Sports

The first thing Mike Rapone wanted to do after Notre Dame notched a Section V playoff victory Wednesday night in Gainsville was find his daughter.

They embraced at center court and fans, friends and family gathered round.

When the Rapones moved over closer to a sign bearing the numbers 546, Mike Rapone looked up at the crowd, still holding his daughter close, and for a second, the emotion of the moment was clear in his eyes and a quivering lip.

With a 60-41 victory over Arkport, the Fighting Irish clinched the final spot in the Section V Class D1 championship, and Mike Rapone became the all-time wins leader in Section V boys basketball.

"(The record) means a lot to me because it means so much to the people I coached over the years," Rapone said. "So many of them are here tonight. They’re the ones who won the games. I’m the coach. You steer the ship, but they’re the sailors. They do all of the hard work."

The 56-year-old Rapone has a shot at victory number 547 in the Blue Cross Arena at 11:45 a.m., Saturday, when the Irish face Fillmore.

A win Saturday would give Notre Dame its eighth Section V title under Rapone. The Irish have also notched two New York State championships, in 1992 and 2001.

Starting forward, senior Tom Rapone, said victory meant a lot to the team and to him personally.

"I’m so happy to be able to get it for my uncle," Rapone said. "He’s done so much for me in basketball. I always dreamed of playing for him in high school. The fact that I was able to help break the record for him as the last Rapone to come through Notre Dame High School, it’s just an amazing feeling."

Despite the lopsided total at the end, Arkport didn't make it easy for the Irish to get the win for Rapone. While the Irish led from start to finish, Arkport pulled close near the end of the half, and again near the end of the 3rd Quarter. Too many missed shots in the 4th quarter, though, allowed Notre Dame to pull well ahead.

"It’s sectionals and no team is going to quit," said Tom Rapone. "We just came together as a team. We’ve got great chemistry. We know how to play as a team. We can turn it up fast. That’s all thanks to our coach. He’s taught us great things in practice. It’s all thanks to him. He’s an amazing coach."

Even when Arkport pulled within three points late in the 3rd quarter, coach Rapone said he felt his team knew it was going to win the game.

"I don’t think they ever lost their confidence that they were going to win," the coach said. "That’s the mark of a winner and that’s why they’re 19-1."

More pictures pictures after the jump.

If you weren't biting your nails at the half on Tuesday night, you're not a Batavia Blue Devils fan.

At the half in Batavia's Section V semi-final playoff game against Hornell, the Blue Devils were in locked horns at 20-20.

Even though Hornell came into the tournament as the #5 seed in the division against Batavia's #1 standing, Hornell wasn't making it easy on Batavia.

Hornell came out of the locker room with an aggressive game plan that had Batavia a little bit flustered in the opening minutes of the match.

“We didn’t play very good at all in the first half – our shots weren’t falling and the presses got to us, particularly me," said Batavia's leading scorer, Andrew Hoy. "I didn’t really know how to break it at the time, but we figured it out at half time. Coach gave us a game plan and we came out in the second half and said we’re going to hold them to 13 points per quarter and we played defense. That’s what Batavia is built on, defense.”

The plan worked. Hornell was able to manage only three baskets in the second half and Batavia went on to win 51-34.

Hoy sank three three pointers and led Batavia (17-3) with 24 points.

Justin Washington and Co Co Irvin each added nine.

The Blue Devils advance to the Section V finals against Livonia on Friday night.

Thirty more pictures after the jump:

Submited by Robert Hunt:

Batavia Ramparts Squirt B finished their regular season undefeated and went on to win the Division Championship Sunday February 28th over the Rochester Youth Hockey Hawks.

It was the day after the Batavia Blue Devils dropped a first-round Section V playoff game to Aquinas in 1997 that Alex Nesbeth and Mike Glow came to Coach Myron "Buddy" Brasky and said, "Next year, we're going to win the sectionals."

Brasky looked at his junior players, shrugged, and said, "yeah, OK."

