Sports

With these photos, you are looking at the future of Batavia Blue Devils football, and from all appearances, it's a bright one.

The Batavia JV squad is undefeated on the season and going back to last year, when the team went 6-2, the junior Blue Devils have 13 straight wins.

All of this winning has come under Head Coach Brennan Briggs.

Briggs credits the players.

"We don't really have any superstars on the team," Briggs said. "They really work well together. They've bought in to what we've been teaching -- work hard, no excuses football."

The JV team beat Bishop Kearney on Monday night 47-14.

Assistant Coach Brandon Ricci said there are 10 to 15 players on the JV squad who are likely to make varsity next season, including some freshmen, and each of them could make a contribution.

"They might not take a starting job from a senior, but you won't be losing much when you put them on the field," Ricci said.

Next week, BHS JV plays Olympia and according to parents at the game, it will likely be the team's toughest challenge of the year. To reach 8-0, the JV squad will need to beat a team also looking to finish with an 8-0 record. The game is Saturday afternoon at Van Detta Stadium.

Here's how the team faired in its previous six games:

Game 1 @ Bath W 27-0
Game 2 @ Bishop Timon W 27-20
Game 3 vs. Livonia W 29-20
Game 4 vs. Le Roy W 30-12
Game 5 @ Elba-Byron Bergen W 48-17
Game 6 vs. Attica W 36-6

The Lancers had four chances to punch the ball in from the four-yard line for a game winning score, but the Attica Blue Devil's defense held firm and preserved the team's fifth victory of the season.

Attica won 14-8.

Attica, Elba/Byron-Bergen and Notre Dame all finish the regular season with 5-2 records and a three-way tie for second in the Genesee Region League.  Barker/Roy Hart (7-0), with its win Friday over Notre Dame, secured the league championship.

In Saturday's only local football game, the Lancers fell behind 7-0 in the second quarter when Zach Kozma picked off a pass from Elba's Zac Gillard and returned it 42 yards for a touchdown.

Elba pulled ahead in the third quarter on a block punt that Alex Jasinski carried 22 yards into the end zone. Zach Dubois ran the ball in on a two-yard conversion.

Attica's winning score came on a six-yard run in the fourth quarter by Brad Ruzewski.

Given an opportunity to tie the score (and pull ahead on a conversion), Elba had the ball on the four-yard line with 1:30 remaining in the game, but four run attempts failed. Attica's David Clark, who had 16 tackles on the day, came up big in the stand, making two key tackles.

On the day, DuBois had 86 yards on 23 carries. With those 83 yards, Dubois went over the 1,000-yard mark for his HS career.

Gillard completed four passes for 50 yards and Dan Ramsey had three catches for 47 yards.

On defense, Emeliano Acosta had two blocked punts. Tom Fowler had nine tackles.

For Attica, Earl Howard had 76 yards on 23 carries.

Barker/Roy Hart finished out a season in which it mostly dominated the Genesee Region League with another big win over Notre Dame on Friday.

The win cemented an undefeated season for Barker (7-0) and locked up the league championship.

The Fighting Irish, with the 44-14 loss, finish the season 5-2.

Notre Dame scored first on a 15-yard run by Nick Taylor, but Barker struck right back and took an 8-7 lead after a six-yard run by Austin Blackley.

Blackley led Barker's offense with 204 yards on the ground on 17 carries. He scored four TDs.

Notre Dame's only other score came in the fourth quarter on a one-yard run by Tim McCulley.

McCulley completed nine passes for 52 yards and had two interceptions.

On the ground, Notre Dame was led by Taylor (19 carries, 108 yards) and Andrew Mullen (nine carries, 73 yards).

On defense, Kyle Morse had 10 solo tackles.

Barker had 411 total yards offense, while Notre Dame had 269. Time of possession for ND was 32:18 minutes. Barker had the ball for 15:42.

Depending on the outcome of today's game between Attica (4-2) and Elba/Byron Bergen (5-1), the Genesee Region League could wind up with a three-way tie for second place, or with a win over Attica, Elba could claim second for itself. Game time is 1:30 p.m. in Elba.

