Sports

One of Batavia's most accomplished boxers from the 1930s passed away last week -- Salvatore V. “Sam” Cintorino, who won five Golden Glove titles as a lightweight fighting as Sammy Devine.

Cintorino was the brother of Joseph Cintorino, who fought as Mickey Devine when he turned professional and became one of the biggest names in boxing to come out of Batavia.

The brothers were part of a vibrant boxing scene in Batavia in the 1930s when some 40 to 60 young men trained locally and fought all over WNY, even nationwide.

The 96-year-old Sam Cintorino was born Nov. 8, 1916 in Brooklyn to parents who immigrated from Italy. Soon after, the family moved to Batavia.

As Sammy Devine, Cintorino is a member of the Rochester Boxing Hall of Fame.

For his full obituary, click here.

Photo and infomration submitted by Jim Fazio:

The Batavia 16-year-old Sr. League baseball team defeated Dansville in a double-header by scores of 10-5 and 10-0 to capture the District 3 championship and will face the District 2 champion this Saturday in Cuba , NY, at 3 p.m. The winner of this round will advance to Long Island the following weekend.

Team members include front row: James Fazio, Luke McComb, Tommy Demmer, Tyler Hale, Cameron Slaven, and Manager Jim Fazio.

Second row: Coach Dan McComb, Zeke Lynn, Joe Saraceni, Frank Bellucci, and Ryan Mullen. Back row Coach Dave Demmer, Zach Gayton, and Jacob Hale. Missing from photo is Nate Cornell.

Avery Romero added two more notches to his league-leading RBI total Monday night, but it wasn't enough to overcome some erratic pitching as the Muckdogs dropped to 13-14 with a 8-4 loss to the Tri-City Wildcats.

Romero is the best hitting player in the league so far, with a .361 average, 35 hits, 18 RBI, 10 doubles and 51 total bases (all league-leading stats), but the Wildcats are so far the best team in the NYPL with a record of 20-9.

Drafted in the third round of last year's amatuer draft, Romero is considered one of the Marlin's top 15 prospects.

After falling behind 3-0 in the second inning on back-to-back home runs by on Jon Kemmer and Thomas Lindauer, the eight and nine hitters in the line up, Batavia battled back in the fourth on consecutive doubles by Austin Dean, Felix Munoz and Romero followed by a single driving in Romero by Coco Johnson.

The rally was snuffed when Johnson tried to stretch his single into a double (top photo) and was called out on a close play at second by umpire Joe George. George's raised thumb brought manager Angel Espada charging over from the third base coaching, yelling a string of expletives. The call didn't change, but Espada was out of the game.

The Muckdogs took a 4-3 lead in the fifth, but Casey McCarthy (2-2) couldn't hold the lead and was charged with a blown save and took the loss, giving up three runs in the 7th to move his ERA to 6.00.

The starter for Batavia was Jarlin Garcia, who gave up three runs in five innings of work.

The attendance was 1,100. Next home game is at 7:05 p.m. June 23 against the Jamestown Jammers.

It was Mormon Night and former Cy Young winner Vern Law threw out the first pitch, a Mormon choir sang the National Anthemn, a Native American dancer was featured and white-shirted missionaries tossed prizes to the crowd.

There is a toughness, according to Jim Bonacquisti, that defines what it means to be an Oatkan Knight.

The stories of those tough kids, the ones who were heroes and the ones who always put in a good effort, are what Bonacquisti and research partner John Mangefrida want to capture for a book they're writing on the history of Le Roy football.

"When I talk to the old timers, the word tough keeps coming up," Bonacquisti said. "There's something about this community that the kids are just tough. When I ask people, why is that, they talk about the Irish, the Italians, the blacks, just something about the makeup of the community. Just tough, tough kids and it's still that way."

In an effort to leave no stone unturned, Bonacquisti and Mangefrida will be at the Oatka Festival this weekend in their own booth looking to talk with former players about their time in red and black.