"No, Coach," Nesbeth said. "We're going to do it. We're going to do whatever it takes."

The Blue Devils hadn't so much as won its division in years and years, and Brasky, in his seventh season as head coach, had just posted his first winning campaign, leading the team to a 11-10 record.

From the day Brasky took over, the naysayers told the young coach the Blue Devils would never win another championship in basketball. Batavia was too small of a school in a big-school division. There was just no way to beat the big boys from Monroe County.

An 11-10 season wasn't exactly a prelude to proving the skeptics wrong, but Nesbeth and three of his teammates decided it was high time to do just that.

"That’s when I was teaching at Jackson School," Brasky said. "It was the middle of winter and those kids -- there were four of them -- they would walk from the high school to Jackson School and do skill work with me. Almost every day, from about 3:30 to 5. We had a small, tiny gym, just two baskets, and they worked and worked and worked."

The next season, the Blue Devils posted an impressive 20-4 record. But more importantly, they won a Section V title -- the first of three titles the Blue Devils posted in Brasky's 20 years as the team's head coach.

"The Pride is Alive." 

That was the motto Brasky coined for the team when he took over as coach prior to the 1990-91 season.

The Batavia-born-and-bred athletics fanatic never forgot the glory years of Blue Devils basketball from his young days -- the years of John Walton, the Wescotts, Bruce Beswick and Billy Monroe.  

But by the time Brasky was the starting point guard, the glory years, the pride, were starting to fade.

"When I played here, we were just average," Brasky said. "We weren’t great. That’s where it started going down a little bit, and after I graduated, it went way down."

Brasky enrolled at GCC after graduation and then transferred to SUNY Cortland. He completed his degree in Physical Education and soon after moved to Denver, where he worked for health clubs. From there, he moved back to Buffalo.

Then a coaching and teaching position opened in Batavia. This is what Brasky had always wanted to do.

As an athlete, he gravitated toward the leadership positions on teams -- quarterback in football, catcher in baseball, point guard in basketball. He hung close to his coaches. He didn't strive to be the star of the team. He liked the leadership role and he looked up to the men that molded the teams he played on.

"I’ve known since I was 10 years old I wanted to be a coach," Brasky said.

But it wasn't easy taking over Blue Devils basketball. It was a program that wasn't in the habit of posting winning records -- the team would win only two games in Brasky's second season -- but the coach said he knew the spirit was there. "The pride is alive," he kept telling his players. There was a tradition to Batavia basketball, and Brasky was determined to bring it back.

Since that first winning season in 1997, the Blue Devils have not dipped into double-figure losses. They've won eight division titles and are on a run of 14 consecutive winning seasons.

Brasky credits the young athletes for their willingness to work hard, to work year around, but they're only willing to make that committment, Brasky said, because "the pride is alive."

"Now the kids (have) bought in," Brasky said. "We won. They want to be part of a winner."

Just in basketball alone, Brasky probably interacts with more than 250 students in the community every year. Besides the regular varsity season, Brasky coaches basketball year round, including summer camps and clinics. Every step of the way, he stresses that it isn't just about winning. It's about developing the habits that make young men succeed in life.

"I try to instill that all of this hard work you’re doing is not just to win basketball," Brasky said. "That’s part of it. We want to win. But these are habits that you’re going to carry on the rest of your life. These habits of hard work, and dedication, and loyalty and commitment – those are what companies look for. You will be a success in life if you can get these values."

No matter how important the game, Brasky said -- miss a practice, break a rule, and you're not likely to play. That isn't a position that is always popular with fans or parents, but it's the only way, Brasky said, to teach players to be winners both on and off the court.

“I made a decision early in my career that I would never put winning over doing what ‘s right for the kids,” Brasky said.

It's an ethic that has paid off. In the application to the Genesee County Chamber of Commerce for Brasky's 2009 Geneseean of the Year Award, student after student said they learned the value of hard work from Brasky and it has helped them be more successful in life.

