the game though and the Blue Devils only trailed 20-13 at the break.

Andrew and Robert Hoy each had 3-pointers in the third quarter and J-D's lead was cut to 24-23.

The Red Rams went on a run after that and opened up a five point lead. Robert hit another 3-pointer and Batavia was only down 32-30 with just two minutes left in the game. Triche answered right back with a bucket and J-D hit some free throws down the stretch, ending an amazing season for the Batavia basketball team.

Triche ended up with 17 points but Batavia did a good job fighting the size disadvantage again. Coleman only scored two points in the contest.

Andrew Hoy led the Blue Devils with 15 points.

Batavia ends the season with a 22-4 record and has the honor of being just the second team in the program's history to make the state final four. Jamesville-Dewitt is now 25-1 and will be playing Peekskill in the finals tomorrow afternoon.

The Batavia basketball team is favored on the court more often than not. Saturday morning will be different.

The Blue Devils will be taking on a team that has been the top ranked team in the state all season long, has a player getting a full ride to Syracuse and is the defending state champion.

Senior Brandon Triche scored 28 points in Jamesville-DeWitt's 90-61 win over Scotia-Glenville in the regional game and is the biggest name on the roster because he will be playing for 'Cuse next season. But he isn't the only big-time player on the roster.

The biggest challenge Batavia faces is a youngster. Dajuan Coleman is a 6-foot-8 freshman that is going to cause serious matchup problems. The Blue Devils have been undersized all year and have done well against big players for the most part. But there have been times that players with this kind of height have dominated. 

Batavia forward Joe Schlossel has had a tremendous season and has played much bigger than his listed size of 6-2. But he's going to need a lot of help with Coleman.

Jamesville-DeWitt is extremely athletic and will attempt to run the floor. If Batavia can get rebounds, they should be able to slow things down. The Blue Devils need to get into a half court game to have a shot in this matchup.

Batavia has won games this season because of a strong perimeter game, led by sophomore Andrew Hoy. The Blue Devils will have to put up some impressive shooting numbers from beyond the arc to win this game.

The game is at 10:45 Saturday morning and the winner will battle either Peekskill or East Hampton at 1 p.m. Sunday. 

 For many sports fans, the NCAA Tournament is one of the best times of the year. 

The excitement of following your office pools, watching for upsets and seeing if your favorite team can make a run towards the final four is one of the greatest things in athletics.

The players aren't making millions of dollars like in the NBA and are playing the game for the love and not wanting the season to come to an end.

The tourney starts today, with games already going and not stopping until late tonight. What is your favorite thing about the NCAA Tournament?

After a dominant performance last night, the Batavia basketball team was on cloud nine. The Blue Devils really weren't tested and destroyed Section 6 Class A champion McKinley 54-40 at Brockport, earning a trip to the state final four.

I had a chance to talk with Joe Schlossel (game-high 17 points), Marcus Hoy (15 assists) and coach Buddy Brasky after the game.

Joe Schlossel

On how it feels to go to states

"It feels unbelievable. I mean, people didn't even think we could compete because of our size and we are going to the state semifinals. It is an amazing feeling."

Talking about breaking the McKinley press

"In practice we played against seven guys so in the game it wouldn't seem that bad. We were able to break that easy. After playing teams like Freddie Thomas and Marshall, it was great preparation for us in this game."

Explains his huge second half (13 points)

"I wanted to make up for some missed shots I had in the first half. I knew I had to do it to help us get to the next game. We all did our part and played a great game."

Marcus Hoy

Talks about breaking the press

"I knew that was the main goal. We worked on it all week, going 5-on-8 in practice. I knew that's what I had to do. Early on I struggled but I got it together in the second half and was able to handle it."

On if the team gained confidence as the game went on

"We know we are a good shooting team. When shots aren't falling early, we know they are going to fall late. And our defense kept us in the game early. We knew that if we kept it up we were going to win."

On how exciting it is to go to states

"It's amazing. I didn't expect to be here so it's awesome. This is one of the wildest dreams. This is awesome."

Coach Buddy Brasky

Talking about the win

"I am so proud of the players. They fought that lack of size adversity all year long. Everybody kept telling them they weren't that good. They refused to believe them and kept working hard all year long. They worked tremendously hard in the offseason and that pays off. Good things happen to good people and I have a team that's a bunch of good people."

On Marcus' day

"He has to be (in control). He was uncharacteristically tentative in the first half and had five turnovers. It isn't like him. We told him at halftime that he's the leader and he's done it for us all year. He was too tentative to start the second half and we told him to just beat them with his right hand. It's his strong hand. He just had to beat them and start making plays."

Talks about returning to states and comparing this year's team to 2005

"We still have one great scorer in Andrew (Hoy) and a bunch of role players. We had Michael (Chmielowiec) and a bunch of role players and now we have Andrew and a bunch of role players. We are just going to ride the wave as long as we can."

 715 p.m. - The Batavia basketball team is off to a nice start in the first quarter of the Far West Regionals at Brockport.

The Blue Devils have a solid 9-2 lead and have done so in a fast-paced period against a far more athletic team. McKinley has given Batavia opportunities with missed shots, many of which were bad attempts. 

It looked like the Macks were going to just be too much physically at the start, but the poor shooting opened the door for Batavia.

The first basket came 1:45 into the first when Joe Schlossel scored two of his four points. Andrew Hoy missed all three of his 3-point attempts but did score a basket.

Batavia's lead wound up being eight points because Adam Pettinella hit a 3-pointer with 1:11 left in the period.

The only McKinley basket came from Mansa Habeeb.

 7:33 p.m. - Batavia leads 22-15 after an ugly first half of play.

It is difficult to comprehend after watching McKinley shoot in the first half that they are the best team Section 6 has to offer for Class A. Again, the Macks would force shot after shot and that doesn't work if they don't go in.

Batavia expanded the lead to 12-2 when Marcus Hoy hit a pair of free throws to start the period, but McKinley looked like a competitive time for the only time in the first half over the next two minutes.

Terri Lowe scored and Kevin Chillis followed with a steal and basket. Chillis then drained a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 11-9.

Batavia answered right back with Andrew Hoy hitting his first 3-pointer of the game - and only one of the half - and Robert Hoy adding a trey and a layup, giving the Blue Devils an 18-9 lead.

Curtis Gardner hit three foul shots and Chillis had a 3-pointer to end the half for McKinley.

7:56  p.m. - This thing is pretty close to over. It is obvious that Batavia is the better team in all aspects. 

The 7-point halftime lead quickly became a 10-point Batavia advantage when Dakota Irvin scored and Andrew Hoy had a 3-pointer with a McKinley basket in between.

Joe Schlossel blew up in the third quarter for the Blue Devils, scoring six points and again taking on players bigger than he is. Andrew Hoy finished with six in the frame and Batavia has a whopping 38-24 lead.

 8:19 p.m. - Batavia wins 54-40.

The game was really decided after the third quarter and fourth was a formality that allowed Batavia coach Buddy Brasky to clear his bench by the end of the frame and the large BHS cheer section an opportunity to storm the floor and celebrate with their team.

Schlossel had the biggest fourth quarter for Batavia with seven points.

He finished the game with a game-high 17 points with seven rebounds. Andrew Hoy scored 13 points and Marcus Hoy dished out a 15 assists.

Batavia's defense held McKinley star Mansa Habeeb to just two points in the game.

The Blue Devils will be playing in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association final four next weekend in Glens Falls.