Bonacquisti figures he already has five hours of interviews taped and has written five chapters of "A Knight's Journey," but he wants to get as many stories as he can about the people and events that shaped more than a century of football in Le Roy.

"We don't want to leave something out," he said. "There's going to be somebody who gets left out somehow, but that's why I think it's important (to hear from people)."

It's not unusual for storied high school programs to be the subject of a local history book, but Bonacquisti wants to get beyond the usual dry fare of those books -- stats, won-loss records and game recaps. "A Knight's Journey" will be about the boys who played the game and the community that they helped define -- and which helped define them.

"It's all about the kid," Bonacquisti said. "It's all about that kid when he's this tall and his dad brings him to a football game and he's thinking, 'I want to do this. I want to be a part of this.' I don't know if every community has that."

Bonacquisti said he was that kid once, and so was his dad. It's been that way for many families for many generations in Le Roy.

To pick up the game program Mangefrida puts together every year and flip through the names of players who have worn red and black through the decades, it's like a who's who of Le Roy's prominent and not so prominent familes. Antinore, Bower, Condidorio, Crocker, Lapp, Lathan, Loftus, Longhany, O'Geen, Paladino, Panepento, Pangrazio, Rider, Scott and Whiting.

On the field, the names that stand out, Bonacquisti said are Shaughnessy, Miller and Scott.

While the Shaughnessy and Millers have produced generation after generation of top Section V players, the Scott name is the only one that is draped across the balcony of a professional football stadium.

That would be the name Boomer Scott, who was a varsity fullback and defensive lineman for the Red and Black (before they were the Oatkan Knights) in 1940, '41 and '42. He was recruited by Notre Dame at a time when there were maybe seven top football programs in the nation and Notre Dame was one of them.

After college, Scott had a Canadian Football Hall of Fame career from 1949 to 1960 in Hamilton, Ontario.

It's the story of guys like Scott that the young players need to learn about, Bonacquisti said. Here was a guy right from Le Roy who not only had a great football career, but made a difference in his adopted community of Hamilton (after he retired, Scott became a successful businessman in Hamilton and eventually served one term on the city council).

The kids need to learn about Ed Walsh, too, he said.

Walsh coached in Le Roy in 1946 and 1947, with a record of 5-2 his second year.

The next year, Walsh was head coach in Manhasset on Long Island when he spotted a freshman in the hallway one day and asked him if he ever played football. The shy boy who had just moved to Manhasset from Georgia said he never had.

Walsh became that boy's mentor and the father figure he never had, and that youngster, Jim Brown, would not only go on to lead Manhasset to a 20-1 record over four seasons, averaging more than 12 yards per carry, he would become a standout athlete in lacrosse, basketball and baseball before becoming one of the all-time great running backs in nine seasons with the Cleveland Browns.

No story of Le Roy's coaches would be complete, though, without including at least the names Ray Jamalkowski and Brian Moran.

Jamalkowski ended six straight seasons of futility in what had otherwise always been a proud program and in just one season -- when the Knights went 6-1 in 1965 -- turn the program around and started a streak of winning seasons that would to go until 1979 (the year, coincidentally, when Bonacquisti was captain).

"He came from Batavia," Bonacquisti said, "and he saw in these kids that toughness and he brought it out of them."

Moran's 177-58-2 record over 23 seasons makes him somewhat of a living legend in the annals of Le Roy football, and he's not done yet. With the kids coming up through the program, Bonacquisti said Moran should be able to notch quite a few more victories in the coming years.

Then there are people associated with Le Roy football who are best remembered not for their exploits on the gridiron, but what they did away from the field.

Today, outstanding Le Roy students receive awards named after John Armino and Gary Scott.

In 1960, Armino sacrificed his life by lying down on top of another boy on the track tracks near Buttermilk Falls to protect him from an oncoming train.

The second student to ever receive the John Armino award was Gary Scott, who was killed in action in Vietnam in 1968 while saving the lives of fellow soldiers.

When Bonacquisti posted about Scott on a Facebook group he set up for the book, a former student who once won the Gary Scott Award said the post prompted him to find out more about Scott.

