The Batavia Muckdogs beat the Jamestown Tarp Skunks 8-7 on Thursday at Dwyer Stadium on a walk-off wild pitch.
Reliever Trey Bacon picked up the win after tossing two scoreless innings.
Henry Daniels went 2-4 with a run scored and a double. Giuseppe Arcuri went 2-4 with a double and two RBIs. Anthony Calabro was 2-4 with a run scored, an RBI, a walk and two stolen bases.
Bryanna Coté is congratulated by ABC Gates Bowl owners Russell Vallone, left, and Kelvin Parker after her victory Tuesday night in the U.S. Women's Open. Photo courtesy of United States Bowling Congress.
Coming off a 248 game in the semifinal match, Bryanna Coté of Tucson, Ariz., had to feel confident as she faced top-seeded Clara Guerrero of Columbia for the U.S. Women’s Open championship Tuesday night.
The road to her first major tournament victory became an extremely bumpy one, however, in the title match as Coté overcame opens in the first three frames to turn back Guerrero, 153-142, for the $60,000 top prize before an enthusiastic crowd at ABC Gates Bowl in Rochester.
The stepladder finals, featuring the top five of the 108 entrants, was televised live on CBS Sports Network.
When asked what changed from her 248-199 win over fifth-seeded Danielle McEwan of Stony Point, Coté said it was a matter of “adrenaline kicking in a little bit.”
“When you’re bowling for the U.S. Open title and the adrenaline doesn’t kick in, something (wrong) is going on,” said Coté, the Professional Women’s Bowling Association Player of the Year in 2021. “The lanes definitely got the best of me the first few frames but I settled in and thought I started making some good shots on the right lane and it still kind of wiggled. I was making good shots on the left lane, so I just made a decision to try different balls.”
Calling it “a gutsy move” to make a ball change, Coté said she had to “take a big risk to win the big trophy.”
After Guerrero failed to convert the 2-4-10 split in the 10th frame – her fourth open frame of the game, Coté stepped up in the 10th needing nine pins on two balls to secure the win.
The ball came high on the head pin and the 3-6-10 was left standing. Coté had to get at least two of those pins for the victory and she did that and one more, converting the spare. She got eight pins on her final ball for the 153.
This is the fifth PWBA crown for Coté, a 37-year-old right-hander.
“To be a major champion now is just incredible,” she said.
For Guerrero, who posted a tournament-high 209.7 average for 56 games, the loss was a bitter pill to swallow.
She started with a spare and strike but didn't record another strike – failing to convert a split and two spares before the disastrous 10th frame.
“I felt good. I felt calm and I felt confident, but for some reason I couldn’t throw it as good as I needed,” said Guerrero, an international tournament star with one PWBA major title under her belt. “The lanes were very hard all week. I mean, a 140 or 150 game was coming.”
She was unable to keep the ball to the right of the head pin all game.
“I needed to keep my hand a bit cleaner (as far as the release), but I kept grabbing it a bit and that’s why the ball kept hooking,” she explained. “I moved a bit left (on the approach) in the 10th frame and thought it was a good shot, but it hydroplaned a bit and left the 2-4-10.”
Guerrero, who won $30,000 for placing second, didn’t hold back her disappointment.
“I have won Women’s World Championships (a separate tour) several times and have had a beautiful career,” she said, “however, this one hurts. I had a great week. I led the tournament, which isn’t easy to do, but not being able to close it out, it’s a tough day.”
The stepladder finals began with a pair of New Yorkers battling it out, with McEwan edging six-time U.S. Open champion Liz Johnson of Niagara Falls, 212-201.
McEwan rolled six strikes in the match, including a double entering the 10th frame. Another strike in the 10th would have locked it up but she left a solid 10-pin, giving Johnson a chance.
With strikes in the eighth and ninth frames, Johnson had to get another on the first ball in the 10th but left a 10-pin as the ball finished a bit late.
“It was in the right spot; it just didn't come off my hand great. I may have squeezed it a little bit, but I bowled a good game,” said Johnson, who has 25 PWBA titles. “It was not an easy shot this week, so I’m happy the way I finished. You always want to win, of course, but I got fifth in the U.S. Open.”
McEwan went on to defeat two-time United States Bowling Congress Queens champion Diana Zavjalova of Latvia in the second match, 227-192, to advance against Coté.
Jim Fazio at Dwyer Stadium on Monday evening. Photo by Howard Owens.
Health issues and a desire to see his son play more baseball in his final season with the Batavia Blue Devils have led Jim Fazio to step down as head coach of the Batavia High School softball team.
"The team means the world to me," Fazio told The Batavian at Dwyer Stadium during the Batavia Muckdogs game on Monday evening. "Ever since I started coaching, it was a dream to win a sectional title. To finally get it this year, it's just something that, you know, you just dream about."