"Coach Buddy Brasky shared with me the passion to be the best you can be in life," wrote Scott "Par Par" Partridge (Class 1997). "Every practice, every game, every scrimmage we took part in was completed with 100-percent effort -- if not, then we enjoyed running suicides until we did. I have learned from Coach Brasky that hard work and dedication pays off. Those who push themselves as hard as they can will reap the rewards in the end. The quote, 'The Pride Is Alive,' was printed on our shirts and through playing for coach, I took that to heart. Have pride in who you are and what you do -- give it your all and you have nothing to regret."

Brasky said he was moved by all the testimonials from former players, just as he is when he sees those young men out in the community or at games.

"You hope you're making an impact on kids," Brasky said. "They never tell you that until they get to be like 25 years old. A lot of times, they will see me out -- I'll be at dinner -- and they'll be with their girlfriends and they'll come over to the table, or a lot of them will come and see me before a game, or wait until after, so we can talk -- that's a very, very rewarding part of the job."

The Batavia Blue Devils will advance to the next round of the Section V playoffs after a convincing 70-46 win over Midlakes tonight in Batavia.

Andrew Hoy (pictured above) led Batavia (16-3) with 22 points. Josh Budlong added 15 and Justin Washington scored 18 points.

The Blue Devils will play at Roberts Weslyean College at 8:15 p.m., Tuesday.

More pictures after the jump:

Five years of training and practice are starting to pay off for Jonathan Fisher, a punter for Oakfield-Alabama Central School.

According to his father, Kurt Fisher, he's been invited to Senior Camps at Division I schools, such as Syracuse, Rutgers, Louisville, W. Virginia and Illinois.

Currently, Fisher is ranked the #1 punter in New York on MaxPreps.com.

"He's put in a lot of time and effort," said Kurt Fisher. "It's nice to see it paying off for him."

This summer Fisher will be attending Senior Camps to showcase his talents in front of college coaching staffs.

He finished the 2009 season with 19 punts for 888 yards and a 46.7-yard punting average.

So far his invites for Junior Days include one on Feb. 20 at the University of Pennsylvania and on Feb. 27 at Syracuse. He'll also be participating in an upcoming session with college coaching staffs in Buffalo.

Fisher is on the verge of striking the big time in college football a season after another O-A product, Matt Waldron, put together a big year as the #1 kicker at Virginia Tech. Waldron made all 58 of his point-after attempts and 20 of his 23 field-goal attempts, with only one of his misses coming within 40 yards. He scored 108 points for the year.

At about 3:40 minutes into this video, you can watch Fisher practice his kicking during half-time of O-A's playoff game at Cal-Mum.

Easily more than 200 people gathered at the Batavia Party House last night for the Batavia Muckdogs Booster Club's annual hot stove dinner and auction. There were plenty of laughs and people expressed a lot of excitement about the coming season, which could be a critical year for drawing enough community support to keep the team in Batavia.

At the podium, Brian Paris honors "The Voice of the Muckdogs," Wayne Fuller, for his many years of service to the team as the public address announcer and official score keeper. Fuller stepped aside from those roles after the 2009 season. But his voice won't be far from a microphone during the upcoming season; he'll serve as color man on WBTA's broadcast of games.

More pictures after the jump:

Todd Jantzi, left, and Patrick Weissand chat during the silent auction.

Brian Paris, left, and Ryan Gugel chat with a fan who drove to the dinner from Greece.

Board member Bill Kauffman gets a gift from the board honoring his service to baseball in Batavia.

Gretel Kauffman is in the foreground. Immediately behind her is local artist John Hodgins, watching the bidding progress for his winter landscape painting. It fetched $255, well above any other auction item.

Auctioneer Todd Jantzi makes a sale.

Daily News photographer Mark Gutman goofs when the camera gets turned on him for a change. Writer Alanna Stage gets a good laugh.

If the Muckdogs don't last in Batavia, it won't be because Russ Salway didn't put every ounce of passion he has behind the effort to save the team.