"He sent back a reply to me about how humbled he was," Bonacquisti said. "He felt kind of bad because he didn't really look into who Gary Scott was and then he said when he saw how significant the award was and how he felt to think that his teachers thought that much of him to give him that award."

In telling these tales, Bonacquisti believes he can help preserve the tradition of what it means to be a Knight -- that toughness, but also the humility, the honor, the desire to prove oneself and showing mercy to a conquered enemy.

That tradition is one of the things that helps bind Le Roy and define Le Roy, Bonacquisti said.  There may be things that have at times pushed the community apart, but on Friday nights, football always brings them together.

"When we get those 30 kids out there, we don't care where you live," Bonacquisti said. "You could live on Mill Street or you could live on East Main Street. The best players and the toughest kids are going to play.  

"That really helps kids," he added. "Maybe they don't come from the greatest background or families, but they know they're going to get a fair shot to be part of something pretty significant if they put the work in."

Over and over, during our talk at Ron Rossi's barbershop, Bonacquisti said he only knows Le Roy football and that's the story he wants to tell.

"Are we different from any other community? I don't know," he said. "I can only judge by what we have here."

Photo: Bonacquisti, Rossi and Mangefrida.

Press release:

One of the biggest events on the promotional calendar at Batavia Downs every season is the Wiener Dog Races and 2013 will be no exception as the dachshunds take to the track during this year's Family Fun Day at the races, scheduled for Sunday, Aug. 25.

Entry into the races begins today, July 8. To enter your dachshund, call event coordinator Arna Tygart at 585-343-3750, ext. 437.

There is an 80-dog limit and an also-eligible list will be started if needed. The first 70 dogs entered will receive a "Doggie Gift Bag" courtesy of the race sponsor -- Petco of Batavia.

The fleet-footed dachshund named Gordon, owned by Lindsay Ryan, of Lancaster, will be looking to three-peat in this year’s event. He dead-heated with another wiener dog legend, Jake Arnold, and then scored a very narrow victory last year.

A total of 10 heats will be contested this year with eight wiener dogs in each race.

The winners of each qualifying heat will receive $25 in free play at Batavia Downs Gaming. The winners of each heat will advance to the finals with the champion getting $100 of free play for the gaming machines.

The second- and third-place finishers will also receive free play. The wiener dog competition, a dash down the homestretch of Batavia Downs, will begin after the last live harness race, at approximately 4:20 p.m.

"This is one of our biggest days of the year and it definitely brings out one our largest crowds of the season," said Batavia Downs' General Manager of Live Racing Todd Haight. “We'll get dogs coming in from all around New York State. In fact, we have heard some are already in training."

Besides the wiener dog races, other highlights of the Family Fun Day will include free pony rides from 2 until 4 p.m. sponsored by Castilone Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep of Batavia.

The day will also see appearances by the ever popular Pringles the Clown and Mr. Scribbles. There will be $1 Salhen’s hot dogs and $1 sodas available from noon until 4.

A 12-race card of afternoon harness racing is scheduled on Family Fun Day with first post slated for 1:15 p.m. Admission and parking is free.

Batavia Downs, the oldest lighted harness track, will kick off its 67th season on Monday, July 22.

Barry Sheldon, who was drafted by New York Mets in the seventh round after his senior year at Batavia High School in 1967, was inducted into the Section V Hall of Fame on Sunday during a ceremony at Frontier Field in Rochester.

Sheldon was a standout shortstop and pitcher for Batavia during all four seasons at the school.

Rather than sign with the Mets, Sheldon went to Genesee Community College for a year. That year, he was a fifth-round pick by the Minnesota Twins in the January draft and by the Detroit Tigers in the fifth round of the June draft.

Sheldon transferred to New Mexico Highlands University where he was 15-0 with a 2.30 ERA over two seasons.

In 1972, he signed with the Baltimore Orioles and played one season of minor league baseball, going 2-1 with a 3.68 in 16 appearances with the rookie league team in Bluefield, W. Va.

