Sports

Eugene Jankowski Jr., of Batavia, finished First Place Senior in the Tactical Division in the 2016 Colt USPSA Multi-Gun Nationals at the Desert Sportsman’s Rifle and Pistol Club, Las Vegas, held April 15-17.

A total of 301 competitors from all over the world braved 40-mph wind gusts and completed 12 stages of fire requiring the use of rifle, pistol and shotgun over three days. Paper, steel and flying clay targets were arranged anywhere from 7 to 400 yards in a unique maze of walls, hard cover and natural terrain.

USPSA (United States Practical Shooting Association) has more than 25,000 active members and more than 400 affiliated clubs. USPSA is the largest competitive shooting organization in the United States.

Video highlights can be seen by clicking here.

Press release:

Andrew Lipnicky, of Basom, from the RIT Rock Climbing Team, will compete in national competition Friday and Saturday at the Collegiate Climbing Series in San Diego, Calif.

Lipnicky is a Ph.D. student in the Astrophysical Sciences and Technology program.

Nearly 400 athletes from approximately 40 colleges will participate in various competitions, including speed, bouldering and sport climbing.

The team is coming off of a first-place overall victory in Northeast regional competition earlier this month in Albany, against teams from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

Press release:

The Class-A Short-Season New York-Penn League and its member clubs are proud to announce that the league's philanthropic arm, the NYPL Charitable Foundation, will once again award more than $10,000 in scholarships this summer to deserving high school graduates from the league's 14 markets.

Now in its eighth year, the 2016 NYPL Scholarship Contest is open to any graduating senior from a public or private high school within the league's footprint. Any student who has been accepted at a two- or four-year college or university, vocational school, or technical education institution is eligible. Applicants will be judged based on academic performance, volunteer and extracurricular activities, and the impact their local NYPL club and Minor League Baseball have had on their lives.

The scholarship contest will consist of two stages - a local round and a league round. In the local stage, students will apply directly to their local NYPL team, with one applicant chosen by each of the 14 teams to advance to the league/final round. The 14 finalists will then be judged by league representatives. Three applicants will be selected to receive the top prize of a $2,500 scholarship. All other finalists will receive a $250 book award.

“The New York-Penn League Charitable Foundation and our 14 member clubs are pleased to have the opportunity to assist outstanding high school seniors within our league’s footprint for the eighth consecutive season,” said Ben J. Hayes, president of the New York-Penn League.

“This program will again recognize those seniors who not only meet and exceed traditional scholarship criteria, but demonstrate the positive community impact and lifelong memories fostered by their local NYPL clubs throughout the year.”

High school seniors interested in entering the 2016 Scholarship Contest can obtain the official application at Dwyer Stadium or by visiting Muckdogs.com. The deadline to submit applications is May 20.

Each club's winner, including the three $2,500 scholarship recipients, will be selected in mid-June.

The New York-Penn League and its 14 member clubs created the New York-Penn League Charitable Foundation, a 501(c) (3) charitable organization, in 2003. The mission of the Foundation is to provide focus and support for the collective and individual charitable and community efforts of the New York-Penn League, its clubs, and their staff.

Pictured above from left are Norm Hubbard, Golf Tournament Committee chair, Chapter 166 Commander Paul Gaylord, and Doug Titus, hospital service coordinator.

Photos by Steve Ognibene.

Disabled American Veterans Chapter 166 of Batavia is the charitable organization chosen by Chapin International, Inc., host of the upcoming ninth annual Chapin Charity Golf Tournament on Saturday Aug. 13^th, at Terry Hills Golf Course, 5122 Clinton Street Road in Batavia.

This particular group was chosen because they have no outside sources for funding, said Norm Hubbard, golf tournament chair. They only get contributions from the local American Legion, and VFW, to name a couple.

"If we let other people know about this organization and the services they provide, maybe this can provide a foundation for them for the future and get more people to contribute to them," Hubbard said. "Last year we raised $8,500 for the Girl Scouts of Western New York. This year our goal is $10,000. My personal goal is $12,000.

The organization of the Disabled American Veterans DAV organization is raising funds for this tournament specifically for the Van Fund to order to transport all the vets to their appointments.