The Le Roy native spends at least 10 hours a week in an office at Dwyer Stadium calling on local and regional businesses trying to sell season ticket packages and special event attendance as well as stadium advertising.

If you bump into him around town, he's likely going to want to talk at some point about the Muckdogs and the need for fan support this season -- this season, especially.

Salway has also set up a group on Facebook called, appropriately enough, Let's Keep the Batavia Muckdogs in Batavia.

Russ Salway doesn't work for the Muckdogs or the Rochester Red Wings, who took over management of the team three years ago. Salway is a volunteer.

"We are obviously operating with a small staff, so we can't get to everything," said General Manager Travis Sick. "So to have somebody like Russ, who is so familiar with the community and knows a lot of people, is a great help.

"He's a tremendous help to us," Sick added. "A lot of people say they want to help, but very few come through like Russ. He's great."

Salway said he is putting so much time and effort to promote the Muckdogs because he can't image Batavia without minor league baseball.

"If we lose the team, we'll never get another one," Salway said.

Last season, the Muckdogs lost about $150,000. That deficit was covered by Rochester Community Baseball, the community group that owns the Red Wings. Club officials say they can't sustain those kinds of losses indefinitely. 

"The Red Wings are definitely behind baseball here, but we need to show some improvement," Sick said. "This is still a business and we can't sustain a hundred-thousand-dollar loss year after year. I don't want to call this a make-or-break year, but we've got to show some improvement."

And Salway says he's making progress. He's finding more people and businesses willing to make a commitment to the Muckdogs this season.

"People are really stepping up," Salway said. "There is no reason we can't make this work."

Sick said season ticket sales are slightly ahead of sales from this time last year.

Salway has become such an integral part of promoting Muckdogs baseball, that it's hard to forget it's not his real job. He has worked for O-AT-KA Milk Products for 15 years, where he mixes ingredients for speciality drinks. 

His schedule allows him to go to Dwyer Stadium to field phone calls for a couple of hours during the week. He runs the Facebook group from home at night.

You might think all of this extra time spent on a volunteer effort might put a strain on his personal relationships, but Salway said that his fiancee, Kellie Porter, is 110 percent behind his effort and even puts in volunteer hours herself.

Both Salway and Porter are doing it, not just for the community, he said, but for their children.

"My kids grew up down the road from Dwyer and we've been going to games for years," he said. "I want the team to remain for years so I can take my grandchildren. It's such a great thing for the community. It's a safe, family-friendly environment. It's really the last place in the county were you can go and see old friends and make new ones."

Sick said it won't take much for the team to show progress -- if more people would just go to one more game a year and a few bring some friends, that would help. The team draws about 2 percent of the population to games. If that number just ticked up a notch to 3 percent, it would make a huge difference, Sick said.

The Muckdogs are part of a tradition of professional baseball in Batavia that goes back to 1939. The New York-Penn League was founded in Batavia. Salway said Batavia shouldn't lose that continuity and that sense of history.

The next big event in the life of every Muckdog's fan is the Hot Stove Dinner on Friday at the Batavia Party House. It may be possible to purchase tickets ($25) at the door, but it would be better to buy them in advance at Dwyer Stadium.

The PW-A Batavia Ramparts hockey team recently won the Batavia Winter Classic Tournament at the Falleti Ice Arena. The Ramparts were guaranteed to play 3 games in the tournament and were able to advance to the championship game by getting the top seed in the round robin play.

They defeated Monroe County 1-0, the Rochester Sabres 6-5 and the Buffalo Hornets 5-0. They were victorious in the championship game 6-4 against the Rochester Sabres.

Tyler Andrews had 2 hat-tricks in the tournament and goaltender Connor Hamilton recorded 2 shutouts.

Hamilton, Andrews and Aaron Feary received player of the game honors throughout the tournament for Batavia.

Last night in Oakfield, the Oakfield-Alabama boys basketball team beat Elba 65-43.

