Sports

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

For Web page with pictures click here.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Other contests and winners were:

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

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

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

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

(Left: Will Fulton and Amelia Frens)

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

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

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

Other contests and winners were:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The USAPL is a drug-free lifting organization. 

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

Photos and info submitted by Scott Birkby.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Muckdogs picked up their third win in five days on Wednesday afternoon in Medlar Field at Lubrano Park by topping the State College Spikes 5-4. The game in University City, Pa., didn’t pick up at its expected time of noon due to rains that pushed first pitch all the way back to 2:20 p.m.

Once the game finally got underway, Batavia did not waste any time getting on the board. Sean Reynolds went deep to left field and got the Muckdogs their first lead of the game, making it 1-0 going to the bottom of the first.

The lead doubled with an RBI double from Luke Jarvis, his first extra-base hit as a pro. His shot off the right-field wall scored Igor Baez and put Batavia up by a pair.

State College halved the lead in the bottom of the second as a result of a Brady Whalen home run. Whalen, a switch-hitter batting from the left side, hit the fifth home run Humberto Mejia has given up this season. All five of those home runs had been from left-handed batters.

A pair of errors from the Spikes in the top of the fifth opened another scoring window in the top of the fifth. Lars Nootbaar dropped a Brayan Hernandez fly ball in left field that he lost in the sun, and then Stanley Espinal airmailed a throw from the hole on the left side to put Demetius Sims on. Hernandez came in to score on a ball that squeaked away from the catcher Alexis Wilson. Immediately after, Sean Reynolds smacked an RBI double to score Sims and cash in on both of the Spikes’ errors.

Tyler Kolek came on in relief of Mejia, Kolek ended up as the winning pitcher in the ballgame in his three innings of relief. He retired his first six batters and gave up just one run in the seventh. When he came out of the game, Batavia still held a 4-2 lead.

Once again, Batavia answered with a run of their own, JD Osborne slugged a double to the left-center gap to score Jerar Encarnacion. Encarnacion was the third run to score that reached on an error.

CJ Carter and Elkin Alcala closed out the game for the final six outs. Nick Dunn drove in his second and third runs in the game with a two-run shot into the right-field bleachers. In a 5-4 game, Alcala got the final out after giving up the homer to give the Muckdogs the win.

The Muckdogs return home for a three-game series with the Mahoning Valley Scrappers at Dwyer Stadium. The first pitch for all three games is 7:05 p.m.

This Saturday is the Jenny Kuzma Memorial Bergen Road Race.

Race director Eric Boyce will close out the races historic run as one of the most competitive 5K races in all of WNY and Central NY.

Don’t miss out! Register by Aug. 2nd for $25 here.

Many young men have passed through Batavia over the years with dreams of making it to the major leagues -- Cito Gaston, Doc Ellis, Manny Sanguillen, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard -- all had solid careers.

But none of these players -- nor those who never made it -- were quite like Cooper Thomson.

Thomson doesn't slug homers or swat singles. He's never had his fastball clocked at 90 mph, let alone 98. He might be able to field a grounder or track down a fly ball but that isn't really what he wants to do.

His dream is to keep the grass green, the foul lines straight and infield dirt as smooth as the felt on a pool table.

Thomson arrived in Batavia on Thursday night after a 30-hour flight from Australia, chasing his big league dream: To be the guy taking care of a major league field.

That only happens in North America and it means making a name for yourself, so when Dave Chase, first-year general manager of the Batavia Muckdogs, told him there was a need for a head groundskeeper 9,401 miles from his home, Thomson didn't hesitate. He was ready to go.

That was the easy part. Getting Thomson through the visa process took some time, which is why he's only arriving in Batavia this week.

Now his goal, to turn the field at Dwyer Stadium into the best field in the New York Penn League. He'll have help from Joe Mogavero, who has been taking care of the field during the first half of the season.

"Aesthetically, you want it to be as good as you can for the fans but more for the players and the teams," Thomson said. "It’s more playability and keeping the field consistent so they know exactly how the field is going to play day in and day out."

One of the issues with the field that Chase mentioned during the off-season was the high lip of grass around the infield, the batter's area, and the pitcher's mound.

When Thomson started work Friday morning, the first task at hand -- fix the lips.

"I’m a massive stickler on that sort of thing," Thomson said. "We're still doing work on it. It’s really an everyday thing to get it perfect so we’ll be working on it every single day, especially on game days. Bringing a major league feel into a minor league ballpark is what I’d like to do here."

Thomson became the Muckdogs' top prospect for all things turf and dirt related after Chase called Murray Cook, who is the guy to know the world over if you care about the quality of your ball field.