"We have six vans -- two of which have over 100,000 miles that are in need of replacing," Hubbard said. 

"Currently 13 drivers carry 183 veterans and 79 others not on their roster to appointments daily, which is quite the juggle," said coordinator Doug Titus. "We are trying to raise more awareness for the need in Genesee County at our local chapter needs assistance to provide help for our veterans."

Commander Paul Gaylord said "We get the donations to the chapter, in turn Doug buys the van, gets registered and the government takes over to make repairs, (pay) costs for fuel, but vehicles need to be purchased and to do this we need help from outside sources.

"Some vans have to be modified to make it handicapped accessible for carrying veterans. The modification costs can be as much as $18,000 or more to do this, which brings the total up to $35,000 to $40,000."

Right now only the wheelchair-bound veterans have a van that does this.

The local chapter has no Web site or funding for one online.

The office location is at: VA Western NY Healthcare System, 222 Richmond Ave., Batavia NY 14020. The contact there is Doug Titus, hospital service coordinator, 585-297-1170.

The tournament starts at 1 p.m. shotgun start at Terry Hills Golf Course. Cost is $70 per person, which includes dinner, lunch starting at 11 a.m., with registration starting at that time also. Everyone will walk away with prizes in this tournament, Hubbard said. When you register online, you get a year subscription to "Golf Digest" magazine for free, too.

For last year's golf tournament benefitting Girl Scouts of Western New York, there were 168 participants.

"This year we anticipate a 90-percent return ration and getting 200-plus participants," Hubbard said.

This year’s special events are:

• Hole-in-One, Win a car! Each set of nine holes have a par three at #7, #12, #25 hole, where you have a chance to win, courtesy of our three hole-in-one sponsors: Castilone Chrysler Dodge and Jeep, Ken Barrett Chevrolet Cadillac and Toyota of Batavia.
• Closest to the Pin
• Longest Drive
• Closest to the Line

(A male and female winner will be named for each designated hole.)

• Putting Contest starting after registering anyone who sinks a put will have a chance to win a chair from Max Pies Furniture store.
• Mulligans and Skins -- $20 per team

Questions regarding the registration contact Norm Hubbard at nhubbard@chapinmfg.com or 585-343-3140, ext. 3018, by cell phone 585-409-7575

To register your team, sponsor or donate go to: www.chapincharitygolf.com

Pictured above are members of the Batavia Sea Devils who competed in YMCA New York State Swim Meet held this past weekend at University of Buffalo.  

It was an outstanding and the Sea Devils had four swimmers that brought home championship titles.

Maiya Reinhart won the 13-14 girls 50 free, 100 free, and the 100 fly; Chris Lemley won the 15-19 boys 100 backstroke; Jackson Fix won the 9-10 boys 50 backstroke; and Aaron Trelevan won the 9-10 boys 100 free.

Maiya set a new state record in the 50 free with a time of 24.51. In addition, the following individual Y records were set: Lauren Hume (15-19 girls) 50 free, 100 free, and 200 free; Alex Kunes (15-19 boys) 500 free and 100 breast; Maiya Reinhart (13-14 girls) 50 free; Cooper Mattice (11-12 boys) 200 IM; and Jackson Fix (9-10 boys) 50 back. 

Batavia Y records were broken in the girls 15-19, 200 Free relay by Maddie LaGrou, Elle Fulton, Lauren Hume, and Maiya Reinhart. 

The relay team of Reagan Bifarella, Norah Janes, Elle Fulton and Maiya Reinhart broke two relay records for the girls 13-14 age group, the 200 Medley Relay and the 200 Free Relay.

For all the results go to: http://www.yswimmingnewyork.org/ 

To learn more about joining the Batavia Sea Devils go to their Facebook page here: Batavia Sea Devils

Photo and info provided by parents of the Batavia Sea Devils.

Registration is currently under way for Youth Recreation programs with the Gillam Grant Community Center in Bergen.

The Spring and Summer programs open for registration include youth softball, baseball and soccer. These program are open to any youth regardless of school district or town.

To register or to learn more please visit www.gillamgrant.org/register.aspx. For additional assistance contact their offices at (585) 494-1621.

