Sports

By Tim Bojarski, for Batavia Downs

Although Batavia Downs has had their 2018 live racing season underway since Monday (July 23), this will be the first regularly scheduled Friday (Aug. 17) of the meet due to other events going on at the facility. Friday racing will now be conducted weekly until the end of the meet with a 6 p.m. post time. 

This Friday will feature the best trotters on the grounds vying in Open I, II and III classes. But aside from the racing, there will be much more going on in front of an almost sold out clubhouse. 

The “Races to Benefit the Breast Cancer Coalition of Rochester” (www.bccr.org) fundraiser will be held at the track raising both awareness and dollars to fight this deadly disease. This annual event is one of the bigger fundraisers held by this organization and Batavia Downs has partnered with them for  years now and is proud to be a part of this very worthy cause. 

“We have partnered with BCCR for several years now and each year this event gets bigger and better” said Todd Haight, Director/General Manager of Live Racing. “It’s an opportunity for us to help raise money to defeat the scourge of cancer in our lifetime. The generosity of our patrons and horsemen always shine through and I’m sure we will see that again this week.”

There will be a silent auction held adjacent to the clubhouse with a list of prizes that will please anyone’s taste. They include: two suite tickets to the Justin Timberlake concert at Key Bank Center on Sunday (Oct. 28); two suite tickets for the Buffalo Bills versus Jacksonville Jaguars game at New Era Field on Sunday (Nov. 25); four suite tickets to the Buffalo Sabres versus Tampa Bay Lightning game at Key Bank Center on Tuesday (Nov. 13); a Buffalo Sabres autographed Jack Eichel jersey; a Buffalo Sabres autographed Danny Gare jersey; one Batavia Downs Hotel night and racing package; two Batavia Downs clubhouse racing packages; and a recliner form Max Pies Furniture in Batavia. 

The track will also be taking cash donations that will be forwarded directly to BCCR. 

Also on Friday, Batavia Downs will be offering a guaranteed $1,750 early Pick-5 pool with an $838 carry over. It's a 50-cent base wager that runs from race one to race five. Post time for the first race is 6 p.m.

The second annual Batavia Boys Basketball Program Golf Tournament will be held Saturday, Aug. 18, at Batavia Country Club. Cost is $70 per golfer and all proceeds benefit Batavia basketball.

Price includes 18 holes of golf -- four-man scramble, cart, lunch and dinner.

Registration starts at 2 p.m.; tee off is at 3 p.m.

The country club is located at 7909 Batavia Byron Road, Batavia.

If interested, please contact Varsity Head Coach Buddy Brasky -- 356-4050; Bryan Falitico -- 201-1075; or Dave Hall -- 703-5063.

Prizes will be awarded to: first-place team; second-place team; third-place team; longest drive; closest to the pin.

There will be a Chinese auction and raffle prizes.

Businesses are wanted to help with $50 hole sponsorships and prizes. To do so, please contact Brasky or Falitico at the numbers above.

Checks should be made out to Batavia Boys Basketball Boosters.

By Tim Bojarski, for Batavia Downs

Shawn Gray had the night of his life on Saturday (Aug. 11) as he won seven of the 12 races he drove at Batavia Downs and during that run, garnered his 4,000th career driving win.

Gray came into the night needing four wins to reach that plateau and once “The Maine Event” got rolling, there was seemingly no stopping him from getting to the winner’s circle. Besides his seven wins (which included the last five straight races of the night), Gray also had a second and two thirds giving him a stellar universal driver rating (UDR) of .685 for the night.

A native of Waterville, Maine, the 44-year-old Gray has been driving since 1993 when he got his first pari-mutuel win with Timer Choice at Presque Isle, Maine. He has been a regular on the New England circuit for his entire life, but in 2012 he came to western New York and made an instant impact on the racing scene here, taking the driving title at Batavia Downs that year.

Gray has also been a regular at Saratoga Raceway and Plainridge Park in recent years and enjoys the same success at those tracks as he does everywhere else.

In 19,230 starts, Gray has now won 4,003, has been second 3,098 times and third 2,709 more times making him more than 50 percent in the money for his career. That high percentage performance has earned him $15,114,821 in purses over that time.