Lightning, thunder, fireworks, and that was all before the final out at Dwyer Stadium on Wednesday night as the Batavia Muckdogs rolled over the Auburn Doubledays 12-2 to end the Fourth of July show.

It was a tight ball game until bottom of the 5th when the 'Dogs exploded for seven runs, putting together a string of singles and walks and capitalizing on a throwing error by Doubledays third baseman Cody Gunter.

Batavia entered the bottom of the 5th down 2-1, with the Muckdogs' sole run to that point coming on a long ball off the bat of first baseman Felix Munoz. The ball was just long enough and just fair enough down the right field line to put Batavia on the scoreboard.

After Batavia's scoring deluge in the 5th, the rains came in the 6th, forcing a 38-minute delay after the top of the 6th.

Many of the 1,800 fans in attendance on 4th of July fireworks night (which was actually on July 3) left the park during the downpour.

The work stoppage didn't slow the Muckdogs, however, as they added four runs in the bottom of the 6th, with three runs plated on a bases-clearing triple by Carlos Lopez.

The winning pitcher was Fairfax, Va., native Ryan Newell, who tossed six innings, giving up seven hits, two runs (one earned), striking out two and walking only one. Through three starts, Newell is 1-1 with a 1.69 ERA.

Dane Stone (top photo), a second-year pro from Miami, dominated during two innings of relief work, holding Auburn scoreless on one hit while striking out four batters, including three of the four he faced in the eight. It was Stone's first appearance of the season.

Closing out the game in a non-save situation was Texan James Wooster who walked one but struck out two.

Munoz, a six-year pro from the Dominican Republic, had two hits, two walks, drove in three runs and scored three times. The home run was his first four-bagger of the season. He's hitting .313 on the season.

Lead-off hitter and starting shortstop Justin Bohn also had two hits. The Phoenix, Ore., native also had a walk, a run scored and a stolen base.

Left field Autstin Dean, from Spring, Texas, scored two runs on a walk and a single.

Avery Romero, from St. Augustine, Fla., and playing third base, reached on an error and a walk and scored twice.

The Muckdogs are now 7-7 on the season, a game and a half behind first place Jamestown in the standings.

Hitting leader so far is Romero with .353 average, giving him the fifth highest average in the NYPL at this point in the season. Munoz leads the team with 10 RBI.

Yefri Perez has seven stolen bases.

Batavia isn't home again until Monday, when the Muckdogs will complete a game-shortened game against Jamestown starting at 5:05 p.m. and then play a seven-inning match against the Jammers at 7:05 p.m.

Austin Dean

Justin Bohn lays down a perfect bunt for a base hit in the bottom of the fifth.

Part of the post-game fireworks show.

Sunday, we posted photos from the 3-on-3 tournament at Williams Park. Last night organizer Dave Smith e-mailed us some pictures and information about the winners.

The 30 and over champs: Oldies But Goodies. Team members are Dontre Woods, Tyrone Woods, John McCulley and Alton Williams.

The boys 14-15 champs, The Unit. Team members are Adonis Davis, Malachi Chenault, Terrell Mapes and Anthony Gallo.

The girls 14-25 champs, The Pride. Team members are Tiara Filbert, Essence Williams and Maddie McCulley.

The girls 12-13 champs, Da Truth. Team members are Maggie Cecere, Dajah Williams and Alissa Polk.

The 6-7 year-old champs, Showtime. We have last names only: Woods, Welker, Sherwood and Brohmstead.

The 10-11 girls champs, They Got Game. Team members are Thomas, M. Reinhardt, M. Reigle, R. Stefaniak and J. Cuttney.

More after the jump: Click on the headline.

The 10-11 boys champs, Showtime. Team members are Ty Woods Jr., Quentin Polk, Alex Bromstead and Maye.

The 8-9 boys champs, the Lockport Ballers.

12-13 champs, the Lockport Ballers.

12-13 boys champs: The Goonies.