Fazio has been coaching since 2000 and became varsity softball coach in 2018.
Under the circumstances, coaching in 2024 isn't possible, he said. He's been diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease and is on two waiting lists for a kidney transplant.
"That's the main reason why I'm stepping down," Fazio said. "I think I should be able to coach tennis, but things right now are up in the air."
His son is also entering his senior year, and in the spring, Fazio wants to take the time to see more of his son's baseball games.
"I miss a lot of his games because their schedule almost mimics ours," Fazio said.
Jim and Nikki Fazio enjoying the moment after Batavia won a Girls Softball Section V title on May 27. Photo by Howard Owens.
Catcher Zach Kasperowicz carries the Muckdog's mascot Dewey on his shoulders to greet members of the home team as they walk to the dugout before Monday's game while batboy Kegan Fisher snaps a photo.. Photo by Howard Owens.
The Batavia Muckdogs battled back on Monday from a three-run first-inning deficit to beat Newark at Dwyer Stadium 6-5 behind the 3-3, four RBI performance of catcher Adam Agresti.
Garrett Beaver worked a scoreless eight to pick up the win, and Trey Bacon retired all three batters he faced in the ninth, fanning Pilots to pick up his fifth save.
Starter Tyler Henshaw surrendered four runs over three innings, giving up six hits and two walks. He struck out three.
Ryan Kinney pitched four innings, walked one and collected seven strikeouts.
At 8-5, the Muckdogs are in third place in the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League's Western Division, a half-game behind Niagara and Elmira.
Reported attendance: 1,432
The next home game is June 22 against Jamestown.
Photos by Howard Owens. For more and to purchase prints, click here.
Newark's Frankie DiMartino was caught in a run-down involving third baseman Giuseppe Arcuri for the third out of the first inning. Photo by Howard Owens.
Left fielder Rashad Robinson Photo by Howard Owens.
Giuseppe Arcuri squares to bunt before taking the pitch. Photo by Howard Owens.
Members of the KMS Dance Team. Photo by Howard Owens.
Starter Tyler Henshaw Photo by Howard Owens.
James Aselta Photo by Howard Owens
Giuseppe Arcuri with a base hit in the third.base hit Photo by Howard Owens.
Henry Daniels with a groundout in the fourth. Photo by Howard Owens.
Giuseppe Arcuri scores the Giuseppe Arcuri run in the fifth after a base loaded double Adam Agresti doubled to drive in three runs and give the Muckdogs the lead, 5-4. Photo by Howard Owens
Before the bottom of the fifth, children 12-and-under attending the game run around the infield. Photo by Howard Owens.
The finalists for tonight's U.S. Women's Open, which will be televised on CBS Sports Network, are, from left, Clara Guerrero, Bryanna Cote, Diana Zavjalova, Liz Johnson and Danielle McEwan. Photo by Mike Pettinella.
Liz Johnson of Niagara Falls, a 25-time champion on the Professional Women’s Bowling Tour, is back on television.
On Monday night at ABC Gates Bowl in Rochester, Johnson secured the No. 4 seed for the stepladder finals of the U.S. Women’s Open – a major tournament that she has won six times, beginning in 1996.
The finals will be televised live at 7 tonight on CBS Sports Network. First place is worth $60,000.
Johnson defeated Maria Jose Rodriguez of Colombia, 225-191, in the position round match last night to capture the fourth seed, and will take on another New Yorker – Danielle McEwan of Stony Point, who earned the No. 5 spot despite a 215-195 loss to Diana Zavjalova of Latvia.
Zavjalova is the third seed, while Clara Guerrero of Colombia and Bryanna Cote of Tucson, Ariz., are the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, respectively. All of the finalists are right-handers.
Guerrero amassed 12,227 pins (including 30 bonus pins for each match play victory) en route to a 16-8 record. She posted a tournament-high 209.77 average for the 56 games.
For Johnson, who turned 49 in May, the finals’ appearance is her first in a couple years.
“I feel good. I’ve been bowling everything, all year on tour,” she said. “This is my first show probably since the middle of 2021. So, I’m excited just to be able to bowl tomorrow.”
She stayed in the top five throughout last night’s final eight-game block, but uncharacteristically lost a couple matches – game two against Cote and game four against Birgit Noreiks of Germany -- with opens in the 10th frame.
“Yeah, I struggled with that all week. It’s gut-wrenching but you have to forget about it,” she said. “There were way too many of those to count. Open frames late in the games; that’s usually not me.”
She bounced back, however, winning her last two games with scores of 232 and 225 on the difficult oil pattern.
“The lanes change so fast. The lanes within the pairs – the left lane versus the right lane, they never played the same. The last couple games, I was using two different balls and, on and off, playing two different areas. It was one big grind.
“But, this is what the U.S. Open is all about. It’s not supposed to be a house shot.”
