Sports

Prior to the start of racing this past Saturday night (Nov. 11) at Batavia Downs, members of the the local driver, trainer, groom and owner colony gathered trackside for a moment of silence to remember and honor their peers at Tioga Downs who lost their horses and their livelihoods as a result of what officials called "a despicable act of arson" that befell that track this past week. 

Many of them, and many of their horses who perished, raced at Batavia Downs, and "the impact of that horrendous event was felt among everyone at the Downs as well as the racing community all across North America," officials said.

When racing got underway, Saturday’s card featured two $15,000 Open I events, which were both won by horses driven by Jim Morrill Jr., who dominated in the bike with a total of five wins on the night. 

In the top trot, Morrill got away sixth with Gracious Triumph while Makadushin N Cheez (Kevin Cummings) led the field to the half in a peppy :57.3. Morrill tipped Gracious Triumph first-over into the breeze as they entered turn three and drew alongside the leader at three-quarters. Gracious Triumph took the lead at the apex of the final bend and drew away to a 2-¾ length victory in 1:56.4, which was a new seasonal mark. 

It was the seventh win of the year for Gracious Triumph ($10.40) and owner Harry Wortzman. Shawn McDonough trains the winner. 

Then in the featured pace, Morrill put Mirragon A on the point off the gate and never looked back. Mirragon A set fractions of :28, :58 and 1:24.4 while Out On Bail (Kevin Cummings) tried to keep pace in the pocket. As they made their way down the stretch, Out On Bail made up some ground, but Mirragon A stayed strong and won by a length in 1:53.2. 

It was also the seventh win of the year for Mirragon A ($7.30) who is owned by his trainer Mike Deters, in partnership with Joel Warner and John Manning. 

Morrill rounded out his quintuple crush with Oreo Dream Xtreme (1:56.4, $6.60), Fox Valley Inferno (1:57.1, $4.20) and Prairie Panther (1:55, $2.70), who reached a major milestone by winning the 70th race of his career. 

Live racing resumes at Batavia Downs on Wednesday (Nov. 15) at 6 p.m. and there will be a $1,153 carryover in the Jackpot Hi-5 pentafecta wager in race 13.

Free full past performance programs for every live card of racing at Batavia can always be downloaded at the Downs’ website (bataviadownsgaming.com) under the “Live Racing” tab and all the racing action can be viewed as it happens for free at the Batavia Downs Live Facebook page.

With 26 minutes left in the first half, Mount Academy's Chris Recinos penetrated Byron-Bergen's defense and, from close range, knocked a ball over the goal line to put the Eagles out in front of Byron-Bergen/Elba in the state championship of Class C Boys Soccer in Middletown.

Eight minutes later, Alexis Mendoza blasted a penalty kick past a diving Bees keeper Martin Mac Connell to put the Eagles up 2-0.

Mendoza scored two more goals, including one on a second-half corner kick, for the hat trick. The Bees' only score was a second-half goal by forward Jack Farner.

The eventual 4-1 win was the second state title in soccer for the eight-year-old private Bruderhof Christian community high school. The Eagles won two years ago as a Class D team and were moved up into Class C, despite a student body of only 200, because of the school's perceived dominance in soccer.

While the game looked evenly matched for the first 18 minutes, the Eagles seemingly became more and more dominant, containing the Bees to their end of the field most of the rest of the way.  The Bees were not without scoring opportunities, even in the second half, but either shots were missed or were blocked.

This year, the Mount Academy girls' team won a co-champion title with a tie score in their game.

Byron-Bergen/Elba was coming off a physically and emotionally draining win against #1 seed Seton Catholic on Saturday in Goshen. That game went to double overtime, tied at 1-1, for 110 minutes of fast-paced football, followed by a best-of-five penalty kick shout that the Bees won 3-2.

The Eagles had their own emotional motivation carrying them into the final after starting midfielder Lenis Arnold suffered a compound fracture in his left in Mount Acadamy's 4-2 win in the semifinal earlier on Saturday against Waterford-Halfmoon. Arnold was on the sideline with his leg in a cast for Sunday's game.

For more photos by Howard Owens and to purchase prints, click here.

For more photos by Jennifer DiQuattro click here.

The Batavian was the only news outlet from Section V with staff at the Class C tournament games for Boys Soccer.  You can help support out local coverage by signing up for Early Access Pass.

The Oatkan Knights won their record-setting 16th sectional title at SUNY Brockport on Saturday with a 27-14 win over Attica/Alexander in Class C.

