Sports

This morning was the 2nd annual Elba 5K sponsored by First Presbyterian Church of Elba.

The men's winner was Michael Richenberg, 21, with a time of 17:34. That's a new course record. Richenberg has run 21 5Ks this season and won seven of them.

The women's winner was Stephanie Schmidt, 18, with a time of 20:14.

Tom Rivers, Daily News staff writer and author of the book "Farm Hands"

Stephanie Schmidt

Michael Richenberg

John Sisson, above, tries out the revitalized bowling lanes at Mancuso Bowling Center, behind T.F. Brown's, in Batavia.

All 24 lanes were screened (kind of like sanding) and recoated over the summer, according to manager Mike Sputore.

At one time, the Mancusos recoated the lanes only every few years, now they try to do it every year or two.

"We've noticed better scores with the more frequently we do it," Sputore said.

In an effort to spiff up the lanes even more, the walls have been repainted, the bowler's approach area resurfaced and many worn parts of the pin machinery replaced.

To help give bowlers a chance to try out the revitalized lanes, Mancuso's is offering $1 per-game specials from 4 to 9 p.m., Aug. 20 through Aug. 26.

Through August, Mancuso Bowling Center is open 3 to 9 p.m. and from noon to 8 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.

Bob Matthews, who has always hated the idea of pro baseball in Batavia (I have no idea why), has a column in the D&C today lamenting the new rankings by Street & Smith of minor league cities.

Rochester has fallen to #20.  

But also bad in Matthews' mind is that Batavia came in fairly high among 241 cities ranked.

Batavia was No. 36. I have no idea why.

The baseball Muckdogs are the only pro team, they're operated by the Red Wings and they could be on shaky ground. Batavia ranked 42nd in tenure (for how long?), 81st in attendance (no way) and 98th in economy.

The full rankings can be viewed here.

Unfortunately, Street & Smith doesn't explain its attendance ranking, but it's probably based on a percentage of the host city's population, and with less than 16,000 people in the City of Batavia, the percentage for the Muckdogs is pretty good.

There are a handful of cities ranked above Batavia with only one sports franchise.

Submitted by Eric Boyce:

Linus Chumba, of Nyack, wins the 20th annual Jenny Kuzma Memorial Bergen 5K by running away from the field on Saturday. 

Chumba led from start to finish and set a new course record with a time of 14:26. The pervious course record was 14:36 by Kyle Heath, of Syracuse. 

Chumba came from New York City in search of the Bergen 5K prize money the night before the race by bus, where he told the race director that he got less than two hours of sleep. 

On the women's side, Maegan Krifchin, a 2010 Syracuse graduate, won the race and also set a new course record by running 16:29, three seconds off of her fastest 5K time ever. 

Krifchin was the 4th-place finisher amid the 1st-place American at the Utica Boilermaker 15K race, which had over 11,000 runners.  

This year's race saw the top 50 finishers running 17:12 or faster. 

The Bergen 5K is one of the most competitive 5K races in New York State and had 260 finishers on Saturday. 

Results, videos and photos can be found at  www.bergenroadrace.com

A record number of entrants showed up for the East Pembroke Fire Department's annual mud races. It was a perfect day for mud racing and the action was non-stop.

Below, a slide show of additional photos from the event.  To purchase pictures taken by Howard Owens from this event click here.

Below, photos of the mud queen race and the winner (name not yet available) submitted by Destin Danser.

Press release:

 BATAVIA, NY – Today’s game between the Batavia Muckdogs and Vermont Lake Monsters has been canceled due to rain. This game will not be made up. Anyone with a ticket to today’s game can exchange it for a ticket of equal or lesser value to any remaining home game.

The Muckdogs return home on Saturday, Aug. 20, to take on the Mahoning Valley Scrappers at 7:05 p.m.

Press release: 

BATAVIA, NY – Tonight’s game between the Batavia Muckdogs and Brooklyn Cyclones has been postponed due to rain and wet field conditions. This game will be made up as part of a double-header on Wednesday, Aug. 10. We will play two seven-inning games, with the first game starting at 5:05 p.m. Gates will open at 4 p.m. Any person with tickets to tonight’s game can exchange their tickets for any other regular season game, subject to availability.

The Rob Ray autograph appearance will be rescheduled for Saturday, Aug. 27. 

Press release:

Batavia, NY – The 2011 New York-Penn League All-Star roster will include a league high of six players from Batavia. They will send catcher Juan Castillo, infielders Joey Bergman and David Medina, and pitchers Jonathan Cornelius, Seth Maness and Todd McInnis to the game to be held Tuesday, Aug. 16 at LeLacheur Park in Lowell, Mass.

Perez was an undrafted free agent signing in 2006 and has started 27 games as catcher for the Muckdogs this season. He is currently batting .327 with eight doubles and 15 RBI’s. Castillo has also been solid behind the plate this year and has helped guide the pitching staff to a team ERA of 3.85.