Press release:

On March 4, the James P. Wilmot Cancer Center at Strong Hospital received a check for $1,277 to help combat head and neck cancer. The money was raised by the Byron-Bergen Jr./Sr. High School’s girls’ soccer team. The team, led by Coach Wayne Hill, hosted a fundraising event in October. This is the second year the team has focused their efforts on head and neck cancer. Teammate Karson Richenberg’s mother, Toni, has throat cancer.

Many local businesses supported the school’s fundraiser, including Sloat Tire Shop in Batavia, Fullerino’s Pizzeria, and NAPA Auto Parts in Bergen. They donated products and services to fill baskets that were raffled during halftime at one of the team’s games.

“We are very grateful to the many individuals and businesses in the community who donated,” said Jr./Sr. High School Interim Principal Patrick McGee. “We are so proud that our students are learning that they have the power to drive change in the world and give back to their community.”

The Byron-Bergen girls’ soccer team is no stranger to fundraising to beat cancer. Earlier years’ efforts supported breast cancer awareness. The girls' soccer team plans to expand their endeavors next year by encouraging additional athletic teams to participate.

Photo: Representatives from the Byron-Bergen girls’ soccer team presented a check for $1,277 to the doctors and medical team at Strong Hospital’s Wilmot Cancer Center. Center, holding check, is junior Karson Richenberg. Then (l-r) Toni Richenberg, junior Olivia Audsley, senior Alex Rosse, Interim Principal Patrick McGee and (far right) Coach Wayne Hill.

Batavia is no stranger to Far West Regional games. The Blue Devils have been to a few under Head Coach Buddy Brasky, including a thriller against Olean in 2013 that saw Jeff Redband's game-winner find itself on a SportsCenter Top 10 on ESPN.

Not many imagined that Batavia would be playing in a Far West Regional game this year, but the Blue Devils were indeed there, taking on a Williamsville South squad that saw its season come to an end in that very game last year.

The Billies came in riding a 13-game winning streak and were seemingly a heavy favorite to win, but Batavia withstood everything its opponent had to throw at them, holding a one-point lead late in the game.

Williamsville South, like a championship team does, rose to the challenge as Jordan Buell knocked down a three-pointer with 10.2 seconds left to give his team a two-point lead.

Batavia had one more crack, and chose to get the ball to a fifth-year varsity player, Malachi Chenault -- the only holdover from the 2013 team -- but the ball was knocked away and Brasky felt his player was fouled.

The call was not made and Williamsville South escaped with a 53-51 lead, ending Batavia's season at Buffalo State College on Saturday night (March 5).

"Did he get thrown to the ground or didn't he?" said Brasky when asked about the play after the game.

Midway through the third quarter it didn't seem like the Blue Devils would even be in position to have such a call matter late in the game.

Leading by six at halftime, Williamsville South exploded out of the gates, using an 11-3 run -- capped by a one-handed dunk by Graham Dolan -- to take a 14-point lead. It seemed like the Billies were going to cruise to Glens Falls, but Batavia was not ready to go down without a fight.

The Blue Devils went on a 13-4 run to end the third quarter down by just five points...and then T Sean Ayala took over.

The sophomore went 0 for 7 in the first half, scored seven points in the third quarter and then went on to score 13 of his game-high 20 points in the fourth quarter.

"It was just a matter of me feeling it," Ayala said. "I just told myself to come out and lead the team as best as I can because I'm the best shooter on the team."

Ayala would help lead Batavia all the way back and eventually they took a 51-50 lead on a Chenault free throw with 1:16 to play.

The Blue Devils had a chance to increase the lead but Chenault missed the front end of a one-and-one and Williamsville South grabbed the rebound.

The Billies were looking to use a play that had previously gotten star point guard Greg Dolan into the lane successfully, but Batavia closed it off, forcing them to kick it out and eventually it fell into the hands of Buell for the game-winner.

"We ran a play that had worked twice in a row for Greg to get in the lane and they guarded it very well," Williamsville South Head Coach Gabe Michael said. "But Jordan is always in that backside corner so it's hard to get over to him if we work the ball and Myles [Hall] did a nice job passing that shot up to get Jordan wide open."

It was just Buell's second basket of the game and Batavia was ultimately unsuccessful in tying or taking the lead on its last possession, regardless of the foul or non-foul call.

