Sports

It was a day of hard fought efforts for two Ramparts teams that got a shot at the championship game of the Batavia New Year's Eve Classic Tournament that was hosted at the Falleti Ice Arena.

ROCHESTER: 5  / BATAVIA: 4-----The Bantam travel team started out the day of championships facing off against the Rochester Youth Americans. Looking for revenge as the Amerks had defeated them just a day earlier, the Ramparts took the early lead online to find themselves in a in a scoring battle, being answered back right after they scored all their goals.

 Parker Brinkworth was one of the Ramparts that had a big day. He started off the scoring with an early goal off of a set up from Mason Versage. He then followed up and assisted on goals by Zack Laird and Evan Eckerson. Brandon Holley scored Batavia's last goal off of an assist by Nate Palmer and Sean Olin. Joe Ryan ended the game with an assist as well.

ROCHESTER: 1  / BATAVIA: 0----- The PeeWee travel team came out with a long fought effort against the Rochester Grizzlies. Ramparts goalie Matthew Anauo stopped 16 shots and looked like he was going to put the game into overtime as he stopped all the shots he faced up until 1:00 left in the game. The Grizzlies beat a defender on the blue line and fired a shot by Anauo to give the Grizzlies the last minute goal and the 1-0 victory. The Ramparts had 6 shots on goal.

Photo: Batavia goalie Jimmy Johnston makes a save against a Rochester forward

This year has started off on a good note for two of the Batavia Ramparts teams! They hosted the GAHA New Year's Eve Classic Tournament this weekend and both the Pee Wee Travel (11-12 year olds) and the Bantam III Travel teams both are headed to the championship game! 

The Bantam team will take on the Rochester Youth Americans at 11:30am tomorrow. They lost tonight to Rochester 4-2 in a closely fought game.

The Pee Wee team will face the Rochester Youth Grizzlies at 2:40pm tomorrow.

Both events are free to attend and are at the Falleti Ice Arena, which will have public skate in between the two games.

(Photos courtesy of Scott Grefrath)

The Fighting Irish are off to another championship game again after defeating Bishop Kearney/ East Irondequoit 5-2 in the first game of Brockport's Winter Tournament in ice hockey action.

The game began relatively even as it took two periods to get a score on the board as BK took the early second period lead with a goal by Brandon Brady just 1:43 into the period. That's when Notre Dame went to work and registered four goals just 1:02 apart. Dylan Versage and Beau Richter set up Jason Harasimowicz on the powerplay to tie the game at 1-1. Then just 16 seconds later, Harasimowicz and Ivan Madafferi set up Versage to give ND the lead. Their scoring still wasn't over. Just 23 seconds after that Phil Vigneri gave ND the third goal on a solo effort. Just 23 seconds after that Jack Nenni registered the fourth goal off of an assist from David Wolcott.

BK ended out the 2nd period scoring by putting the game at 4-2 with a unassisted goal by Shane Ashe.

With 5:26 into the 3rd period Josh Halle gave Harasimowicz the pass to give ND the final goal on the powerplay and to cap off the scoring at 5-2.

Tom Dehr made 16 saves for Notre Dame who improves their record to 7-2.

Brett Marrapese made 46 saves for Bishop Kearney who falls to 1-7.

The Irish will take on Brockport tonight at 7:00 in the championship game at the Tuttle Ice Arena in Brockport. Brockport defeated Spencerport last night 4-1 to advance to the finals.

It was a great night for the local goaltenders as both Brandon Corcoran of Batavia and Tom Dehr of Notre Dame posted shut outs in high school hockey matchups.

Notre Dame hosted Bishop Kearney at the Falletti Ice Arena and was able to post their sixth victory of the season by a score of 2-0. Freshman Tyler Kessler had a big night for the Irish as he registered both goals.

His first came with 1:59 remaining in the first period off of an assist from Brett Perfitt.

Kessler then gave Notre Dame the insurance goal with 9:45 remaining in the game with the assists being credited to Perfitt and Jack Nenni.