A.J. Kehlenbeck had 27 points and 15 rebounds for O-A and Sam McCracken scored 18 points.

Zack Beechler scored 16 points for Elba. Matthew Ramsey, 11.

Both teams are now 6-5

More pictures after the jump:

FULL HOUSE: A packed house at the Falleti Ice Arena is just one of many times it fills the bleachers for events each year.

In this tough economy, getting people to spend money may be a hard thing to come about, as they are looking to cut back on expenses. This weekend at the Falleti Ice Arena, it showed that one area people didn't cut back on was youth sports and hockey tournaments. This weekend the Genesee Amateur Hockey Association (GAHA), hosted the Batavia Winter Classic Tournament and the turnout was one that had a positive effect on Batavia and Genesee County.

The tournament ran from Friday through Sunday and brought in teams from Buffalo, Rochester and Oswego in the Pee Wee A and B divisions, which is the age group for kids ages 11 and 12. There were a total of 8 teams that were in the tournament including two of the Batavia teams.

"Teams come into town, get hotels for the weekend, go out to eat and shop at the stores in the area in between their games." said tournament director John Hylkema. "They are spending money here".

How much are they spending? "I spent way more than I wanted to, but it's for the kids so I'm doing it for them" jokes Tom Strenberg who came to support the Oswego team. "There was the cost of the hotel (2 nights), meals all three days, and snacks here (at the rink). All the money is spent so the kids can have an enjoyable time." 

GAHA hosts about 7 tournaments each hockey season and this year, they will have the privilege to host the Midget 19-U New York State Championships in March which will bring teams from all over the state.

"These events at least double the spending at the concessions here and people are going to Timmy Ho's (Tim Horton's), Tully's, and other restaurants are making money too." says rink manager Bob Filighera.

The team from Oswego had plans to stop by the Miss Batavia diner and some of the team from the Buffalo Regals wanted to tryout TF Brown's and Sport of Kings in between their two games on Saturday.

GAHA tournaments aren't the only reason teams come to the rink. Each week many of the teams have league games that draw teams from Rochester and Buffalo area.

Both the local high school teams, Batavia Ice Devils and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish bring in out of town crowds as well including this weekend when the Ice Devils hosted Saranac/Peru and Notre Dame earlier this season hosted Eastchester/Bronxville/Tuckahoe in addition to the usual teams from the Rochester area.

Last night, the Lady Irish took the Batavia Rotary Club Basketball Tournament Championship over Pavilion, 48-29.

Notre Dame is now 7-1.

MVP Nichole Hart scored 19 points. Liz Geandreau scored 8 and Hannah Scott-McGrail netted 11.

For Pavilion, Amie Brooks, 8 and Erin Cleveland scored 6.

The All Tournament team: Geandreau, Scott-McGrail, Brooks, Chelsea Turcer from Alexander and Hart.

More pictures after the jump:

During the half time of last nights finals in the Batavia Rotary Girls Basketball Tournament, 6th graders from St. Joseph School and Pavilion matched up in a game of their own.

More pictures after the jump:

Pavilion beat Batavia 52-25 in game two of the Batavia Rotary Girls Basketball Tournament last night at GCC.  Pavilion moves to 6-0.

For Pavilion, Amie Brooks scored 21 points. Danielle Tallo added 9.

For Batavia, Michelle Jordan scored 6 points and Lashonna Mims added 5.

More pictures after the jump:

Notre Dame (7-1) beat Alexander 56-43 in game one of the Batavia Rotary Girls Basketball Tournament.

Liz Geandreau scored 16 points and had 11 rebounds for Notre Dame. Trish Pike had 12 points, five rebounds and three steals.

For Alexander, Anna Dominick scored 17 points and Chelsea Turcer added 11.

This was the first appearance for Alexander in the annual tournament.

More pictures after the jump:

During the half times of last night's Rotary Girls Basketball tournament, area elementary school-age girls played their own games. After the jump are more pictures from those games.