The season has been played, the championships contested, and in Batavia Youth Baseball, after finals were played, two teams stand atop the rest.
In the 12U Division, The Guardians edged out the Dodgers 2-1.
In the 10U Division, The Royals Barbershop Mets defeated the Angels 10-8.
Submitted photos and information.
When you're playing in the postseason, good defense helps win games, and Le Roy's 12-U Little League team didn't commit a single error on its way to a 10-0 victory on Wednesday against ECLV.
Drew Beachel tossed a complete game shutout. He went five innings and struck out 15 hitters, allowing only one hit.
Le Roy opened with four runs in the first inning with hits from Sammy Bogue and Michael Warner. Ethan Rose had an RBI ground out as well.
Warner and Dalton Luke each went deep in the game.
Overall, Le Roy had eight hits. Warner and Bogue had multi-hit games. Beachel, Eddie Lathan, Luke and Ryan Crissy all chipped in with one hit a piece. RBIs were recorded by Rose, Luke, Warner, and Beachel (2). Runs scored were recorded by Matthew McCulley, Beachel, Warner (2), Ryker Vangalio, Rose, Lathan, Carson Wetsell, Luke, and Carter McClurg.
Le Roy plays for the district championship at 6 p.m. on Friday.
Submitted info and photo.
The Batavia Muckdogs continued their recent winning ways and padded their lead in the PGCBL Western Division by dominating their closest division rival, the Jamestown Tarp Skunks, for a 9-2 win at home on Wednesday.
Julian Pichardo, a University of Fort Lauderdale senior and in his third year with the Muckdogs, notched his 100 career strikeout in the game.
Pichardo got the win (3-0, 1.73) by going 6 2/3 innings, allowing only one run.
He now has K'd 103 batters in his PGCBL career.
It was also a big night for Josh Leadem. The U of R senior scored his 50th career run in the PGCBL, and with three runs scored in the game, now has 53. He was 2-4 with two doubles and two stolen bases.
Leadem is hitting .238 on the season but has drawn 11 walks. He has 21 stolen bases, 18 runs scored, 15 hits, seven RBIs, and one of the team's two home runs.
Adam Agresti went 2-3 with a run scored, a double, and two RBIs, along with a walk. Henry Daniels went 2-2 with an RBI.
The Muckdogs are now 17-8 on the season, and the Tarp Skunks fall to 13-8.
The attendance on Wednesday was 1,844.
Tonight (Thursday), the Muckdogs travel to Geneva to face the Red Wings. They're back home on Friday for a non-league game against Syracuse. Game time is 6:35 p.m. On Saturday, they face Elmira at home. Game time is 6:35 p.m.
The Batavia Muckdogs picked up their 16th win of the 2023 season on Tuesday in an Independence Day match-up in Niagara against the Power.
Tyrone Woods went 6 2/3 innings to pick up the win in the Muckdogs' 3-2 victory. He struck out four. The Alexander resident and GCC student is 2-1 on the season with a 2.91 ERA.
Rijnaldo Euson, who also has two wins on the season, picked up the save, his second.
The Muckdogs' offense:
With the win, the Muckdogs put another game between them and third-place Niagara (11-8) and remain a game ahead of second-place Jamestown (13-7), which is tonight's (Wednesday) opponent at Dwyer Stadium. Game time is 6:35 p.m.
The Muckdogs are 8-1 over their last nine official league games and 10-1 overall during that span.
With flags flying and fans anticipating a post-game fireworks show, the Batavia Muckdogs took to the field Monday night for a non-league game against Erie-Buffalo and won 8-7.
Giuseppe Archuri was named Player of the Game, going 3-3 and scoring two runs.
No box score is available for the game.
Arcuri, from Allentown, N.J., has become one of the team's most productive hitters, with 21 hits, an Avg. of .309, and 13 RBI.
Adam Agresti leads the team with an average of .375. He also has 21 hits to go along with 11 RBIs. He's eighth in the league in average.
Matt DeStefano, of Westbury, is hitting .333 (12 hits) with seven walks.
James Aselta is hitting .365 but doesn't have enough at-bats (22) to qualify among league leaders. Anthony Calabro has drawn 14 walks to go along with 11 RBIs with an average of .238. Infielder Lucas Lopez is hitting .300.
The next home game is Wednesday at 6:35 p.m. against the Jamestown Tarp Skunks.
Photos by Nick Serrata.