Gray’s best career year was 2012 when he captured 356 victories and earned $1.859 million in purses. A habitual high percentage driver, Gray posted a personal best .440 UDR in 2011 but consistently ends the year in the high .300 range. Gray is currently second in North America in 2018 for UDR with a .404.

There was another horseman making history at Batavia Downs. Trainer James Clouser Jr. won a track record seven races on the card and posted an unbelievable universal training rating (UTR) of .917 in the process.

Clouser won with Freak On A Leash (1:55.2, $7.10), Whosurpapa (1:54.2, $3.20), Lenny Mac (1:57.3, $7.90), Upfront Countryboy (1:53.2, $4.20), Tyler (1:54.4, $2.90), Zipnthruthehall (1:54.3, $3.40) and Autobiographical (1:54.3, $2.60).

Gray drove six of Clouser’s seven winners.

The top Open pacing and trotting features were also contested on Saturday night.

Validus Deo, below, ($4.40) won the $10,500 Open Handicap pace in 1:54.3 for driver Kevin Cummings who also trains and co-owns the winner with Matthew Rosiek and Robert Johnson.

And BZ Glide, bottom photo, $29.60) upset in the $10,500 Open Handicap trot in 1:56.2 for driver Mike Caprio. Alana Caprio trains the winner for owner the Caprio Stable.

Live racing resumes at Batavia Down on Wednesday (Aug. 15) with post time set at 5 p.m.

Some member of the Batavia cross-country team are looking for vehicles to wash for their fundraiser from 10 a.m. to 2 .pm., today at Empire Tractor 5072 E. Main St. Road, Batavia.

Proceeds will help support the team's New York City trip.

For the 31^st time in 51 games, the Muckdogs had played in a game that was decided by two runs or less. The Doubledays put up three runs in the sixth inning that would end up being the difference in the 4-3 loss for Batavia.

Alberto Guerrero was solid for the Muckdogs on the mound, giving up just three hits in five innings, however, one of them was a home run to Jamori Blash in the second inning to give the Doubledays the 1-0 lead, and that is the way the game would stand until the sixth inning.

Jackson Stoeckinger for Auburn put a quality start in the books going six innings, giving up six hits and two runs in his start. Both runs that he gave up would come at the very start of Batavia’s rally.

The hole would be 4-0 by that point, as Tanner Andrews gave up three runs in his first inning of relief. The heart of the Doubleday order featured three All-Stars: Israel Pineda, Jacob Rhinesmith, and Pablo O’Connor. They tagged Batavia for three runs, including three extra-base hits to make it 4-0 going to the Muckdog half of the sixth inning.

The inning started off with a pair of singles from the top of the order in Corey Bird and Brayan Hernandez. A wild pitch advanced them to second and third, allowing Sean Reynolds to hit a sac fly to right field that brought in Bird, then two singles later Denis Karas drove in Hernandez to make it 4-2. One of those singles came from Jerar Encarnacion to extend his hit streak to 10 games. Michael Donadio hit a line drive that was caught by the second baseman Carson Shaddy, and Encarnacion was doubled off at second base to end the inning.

Evan Estes took care of the final six outs for Batavia, not allowing any runs, and keeping Batavia within striking distance of victory.

In the bottom of the ninth, the ‘Dogs got the start they were looking for. A leadoff double for Denis Karas got things going. Donadio kept the rally alive with a single, and a sac fly from Demetrius Sims brought Karas in to make it a one-run game. Igor Baez dropped a single in at the right field line to push Donadio to third with just one out. A ball hit to the outfield is all Batavia needed to tie the game. However, Luke Jarvis flew out to shallow center, not deep enough to bring in the run. Corey Bird then struck out to end the game and drop the game to the Doubledays 4-3. Batavia is now 1-6 on the season against Auburn.

The final game of the series is Friday; first pitch is a 7:05 p.m. at Dwyer Stadium.

Arc of Genesee Orleans will hold its 14th annual Friends & Family 5K & Fun Walk on Saturday, Sept. 15 in Elba.

There will be food, fun and music, plus kids' activities, including face painting.

Cost is $20 for the 5K and $15 for the one-and-a-half-mile Fun Walk; but both rates will increase by $5 on race day for those not preregistered. For nonparticipants wishing to attend the post-event party, cost is $5.

There is a small processing fee for online race/walk registrations.

Participants can register for the 5K and Fun Walk online here.