In other Friday night action:

A dominating ground game helped Batavia (3-4) beat Bishop-Kearney (2-5) at BK.

The Blue Devils had a total of 326 yards on the ground, with C.C. Martinez leading the charge. Martinez carried the ball 34 times for 254 yards and four TDs.

James Soggs scored the Blue Devil's other TD on a 20-yard run in the 4th quarter.

On defense, Dameon Reeves and Soggs had a sack, Nick Canzoneri had a fumble recovery and Cody Gangarrossa added an interception.

Le Roy dropped to 3-4 with a 35-13 loss to Cal-Mum in Caledonia.

Tommy McQuillen rushed for 237 yards and two touchdowns on 30 carries.

Alexander picked up its second win of the season, 22-6 over Oakfield-Alabama (0-7).

Alexander scored on a 47-yard run by Lucas Phillips in the first quarter and on seven-and one-yard runs by Mark Farnsworth in the second and third quarters.

O-A scored in the third quarter on a five-yard run by Curtis Dunlap.

For O-A, Tommy Manzella completed 26 for 214 yards. Dunlap had four receptions for 83 yards.

We don't currently have any information on the Pembroke vs. Holley game. Besides Attica at Elba, there are no other games scheduled today.

Sectionals begin next weekend.

Elba/Byron-Bergen shutout Oakfield-Alabama 49-0. Zack Dubois ran the ball 18 times for 146 yards and two TDs. Zac Gillard completed eight of nine passes for 177 yards and two touchdowns. Matt Ramsey had three receptions for 105 yards and two TDs. Cody Naylor had a three-yard TD run. Tommy Manzella completed 12 for 128 yards for the Hornets. Ben Langdon had five receptions for 44 yards.

Several players had big games for the Lancers (5-1), including Gabe Stempin who had a 48-yard return on an interception. Andy Boyce had seven tackles, half a sack and a fumble recovery. Brandon Naylor had six tackles and twice was involved in sacks. Alex Jasinski had five tackles, one sack and one forced fumble. Emiliano Acosta had five tackles, a sack, and half of another. O-A is 0-6 on the season.

Batavia HS lost to Wellsville on homecoming night 38-6. No stats are available for the game.

Le Roy fell to 3-3 with a loss to Letchworth, 42-7. Tommy McQuillen rushed for 123 yards on 19 carries, scoring the Oatkan Knights lone TD.

Genesee Region League leader Barker moved to 6-0 with a 36-14 win over Attica.

Alexander picked up its first win of the season over Holley by a score of 39-7. No stats are available for this game.

In a game in which Pembroke went into the second quarter with a lead and a chance to beat the always tough Fighting Irish of Notre Dame, the Dragons ended up 24 points off the mark.

The Irish dominated on offense and defense from midway through the second quarter, scoring three TDs in the second quarter and a TD and field goal in the third.

Brothers McCulley, Tim and Doane, led the Notre Dame (5-1) offense with Tim tossing four touchdowns and completing six passes for 187 yards. Doane had two TD receptions and gained a total of 101 yards.

Nate Woods also scored twice, once on a passing play and once on a running play. Woods had 75 total yards.

Andrew Mullen came up big on offense and defense. On offense, he scored on a 35-yard pass play, his only reception of the day, and on defense had 10 tackles. Nick Taylor, Nick Conklin and Doane McCulley each had eight tackles with Taylor adding a QB sack.

For Pembroke (2-4), QB Cody Bedard carried the weight of the offense after running back Wyatt Chittenden was injured early in the game.

Bedard ran the ball 33 times for 120 yards, including one TD run. He completed five passes for 51 yards and had one interception.

Luke Thomas and Steve Weaver had five tackes each for the Dragons and Zack Franclemont had the team's lone sack.

Pembroke's other TD was scored by Trevor Gray, who carried the ball twice for four yards.

Notre Dame had 309 yards total offense, to Pembroke's 227.

If you're unable to view the slide show, click here.