In Part 1, published on May 16, I detailed my love of sports as a kid and replaced my short and disastrous high school football career with a more enjoyable experience on the Notre Dame cross-country team.
Roundball Remembrances
A big accomplishment for me in my sophomore year was overcoming my diffidence and fear to try out for the Junior Varsity basketball team. I was 6 feet 3 inches tall, and my friends kept goading me to give it a shot (no pun intended). Making it difficult however was the fact that my hoops skills were limited to making a right-handed layup and tying my Converse high-top sneakers. Fortunately for me, the coach was the aforementioned Pete Corbelli and since he knew me from cross-country, we had a good relationship. Somehow Coach Pete put me on the team (to the dismay of a few other guys who were probably better players), and I always thought maybe it was because he saw a kid who needed a boost in confidence. I will always be indebted to him for his kindness.
Again, I don't remember much about any of the games that season. I just recall feeling like a possum in the headlights every time Pete would put me in the game because I pretty much had no idea what I was doing. As the year went by, I must have learned some basic skills just by going to practice every day. The thing that made me the happiest was that I got to be part of a team, even if didn't get to play very many important minutes.
In my Junior year, I wasn't eligible for JV anymore (even though that was probably my skill level), so I had to try out for the Varsity. The coach was Lucien “Lou” Lodestro, so I couldn't count on Corbelli to sneak me in again. Unbelievably to me (and probably to a bunch of guys who got cut), I made the team.
I remember approaching the team roster Coach Lou had posted on the gym door with trepidation and just standing there stunned when I saw my name. I guess inheriting tallness genes from my dad (the rest of his brothers and sisters were short) made the difference. Being six foot three was sometimes a pain (feet hanging over the end of the bed, hitting my head on low-hanging light fixtures, dancing with shorter girls if I could even work up the nerve to ask them), but in this case, it worked in my favor.
I don't know our team record from that year, but I'm sure we had a losing one. Coach Lou gave me some decent playing minutes, and it always put a big smile on my face if I scored (rarely) and the cheerleaders would break into, “ Ho Hi Sip Si, Dave Reilly, he's our guy.” The season highlight was making the winning layup in one home game on a pass from senior teammate Don Andrews who had stolen the ball. Why I was in the game at the end is a mystery. Maybe some guys had fouled out, or a mysterious illness had swept through the team.
One of the good things about having been part of a team is the shared memories that you and your teammates have, including humorous ones.
One of our games was in Buffalo against St. Mary's School For The Deaf. This was a small private school that served a particular type of clientele and had probably under 100 students. One of their players was named Bob Sheak, and he had received a lot of press in Buffalo for his achievements on the court. Some of us, thinking we were funny, were joking about him on the bus and in the locker room, saying that he would probably come out in a turban (Sheiks wear a traditional headgear called a keffiyeh but we were ignorant high school boys) and a robe with a harem of cheerleaders. Well, he came out all right in a regular uniform and scored a bunch of points, and they beat us.
That night was another bunch of lessons learned about life by us.
Another funny incident (although not at the time) was when our old team bus broke down at a Thruway toll booth. Our athletic director, Father Dave Scheider, got the whole team out of the bus by exclaiming,” What are you guys waiting for? The bus isn't going to start itself!” and we collectively pushed it until our long-time driver Gordon Judd popped the clutch and got it started. That must have made quite the scene for passing drivers. We had to laugh through our embarrassment.
A completely ridiculous thing a few of us did after school and before practice was to sneak outside to Soccio Street to have a cigarette in brothers Bill and Jack Bishop's old car they drove to school. Were we nicotine-addicted fiends? Not at all. We actually only took a few drags because we were rushed for time and didn't want to get caught. Personally, at that time, I bet I didn't even smoke 10 cigarettes a week. Why did we do it? Why do teenagers do a lot of silly things? A bit of rebellion, a bit of trying to get away with something, maybe.
On one occasion, Father Scheider did catch a couple of us smoking outside the gym exit door, and we got suspended for a game. Taking away my less-than-stellar production was not going to hurt the team, but I think I stopped sneaking smokes after that because I was embarrassed and felt I had let Father Scheider (who was a good guy) down.
A couple of humorous memories of Father Dave: When he was coaching (he had been an outstanding athlete at Batavia High) or just cheering us on from the stands or sidelines, if he got upset with something we did, he would yell out, “C'mon you pork chop!” That was his priestly epithet of choice. I think a local restaurant at the time should have had Father Dave Pork Chops on their menu.