Bergman, a 33rd round pick in the 2010 draft, will be making his second consecutive all-star appearance and has been among the league leaders in hitting all season. Bergman currently ranks fifth in the league in hitting, with a .320 batting average, to go along with eight doubles and 17 RBIs.

David Medina was signed by the Cardinals as an undrafted free agent in 2006 and is enjoying a stellar first season with the Muckdogs. His seven home runs are tied for fourth in the league and his 33 runs scored are third in the league. Medina who plays a mixture of first base and outfield, was selected as a first baseman for this year’s squad.

A 24th round pick out of Florida Tech, Cornelius is 1-2 with 37 strikeouts in 11 outings for the Muckdogs. The left-hander’s ERA of 2.85 ranks him ninth in the league and hitters are only hitting .194 against him, good for second in the league.

St. Louis drafted Maness out of Eastern Carolina in the 11th round of the 2011 draft. He has appeared in nine games and has a 0-0 record with a 0.52 ERA. In 34.2 innings of work, he has struck out 27 batters and only allowed 20 hits.

McInnis, a 25th round pick out of Southern Mississippi, is third in the league with 2.12 ERA and a record of 3-2. His WHIP of just 0.92 leads the league and batters are hitting just .208 against him.

Batavia holds the fourth-place spot in the Pinckney Division with a record of 24-26. This marks the third time in four years that the Muckdogs have sent at least five players to the All-Star game. The Muckdogs sent five players to the 2008 All-Star game, three in 2009 and five in 2010.

Photo: Joey Bergman from earlier this season. By Howard Owens

I spent a little time at the Attica Rodeo on Saturday hoping to come away with some pictures of Genesee County residents competing. I came away with two.

Above, Rob Wright of Alexander wrestles with a calf. Below, Tim and Todd Buckenmier compete in calf roping.

Below, a slide show of other photos I took while I was there.

The Batavia Bulldawgs Youth Football Team is selling raffle tickets for a 2011 Johnny Pag Spyder motorcycle.

The tickets are $40 each and only 150 will be sold.

The drawing is scheduled for Aug. 28 during the seniors' game at John Kennedy School (approximately 2:45 p.m.)

Tickets may be purchased at IR Systems, 309-311 West Main St., or potential winners can call John Riegle at (716) 228-5787 or Ken Proefrock at 794-6034 for tickets.

Pictured above are Riegle, left, and Proefrock with the bike.

Batavia Soccer Club U19 girls soccer team finished off an undefeated season Tuesday with a championship win over Spencerport, 4-2.

The team finishes the year with a 12-0 record in the Monroe United Recreational Soccer League.

Scoring for Batavia were Randi Zakes, Kaeleigh DiSalvo and Haley Tangeman. Goalie Brooke Ranney had 11 saves.

Batavia was able to pull out a victory despite having only enough players Tuesday to cover the field. There were no substitutes available.

Players on the team, which is sponsored by Genesee Orthopedics, range in age from 14 to 19, and include four pairs of sisters.

"This year this team of old and young players really meshed," Coach Gary DiSalvo said.

The roster consisted of (players in bold participated in Tuesday's game): Kaitlyn Allen, Allison Bartholomew, Raven Bentkowski, Brenda Castaneda, Chelsea Cleveland, Kaeleigh DiSalvo, Nicole DiSalvo, Taylor Dziuba, Andrea Easton, Taylor Grazioplene, Erin Hale, Michaela Hale, Cady Hume, Jenna Hume, Jenifer Igoe, Savannah Matteson, Katie Newton, Brooke Ranney, Emily Sallome, Haley Tangeman, Bittany Wall, Morgan Zakes and Randi Zakes.

Over the course of the season, Batavia beat teams from Gates; Irondequoit; Churchville, Chili, Spencerport, Le Roy/Pavilion and Rush/Henrietta.

Slide show of more photos from the game below. To purchase photographic prints from this event, click here.

Batavia's 11-year-old All Stars run at a championship season came to an end Monday with an 12-2 loss to Tonawanda.

Tonawanda moves on to the state championship next week in Pinebush.

Batavia made it to the District 1 regional championship game after beating Seneca Falls and Oleans.

Batavia’s Casey Radka turned a double play for the team, with Jerry Reinhart who pitched well in the loss to Tonawanda. Nick Bezinque and Evan Bender had the hits for Batavia in a well-played game by both teams. 

The 2011 11-year-old All Star roster included: Evan Bender, Alex Jones, Jerry Rinehart, Philip Koziol, Taylor Stefaniak, Nick Bezinque, AJ Marcello, Casey Radka, Griffen Moore, Michael Calderon and Cameron Ells.

The coaches were James Soggs, Dave Hall and Todd Bender

The team was coached by James Soggs, Dave Hall and Todd Bender.

Slide show of more photos below (be sure to click on the button in the lower right for full screen version).

Pictures from this event can be purchased by clicking here.