Sports

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.

Batavia resident Ben Long - a Pittsburgh Steelers fan - is shown here holding the first legally sold copy of Madden 10 sold in the city.

He showed up at FYE at around 11:30 p.m. and waited for the midnight opening for the sale of the game. I have heard other residents obtained the game yesterday and during the day today as some local stores were illegally selling the game before EA Sports allowed the release.

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.

A 38-year-old driver was injured during the ninth race last night at Batavia Downs.

Kevin Cummings, who was driving 13-year-old square-gaiter Devilinhiseyes, suffered a spill and sustained injuries to his hip and elbow, according to a statement issued by Todd Haight, spokesman for Batavia Downs.

Haight quotes Cummings:

I’m really not sure what happened. Things got tight and the race bike got jerked from underneath me. When the left wheel tipped sideways I knew I was in trouble. I just let go of the lines and landed on the ground.

My hip is really bruised, that’s where I hit the ground and my elbow has a hole in it. I lost a chunk of skin. It's really sore today.

The accident occurred going into the first turn, during the ninth race, a $4,000 claiming trot.

Cummings, a father of four, plans to return to racing on Wednesday night.

Devilinhiseyes was uninjured in the incident, nor were any other drivers or horses hurt.

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.

Batavia Little League is planning a series of upgrades to the ball field at MacArthur Park. The plans include construction of new, larger dugouts, a remodeled concession stand and a new, second batting cage.

The Little League will build the improvements and pay for it through its own fundraising and then donate the improvements to the city. The donation of the completed project to the city is required by law.

Batavia Downs is celebrating a world record set in 1977 by a horse named Excalibur, with Fred Haslip at the controls. Excalibur set the world record for a double-gaited gelding when he trotted home in 2:03.3. That matched his lifetime best pace record. The combined time of 4:07.1 erased the previous record, set by Leon in 1939.

Full press release after the jump:

Batavia, NY --- It was one of the biggest nights in Batavia Downs history. A new world record and new track record in the same night, and it came 32 years ago.

Excalibur, with Fred Haslip at the controls, set the world record for a double-gaited gelding when he trotted home in 2:03.3. That matched his lifetime best pace record, set earlier in his career. The combined time of 4:07.1 erased the previous record, set by Leon in 1939. His time was 4:07.5, performed in an era before time was kept in fifths of a second.

Later that same evening Stanley Dancer would team the great pacing filly Mistletoe Shalee to a new track record, when she went wire-to-wire in 1:59.1, in a New York Sire Stakes event for 3-year-old pacing fillies.

On Saturday night (August 8), Batavia Downs Casino continues its tradition of honoring a horse that has a profound impact in the history of harness racing in Western New York. This year we honor Excalibur, the locally owned horse that set the world record back in 1977.

The sensational double-gaited gelding came on the local scene as a pacer in 1972 when Fred Haslip and Paul Zambito, Jr. purchased him for $3,500, an excellent investment considering he made his owners almost $200,000 lifetime. Driver, trainer, and co-owner Haslip used Excalibur predominately as a pacer until he was a 6-year-old, but noticed he did not take kindly to hobbles.

“I never dreamed he wanted to trot until 1974 when I had trouble getting him going in training. He had been a decent pacer up until that point and was making money, but he wasn’t happy on the pace,” Haslip remarked in 1977.

Additionally, upon further investigation in 1974, Haslip discovered that Excalibur’s mother, Spanish Lady, was a royally bred trotting mare.

His best mile as a pacer was 2:03.3, set in 1974.

Between 1975 and 1977, Haslip used Excalibur to his strength as a double-gaited gelding, competing in pacing and trotting events each year. However after the 1977 season Excalibur would strictly remain on the trot.

During his career he would start 169 times and make 50 winner's circle appearances. He notched 12 victories with hobbles on and 38 as a square gaiter. Excalibur raced until the veteran age of 14, retiring in 1982. His combined lifetime earnings were $196,668.

He was always a force in the featured trotting events at Batavia Downs and Buffalo Raceway and because of his uniqueness, a fan favorite.

Come out to Batavia Downs Casino this Saturday as we honor the gusty gelding by rolling back prices to 1977. Zweigles hot dogs and sodas will be just 50 cents beginning at 5:30 p.m. in the Paddock Room all night long. The Batavia Downs program will feature a special four-page insert with newspaper clippings and photos of Excalibur, as we take a walk down memory lane.

Todd Haight
Promotional Marketing Specialist
Batavia Downs Casino