One year in basketball, a number of us had started making the sign of the cross for luck before shooting free throws. After a few games of this, Father Scheider addressed it in the locker room in no uncertain terms.“ Knock that stuff off pork chops! You do the playing, we'll do the praying.”
He was a character for sure.
Senior Struggles
In my Senior year, 1963-64, either Lou Lodestro or the school decided that coaching both football and basketball was too much for one man, so a former Niagara University player named Don Satterly was hired for the hoops job. This move turned out badly for me. Coach Lou must have realized that we didn't really have the talent to win a lot of games, so he tried to give everyone (even me) a chance to play. Coach Satterly had different ideas and spent the season trying to overachieve. His management style could be summed up in one pre-game speech he gave,“ Hey, you guys. Some of my friends are coming to the game tonight, so don't embarrass me.”
We were having a miserable season, and I was playing very little, if at all. I understood that I wasn't very good, but when we were losing by 25, and I didn't even get in at the end for a couple of minutes, it was very defeating. I came to practice every day (and then had to take the city bus to the other end of town and walk half a mile to my house) and worked as hard as anyone else.
The final straw came after a Friday night away game at Le Roy. There was a big crowd, including a lot of our fans (many of our students, including some teammates who came from Le Roy to our Catholic school), and as we entered the court, the Le Roy Band (we didn't have a band) broke into the Notre Dame Fight Song. Being a huge ND fan since I was little, this actually gave me goosebumps.
Well, we were 1-9 at the time, and it didn't take long to see that we were going to be 1-10. In the last few minutes, we were down by 20, and there I sat on the bench, watching the seconds tick away. All the pre-game warm feelings had evaporated into a mixture of sadness and anger.
I can't remember if some words were exchanged with the coach in the locker room when we got back to Batavia, but it would have taken a lot of nerve from a shy kid like me to speak up. I guess I probably muttered, “I quit” and walked out the door.
Afterward, I fumed all that night and all day Saturday. I knew I had to do something to stand up for myself, though.
The following day on Sunday, there was an away game at Cardinal Mindzenty in Dunkirk, which was 90 miles away. Our team manager, Wally Sorenson, had a car, and I found out he was going to drive there on his own. I asked if I could go with him, and my act of defiance was to sit in the crowd and let the coach see I was there. I didn't do anything overt or cause any problems. I just wanted him to be aware of me. He probably didn't care much, but I did. It was a sad end to a disappointing season and experience for me.
Getting On Track
As my senior year and high school days moved toward a close, I still had bad feelings about how basketball had ended. I wanted to do something sports-wise to finish up on a positive note. Baseball was not an option, but some of my friends and teammates from the cross-country team were also on the track and field squad, and they encouraged me to join them.
I had never been a good distance runner, but the coach, the previously mentioned Father Dave Scheider, gave me a chance at running the quarter mile event (now 400 meters) and also being one of the four runners on the mile (today 1500 meters) relay team. Once again, I wasn't outstanding in any way, but I did come in third a few times and helped the relay team be victorious in some meets.
It was a good positive experience, and I felt like I contributed more than just being the team clown.
One race I do remember was that I was actually in first place heading to the finish line, and about 5 yards from the finish line, my legs just totally gave out, and I ended up doing a face plant into the cinder (there were few synthetic rubber surfaces back then) track. I think I was able to get up and take third, but the first aid kit supplies of iodine and band-aids definitely got used on the bus on the way home.
My most memorable track experience did not even involve me directly. At the end of the year, All Catholic Meet at the University of Buffalo Stadium, my teammates and I cheered wildly in the stands as fellow senior Dan Martin surprised everyone (except perhaps himself) and won the prestigious mile race. Not only did he beat everyone from our small school division, he also triumphed over more well-known runners from the much larger Buffalo Catholic schools.
We celebrated with Dan all the way back to Batavia on the bus after that stunning upset.
Notre Dame Hall Of Mediocrity
After graduating in 1964, I moved on to St. John Fisher College in Rochester. At that time, like Notre Dame, it was a very small school. Even so, I had no illusions that I could make any of its teams and never bothered to try out. I played some intramural basketball, but that was it. Later in life, I resumed playing basketball with some fellow teachers and friends and am proud to say that I managed to play until age 66.