Hidden in the spoils of defeat was the fact that the Blue Devils battled back from a double-digit lead in the second half to eventually take the lead and put themselves in position to win the game late.

"In my 25 years coaching, in the fourth quarter, that's the most heart I've ever seen a team show," Brasky said.

Greg Dolan had team-high 17 points, six rebounds and six assists while his older brother Graham had 16 points, eight rebounds and two blocks for Williamsville South (21-3).

Chenault scored 12 points and grabbed five rebounds while Trevor Sherwood had eight points and 14 rebounds in their final high school games for Batavia, which finishes 17-8.

Twitter: @SabatoNick

Video of controversial play at close of the game (by Nick Sabato):

Photos by Howard Owens.

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A1 Pittsford Sutherland hosted A2 Batavia at Gates Chili High School last night in the Far West Regional Qualifier playoff game.  

T Sean Alaya hit two three-point buckets and Malachi Chenault added field goals to lead the Devils 16-12 after the first period. Batavia's defensive play kept Pittsford Sutherland from scoring chances on the paint and the opponents had to change up their game.

Josh Mack scored six points and a steal with Jack Ward, both from Pittsford, to bring the game closer in the second period. However, Batavia's Ryan Hogan dropped a three-pointer and two buckets to keep the Devils lead to 25-22 at the half. Trevor Sherwood added a couple assists.

The third period was led by Batavia as they held Pittsford Sutherland to four points. Holding them to four points was a key to our success, said Head Coach Buddy Brasky. Batavia's Greg Mruczek and Jake Schrider added some defensive play to allow Batavia to increase their lead to nine points 35-26 to end the quarter.  

In the fourth quarter Pittsford Sutherland fouled nine times to bring Batavia to score 14 points. Each time Pittsford Sutherland got the ball they were sinking threes left and right. Kevin Davis and Robbie Doggett combined for five three-point buckets; Jack Ward added four points but the Blue Devils held on and never gave up the lead to win 57-53.

Batavia's top scorers were Chenault 17 points, Hogan 12 and Alaya with 10.

Pittsford Sutherland's top contributors were Doggett 17, Mack 16 and Ward with 14.

Batavia's record increases to 17-7 and will play Section VI Williamsville South with a record of 21-3 this Saturday at Buffalo State College at 7 p.m.

For more photos go to: Steve Ognibene Photography

We've seen Buddy Brasky celebrate sectional championships before, but he seemed to relish Sunday's 64-57 win over Wilson with a little more gusto.

"This was a very emotional one," Brasky told reporters after the game. "In a lot of ways, this was the hardest one. We had a lot of ups and downs during the season, but we came together at the right time, got into a little roll at the end."

The Blue Devils are now 16-7, and those seven wins are unusually high for a Brasky-coached team and a sectional championship and reflect the up-and-down nature of Batavia's 2015-16 season. There were certainly a couple of points during the course of the year that even making it to the postseason seemed in doubt.

"It's a little bit more special because it wasn't expected," Brasky said.

One challenge this year was the Blue Devils lacked what Brasky called that "go-to-guy," the guy who scores in bunches and the other team knows they have to account for him at all times. Last year, it was Jeff Redband. Before that, Jalen Smith. Before Smith, Andrew Hoy and prior to Hoy, Mike Chmielowiec.

The current edition of the Blue Devils learned over the course of the season, they had to call on each other and pick up each other to be successful.

"The good thing about this (no standout scorer) is that when one person is off, we've got other people to go to and they really step up when it's time," said senior forward Malachi Chenault.

That even attack was certainly evident over the 32 minutes of the championship game. Four players hit double figures in scoring and a fifth was just a point short. TeeSean Ayala led the way with 17 points, hitting four three-pointers, with Jake Schrider adding 13, Ryan Hogan, 12, Chenault 11, and Trevor Sherwood, nine. Chenault also snagged 11 rebounds, with Schrider and Hogan picking up seven apiece, Sherwood, six, and Ayala, five.

"It's kind of fitting that it was spread out like that today because that's the kind of team we were," Brasky said.

It was the type of game where it seemed Batavia was in control all the way, and most of the time, especially from about midway through the first quarter, they held the lead. Sometimes it was by 10 or 11 points, sometimes, only two or three. They held on, but not so tightly that the specter of a Wilson run didn't hang heavy over the court.