The race will be timed by PCR Timing Service of East Rochester.

Money raised will benefit education through the organization's Mary Anne Graney Memorial Scholarship Fund, and programs and services for individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities served by Arc, and their families.

Sign up today for sponsorships, which range from $100 to $1,000. Aug. 15 is the cut-off date to put sponsor's names on T-shirts.

On race day, check-in begins at 8:45 a.m. The 5K starts at 10 o'clock, with the Fun Walk immediately following. The starting line is at the Arc Day Habilitation Center main entrance at 4603 Barrville Road, Elba.

For more information, call Race Director Sandy Konfederath at 343-4203, ext. 223, or email her at:  skonfederath@geneseearc.org

The Batavia Country Club recently completed three weeks of their junior golf camp.

For Web page with pictures click here.

Please note that next year we'll be changing the age groups to: Junior Division -- Ages 7-10; Senior Division -- Ages 11-15. There will be divisions for boys and girls in each age group.

Pee Wee Division Boys and Girls -- July 9th-13th: Roane George, Naomi Utz, Riley Yunker, Maisse Yunker, Brooklyn Jachimowicz, Natalie Hamm, Josh Utz, Owen Glazier, Noah Calarco-Smith, Brayden Jachimowicz, Nicholas Calarco-Smith.

The Pee Wee players experienced one day with a little rain, but overall it was a great week for golf!

The Friday Tournament saw Owen Glazier dominate the boys' division; he medaled with a score of 29. The girls' division was a close contest, with Riley Yunker prevailing by two strokes over Roane George.

• Putting Contest Medalist -- Noah Calarco-Smith
• Chipping Contest Medalist -- Roane George
• Lag Putting Contest -- Noah Calarco Smith
• Aim Line Accuracy -- Natalie Hamm; she won a few bucks for herself and her fellow golfers for the effort.
• Pitching Target -- Brayden Jachimowicz

The kids had fun, and we hope to see them all next year.

(Inset photo at right: Riley Yunker and Owen Glazier.)
                                                                                                                                           

Junior -- Senior Boys and Girls Division -- July 23rd-27th: Michala Falkner, Lily Davis, Lindsey Betters Connor Demoy, Ryan Muscarella, Logan Clark, Tyler Roth.

We had great weather all week for these kids, and they played very good golf.

In Friday's Tournament, Ryan Muscarella dominated the other boys as he went low with a score of 34, and Lily Davis dominated her competition with a score of 48.

(Inset photo, left: Lily Davis and Ryan Muscarella.)

Closest to the pin winner on hole 13 for the boys was Ryan Muscarella, and for the girls it was Lily Davis.

Closest to the pin winner on hole 17 for the boys was Ryan Muscarella, and for the girls it was Lindsey Betters.

The long drive winner for the girls on hole 14 was Michala Falkner, no boys hit the fairway.
 

Other contests and winners were:

• Putting Contest Medalist - Boys -- Ryan Muscarella
• Putting Contest Medalist - Girls -- Lily Davis, also overall putting contest winner
• Chipping Contest Medalist - Boys -- Ryan Muscarella
• Chipping Contest Medalist - Girls -- Michala Falkner
• Lag Putting Contest - Boys -- Logan Clark
• Lag Putting Contest - Girls -- Lily Davis, also overall lag putting contest winner
• Aim Line Accuracy - Boys -- Tyler Roth, Tyler and Lily got into coach Tucker's wallet for a few bucks for themselves and their fellow golfers.
• Aim Line Accuracy - Girls -- Lily Davis
• Pitching Target - Boys -- Tyler Roth
• Pitching Target - Girls -- no qualifiers

Junior - Senior Boys and Girls Division, July 30th through Aug. 3rd: Molly Adkins, Kaylee Frens, Jada Fite, Amelia Frens, Emily Frens, Riley Prunner, Brennen Pederson, Rhys Tanner, Sam Dinsmore, Will Fulton, Andrew Ricupito, Even Preston, Coach Roxanne Noeth.

We were concerned about the weather for this week of camp. Rain was projected for every day, but we got through the week without a drop!

We had some high drama at the Friday Tournament. Will Fulton and Sam Dinsmore tied with a score of 39 and we had a playoff from 100 yards on hole 18. Both boys hit the green with fine shots, and Will Fulton prevailed with a birdie. In the girls' division, Amelia Frens shot a 44 to edge out Jada Fite by one stroke.