Of the thousands of students who have played sports at Notre Dame since 1951, I would definitely rank in the bottom ten percent. I guess in my favor would be that I participated on three separate teams and earned a varsity letter in each. I certainly have no regrets (except for my senior year of basketball) and do have pleasant memories of being a participant and teammate with some great guys like Mike Palloni, Jim Heatherman, Dan Martin, Don Andrews, Bill Rideout, Dick McEneny, Jim Fix, Paul Messina, Tom Howe, Pat O'Gorman, Bob Callahan, Joe Scanlon, John Francis and more.
Overall, playing sports contributed to widening my experiences and bringing me out of my shell of shyness. Go Irish!
The Batavia Muckdogs beat Queen City on Saturday night at Dwyer Stadium, 7-6.
There is no box score available for the game.
On Monday, Batavia hosts Erie-Buffalo on a night that will include an Independence Day celebration with post-game fireworks.
To view or purchase photos, click here.
Photos by Steve Ognibene
Le Roy Little League's 12U all-stars defeated Bolivar 10-0 after four innings due to mercy rule.
Le Roy opened up the game with six runs in the first inning. Matthew McCully and Eddie Lathan had two RBIs each in the first.
Drew Beachel went 2 and 2/3 innings allowing one hit and no runs while striking out six, walking none and tossing only 35 pitches.
In the third, Beachel and McCulley opened the inning with back-to-back home runs.
Le Roy had five total hits on the day: McCulley, two, Eddie Lathan, Ryan Crissy, and Drew Beachel each with one, and RBIs were recorded by Blake Biracree, Drew Beachel, Matthew McCulley, two, Eddie Lathan, three.
Scoring runs were Sammy Bogue, Drew Beachel, Matthew McCulley, two, Michael Warner, Ryker Vangalio, Ethan Rose, Eddie Lathan, two, and Dalton Luke.
Le Roy is now 2-0 in the Little League All-Stars series
To view or purchase photos, click here.
Photos by Steve Ognibene
The Batavia Muckdogs ran their win streak to seven games on Thursday in an unusual fashion: A walk-off interference call.
With the score tied 3-3 in the 10th inning against Niagara Power, an umpire ruled Power's third baseman Andrew Fairbrother interfered with the Muckdog's runner, Anthony Calabro, while Calabro was advancing to third on a wild pitch. Calabro was awarded home plate and the winning run.
Garrett Beaver, who pitched the final two frames and didn't give up a hit or a run while striking out two, got the win. Starter Julian Pichardo went six innings, giving up four hits, two runs (one earned) and striking out six.
Earlier in the evening, the Muckdogs picked up a win against Niagara by completing a game the two teams started on Tuesday, which was suspended in the bottom of the ninth.
At the time of the suspension, the Muckdogs trailed 5-4 with one out and Caleb Rodriguez at the plate on a 3-2 count. Matt DeStefano was on third base.
When the game resumed, Rodriquez singled, driving in DeStefano.
Rashad Robinson then reached on an error, putting runners at first and second. Rodriguez then scored the winning run on a single by Lucas Lopez.
Garrett Beaver got the win in relief. Adam Agresti went 3-3.
The Muckdogs are now 15-7 on the season and a game ahead of Jamestown (12-6) in the Western Division and two games ahead of Elmira (11-7).
Tonight (Friday), the Muckdogs are on the road for a game against Niagara Power. They return to Dwyer on Saturday to start a three-game homestand. First up, Queen City at 6:35 p.m. On Sunday, the game time is 4:05 p.m. against Elimra, and on Monday, with a 4th of July Fireworks celebration to follow, the Muckdogs play Erie Buffalo at 6:35 p.m.
At the game on Monday, be sure to visit The Batavian's booth.
Photos by Nick Serrata.
The Batavia Muckdogs won their fifth-straight game in a big way on Monday, beating the Geneva Red Wings 8-4.
The Muckdogs collected 15 hits.
Key offensive contributors:
Ryan Kinney came on in relief, tossed 2 1/3 innings of hitless, scoreless ball to pick up his second win. His ERA is 0.77.
The 'Dogs (13-7, first place in the West) are back home tonight (Tuesday) against Niagara Power. Game time is 6:35 p.m.
The Batavia Muckdogs picked up their fourth straight win at home on Saturday, beating Elmira 9-2.
At 12-7, the Muckdogs are tied for first place in the Western Division, percentage points behind Niagara Power, 9-4. Amsterdam leads the Eastern Division at 17-1.