The Blue Devils opened the scoring in the first quarter with a Joseph Parkhurst 31-yard field goal (one of two FGs for Parkhurst), but Le Roy answered quickly with a Drew Strollo four-yard run for a TD followed by the PAT from Jack Currin. Le Roy held the lead the rest of the way, with Tony Piazza scoring twice and Tommy Condidorio capping things off with a two-yard run.

The final score for AA came in the waning seconds, a 30-yard pass from Trent Woods to Sam Strzelec.

Strollo rushed for 134 yards on 23 carries.  Piazza carried 20 times for 88 yards.

On defense, Strollo had five tackles, D.J. O'Geen, five plus a sack, Piazza, four, and Connor Hegeman, four.

Attica/Alexander did not submit stats.

In its 16^th year, the Triple O Mechanical Singles Handicap Tournament at Rose Garden Bowl in Bergen continues to be a hit with bowlers throughout Western New York.

The latest edition of the popular mid-November event unfolded on Sunday with 70 participants – just two shy of the maximum number for the tournament.

“The success of the tournament speaks for itself,” said Tom Sardou, proprietor at Rose Garden Bowl and Viking Valhalla Restaurant. “We have a loyal following and a sponsor that is committed to the sport of bowling, so we hope to keep it going as long as we can.”

When it was all said and done yesterday – following three qualifying squads and four rounds of eliminator-style finals – Doug Bates of Greece, a 33-year-old right-hander, walked away with the $700 first prize. He is the 16^th different winner since the tournament’s inception in 2008.

Bates, who entered with a 200 average, defeated Justin Wyman of Rochester in the title match by rolling 227 scratch plus 22 pins handicap for 249. Wyman posted 194, and took home $350 for his second-place finish.

The 16-player finals included three women – Caycee Bardol of Brockport, Samantha Hyde of Le Roy and Susan Costello of Rochester. Bardol and Hyde made it to the “final four” and each earned $250 for their efforts.

Seven “senior” (55-and-over) bowlers made it to the finals. They were Jimmy Doerrer of Rochester, John Lowe of Le Roy, former champion Mickey Hyde of Alexander, Pat Brick of Buffalo, Scott Gibson of Oakfield, Mark Mack of Le Roy and Don Perrault of Rochester.

Others making it to the finals were Chris Bardol of Brockport, Scott Dingman of Rochester, Kevin Gray Jr. of Warsaw and Dan Robinson of Rochester.

Lowe, Mack, Doerrer and Costello made it to the second round, winning $125 each. Those eliminated in the first round earned $80 each – doubling their money.

Title sponsor Triple O Mechanical contributed $500, and Rose Garden Bowl donated another $250 into the prize fund.

“This event has stood the test of time, and we truly appreciate all of the bowlers from throughout Western New York and beyond that enter year after year,” Sardou said. “You don’t find many tournaments with this great of a prize list for just a $40 entry fee.”

Bates, employed by Ferguson plumbing and HVAC warehousing, was the high qualifier with 782.

He said he returned to bowling on a regular basis about three years ago following neck surgery “that kind of slowed me down for a while.”

“I bowl in leagues at Domm’s (in Rochester) and have been working my way back,” he said. “My game is on the upswing now.”

His scores throughout the day proved that as he led the qualifying with a 782 three-game series (716 scratch) and followed that with scratch games of 223, 232, 244 and 227 in the finals.

Bates, Doerrer (756), Wyman (749), Lowe (742) and Samantha Hyde (740) earned the five guaranteed spots to the finals. It took 702 to make the finals, with Perrault getting in via the “super senior” incentive with 687.

Highlights of the day included 300 games by Wyman and Dingman during the qualifying round. The tournament is certified by the United States Bowling Congress so the perfect games will be added to their career achievements' list.

TRIPLE O MECHANICAL CHAMPIONS

2008 – Laurie Morgante, Bergen

2009 – Dan Robinson, Chili

2010 – Debbie Falbo, Bergen

2011 – Melanie Balduf, Bergen

2012 – Kevin Gray Sr., Warsaw

2013 – Brian Decker, Rochester

2014 – Albert D’Ambrosia, Rochester

2015 – Rob Husted, Spencerport

2016 – Chris Bardol, Brockport

2017 – John Martorella Sr., Rochester 

2018 – Jeff Dewar, Rochester

2019 – Dan Keenan, Rochester

2020 – Mickey Hyde, Le Roy

2021 – James Townsend, Batavia

2022 – Bill Neubert, Batavia

2023 – Doug Bates, Greece 

Alexis Mendoza scored a hat trick for Mount Academy to help lead his team to a 4-1 victory over Byron-Bergen/Elba in the Class C Boys Soccer Championship at Middletown High School on Sunday.