Dehr ended the game with 13 saves for the Irish (6-2) and his first shutout of the season. Brett Marrapese  had 39 saves for Bishop Kearny (1-6).

In the other matchup, Batavia traveled to Geneva where they skated to a scoreless tie.

Brandon Corcoran recorded his first shutout of the season by stopping all of the 23 shots he faced. Zach Koczent made 37 saves for Geneva. Batavia is now 3-3-1 while Geneva is 2-5-1.

It only took Jess Todd a few years to make it from Batavia to St. Louis. He then was traded to the Cleveland Indians. The 2007 Muckdog is now on the same roster as former Muckdog catcher Lou Marson.  You just never know how fast their trip will be from the minors to the majors! Be sure to see future MLB players start out their professional careers. There is no better view then watching pro ball at Dwyer stadium. Both 6 game and 8 game packs are on sale now. Also you can even get a 4 game pack (good for any games even 4 single games) along with a Muckdog T-shirt and 2010 Game program for just $25.00. Check out this article on Todd and watch his Indian debut!  http://cleveland.indians.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090806&content_id=6285854&vkey=news_cle&fext=.jsp&c_id=cle

The Fighting Irish had their eyes set on claiming the championship win in the Ice Devils' David M. McCarthy Memorial Tournament, but the Frontier Falcons had other plans, as they shutout Notre Dame 2-0.

The Irish came out flying and dominated most of the game by outshooting the Falcons 33-13. 

Falcon's senior forward Matt VanWagner scored the Falcon's first goal on the powerplay with about five minutes into the game. Matt Anticoli and Mike Dombrowski were credited with the assist. 

After many scoring chances for the Irish, they couldn't capitalize and the score remained 1-0 for the majority of the game. With 1:30 remaining in the game, Notre Dame pulled goalie Tom Dehr to add an extra skater onto the ice. With just 11 seconds remaining in the game, Falcon's forward  Josh Baker gave his team the insurance goal on the empty net to seal the tournament victory. 

Notre Dame is now 5-2.

The Ice Devils failed to make it into the championship game of their David M. McCarthy Memorial Tournament but that didn't stop them from playing full speed.

In the consolation game, Batavia's Phil Boyd put the Devils (3-3) onto the score board early as he recorded his first career high school goal on an unassisted play to start off the Batavia scoring drive. Junior forward Tim Finnell added Batavia's second goal halfway through the period on a play set up by junior defenseman Trevor Powers.

The Ice Devils weren't going to let down there. Senior forward Corey Kocent took advantage of a Batavia 5-on-3 powerplay by firing a rocket slapshot from the point to give his team the three goal lead. As the powerplay continued with Oswego skating a man down, Will Mulcahy made it a complete success by scoring again just seconds later. Finnell and Conor Holvey got credit for the assists on both goals.

Sophomore defensemen Blake Polito registered his first career goal just 1:30 seconds later to put the Devils up 5-0 and continue the scoring streak.

With under eight minutes remaining in the game, Oswego forward Tyler Grimshaw, took away the Brandon Corcoran potential shut-out by scoring Oswego's only goal of the game on the powerplay.

Freshman Nate Palmer decided it was his time to join Polito and Boyd and score his first career high school goal as well, as he netted Batavia's sixth goal to cap off the score at 6-1.

Batavia got to the consolation after being defeated by Notre Dame Friday by a score of 4-1. Oswego was defeated by Fronteir out of Section 6 by a score of 10-2.

Photo: Batavia's Josh Marr (9), battles with ND's Beau Richter

It was a packed house for the Batavia Ice Devil's David M. McCarthy Memorial tournament at the Falleti Ice Arena Friday night, as Notre Dame came up victorious in one of the biggest cross-town games of the year.