Jack Keeler (2-0, 3.21) got the win, going five innings, giving up three hits and two runs (neither were earned), while walking two and striking out two.
Ben Weber picked up his first save, going two innings and striking out four.
Matt DeStefano (Avg. .347) reached base in all four plate appearances, going 2-2 with two Walks, an RBI and a run scored. Victor Alongi went 2-4 with three RBIs. Anthony Calabro scored two runs.
The Muckdogs host Geneva today (Sunday) at 4:05 p.m.
The Batavia Muckdogs picked up a 3-2 win in Newark on Friday, 3-2, over the Pilots.
Preston Prince went five innings and whiffed five, giving up only one hit and one run to notch the win.
Adam Agresti and Matt DeStefano duplicated each other's stat line, each going 2-4 with an RBI and a double.
At 11-7, the Muckdogs are tied for first in the Western Division with Niagara and Elmira.
The Elmira Pioneers will be at Dwyer Stadium tonight (Saturday). Game time is 6:35 p.m.
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.
Photos by Nick Serrata.
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.
FINAL STANDINGS
1, Bryanna Coté, Tucson, Ariz., 401 (two games), $60,000.
2, Clara Guerrero, Colombia, 142 (one game), $30,000.
3, Danielle McEwan, Stony Point, N.Y., 638 (three games), $22,000.
4, Diana Zavjalova, Latvia, 192 (one game), $17,000.
5, Liz Johnson, Niagara Falls, N.Y., 201 (one game), $13,000.
STEPLADDER RESULTS
Match No. 1 – McEwan def. Johnson, 212-201.
Match No. 2 – McEwan def. Zavjalova, 227-192.
Semifinal – Coté def. McEwan, 248-199.
Championship – Coté def. Guerrero, 153-142.
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.
He leaves after achieving an important personal goal: Helping the girl's team win a sectional title.
"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.
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.
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)
1, Clara Guerrero, Colombia, 16-8-0, 12,227. 2, Bryanna Cote, Tucson, Ariz., 18-6-0, 12,173. 3, Diana Zavjalova, Latvia, 18-6-0, 12,112. 4, Liz Johnson, Niagara Falls, N.Y., 16-8-0, 12,102. 5, Danielle McEwan, Stony Point, N.Y., 13-11-0, 12,050.
DID NOT ADVANCE
6, Maria Jose Rodriguez, Colombia, 15-9-0, 12,008, $9,500. 7, Birgit Noreiks, Germany, 10-14-0, 11,929, $8,500. 8, Missy Parkin, San Clemente, Calif., 14-10-0, 11,925, $7,900. 9, Jordan Richard, Tipton, Mich., 10-13-1, 11,667, $7,400. 10, Verity Crawley, England, 9-15-0, 11,663, $6,950. 11, Erin McCarthy, Elkhorn, Neb., 14-9-1, 11,651, $6,550. 12, Dasha Kovalova, Muskegon, Mich., 10-13-1, 11,619, $6,150.
13, Kelly Kulick, Union, N.J., 11-13-0, 11,617, $5,900. 14, Lauren Pate, Ballwin, Mo., 10-13-1, 11,600, $5,700. 15, Shannon Pluhowsky, Dayton, Ohio, 10-13-1, 11,573, $5,500. 16, Taylor Bulthuis, New Port Richey, Fla., 11-13-0, 11,558, $5,300. 17, Olivia Farwell, Elizabethtown, Pa., 13-11-0, 11,530, $5,150. 18, Sydney Brummett, Fort Wayne, IN, 11-13-0, 11,493, $4,900.
19, Lindsay Boomershine, Brigham City, Utah, 9-15-0, 11,481, $4,750. 20, Stefanie Johnson, McKinney, Texas, 9-15-0, 11,449, $4,600. 21, Julia Bond, Aurora, IL, 11-13-0, 11,448, $4,450. 22, Haley Richard, Tipton, MI, 7-17-0, 11,404, $4,300. 23, Stephanie Schwartz, Racine, Wis., 11-13-0, 11,385, $4,150. 24, Estefania Cobo, Puerto Rico, 4-20-0, 11,046, $4,000.