Running back Zach Dubois helped carry Elba/Byron-Bergen to a 19-14 victory over Notre Dame.

Dubois had 152 yards on 23 carries, scoring three touchdowns.

Elba/BB (4-1) jumped out to a 12-0 first-quarter lead, with Dubois scoring on runs of three and four yards. The first TD followed a fumble by the Fighting Irish on the opening kickoff.

Sophomore Quarterback Tim McCulley was involved in both of Norte Dame's TDs, rushing three yards in the second quarter to score and tossing a third-quarter TD to Nick Taylor on a 10-yard pass play.

Dubois scored earlier in the third quarter on a 62-yard run, which proved to be the decisive score.

Tom Fowler led the Elba/BB defense with 15 tackles, including four for a loss. Alex Jasinski had five tackles, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. Cody Naylor had seven tackles and one sack.

The Lancers had 253 total yards compared to 173 for Notre Dame (4-1), however, time of possession was greatly in Notre Dame's favor, 29:59 to 18:01.

For Notre Dame, Nick Taylor had 61 yards on 16 carries. McCulley had 83 yards passing.

With Notre Dame's loss and Baker's 49-7 win over Holley, Barker is in sole possession of first place in the Genesee Region League at 5-0.

In other Genesee County football action:

Alexander fell to 0-5 with a 26-7 loss to Attica (4-1).  Lucas Phillips scored Alexander's lone TD, a 48-yard run in the fourth quarter.

Le Roy, now 3-2, scored 35 points in the second quarter on its way to a 62-26 win over Perry (1-4). Tommy McQuillen had 213 yards rushing on 18 carries, scoring six TDs. Andy Lowe completed all eight pass attempts for 136 yards and two TDs. Jeremy Poles had three receptions for 55 yards.

No stats are available on the following games:

Hornell beat Batavia 49-7; Pembroke beat Oakfield-Alabama 43-22.

Press release:

The Rochester Red Wings announced today that the New York Yankees Triple-A affiliate, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, will play 37 of their home games at Frontier Field in 2012 while their ballpark in Scranton (PNC Field) undergoes a $40-million renovation.

Batavia’s Dwyer Stadium, home of the New York-Penn League short-season Single-A Batavia Muckdogs, who are managed and operated by Rochester Community Baseball, Inc., will host seven games.

“We are delighted to be able to bring these additional Triple-A baseball games to the fans of the Rochester and Batavia areas," said Red Wings President/CEO/COO Naomi Silver. "This expanded schedule will provide lots more opportunities for our fans to enjoy additional games during the upcoming season. We’ve put a considerable amount of time and effort into working with the Scranton ballclub to make this a reality.

“We very much appreciate the franchises in Rochester, Batavia, Syracuse, Buffalo, Lehigh Valley and Pawtucket welcoming us into their stadiums and hosting our SWB Triple-A team’s games next season. We will establish our base of operations in Rochester with more than half our home games played right there in Rochester.

New York Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman said: "This will be a very interesting experience for our players and we’re looking forward to having our highest-level prospects playing in front of the legions of Yankees fans all across Upstate New york and into Allentown and Pawtucket. In 2013, we will return to Scranton Wilkes-Barre to a dramatically rebuilt stadium which will be our Triple-A home for a very long time."

“We are all excited about this opportunity, but we are also aware of the challenges that are ahead of us as an organization. Without a staff like we currently have in place, we wouldn’t have been able to consider this opportunity. We feel there is no better place than Frontier Field for Scranton to play,” Silver added.

The International League has approved the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees plan to play all 72 of their 2012 home games at alternate locations while renovations to PNC Field take place this off-season.

International League President Randy Mobley said: "As the title of a current article in 'Baseball America' states 'Passion Runs Deep in Rochester.' There are many baseball-loving communities in Minor League Baseball, but there is none that has supported the game for a longer period of time or loves the game any greater than in Rochester. There may not be another community or organization in Minor League Baseball that could tackle this challenge in this manner.