McEwan, 31, will be seeking her second U.S. Open title. She won the tournament in 2019, and was the runner-up last year.
“The U.S. Open is always a really hard tournament, but this week in particular was extra challenging and difficult in so many different ways. So, to be on the show took a lot of work,” she said.
“Every single lane and every pair plays totally different. The four different patterns made us play all different angles, lines, bowling balls, releases, speeds; every tool you had came into play this week.”
McEwan finished on the TV pair (31-32) last night and said she hopes to use that to her advantage in the opening match tonight.
“I have really good notes (on that pair) now,” she said. “The four and five seeds mean you're the first out on the pair and you have more of a ladder to climb, but it also gives you the advantage of figuring out what the pair is doing and getting comfortable on it before the other competitors come on.”
Unfortunately for the two New York bowlers, one of them will exit after just one game tonight and take home the $13,000 prize for fifth place.
The tournament pays $30,000 to the runner-up, $22,000 for third and $17,000 for fourth. For tickets to watch the show at ABC Gates Bowl, call 585-426-9099.
Shannon O’Keefe of Shiloh, Illinois, and Juliana Franco of Puerto Rico withdrew from the event prior to the start of the second round of match play on Monday morning. O’Keefe was replaced by Haley Richard of Tipton, Michigan, and Franco was replaced by Estefania Cobo of Puerto Rico.
All 108 competitors bowled 24 qualifying games over three days to determine the 36 players advancing to Round 4. After eight additional games, the field was cut to the top 24 bowlers for round-robin match play.
MONDAY’S RESULTS:
MATCH PLAY (56 games, 30 bonus pins for a win, 15 bonus pins for a tie)
Danielle McEwan of Stony Point and Liz Johnson of Niagara Falls have moved up to fourth and fifth place, respectively, after today's second of three eight-game match play blocks at the U.S. Women's Open at ABC Gates Bowl in Rochester.
Both bowlers won seven of their eight matches with McEwan registering a high game of 279 while averaging 220 and Johnson averaged 212.5. The top five bowlers will advance to the stepladder finals on Tuesday night.
Clara Guerrero of Columbia, Bryanna Cote of Tucson, Ariz., and Diana Zavjalova of Latvia are 1-2-3 heading into tonight's final eight matches. Competition gets underway at 5 p.m.
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While Germany’s Birgit Noreiks continues to lead the pack, two New Yorkers remain in contention for Tuesday night’s stepladder finals at the U.S. Women’s Open.
Noreiks won four of her eight matches at ABC Gates Bowl in Rochester on Sunday to stay on top with a 40-game total of 8.605, which includes 30 bonus pins for each victory.
Rounding out the top five are Colombia’s Clara Guerrero, (8,592), Bryanna Coté of Tucson, Ariz. (8,530), Latvia’s Diana Zavjalova (8,468), and Shannon O’Keefe of Shiloh, Ill. (8,456). Zavjalova won all eight of her matches to jump from 10th place into fourth.
Missy Parkin of San Clemente, Calif., sits in sixth place at 8,438, followed by Danielle McEwan of Stony Point and Liz Johnson of Niagara Falls at 8,412 and 8,407, respectively.
McEwan is a former U.S. Open champion while Johnson, one of the best professional women bowlers ever, has won six U.S. Open tournaments. Johnson's many tournament wins include the New York State Queens at Mancuso Bowling Center in 1996.
The 24 match game competitors will bowl two more eight-game rounds today, the first at 10 a.m. and the second at 5 p.m., to determine the five bowlers who will vie for the $60,000 first prize on Tuesday night.
The stepladder finals will be broadcast live at 7 p.m. on CBS Sports Network.
SUNDAY’S MATCH PLAY RESULTS (40 games, 30 bonus pins for a win, 15 bonus pins for a tie):
After sweeping the Auburn Doubledays in a double header at home on Friday, the Batavia Muckdogs split a twin bill at Falcon Field in Auburn on Saturday.
The Muckdogs took the first game 3-1, and lost the second game 3-0.
Batavia is now 7-4 on the season.
Jack Keeler went six innings giving up on earned run to pick up the win, his first W of the season.
Trey Bacon pitched a scoreless seventh for his fourth save.
Anthony Calabro hit a triple, his one hit of the game, scored a run and picked up an RBI.
In the second game, Preston Prince, from Hilton, lasted four innings, giving up three runs, two earned, and only two hits, but yielded four walks. He struck out three. He was tagged with his first loss in three appearances.
The Muckdogs are back home on Monday to play Newark. Game time is 6:35 p.m.
The Genesee County Spartans outlasted the Ithaca Warriors, 16-12, in Northeastern Football Alliance semipro action Saturday night at Genesee Community College.