Update 2:30 p.m., June 19:
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):
1, Birgit Noreiks, Germany, 4-4-0, 8,605. 2, Clara Guerrero, Colombia, 7-1-0, 8,592. 3, Bryanna Cote, Tucson, Ariz., 6-2-0, 8,530. 4, Diana Zavjalova, Latvia, 8-0-0, 8,468. 5, Shannon O'Keefe, Shiloh, Ill., 3-4-1, 8,456. 6, Missy Parkin, San Clemente, Calif., 4-4-0, 8,438.
7, Danielle McEwan, Stony Point, N.Y., 3-5-0, 8,412. 8, Liz Johnson, Niagara Falls, N.Y., 5-3-0, 8,407. 9, Maria Jose Rodriguez, Colombia, 5-3-0, 8,368. 10, Kelly Kulick, Union, N.J., 6-2-0, 8,349. 11, Shannon Pluhowsky, Dayton, Ohio, 3-5-0, 8,295. 12, Lindsay Boomershine, Brigham City, Utah, 4-4-0, 8,266.
13, Jordan Richard, Tipton, Mich., 4-3-1, 8,246. 14, Sydney Brummett, Fort Wayne, IN, 5-3-0, 8,238. 15, Dasha Kovalova, Muskegon, Mich., 2-5-1, 8,212. 16, Taylor Bulthuis, New Port Richey, Fla., 3-5-0, 8,207. 17, Lauren Pate, Ballwin, Mo., 4-4-0, 8,197. 18, Erin McCarthy, Elkhorn, Neb., 4-3-1, 8,196.
19, Stephanie Schwartz, Racine, Wis., 3-5-0, 8,096. 20, Stefanie Johnson, McKinney, Texas, 3-5-0, 8,072. 21, Olivia Farwell, Elizabethtown, Pa., 2-6-0, 8,048. 22, Verity Crawley, England, 2-6-0, 8,042. 23, Juliana Franco (n), Colombia, 2-6-0, 7,973. 24, Julia Bond, Aurora, IL, 2-6-0, 7,863.
ROUND 4 (32 games):
1, Birgit Noreiks, Germany, 6,880. 2, Missy Parkin, San Clemente, Calif., 6,772. 3, Shannon O'Keefe, Shiloh, Ill., 6,711. 4, Bryanna Cote, Tucson, Ariz., 6,675. 5, Clara Guerrero, Colombia, 6,659. 6, Danielle McEwan, Stony Point, N.Y., 6,658.
7, Dasha Kovalova, Muskegon, Mich., 6,629. 8, Liz Johnson, Niagara Falls, N.Y., 6,624. 9, Verity Crawley, England, 6,589. 10, Diana Zavjalova, Latvia, 6,578. 11, Sydney Brummett, Fort Wayne, IN, 6,560. 12, Shannon Pluhowsky, Dayton, Ohio, 6,558.
13, Lindsay Boomershine, Brigham City, Utah, 6,556. 14, Stefanie Johnson, McKinney, Texas, 6,532. 15, Kelly Kulick, Union, N.J., 6,524. 16, Lauren Pate, Ballwin, Mo., 6,508. 17, Taylor Bulthuis, New Port Richey, Fla., 6,498. 18, Stephanie Schwartz, Racine, Wis., 6,478.
19, Maria Jose Rodriguez, Colombia, 6,469. 20, Juliana Franco (n), Colombia, 6,455. 21, Olivia Farwell, Elizabethtown, Pa., 6,449. 22, Jordan Richard, Tipton, Mich., 6,445. 23, Julia Bond, Aurora, IL, 6,404. 24, Erin McCarthy, Elkhorn, Neb., 6,401.
DID NOT ADVANCE:
25, Haley Richard, Tipton, Mich., 6,398, $2,590. 26, Sanna Oksanen, Finland, 6,392, $2,520. 27, (TIE) Ani Juntunen, Finland, and Estefania Cobo, Puerto Rico, 6,373, $2,425. 29, Peppi Konsteri, Finland, 6,369, $2,350. 30, Ashly Galante, Palm Harbor, Fla., 6,356, $2,300.
31, Felicia Wong, Canada, 6,323, $2,250. 32, Josie Barnes, Hermitage, Tenn., 6,302, $2,200. 33, Kerry Smith, Lititz, Pa., 6,296, $2,150. 34, Hope Gramly, Aubrey, Texas, 6,293, $2,100. 35, Shannon Sellens (n), Long Beach, N.Y., 6,263, $2,050. 36, Jessica Earnest, Hermitage, Tenn., 6,210, $2,000.
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.
Photos by Nick Serrata
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