(Left: Will Fulton and Amelia Frens)

Closest to the pin winner on hole 13 for the boys was Sam Dinsmore, and for the girls it was Riley Prunner.

Closest to the pin winner on hole 17 for the boys was Brennen Pederson, and for the girls it was Emily Frens.

The long drive for the boys was Sam Dinsmore, for the girls it was Jada Fite.

Other contests and winners were:

• Putting Contest Medalist - Boys -- Brennen Pederson, tied with Jada for overall winner
• Putting Contest Medalist - Girls -- Jada Fite, tied with Brennan for overall winner
• Chipping Contest Medalist - Boys -- Sam Dinsmore
• Chipping Contest Medalist - Girls -- Jada Fite
• Lag Putting Contest - Boys -- Evan Preston
• Lag Putting Contest - Girls -- Jada Fite, also the overall lag putting winner
• Aim Line Accuracy - Boys -- Evan Preston
• Aim Line Accuracy - Girls -- Riley Prunner; Riley and Evan won a few bucks for themselves and their fellow golfers for the effort
• Pitching Target - Boys -- Sam Dinsmore
• Pitching Target - Girls -- Emily Frens

The Muckdogs had the power of a three-run first inning to hold on for a 6-5 win over the West Virginia Black Bears. Batavia has won six of their last nine games, and have opened up the month of August with a 4-1 record. Jerar Encarnacion and Albert Guaimaro hit home runs in the game for Batavia.

The first runs of the game came in the first inning. Corey Bird, who is with the Muckdogs on Minor League Rehab, started off the ballgame with a walk. He got caught going the wrong way on a pickoff attempt but was bailed out by the pickoff throw being airmailed over Luke Mangieri’s head at first base. Bird went first to third on the play. Brayan Hernandez then ripped an RBI single up the middle to score Bird. After a Sean Reynolds strikeout, Jerar Encarnacion clubbed a home run into the Black Bears' bullpen for his third of the year to give the ‘Dogs a three-run lead going into the bottom of the first.          

The lead continued to grow in the second. Igor Baez led off the inning with a walk. The leadoff batter reached base three times in the first four innings. Baez was able to move around the diamond on a ground ball that snuck into right field to push Baez to third base. He then scored on a wild pitch.

Albert Guaimaro led off the fourth inning with a blast over the left-center wall. His line drive homer was his first of the season and continued a powerful Muckdogs offense that has put up 6.2 runs per game in the last five games, after scoring just 3.9 per game in July.

Guaimaro’s home run pushed the Batavia lead to five after four innings. The Black Bear half of the inning started their rally. One run came in to score from an error from Gerardo Nunez, who had two in the game. A second run came in from a Paul Brands' single and cut Batavia’s lead to 5-2 after the fourth.

Bryce Howe went out for his fifth inning and set a new career high with four and a third innings in the start. He also struck out a season-high five batters as well.

West Virginia scored again in the sixth on an error from a Baez throw that skipped into center field on an attempt to throw out a runner. Edison Lantigua scored on the play, making it 5-3 Batavia. The Black Bears notched one more in the bottom of the seventh from a Brett Kinneman double. Batavia’s once 5-0 lead diminished to just one run.

The Muckdogs pushed an insurance run across the plate in the top of the ninth inning. When Luke Jarvis led the inning off with a walk. Nunez bunted him over, setting up Bird who then smacked an RBI double in the right-center gap to score Jarvis.

The insurance run proved to be very important in the bottom of the ninth inning. Jameson McGrane looked to finish off the six-out save. He would give up a one-out double to Mike Gretler, and was scored by Kinneman to make the difference just one run again, and bring the winning run to the plate. McGrane shut it down from there on out though, and sealed the deal to get the Muckdogs to the 6-5 victory.

Batavia has two more games against the Black Bears, who own the league’s worst record. First pitch Monday and Tuesday are 7:05 p.m. from Monongalia County Ballpark. Humberto Mejia and Tyler Kolek are scheduled to throw for Batavia in Monday’s game.

Shots from yesterday's afternoon show of the Attica Rodeo.

The Batavia Men's League Softball championship comes down to Tomkins Insurance vs. Skyworks this coming week.