Jack Farner scored the Bees' only goal midway through the second half.

I'll drive back to Batavia before I start editing photos from the game.  It's likely we won't have photos posted until tomorrow.

After 110 minutes of football that saw only two goals, one for each side, the state's Class C semifinal came down to a best-of-five-goal shootout.

One kicker (each team rotating through five hand-picked players) against one goalie for each team.  Byron-Bergen/Elba, the #4 seed in the tournament, against Seton Catholic, the #1 seed.

The Bees coach, Ken Rogoyski, after the game, said he always regrets that a soccer game comes down to a shootout.

"No game should be decided by PKs (penalty kicks)," Rogoyski said. "Unfortunately, we need some way to see who advances."

A penalty kick is essentially a coin flip, a 50-50 chance to make a goal. There's pressure on both sides of the ball.  It's as much a mind game as it is about athleticism. The kicker and the goalie must outguess each other. If the goalie guesses wrong and jumps the wrong way, he has no shot at blocking the shot. If the kicker guesses wrong, he has little hope of putting the ball in the back of the net.

On the first two penalty kick rounds, each goalie guessed right. On the next two, the guessing game favored the kickers.

So, coming into the fifth round, both sides were even at two goals each. 

Braedyn Chambry made his kick to give the Bees a 3-2 edge.

That put the pressure on Carter Prinzi, normally a midfielder but called upon by Rogoyski to provide the keeper position with some fresh legs. Prinzi was well aware he had to outwit the opposing kicker.

He said he tried to use some body language to play mind games with the opposing kicker to hopefully get him to kick the ball where Prinzi wanted it to go.  He was committed to a side, and he wanted to convince the kicker to pick that side. 

We may never know if the trick worked, but the result was the same.  The kicker kicked to his left, and Prinzi dove to his right and got his hands on the ball, batting it away.

"(Blocking the kick) means a lot," Prinzi said. "I mean, it pushed our team to the finals. It's probably one of the best moments in sports I've ever had."

Prinzi won the game within the game, and as a result, Byron-Bergen/Elba will play Mount Academy, the Section IX champs, today (Saturday) at 11:30 at Middletown High School for the state's Class C championship in Boys Soccer.

The championship game comes after the day after a long, hard-fought, high-energy game against Seton. 

Rogoyski said his side would be ready.

"It's all about recovery," Rogoyski said. "Whoever recovers the best between now and tomorrow's game wins."

For much of the game, the Bees were defending a 1-0 lead on a goal by Jack Farner, with an assist from Colin Martin.  

"Yeah, me and Colin, we've been doing it all season, just playing with each other, and I know where he's gonna place the ball, and I just run the way I think it's gonna go, and it just works out," Farner said. 

Seton evened the score with less than 12 minutes left in regular time following a yellow card on a Bees defender within striking distance to the goal. The resulting kick sailed over the head of keeper Martin Mac Connell. 

That led to a pair of 15-minute OT periods, both ending nil-nil and setting up the penalty kick shootout.

Rogoyski credited Seton for playing a great game. 

The Bees seemed to dominate control up until Farner's goal, then Seton adjusted its tactics and began to make more incursions into Byron-Bergen's defense. The sides were evenly matched the rest of the way -- both getting their chances and both facing stout defenses when the scoring opportunities came.

"They played a good game, a great game," Rogoyski said. "They were tough. They were strong."

After such a long, tough game, Farner said he and his teammates will be ready for Sunday's 11:30 a.m. game.

"I'm feeling good," Farner said. "I'm just speechless. That (the shootout) was insane, but I feel confident that we're gonna get this win, and we're gonna come home state champs."

The Batavian was the only media outlet within Section V that had a reporter or photographer at the Class C state championship tournament in Boys Soccer. You can help support our coverage by joining Early Access Pass.

The Alexander Trojans lost the Far West Regional in Girls Volleyball on Saturday to Chautauqua Lake, three sets to one.

Set Scores:

• 25-15
• 18-25
• 26-24
• 25-16

Photos by Brennan Bezon

Last year's state champions in eight-man football, the Pembroke Dragons, took another step toward repeating the feat on Friday by beating Frewsburg in the Far West Regional, 49-20.

The Dragons are now 11-0 on the season and next play the Section 3 champion this coming Saturday.

Pembroke jumped to a 35-0 in the first quarter and didn't give up a score until the third quarter.

Tyson Totten contributed to the Dragons' 450 yards of total offense by rushing for 340 yards. He scored five touchdowns and during the first half, went over 3,000 yards rushing on the season.