After Ithaca scored on an interception in the game's opening minutes, the Spartans took the lead for good with 24 seconds left in the first quarter on a five-yard run by fullback Brandon Bethel and the point-after kick by Marc Montana.
The home team made it 13-6 midway through the second quarter on a 70-yard burst up the middle by Jed Reese, who burst through the line and ran untouched to the end zone.
Montana's 28-yard field goal gave the Spartans a 16-6 lead early in the third quarter. Ithaca scored on a touchdown pass with 1:09 left in the game.
The game was marked by more than a dozen turnovers and at least that many penalties, including several personal fouls (and a couple of ejections) for unsportsmanlike conduct.
For the Spartans, Cody Wenner, Amir Cleveland, Tre Woods, Keith Neureuter and Max Rapone had interceptions, with Rapone's play ending a last-ditch effort by Ithaca in the closing seconds. Defensive end Gunner Rapone had another outstanding game for Genesee.
The Spartans, 2-1, are home again next Saturday for a 7 p.m. clash against the Broome County Stallions.
The biggest names in professional women’s bowling are among the 36 competitors who have advanced to the cashers’ round of the U.S. Women’s Open at ABC Gates Bowl in Rochester.
Led by Germany’s Birgit Noreiks, who topped the standings after each of the three eight-game qualifying squads, the list of bowlers who made the cut is a “who’s who” of stars on the Professional Women’s Bowling Association Tour.
Noreiks knocked down 1,652 pins on Saturday to finish qualifying with 5,277 – a 219.88 average on three extremely challenging oil patterns. She holds a 175-pin advantage over Lindsay Boomershine of Brigham City, Utah, who posted the day’s best score of 1,806 for the eight games – finishing with 279-247-257.
Boomershine, an Amherst native, is coming into this PWBA major tournament on the heels of her victory in the USBC Queens last month, another major.
Six former U.S. Women’s Open champions entered this week and five of them have advanced.
They are three-time winner Kelly Kulick of Union, N.J. (eighth with 4,985), six-time champion Liz Johnson of Niagara Falls (10th with 4,956), Josie Barnes of Hermitage, Tenn. (11th with 4,950), Danielle McEwan of Stony Point (15th with 4,908) and defending champion Erin McCarthy of Elkhorn, Neb. (34th with 4,767).
Competition resumes at 10 a.m. this morning Sunday with the cashers’ round (another eight-game block) on a 41-foot oil pattern. The top 24 (after 32 games) will proceed to round-robin match play over two days, with seeding based on their 32-game pinfall totals.
Thirty bonus pins will be awarded for each win in match play, and the 56-game pinfall totals, including bonus pins, will determine the five players for the championship stepladder.
All rounds of qualifying and match play are being broadcast live at BowlTV.com through Monday night, and the event will conclude live Tuesday on CBS Sports Network at 7 p.m. Eastern.
First prize is $60,000 and the right to wear the coveted green jacket.
Empire State Pullers hosted a tractor pull at the WNY Gas & Steam Engine Association Show Grounds in Alexander on Saturday. Photographer Nick Serrata was on hand for The Batavian to capture the 4x4 Street Legal Trucks Pull.
Lindsay Boomershine is one of the favorites at the U.S. Women's Open which is taking place through Tuesday at ABC Gates Bowl in Rochester. Photo by Mike Pettinella.
Amherst native Lindsay (Baker) Boomershine is back in Western New York this week with loads of confidence as she competes in the U.S. Women’s Open at ABC Gates Bowl.
Boomershine, a 37-year-old right-hander who moved to Utah in 2010, is less than a month removed from winning the United States Bowling Congress Queens tournament – her first victory in eight years on the Professional Women’s Bowling Association Tour.
She is one of the favorites at the U.S. Women’s Open, which runs through Tuesday night at the 48-lane center on Spencerport Road.
In an interview with The Batavian following Friday’s second of three eight-game qualifying blocks, Boomershine said that capturing the Queens – a PWBA “major” that carried a $60,000 top prize – was a culmination of the countless hours of work she invested into her game.
“I worked really hard on releases and my spare game – with the release part it was all about being able to bowl on everything from urethane to hook it to lofting it to throwing it slower,” she explained. “Now, all of those things are pretty successful. I can do numerous tricks to try to get my ball to go through the pocket in the right way.”
Boomershine said she also made some changes “physically,” working with her husband, Hank, who is vice president of sales for Storm (Bowling) Products.
“Things have really worked out,” she added. “When you apply it to these situations with the best women bowlers in the world, you know, it feels pretty good that what you we’re doing in the offseason has paid off for this season.”
At the Queens tournament in Las Vegas in May, Boomershine was among the leaders throughout the week and earned the No. 1 seed for the televised stepladder finals. She needed just one victory for the crown and she came through, defeating her close friend, Maria Jose Rodriguez, 202-176.