"That's the way it's been for us all year and one reason it's been that way is we struggle to score," Brasky said. "We can never put a team away. We get up six, seven, eight, nine points, even 12, and we have trouble delivering the knockout punch."

There was a point about midway through the third quarter when it looked as if Batavia was about to let Wilson make a run and Brasky called a time out.

"They were saying, 'we can't fold, we can't fold,' and I told them, 'You're not going to fold,' " Brasky said. " 'You're not going to fold. All you've got to do is relax, take a deep breath and you're in control of this game.You're not going to fold,' and they didn't. They handled the pressure. They made a lot of clutch free throws down the stretch and did what is needed to win down the stretch."

It was a well-timed timeout.

"Sometimes you wait too long because you want to save your timeouts for the end of the game, but sometimes you've just got to call them and I thought it was time, so I called it and it stemmed the tide, I guess," Brasky said.

As meaningful as the championship was for Brasky, it also meant a lot to the players, who endured the same ups and downs during the season as their coach.

"We had a goal coming in to win a sectional championship," said Ryan Hogan. "When it came time to start sectionals, we had to turn it on, and we knew that. The seniors had to step it up and we did."

Sherwood agreed.

"We knew we just had to work together and play as a team and that's what we did tonight and it paid off," Sherwood said.

Chenault, a senior who joined the varsity squad in eighth grade, just before that team headed into the postseason, said winning with the seniors he's practiced with throughout his basketball life was something special.

"It's just a great feeling, you know, with the squad we have and the effort we put into it," Chenault said. "It's about due that Batavia won one again. This is my senior class and going it with them is a wonderful feeling."

One reason the team was able to pull together, Brasky said, is that the team held together as a team, even in the down times.

"They all really cared about each other, and that's what kept us afloat, too," Brasky said. "Through ups and downs, they really cared about each other."

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Interview and photos by Mike Carney.

Three times this season, Notre Dame played Geneseo and lost, but there was really only one game that truly mattered, and that was the fourth one.

The Fighting Irish won that game, 2-0, to capture the Class B Section V championship in hockey.

"Coming into this game, I think the kids were anxious for one last shot, one last shot," said Head Coach Marc Staley. "I said, 'The good thing about the first three losses is no one handed a trophy out after those games, but they're handing one out tonight boys and you can erase the demons with one good effort.' "

That effort put the emphasis on defense. Notre Dame has scored prodigiously all season long, but Staley said he recognized that Geneseo goalie Morgan Brown is the best player in the league.

"We knew that weren't going to score four or five goals against them, so we thought we had to play a crazy good defensive game," Staley said. 

H. Toivainen scored the game-winning goal in the first period at 8:28. The second goal was by B. Moscicki on an empty net late in the game. The MVP was Toivainen.

It's been 26 years since Jeanette Filbert played in a sectional title game. In her senior year at Batavia High School, the Lady Blue Devils came into the final with a 19-0 record and high hopes of winning the school's first championship in girls basketball.

The girls didn't win that year. Pittsford-Mendon, a perennial powerhouse, dashed the dreams of hardwood glory for the girls and Filbert never forgot what that was like, and for 26 years, she's watched from the sidelines as Mendon came out on top game after game and blocked Batavia's path to the Section V trophy it lacked.

But history doesn't always repeat. Sometimes, life comes full circle and dreams do come true.

Friday night, Batavia finally -- and perhaps for the first time ever -- beat Mendon, winning the long-coveted Section V Class A2 trophy by a score of 53-42.

It was sweet revenge.

"I'm impressed," Filbert said. "They (Mendon) always have a good program. They are well coached always, and being from Batavia, a small town, coming here to play in a Rochester district, it always felt a little unfair, but I'm very proud of our girls. I can't express how I truly feel. They're a well-coached team and these girls in Batavia, they deserve this."

The girls on the 2016 championship team include a basketball prodigy, arguably the best female player in Section V, and that would be Tiara Filbert, Jeanette's daughter.