Fullback Caleb Felski had 99 yards rushing and a touchdown. He also had an 80-yard kick return for a touchdown.

Defensively the Dragons were led by end Jayden Bridge with 12 tackles and a sack. Octavius Martin had 11 tackles, while Tyson Totten added eight. 

Submitted info and photos.

The Byron-Bergen/Elba Bees will play for a state championship in Boys Soccer on Sunday in Middletown after winning a double overtime match that was decided by a shootout against Seton Catholic.

Jack Farner, with an assist from Colin Martin, scored the only goal for the Bees in the first half and the Bees held Seton scoreless until just 11 minutes left in the match.

Regular time was followed by two 15-minute overtime periods that could have been decided by a "golden goal" (the first team to score wins).

The OT periods were followed by a five-shot shootout with Carter Prinzi stepping into the goal. Each of the first two shots by both teams was blocked by each goalie, then each team made their next two goals. Jesus Aragon made the fifth attempt for the Bees, giving Prinzi the opportunity to make the game-winning save.

Sunday's game begins at 11:30 a.m. at Middletown High School against Mount Academy from Section IX.

More photos and coverage coming this evening.

The Batavian is providing exclusive coverage of the Class C Boys Soccer State Championship matches. You can help support our coverage by joining Early Access Pass.

The two Section V Class D champions in Girls Volleyball met on Tuesday in a crossover game to determine who advances in the postseason, and Alexander beat Elba three matches to zero.

Photos by Debra Reilly.

The father-son duo of Kevin Gray Sr. and Kevin Gray Jr. led the way this week in Genesee Region USBC league bowling action.

Gray Sr. spun a 290 middle game en route to a 715 series while teammate Gray Jr. finished with 268 and 263 for a 745 series on lanes 3-4 in the Thursday Owls League at Rose Garden Bowl in Bergen.

The 290 is second high in the league this year (behind Gray Jr.'s 297) and the 745 also is number two on the leaderboard (behind Harris Busmire's 752).

In the Every Other Saturday League at Rose Garden, Colleen Pimm recorded a 227 game and 650 series to lead all bowlers.

In other action:

-- Curtis Foss of Medina posted 268--748 to top the list in the Sneezy's Monday Night League at Oak Orchard Bowl in Albion.

-- Three bowlers topped the 700 mark in the Mancuso Real Estate Doubles League at Mancuso Bowling Center in Batavia -- Brian Green 749, Scott Culp 719 and Brian Cline 714.

-- James Townsend took top honors in the Brighton Securities Tuesday Triples League at Mancuso's with a 259 game and 735 series, while Haley Luce posted a 254 game and 619 series in the Wednesday Nite Ladies League at Mancuso's.

-- Hayden Allis stayed hot in the Sunday Rolloffs League at Medina Lanes with a 279 game and 763 series. Scott Gibson and Jason Mahnke rolled 727 and 725, respectively.

For a list of high scores for the week, click on the Pin Points tab at the top of the home page.

Batavia's youth basketball camp, this year run by JV Coach Dave Pero, opened on Saturday.

Pero said 20 kids signed up for the camp, and 20 more showed up on the first morning, for a total of 40 boys and girls participating.

The camp is free and lasts six weeks, with a week off for Thanksgiving.

There are three sessions at John Kennedy Primary School each Saturday:

• Grades 1-2, 9 to 10 a.m.
• Grades 3-4, 10 to 11:15 a.m.
• Grades 5-6, 11:15 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.

The players work on the fundamentals of the game -- dribbling, passing, shooting.

"The emphasis is on the kids having fun," Pero said. "The goal is to introduce the game of basketball to young kids and help the older kids get prepared for their travel seasons."

Photos by Howard Owens

For the second season in a row, the Pembroke Dragons are the Section 8-Man Football champions.

On Friday, the Dragons beat Bolivar-Richburg 70-30.

Pembroke topped 500 yards in total offense, with the line of Ben Steinberg, Jayden Mast, Jayden Bridge, Madden Perry, JJ Gabbey, Octavius Martin and Hayden Williams giving running room to Tyson Totten, who gained 394 yards and scored eight touchdowns. 

Fullback Caleb Felski had 97 yards rushing and a touchdown to go over 1000 yards rushing on the season. Felski also had an 80-yard kick return for a touchdown

Defensively the Dragons were led by Nose Tackle Jayden Mast with 16 tackles. Tyson Totten had 14 tackles, while Caleb Felski chipped in 10 tackles. Octavius Martin, Hayden Williams, Sean Pustulka, Madden Perry, Jeremy Gabbey and Jayden Bridge each added five or more tackles. Pustulka had two interceptions and was 6 for 6 on extra points.