Chase was in a bind. He was only a few weeks into his new job as GM for the Muckdogs, after the NYPL took over ownership of the team, and he realized he needed to hire a new head groundskeeper. By that time, any groundskeepers with any experience were already committed to other ballparks.

Cook said he knew this 20-year-old kid in Australia who was ready to move up.

“Murray’s word is gold in the groundskeeping business, so when he endorsed him it was a no-brainer," Chase said.

In 2014, the Dodgers and Diamondbacks played the first MLB regular-season games ever in Australia and though Thomson didn't work on the field, he was obsessed with the work of Murray Cook and his crew.

"They made a cricket oval into a baseball field, which just blew my mind," Thomson said. "I followed it intensely and when I saw how a big league field is supposed to look on our soil that was like a trigger point. I knew I needed to work hard and get a reputation myself so I can be over here (in the states)."

Cook learned of Thomson through the Australian Baseball League, which is sponsored by Major League Baseball, and since some U.S. prospects play in the ABL, the fields there have to be kept to MLB standards. That's where Cook comes in. It's his job to inspect the fields and often his staff works with Australian groundskeepers.

Thomson started his groundskeeping career when the ABL came to Brisbane a year before that 2014 game when he was 15 years old.

"They played at a showground so we had to bump the field in, bump the field out because they had concerts or whatever there," Thomson said. "Me and this other guy just got really good at putting in a brand-new field and taking it away. So I got like OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder) about it and eventually got a head job at the new stadium in Brisbane. I just loved it."

That's a level of training that isn't available in places where baseball is more established.

"It was pretty intense," Thomson said. "I got to know a baseball field like the back of my hand. I was pretty obsessed with how a baseball field is set up and how it’s made."

He wanted his fields to be major league quality.

"Where money and equipment lack, you’ve got to work hard so I just got a real obsession for trying to make it look like fields over here. I just tried to make my field look as good as it could in Australia and I compared it to all the U.S. fields. I thought if I could do that, that would be like a massive tick on my bucket list."

He came to the attention of Cook when he was working with Cook's team on the fields for the World Baseball Classic qualifiers.

Cook's staff recognized the kid's passion, hard work, and knowledge of the craft and asked if he would like to work in the United States at some point and Thomson said that was indeed his goal. They said they would be in touch.

Since the initial job offer during the off-season, Thomson has been following all the news about the Muckdogs and the team's home field. He has been making plans all that time -- about how to get the outfield grass striped like a major league field, adding a team logo behind home plate, improving the playability of the field.  

As he's said, he can be obsessive about these things.

"I know the field has not really been outstanding the past couple of years but I would really like to turn it around and make it one of the best fields in the league," Thomson said. "That is my main objective. As soon as I knew I was coming over here I was saying, like in my head, 'Batavia is going to be the number one field in the league.' That’s my main goal."

If he does that well, he might someday wind up running the show at Marlins Park, or perhaps Dodger Stadium. We mention L.A. because that's where Thomson has come the closest so far to actually walking on major league grass.

"I did do the stadium tour once in Dodger Stadium," Thomson said. "We went all through the stadium and when we got to the bit where we finally go on the field they were like, ‘sorry, we’re not going on the field. They’re shooting Moneyball,’ and I’m like, ‘that’s what I came here for! I just want to get on the field.’ "

The Muckdogs were able to only get five runners on base on Monday night in a 3-0 loss to the State College Spikes. It was the second time this season that Batavia has been shut out. The Muckdogs only put multiple hits together in an inning one time, the other three hits were spread out in the first, third, and ninth innings.

Peyton Culbertson started the game for the Muckdogs. He pitched three innings into the game, just giving up four hits on one run. His fastball ran in the low to mid-90s, and showed a sharp curveball to keep hitters off-balance.

Chris Holba had an excellent start for the Spikes. The Cardinals' 11th round pick from East Carolina went six strong innings, only surrendering four hits, no runs, no walks, and struck out six batters.

Hector Villalobos was just as good, if not better out of the bullpen for the Spikes. He went three innings of relief; his only blemish was a Brayan Hernandez double in the ninth. Villalobos also struck out five.

The three runs for State College were scored across the third, fourth and fifth innings. The first of the three came in to score on a double play in the third. Nick Dunn crossed the plate in the bases-loaded situation at the cost of two outs.

Dunn then drove in a run of his own in the fourth, scoring Justin Toerner to double the Spikes’ lead. Toerner continued the chain in the fifth inning by bringing in Stanley Espinal, and I became a 3-0 game after the sacrifice fly.

The Muckdogs have now lost eight of their last 10 games, and have scored just nine runs in the last four games. Six of those runs came in the 6-5 victory over Vermont.           

The middle game of the series starts at 7:05 p.m. on Tuesday at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park. Bryce Howe is slated to pitch for Batavia to attempt at splitting the first two games of the series.