"First, I give all honor to God," Jeanette said. "We are truly blessed with her talent, but there are no words to describe how I feel right now. Like I said, this was 26 years in the making and to be able to be here and to have my daughter be a part of the team that brought them here ... again, it's not about her, it's about the team effort. She couldn't do what she did without the team helping her."

What Tiara did was score 27 points, grab 18 rebounds and notch five steals on the way to being named tournament MVP.

Tiara being Tiara, even when asked pointedly about her performance, didn't take any credit herself.

"We all came in with a positive mindset," she said. "We knew we were going to do everything we can to win. I know I had to come in and play my game and I knew our team, we were going to come together and be able to play 32 minutes of basketball."

And that they did. It never really felt like Mendon had a chance. Oh, they would claw back from 12 and 14 point deficits, but then Batavia would put together another 10- or 12-point run and pull away again.

Filbert said Mendon never managed to get the team rattled, even when they got within a point or two of the lead.

"We all know it's part of basketball," Tiara said. "You've got to keep going on to the next one no matter what happens in a game. You've got to keep an optimistic outlook on things, and we knew our defense was going to take care of our offense for us."

Head Coach Marty Hein said he had a lot of confidence in his seniors, especially Tiara coming into the game.  

"If she's not the best girl in Section V, she's second place," Hein said. "Out of 115 teams in Section V, if I've got the second best player, anything can happen. Mendon's a great team. Taking nothing away from Mendon, nothing away from Todd, but having that type of caliber player, it's going to take two, three girls to even come close to stopping her."

Speaking of team effort, there would be no sectional title in Batavia today if not for the play of Sam Cecere, whose double-double (16 points and 10 rebounds) was crucial to Batavia's success.

By her own admission, Cecere has struggled a bit lately scoring. In the semifinal game three nights ago, she missed her first 10 shots before scoring six in the second half. In practice this week, she worked hard on getting in position a bit quicker and finishing with the ball in the bucket.

"The feeling (of winning the title) is just unreal," Cecere said. "Four years ago, I was in this gym as a freshman and we lost a sectional final and from that point forward, I was motivated to get a trophy and make it ours. The fact that we got here and got a great win just feels unreal. It's amazing."

The win was especially meaningful because it came against Mendon, Cecere said. 

"It feels good to give them a taste of their own medicine, really," Cecere said. "We've always lost to them as long as I've been on varsity and they've always been hard games. They always have players who are so good, but this time, we were the better team and that feels amazing."

There was a time early in the season when even the most confident of coaches and the most rabid of Blue Devil fans might have a flicker of doubt that this truly would be the year the girls would win their first sectional title, and that was in January, when the Lady Devils lost a key component of the team's offense. Maddy McCully's season ended during the Rotary Tournament when she suffered an ACL and MCL injury.

There were no post-game All-Star trophy's for McCully, who cheered her teammates from the bench dressed in her jersey with a black calf-to-thigh brace on her leg, but Hein said her contribution to the team can't be understated.

Even injured, McCully grew as a senior leader, Hein said. 

"Maddy's growth made Taylor's (Stefaniak) growth," Hein said. "Watching last year's film against Mendon, she looked like a freshman, completely like a freshman. Ryann (Stefaniak), who is a freshman now, in the second game of the season, when we lost to Mendon, looked like a freshman. You know, she didn't look like a freshman tonight. That all goes to Maddy's help, all the time talking with the girls."

While neither of the Stefaniak sisters made it into double digits on scoring Friday (they scored five apiece), they both played with confidence and helped with ball movement on offense and were key parts of Batavia's successful defense.

"They definitely stepped up big time for us after Maddy went down," Tiara said. "They had big games against Notre Dame in our tournament. They came out strong. They kept coming back. We just had to keep them in a positive mindset and they came out here and they handled their business."

Top photo: Tiara Filbert.

Always fearless in the paint, Ryann Stefaniak did get tagged with an offensive foul in the second quarter.

Sam Cecere was dominate in the low post.

Filbert, as usual, was a threat inside and out.

Taylor Stefaniak with a layup in the fourth quarter.

Sam Cecere's father was ebullient (see slideshow below) and emotional in the final minutes as it became increasingly clear his daughter's team was about to win a championship.

Post-game celebration.

The team bus received a police and fire escort down Main Street when the team returned to Batavia.

Back at the high school.

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