The first period was full of hard hits and scoring chances for Batavia as they outshot Notre Dame 12-4, but the score remained as it started with neither team being able to capitalize on any chances. The second period was Notre Dame leading the shot board 8-7 and it looked as though the second period score would remain the same until Notre Dame was able to put the first score on the board. Forward Josh Johnson set up linemate Jack Nenni as he ripped the puck through the five-hole of Batavia goalie Adam Kurek with 1:50 remaining in the second period.

Notre Dame back out in the third period the same way they ended the second, with a goal, as Nenni and Tyler Kessler set up Brett Perfitt to give Notre Dame the 2-0 lead.

Batavia was not going to let down easy as forward Conor Holvey scored his second goal of the season off a Corey Kocent pass to put Batavia within a goal of ND with just over 8 minutes reamaining in the game but that would remain their only goal. "We came in knowing that one of the factors to beating Notre Dame is we had to beat their goalie (Tom Dehr)," says Holvey. He's a great goalie and contributes positively to his team every game.

Former Batavia forward, Dylan Versage gave Notre Dame the insurance goal with just over two minutes remaining. "It feels good to score against my old team. I am good friends with some of them and we have played together our whole careers so it was really fun," Versage says.

With about a minute left in the game, Batavia pulled their goalie in hopes to capitalize on the score board. Notre Dame forward Jason Harasimowicz had other plans as he scored from his own zone on a dump shot to secure the victory by the final score of 4-1.

"We came into this game the same as we always do and we look at this just like any other win," Versage says. "It definitely makes it more interesting being against our friends and rival but its still just another game and we have to play how we always do."

Notre Dame (5-1) will play against Fronteir in the Championship game tomorrow at 3:30pm at the Falleti Ice Arena, while Batavia (2-3) will play in the consolation game at 1pm against Oswego.

Fronteir (Section 6) beat Oswego (Section 3) to advance to the championship game by a score of 10-2.

Photo: ND's Tom Dehr, stops a shot from Batavia's Will Mulcahy

 (Photos courtesy of Scott Grefrath)

The Batavia Muckdogs have announced a ONE DAY ONLY SALE! The sale will be this Saturday from 10am - 2pm. They will have select caps and t-shirts marked at 2 for $20They also have some new merchandise in. Holiday Packs and Coupon Books will be available. If you spend $25 or more, you get a free gift and are entered into a drawing to win some autographed memorbilia. Come on down to Dwyer Stadium (299 Bank st.) this Saturday and take care of that baseball fan on your holiday shopping list! For more information you can call the Muckdogs at 585-343-5454!!!  Let's come on out and support Genesee Counties only professional  sports franchise!!!!

The Ice Devils came out strong on Monday night at the Falletti Ice Arena in Batavia, for a Monroe County High School Hockey matchup, but couldn't hold on, as Brighton/East/HFL came up victorious. Brighton forward Andrew Schwingel scored the game winner late in the game to spoil Batavia's early 2-0 lead and to give Brighton their first victory of the season.

After an extended warm up due to referees failing to initailly show, Batavia came out flying and lit the lamp early. Batavia freshman forward Conor Holvey set up senior Will Mulcahy for his third goal of the season. Keeping the pressure on throughout the period resulted in many scoring opportunities for the Ice Devils, and eventually lead to Holvey scoring his first career high school goal. Senior Rob Henning was credited with the assist.

After finding themselves behind 2-0 in the third period, Brighton came back with a fight as forward James Spencer put Brighton on the board. The pressure didn't stop there as Brighton forward Jack Beers, tied the game at 2-2, only to be followed by Schwingel's game winner, giving Brighton the 3-2 victory off a Kevin Holly pass. Holly finished with two assists for the Barons (1-4-0-1). Batavia falls to 2-2 and faces cross-town rival Notre Dame High School Friday at 5pm at the Falletti Ice Arena. The matchup is the first game of Batavia's annual David M. McCarthy Memorial Tournament.

(Photos courtesy of Scott Grefrath)

Press Release

Batavia, NY --- The 63rd season of live harness racing came to end on Saturday night (Dec.5) at Batavia Downs Casino before a large crowd,      thanks to some great weather, a super racing program and a very popular promotion.