When asked if she felt added pressure as the tournament leader, Boomershine said she “really, honestly just played my game.”
“I made some difficult spares, just like I had all week, and I struck out in the 10th frame. It was awesome. I couldn’t have had it any other way.”
Boomershine said her uncle, PBA and USBC Hall of Famer Tom Baker, is one of her biggest fans. He was instrumental in helping his niece become a standout bowler at Sweet Home High (she’s in the school’s Hall of Fame) and a four-time All-American at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (including collegiate Player of the Year in 2005-06).
“I talk to my uncle all the time,” she said. “He’s still bowling in the senior (Senior PBA) stuff and lives in King, North Carolina with Donna. He always checks in on my bowling. When I won the Queens, he said the Baker family always wins the big ones because he won the PBA World Championship (in 2004).”
After two of the three qualifying rounds of the U.S. Open, which are contested on three different and challenging oil patterns, Boomershine – who rolled a 300 game on Thursday -- sits in 22nd place out of 108 bowlers with a 16-game total of 3,296 – a 206 average.
Birgit Noreiks of Germany is in first place with 3,625, followed by Dasha Kovalova, Muskegon, Mich., 3,510; Diana Zavjalova, Latvia, 3,505; Shannon Pluhowsky, Dayton, Ohio, and Shannon O'Keefe, Shiloh, Ill., 3,420; Missy Parkin, San Clemente, Calif., 3,401; Bryanna Cote, Tucson, Ariz., 3,392; Liz Johnson, Niagara Falls, N.Y., 3,390; Kelly Kulick, Union, N.J., 3,382, and Verity Crawley, England, 3,370.
Several WNY bowlers, including Heather Ray of Caledonia (75th place, 2,998), are competing in the tournament.
The top 36 bowlers after today’s qualifying round will advance to the cashers’ round (another eight-game block) on Sunday morning.
The tournament schedule:
Today -- 8 a.m. – 10 p.m. – Qualifying (three squads each bowl eight games, cut to top third of the field – 36 bowlers.
Sunday -- 10 a.m. – Cashers’ Round (one squad bowls eight games, cut to top 24 players); 5 p.m. – Round-Robin match play (one squad bowls eight games).
Monday -- 10 a.m. – Round-Robin match play (one squad bowls eight games); 5 p.m. – Round-Robin match play (one squad bowls eight games, cut to top 5 players).
Tuesday -- 7 p.m. – Live stepladder finals on CBS Sports Network.
For more information about the U.S. Women’s Open, visit BOWL.com/USWomensOpen.
Batavia lost its bid on Saturday to become the first Flag Football champions in Section V history at Monroe Community College with a 20-0 loss to Canisteo-Greenwood.
Batavia entered the game undefeated at 8-0 and as the #1 seed. Canisteo was 7-1 at the start of the game.
It would be tempting to blame the loss on turnover -- there were a couple but were mostly inconsequential -- and penalties -- there were a few.
But more, Canisteo-Greenwood outplayed the Blue Devils.
After stopping Batavia on its first possession, Canisteo scored on its first drive. And on its second.
Batavia advanced the ball to the opposing goal line at least three times, but Canisteo-Greenwood keep the Blue Devils out of the end zone each time.
There are no stats available for the game.
Photos by Howard Owens. For more photos and to purchase prints, click here.
Batavia's Jaimin Macdonald catches another interception to power Batavia's strong defense
Eastridge got on the board first, but it was all Batavia after that, as the Blue Devils went on to win a smoke-delayed, and then rain-delayed, Flag Football sectional semifinal playoff game on Friday at Van Detta Stadium.
The final: 27-6.
The game was originally scheduled for Tuesday but was canceled because of poor air quality due to wildfires in Canada.
On Friday, Batavia scored 27 unanswered points in the first half on scores by Julia Clark (twice), and Isabella Walsh and a TD keyed off an interception by Jaimin McDonald. Then the rain came, causing another delay.
There was no scoring in the second half.
Batavia plays in the first-ever Section V Flag Football final at 11 a.m. today (Saturday) at Monroe County Community College. Batavia, the #1 seed, will take on #2 seed Canisteo-Greenwood (7-1) for the Class B title.
"We found ways to win," Coach Ben Buchholz told he team. "We found ways to make big plays, and that’s exactly what good teams do.We finally started to click; big players made big plays.
Of the defense, he told them, "We had girls in some spots that did not play there all year. You stepped up, made plays for us, and that’s exactly what we needed, and I’m super proud of you.We have a lot of unfinished business.Tomorrow let’s go win a block, let’s win this.Let’s come in with the best version of us that we have had all year and let’s win this thing."
Game Highlights:
Isabella Walsh - four receptions, 87 yards, a TD and a two-point conversion.