"The International League is grateful to both the Red Wings and Muckdogs organizations for being the cornerstone elements in establishing a home base for the Scranton/W-B Yankees games in 2012."

For the last several weeks, SWB Yankees LLC and the International League have been working diligently on a final proposal to have Scranton/Wilkes-Barre play all their home games at alternate locations in 2012.

“From an economic development standpoint it will also be a home run for our community because it will create more jobs, fill more hotel rooms, and spur on more business in our community thanks to the Yankees and visiting teams being here for those additional 37 dates," said Red Wings General Manager Dan Mason.

"This should also be an economic boom for Batavia as well as a great opportunity for Muckdogs fans to see Triple-A baseball in their own backyard for the first time ever."

Scranton, for the most part, will make Upstate NY their home away from home in 2012. In addition to the 37 home games at Frontier Field, Scranton will play six home games in Buffalo, seven in Batavia, and 10 in Syracuse.

Scranton will also play eight games in Lehigh Valley and four games in Pawtucket.

“The International league has always prided itself in helping each other out when needed," Mason said. "The Scranton/W-B club needed a place to play and we were happy to come to their assistance along with our North Division partners in Buffalo, Syracuse, Pawtucket and Lehigh Valley. This is a shining example of the spirit of cooperation within the International League."

The final games of another great season of Tri-Town Youth Athletics soccer were held on Monday night.

The Tri-Town Youth Athletics program was rejuvenated this year with the induction of new President Wade Smith and Vice President Lisa Lyons. The snack bar was always open, and fundraising helped offset rising costs allowing more families to participate than ever.

Capping off what was mostly a rain-free and fun-filled season was the traditional pizza party, this year sponsored by Breton Construction.

For further information on the Tri-Town Youth Athletics Association and upcoming basketball sign-ups, please contact Wade Smith at 585-345-0665 or 585-201-1357.

More pictures from the year can be found at Francletography.com

Elba/Byron-Bergen (3-1) rolled over Holley 28-0, with all of the Lancers' points coming in the first half. Zack Gilliard completed 10 passes for 171 yards and two TDs. Matt Ramsey caught three passes, all for touchdowns, and had 107 receiving yards. Zack DuBois had 121 yards rushing. Nate Jonathan led a powerful Lancer defense with 10 tackles and a sack. Brandon Naylor, in only his second game up on varsity, recorded nine tackles, including his second sack of the season and his third forced fumble in two games. Holley is now 1-3.

Alexander played tough again, but came up short in overtime in a 17-14 loss to Notre Dame. Notre Dame, with four wins, remains undefeated on the season. Notre Dame put together its victory with an interception by Tim McCulley and four plays later, McCulley booted a 35-yard field goal. McCulley was 9-18 passing for 95 yards and two TDs. Nick Conklin carried the ball eight times for 56 yards. Nick Taylor had 13 tackles and Doane McCulley had nine and a sack. For Alexander (0-4), Austin Heberlein had 11 carries for 65 yards and Lucas Phillips added 109 yards rushing on 13 carries. Mark Farnsworth completed nine passes for 131. Alexander had 338 total yards compared to ND's 249.

Pembroke dropped to 1-3 with a loss to Attica, 14-6. Wyatt Chittenden gained 107 yards on the ground.

Baker beat Oakfield-Alabama 54-22. The Hornets are now 0-4 on the year.

Le Roy beat Batavia, 48-35 (coverage).

Genesee Region standings:

1. Barker, 4-0
1. Notre Dame, 4-0
3. Attica, 3-1
3. Elba/Byron-Bergen, 3-1
5. Holley, 1-3
5. Pembroke, 1-3
7. Oakfield-Alabama, 0-4
7. Alexander, 0-4

Next week's schedule:

Friday: Batavia at Hornell, 7 p.m.; Oakfield-Alabama at Pembroke, 7 p.m.; Attica at Alexander, 7 p.m.; Perry at Le Roy, 7:30 p.m.

Saturday: Notre Dame at Elba/Byron-Bergen, 7 p.m. The Section V website had the wrong time.  We've confirmed the game is at 1:30 p.m.