In the Far West Regional on Friday, Pembroke will face Section VI champs, Frewsburg Bears.

Submitted photos and info.

Le Roy beat East Rochester/Gananda 37-6 to win the Section V Class C semifinal at Hartwood Park on Friday.

With Attica/Alexander's win, 42-0, over Letchworth/Warsaw/Perry, it sets up a championship game between the #1 seed Le Roy against the #2 seed Attica/Alexander on Saturday at 5 p.m. and SUNY Brockport.

For Le Roy, Tony Piazza rushed for 122 yards and a TD on 23 carries, and Drew Strollo rushed for 112 yards and a TD on 22 carries.

On defense, Peter Clark had three tackles, a sack, and three pass breakups. Luke Lathan also had a sack, and Connor Hegeman had five tackles.

Attica/Alexander's lone loss on the season came against Le Roy on Sept. 29, 44-27.

The Elba Lancers entered the Section V Class D2 volleyball tournament as the #3 seed and ends it as champions.

On Friday, the Lancers beat #1 seed Avoca-Prattsburgh 3-1 at Wayland-Cohocton.

The three set scores:

• 25-21
• 25-11
• 25-23

This is Elba's first volleyball title since 1983.

Stats:

• Halie Scouten 10 kills 3 blocks 7 digs
• Alexa Ocampo 5 kills 6 digs 6 aces
• Mariah Ognibene 4 kills 2 blocks 3 aces
• Kennedy Augello 12 assists

All-Tournament Team:

• Halie Scouten
• Mariah Ognibene

Tournament MVP: Alexa Ocampo

Also, winning championships on Friday:

Alexander, #1 seed in Class D1, beating #6 seed York 3-0.  

Alexander and Elba will play the Class C crossover game on Tuesday at 5 p.m. at Avon.

Le Roy lost its Class C1 championship game to Attica, 3-1.

Photos by Debra Reilly.

The Byron-Bergen Bees are Far West Regional champions after beating Section VI's Wilson 2-1 in Boys Soccer on Friday in West Seneca.

The Bees advance to the Final Four of the state championship tournament in Class C. Their first game is at 11 a.m. on Saturday at Goshen High School (about 4 1/2 hours from Batavia). They will play either Fabius or Seton Catholic in the semifinal.  Seton Catholic is the #1 ranked Class C team in the state.

On Friday, Jack Farner scored the first goal with an assist from Colin Martin.

Colin Rea, who missed nearly all of the regular season with an injury, scored the second goal with 16 minutes left in the game.  It was his first goal of the season.

The Bees enter the state tournament with an 18-2-1 record.

Photos by Jennifer DiQuattro

Heartbreaking is the best way to describe the Batavia Blue Devil's 26-20 loss to the Honeoye Falls/Lima Cougars in the Class B football semifinal on Friday night.

The boys' varsity squad was by no means guaranteed the win when the defense made a costly mistake late in the fourth quarter.

But the mistake gave the Cougars' offense new life after the defense had snuffed an apparent scoring drive in the red zone.

First-year head coach Alex Veltz took responsibility for the mental error, saying he hadn't properly prepared his team for a rare circumstance in a high school football game: a blocked field goal attempt.

The defense, apparently unaware that, unlike a point-after attempt, the ball is still live when the kick is blocked, didn't immediately scramble to obtain possession of the ball, and HFL lingered a couple of seconds, too.  When a Batavia player did pick up the ball, he tossed it away, making it a fumble, and at least one HFL player had the situational awareness to pounce on it, giving the Cougars a new set of downs and another chance to score. That TD became the difference in an otherwise evenly-matched game. 

The Blue Devils got the ball back with less than 1:30 left on the clock and couldn't mount a quick-strike drive.

"You don't see many high school field goals," Veltz said in an on-field interview with The Batavian after the game. "It's just not a situation you encounter very much. It was something we didn't prep for, so my message to the team was I took ownership of it because it was a situation we didn't prepare for, a blocked field goal, reacting to a live ball, knowing that is different and the guys weren't ready for it."

It was a big game for junior running back Zailen Griffen, who scored all three of Batavia's TDs on 20 carries for 160 yards.

Cole Grazioplene had three receptions for 25 yards, and one carry for 37 yards.

On defense, Maggio Buchholz had 13.5 tackles; Lakoda Mruczek, 8.5 tackles; and Carter Mullen, one interception.

Veltz took over a young team, and while he will lose three of his senior captains to graduation, he expects good things from the Blue Devils in 2024.

For more photos and to purchase prints, click here.