On Thursday, in the semifinals, Tompkins beat T.F. Brown's Beers N Bombs 15-7. In the nightcap, Skyworks beat USPS 14-1.

The Muckdogs beat first-place Mahoning Valley at home Friday night 8-2 for the team's fourth consecutive win.

Alberto Guerrero pitched five solid innings but gave up two runs and the team was down 2-0 when he left the game.

Batavia rallied for six runs in the sixth and Tanner Andrews, who replaced Guerrero and tossed two scoreless innings, picked up the win.

Michael Donadio had three hits, two RBIs, and scored twice. Albert Guaimaro had two hits. Brayan Hernandez hit his second homer of the season in the seventh inning.

Lucas Birkby, a 17-year-old from Darien powerlifter recently won a USAPL regional event at Riverworks in Buffalo, where he broke state records and qualified for the nationals in October where he will be ranked #1 in his class.

A student at Genesee Community College, Lucas has been training on his own at home in his garage and he lifted more than any adult at the meet in Buffalo. 

His bench press was 420 pounds, with a squat of 620 pounds and a deadlift of 600 pounds. The previous records for 16- and 17-year-olds were 276 in the bench, 403 in the squat, and 375 for the deadlift. His totals even eclipsed the "equipped" category state records, which were set in 1969.

The USAPL is a drug-free lifting organization. 

By winning the regional event, Lucas now has a coach, Carley Skarupinski of Mustache Fitness and Barbell, who will help prepare Lucas for the national meet. Skarupinski was director of the Riverworks event.

Photos and info submitted by Scott Birkby.

As time winds down for the 2018 Jenny Kuzma 5K race, organizers are fearful this could be the last year for the race, which has earned the reputation as one of the most competitive races in Western and Central New York.

Started more than 25 years ago as the Bergen Swamp Race, it was renamed the Jenny Kuzma Memorial 5K race to honor the Byron-Bergen eighth-grader who died of leukemia in June 1990 at the age of 13.

Eric Boyce has chaired the race for the last 12 years, assisted by Joe Chimino, a senior lineman with the Village of Bergen until his retirement in May.

Boyce, however, has moved to Canandaigua, and since Chimino’s retirement, he doesn’t have access to the village equipment needed to set up for the race and handle traffic control. Because of these factors, both men have decided this will be their last year chairing the event.

Both Boyce and Chimino are hoping someone else will come forward to chair and organize the race, which has drawn some pretty impressive participants.

Boyce, who used to run the race and won it several times, became involved in organizing it when Paul Thomas, his former cross-country coach at Byron-Bergen High School, was chairman. Boyce was eventually instrumental in raising the race to the status of a USA Track and Field qualifying race 10 years ago.

“If you look at race statistics in Western New York, this one sticks out,” Boyce said. “Besides promoting healthy lifestyles and community involvement, we’ve had some pretty neat highlights along the way. Several people got engaged at the finish line; the second fastest 5K run by a woman was at this race in 2014, and a man from Kenya set a course record here after riding on a bus all night from Nyack to get here.”

The race begins at 8:30 a.m. Saturday on Parkview Drive in Hickory Park.

Early registration ended Wednesday, but racers can still register for $30 from up until 6:15 p.m. today at Medved Running and Walking Outfitters, 3400 Monroe Ave., Rochester; or they can register the day of the race up until 8:30 a.m. for $35.

Proceeds from the race fund a scholarship for an eighth-grader at Byron-Bergen School and Camp Good Days.

Boyce said he doesn’t know what’s going to happen in the future, but he hopes someone will take over.

“We’ve been contacted by several groups who are interested, but most don’t realize how much is involved behind the scenes,” he said. “This event is good for the village and the community.”

If someone is willing to take it over, Boyce said he might possibly be able to help.

Top photo: Hundreds of racers hit the street in last year’s Jenny Kuzma 5K race in Bergen. This could be the last year for the race if new organizers don’t step up.

The annual Jenny Kuzma 5K race in Bergen has earned a reputation as one of the most competitive races in all of Western and Central New York. Here, a runner from Kenya sets the course record after riding all night on a bus from Nyack to reach Bergen in a race several years ago.

Hannah Davidson, of Saratoga Springs, accepts her check in 2014 after posting the second fastest time by a woman in a 5K race in the Rochester area at the Jenny Kuzma 5K race.