“I can’t believe the numbers we did,” Mike Kane, Vice President of Live Racing said. “It was our second best handle of the season and you couldn’t find a seat in the clubhouse. The racing department put out a great card and the pick-6 promotion certainly brought people to the racetrack. It was definitely a great way to end the season."

The final racing program of the 2009 Summer-Fall meet featured three Open handicaps and three Open II events, with over $75,000 in purse money up for grabs.

Michael Scores does it again
One horse that will be sad to see the season come to a close is former Batavia Downs track record holder Michael Scores, who made it three in a row at the Genesee County oval, when he came from off the pace to win the $9,000 Open Handicap in 1:56.1. Once again Kevin Cummings was at the controls for Jim and Sandy Compton. Michael Scores, one of the most popular pacers to ever race in Western New York notched the 70th win of his career.

Light Headed best in Open Trot
Sam Caruso Jr. put Light Headed on the lead and they put up all the numbers en route to a gate to wire score in the $9,000 Open Handicap Trot. Light Headed a winner this season at Yonkers in 1:56.2 scored for the first time in Western New York for trainer Dennis Cummings and owners Tom and Sam Caruso Jr.
 
Memphis Glow upsets in Mares Open
Memphis Glow pulled off the shocker in the $9,000 Fillies and Mares Open Handicap when she exploded to command heading to three-quarters and never had an anxious moment winning by over 3-lengths in 1:56.4 at odds of 23-1. Ray Fisher Jr. was in the sulky for owner-trainer Larry Deyermand and Jay Ankeney.

One winner in the Pick-6 Contest
Nate Maniace of Batavia got 5 out of 6 correct and took home the $1,000 top prize in the pick-6 contest. Over 480 people participated in the must pay-out pick-6 contest that was sponsored by the Western New York Harness Horsemen’s Association. 

Pending New York State Racing and Wagering approval Batavia Downs Casino will reopen on July 26, 2010.

Batavia Downs Casino is open year around for Simulcast wagering from some of North America’s top tracks. The gaming floor featuring over 600 slot machines is open from 10 a.m. until 2 a.m. daily.
 
Todd Haight
Promotional Marketing Specialist
Batavia Downs Casino

Press Release:

Batavia, NY --- As former track announcer John Bothe would say there are only 24 more bulges left in the season with the final two 12 race cards scheduled for Friday (Dec. 4) and Saturday (Dec. 5) at Batavia Downs Casino. Post time is 7:05 p.m.

On Friday night it’s customer appreciation night with racing fans receiving free live racing programs; delicious cake, complements of B J’s wholesale club; and coffee and coupons for free Subway subs complements of Batavia Subway in the enclosed Grandstand while supplies last, beginning at 8 p.m.

Also on Friday night the immensely popular Pick-6 contest will return for possibly a two-night engagement. Once again the free Pick-6 contest will be co-sponsored by the Western New York Harness Horsemen’s Association. Starting out with a $1,000 pool, the Pick-6 contest requires racing fans to select all six winners in the Pick-6 races, which begins on race four and concludes on race nine. The contest Pick-6 is open to all Players Club members as long as they do not have a 2009 valid racing license. There is no charge to become a Players Club Member.

Additionally on Friday night Tim Bojarski, President of the Upstate New York Chapter of the United States Harness Writers Association, along with first Vice President Jason Settlemoir and delegates Sam Pendolino and Brian Mazurek, will be presenting trophies for several categories during the UNY-USHWA Night of Distinction.

Saturday night features free on track programs and a Pick-6 contest as long as it is not won on Friday. If played, Saturday's Pick-6 contest will be a must pay-out situation with the person or persons selecting the most winners taking home the $1,000 pool.

Racing fans wishing to dine in the clubhouse on closing weekend are strongly advised to make a reservation; please call 585.343.3750, ext 445.
 
Todd Haight
Promotional Marketing Specialist
Batavia Downs Casino