Anna Varland -18 carries, 112 yards
Julia Preston - two receptions, 39 yards
Julia Clark - 127 yards passing. one passing TD, two rushing TDs.
Jaimin Mcdonald - four Interceptions and nine flag pulls
On June 3rd-June 4th from Dusk to Dawn the Byron-Bergen Track & Field team hosted their second Over Night Relay. Students started running the track at 8:46 p.m. and stopped at 5:34 a.m.
Both boy's and girl's teams had a baton that they had to keep moving at all times throughout the night. Each hour there were fun activities occurring as well.
The results:
The girl's team ran 305 laps, totaling 76 1/4 miles
On Monday, June 5, 10 Batavia High School students signed with their perspective colleges for the fall.
JULIA PETRY: Daemen University / Track and Field. Back: Nick Burk, Rich Boyce, Bill Buckenmeyer. Front: LJ Petry, Julia Petry, John Petry
SHAWN KIMBALL: Genesee Community College / Baseball Front: Patrick Kimball, Shawn Kimball, Evan Kimball
AIDAN ANDERSON: USMA at West Point / Sprint Football. Back: Ava Anderson, Korinne Anderson, Mike Anderson, Brennan Briggs. Front: Aidan Anderson
NATHAN CANALE: St. John Fisher University / Cross Country, Track. Back: Rich Boyce, Nick Burk, Bill Buckenmeyer. Front: John Canale, Nathan Canale, Cindy Canale
CODY HARLOFF: SUNY Brockport / Cross Country, Indoor & Outdoor Track and Field. Back: Rich Boyce, Nick Burk, Bill Buckenmeyer. Front: Della Martinez, Cody Harloff, Shabi Gard, Rosella Williams
NOAH PICKARD: SUNY Oneonta / Cross Country, Track and Field. Back: Andrew Pickard, Rich Boyce, Nick Burk, Bill Buckenmeyer. Front: Jack Pickard, Noah Pickard, Karen Pickard, Bill Pickard
ABBY MOORE: SUNY Geneseo / Track and Field. Back: Rich Boyce, Nick Burk, Bill Buckenmeyer. Front: Abby Moore, Cassandra Moore
JAKALYA RIVERA: University at Buffalo / Competitive Cheer. Front: Kanaya Rivera, Jakalya Rivera, Essence Rivera
GARRETT SCHMIDT: Grove City College / Football. Back: Dan Schmidt, Shannon Schmidt, Brennan Briggs. Front: Garrett Schmidt
Muckdogs first baseman Henry Daniels picks a throw out of the dirt in the first inning of Tuesday's game against Niagara Power for a putout. Photo by Howard Owens.
The leaders of Minor League Baseball, and, by extension, Major League Baseball, didn't think Batavia could support a professional baseball team, and those Lords of the game looked for years for an opportunity to relocate the New York-Penn League's founding member to another city.
That search for new ownership and a new venue lasted until MLB just got tired of the entire MiLB structure and shut down the historic NYPL.
Author William Bardenwerper "The players aren't as gifted, but you could make the argument that games are a lot more fun to watch." Bardenwerper’s book on baseball, which will feature the Batavia Muckdogs, is about 3/4 finished and he expects it to be on store shelves in the fall of 2024. Submitted photo.
MLB and MiLB leaders blamed the fans of Batavia, the region, and Dwyer Stadium itself for the lack of fan interest in the teams they were putting on the field.
After all, they were bringing "prospects" to Batavia; young men with at least some slim chance of getting in a few major league innings before they moved on to other careers. And once in a while, if you came to Dwyer Stadium often enough, you might get to see a future star pass through. That should be enough, was the seeming assumption of baseball executives.
Turns out, maybe the problem wasn't the fans after all. Nor the facility. Maybe the problem was that assumption.
Maybe the men and women brought in to run the team, the leaders of the leagues, and the management of the MLB affiliates, which included, in recent years, the Cardinals and the Marlins, just didn't do the right things to generate fan interest in the game.
After head groundskeeper Cooper Thomson turned the turf of Dwyer Stadium into an All-Star Game-worthy surface, it still wasn't enough to keep the team in Batavia, and fans seemed to know it. They continued to only attend home games sporadically. A night of 1,000 people in the stands was a good night. It usually took Friday night fireworks to pack in more than 1,500 people.
On Tuesday night, 2,877 baseball fans held tickets for a Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League between two teams with rosters filled with young players who are far less likely, on average, to ever play a professional game, let alone reach the major leagues.
On Sunday, attendance was 2,808.
For the home opener on Saturday, attendance was perhaps a record for organized baseball in Batavia: 3,711.
Perhaps Rob Manfred, the commissioner of Major League Baseball, who oversaw the destruction of the minor league system, should talk without Robbie and Nellie Nichols, the current owners of the Muckdogs, about how to promote baseball in a small town.
The main difference between the affiliated Muckdogs and the collegiate Muckdogs, William Bardenwerper told The Batavian before Tuesday's game, is the collegiate players are fan-friendly. They're out in the community. They talk with fans at games. They're friendly with the kids, always.
And that's by design. From the day he arrived in Batavia in 2021, Robbie Nichols has talked about wanting players on his team who are willing to make themselves part of the community for the two summer months they're in Batavia.
Manager Joey Martinez wants to recruit the best baseball talent he can, and he thinks he and his staff have built a special and talented team for 2023, but he told The Batavian in a pre-season interview that character is also part of the recruiting evaluation.
"We try to just get guys that are going to come into this community and be a part of it," Martinez said. "(We want them to) represent the Muckdogs name everywhere and every day."
Bardenwerper said that community commitment is obvious and it's paying dividends.
"Robbie and Nellie, the owners, as well as Joey Martinez, as manager, have fostered a community spirit," Bardenwerper said. "It's part of their responsibility in the summer to do everything they can to be there for the community, to support the community.”
Bardenwerper is a non-fiction writer who is working on a book that will look at the demise of the New York Penn-League through the lens of the Batavia Muckdogs.
He spent a good deal of time in Batavia last season, attending games, interviewing fans, and getting to know the community and its love of baseball. He wasn't around in the affiliated-Muckdogs days, but he's seen the community embrace the collegiate Muckdogs.
He said professional minor league players tend to be more distant. They quickly grow accustomed to playing before larger crowds, so they're less engaged with the fans.
"These players (the current Muckdogs) love interacting with the fans," Bardenwerper said. "They're often from smaller schools where they might get 100 people in the stands. Now they're playing in front of thousands of people.”
There's no doubt, Bardenwerper said, the quality of play isn't the same. There are fewer pitchers throwing 95 mph, fewer home runs, and more errors, but collegiate baseball at this level has its advantages for baseball fans, as well, the writer noted.
"Joe Maddon (former major league manager) wrote that 35 percent of the at-bats in major league games these days, you do not need anybody on the field except a pitcher, a catcher and a batter (because 35 percent of at-bats now end in a strikeout or a home run), and until this year, because of the pitch clock, baseball became slow," Bardenwerper said. "This baseball, the kind you see at these games, is like a throwback to what you used to see at games. You see steals. You see hit-and-runs. You see more extra-base hits.
Joey Martinez is an aggressive manager. There's more action on the basepaths. There's nobody with statistics, a spreadsheet, and a computer telling the manager every decision he should make. This is more like going back and watching a baseball game in the 1980s. The players aren't as gifted, but you could make the argument that games are a lot more fun to watch."
If not for the pandemic, Bardenwerper wouldn't be writing about the Muckdogs. In 2019, he pitched his publisher on writing a book about the Appalachian League. He was going to visit all those small towns in 2020, get to know them and their teams, and chronicle small-town baseball through that lens. But the 2020 season got canceled by COVID, and by 2021, neither the Appalachian League nor the New York-Penn League existed.
Eliminating those leagues, at least according to the explanations given by MLB leaders, Bardenwerper said, made little sense. The excuse given was MLB wanted to protect their precious and expensive talent from 12-hour bus trips and substandard stadiums. While those might be valid complaints in leagues out west, it wasn't true of leagues in the Northeast. For the most part, even in the NYPL, which had expanded its boundaries in recent years, teams were within a few hours of each other, and with a couple of exceptions in the Appalachian League, playing conditions were good.
"The reasons offered for contraction were disingenuous and not consistent with the teams that were contracted," Bardenwerper said.
But what has become MLB's loss has become Batavia's gain, especially for young fans who are made more a part of the atmosphere at Dwyer Stadium. Kids can get autographs, baseballs, and batting gloves from players at any time, even while there's action on the field. Young fans are never told not to bother players in the dugouts and bullpens. The players never act like they don't hear the kids, turn a cold shoulder and walk away.
And that's an important part of the connection with the community, Bardenwerper said.
"The kids don't know the difference between these college kids and the next Bryce Harper," Bardenwerper said. "They just see these guys in cool uniforms signing autographs."
Given the fan-friendly atmosphere at Dwyer these days, it's doubtful many fans walked away from Tuesday's game dissatisfied, even though the home team fell to 2-2 on the young season with a loss to Niagara Power, 3-1.
Photos by Howard Owens. For more photos and to purchase prints, click here.
Third baseman Giuseppe Arcuri is unable to come up with a hot smash off the bat of Brett Johnson in the second inning. The hit went for double and scored Powers' first run. Photo by Howard Owens.
Alexander High School grad Ty Woods, now a GCC student, started and gave up only one run and four hits in six innings of work. He fanned three hitters but didn't factor in the decision. Photo by Howard Owens.
Second baseman Lucas Lopez with an assist in the second inning.
Giuseppe Arcuri was hit by a pitch in the second inning. Photos by Howard Owens
Catcher Brice Mortillaro snags a strike from Ty Woods. Photo by Howard Owens.
Rashad Robinson with a stolen base in the fourth inning. Photo by Howard Owens
Rashad Robinson on third base after his second SB of the fourth inning, with Manager Joey Martinez. Photo by Howard Owens
For the second night in a row, the Batavia Muckdogs played a home game in front of a sellout crowd and got another win, this time beating Niagara Power, 807.
Ryan Kinney picked up the win, going three innings and striking out five hitters.
Rijnaldo Euson came up with the save, getting one strikeout in his one inning of work.
Neither pitcher allowed a hit nor a run.
Josh Leadem went 1-2 with two walks, two runs scored and three stolen bases.
Giuseppe Arcuri went 3-3 with one run, two RBIs, and a Walk.
The Muckdogs, now 2-1, take on Power again tonight at 6:35 p.m. There is currently no plan to reschedule the game.
Sports broadcasters need to be versatile and flexible, which are exactly the criteria for getting recognition by the Jim Nantz Awards, and former Batavia High School Student Griffin Della Penna demonstrated he has those skills to the judges this year.
The Sportscasters Talent Agency of America, which hands out the Nantz awards annually to call attention to the nation's best collegiate sportscasters, recognized Della Penna with an honorable mention.
“I knew that I should be up there,” Della Penna stated. “To get that recognition, I thought was really cool. It’s something that I want to go and just prove that I’m better than [honorable mention.]”
Competitors must send in a highlight reel, around 20 minutes, that showcases different skill sets, such as the ability to call different games in different sports. Competitors must also showcase their ability to interview and be comfortable on camera.
Della Penna began his collegiate career in his junior year while attending Canisius College. Della Penna called roughly 106 ESPN+ broadcasts his senior year and roughly 142 games total across 20 different sports. He recalls that some of his favorite memories were calling games in which his friends were playing.
“I get to cover my friends,” Della Penna shared. “These are people I’ve gotten to know since I stepped foot on campus. Getting to cover my best friends on the baseball team … I don’t think that there’s many kids in the country who get to have that dynamic and have those memories.”
Looking ahead, Della Penna’s goal is to call great games at his graduate school, Syracuse. He hopes to eventually call some of the biggest games in the country.
“I feel like [Syracuse] will speed along the process of my career. I would love to stay in baseball, and eventually, I want to get to the national level.”
The Genesee County Spartans greeted about 600 fans for their home opener Saturday at GCC. Photos by Jim Burns.
The fledgling Genesee County Spartans defeated the New York Falcons, 13-0, in non-league semipro football action Saturday afternoon at Genesee Community College.
Head Coach Harry Rascoe’s squad shook off a sluggish first half as quarterback Alex Rood and halfback Jed Reese ran for touchdowns after intermission to turn back the Buffalo-based Falcons, who compete in the Gridiron Developmental Football League.
It was the first official game of the season for the Spartans, a member of the Northeastern Football Alliance.
“We had a couple of opportunities in the first half but kept on pounding the ball on the ground to finally take control,” Rascoe said, noting that the quartet of Rood, Reese, Rob Williams Jr. and Brandon Bethel combined for 200 yards rushing.
Rood scored on a 10-yard run in the third quarter and Reese capped a long drive with a five-yard scamper in the fourth quarter. Marc Montana kicked the point after touchdown after Rood’s score but missed the second attempt under windy conditions.
In the first half, the Spartans threatened early in the second quarter, using runs by Reese, Rood, Williams and Bethel to get to the Falcons’ 20 before an interception thwarted that drive. With about five minutes left, the home team advanced to the Falcons’ 2 but failed to capitalize.
“We were in the red zone four or five times and came up short; that’s something we definitely need to work on,” Rascoe said. “But our defense, behind (defensive ends) Gunner Rapone and T.J. Henderson dominated.”
Rapone was a force throughout, recording numerous tackles and combining with Henderson for four sacks. Defensive backs Brooks Boyle and Tre Woods each had an interception.
An enthusiastic crowd of about 600 turned out for the “Iron Reps Gym Game” at GCC’s new field, which is located behind the Richard C. Call Arena.
“On behalf of the players, a special thanks to all the fans who attended,” Rascoe said. “It really means a lot to see all the community support.”
The Spartans return to action at 7 p.m. next Saturday at Lockport.The next home game (all home games are at GCC) is at 7 p.m. June 17 against Ithaca.
Defensive ends T.J. Henderson, left, and Gunner Rapone set the tone for the Spartans in the 13-0 victory.
QB Alex Rood looks to escape the Falcons' rush.
RB/WR Jed Reese breaks into the clear. Reese scored tallied a second-half TD.