The YMCA's annual Challenger Baseball season is in full swing, with a whole new group of young players just learning the game. Today, two members of the Batavia Muckdogs stopped by the field to meet the players, sign autographs and even play in the game. The players were #3 Austin Dean and #22 James Wooster. 

Nice turn out today for the 3-on-3 tournament at Williams Park, which ran from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

No word yet on the winners.

To purchase prints of photos, click here.

Alessio LaRock and Isaiah Banks were at Williams Park late this afternoon getting in a little basketball practice prior to tomorrow's 3-on-3 tournament. The two 14-year-olds intend to play in the tournament.

LaRock is from Buffalo and Banks is a junior varsity player with Batavia High School.

Players and teams that wish to participate in the tournament who haven't signed up yet should get to the park before 9 a.m..

Some say, "I could have been a contender." Tim Edgerton got his chance at a title bout and won.

The 52-year-old Oakfield resident grew up in Batavia and fell in love with boxing when he was 15.

It all started on an annual family trip to New Jersey to see his mother's brother. Edgerton's Uncle Norman had been a boxer as a youth. When young Timothy expressed an interest in boxing, they talked a bit and then Uncle Norman took the lad into the basement and dug out his old boxing shorts from a box. Timothy tried them on and they fit. Edgerton said he was hooked.

In the late 1970s, there was only one competitive boxer living in Batavia, and that was Tim Edgerton.

At the time, there were no boxing gyms in Genesee County. The last public boxing ring in Batavia was probably dismantled in the 1950s or early 1960s, or even earlier.

There were still boxers in Batavia, but all were retired from the sport. Most of them fought during Batavia's Golden Era of boxing, the 1930s. One of those former prizefighters was Ken Pixley, who worked with Edgerton's father at Chapin Manufacturing.

According to the book "The Batavia Boxing Club" by Anthony "Butch" Zito, available through the County History Department, Pixley started his boxing career in 1934 as a bantam weight. In his own training, Pixley worked on conditioning and speed, moving in and out, picking his spots. He punched, hooked and jabbed.

Some of the records of Pixley's career are lost, but he never won a title and lost a couple of fights -- and won a few, most notably a 1938 bout in Kibbe Park against lanky Archie Smith of Hamilton, Ontario, in front of 400 local fight fans. Zito writes, "Ken forced the issue from the opening bell and never relented in his attack of left hooks and rights to the head. It was an impressive victory."

Pixley lost his next bout in Rochester later that year. Then he retired from boxing. He was a Mason and served in the Army Air Force during World War ll.

After Pixley learned of Edgerton's interest in boxing, he started working with him, training him.

Edgerton's dad built a boxing ring in the back yard of their home on Sunset Terrace. Pixley lived in a nearby trailer park. He'd help Tim with his training at home.

Once a month Tim's dad drove him to Buffalo to train with John Sudac at Singer's Gym.

It was on the second floor of an old building in a rough part of town. Edgerton said it was like something out of the first "Rocky" film (at the time, a hit movie). When Edgerton's father expressed concern, Sudac lifted his shirt and flashed a revolver. "That takes care of any of the riffraff," he said.

Edgerton had a hard time getting his fellow Batavia High Sschool students interested in boxing (he would eventually graduate from Byron-Bergen and is a member of the Byron-Bergen Hall of Fame). Friends and classmates would agree to spar, but just once. Once was all it took and they'd lose their interest in boxing.

There was an English teacher at BHS at the time, Dave Roberts, who apparently had done a little boxing, and he agreed to spar with Edgerton one summer day between Tim's 9th- and 10th-grade year.

Well, word got around the neighborhood that a teacher was going to fight Edgerton.

"Next thing you know my back yard is filled with 30 or 40 kids and my English teacher thought he was coming up just to spar with me and next thing you know it's turned into a match and it was pretty involved," Edgerton said. "My dad, he didn't want nothing to do with it. He just stayed in the garage and said, 'just let me know when it's over.' "

The late 1970s, those were the days. The top fighters of the day are legends now. Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, Roberto Duran, Ken Norton and Joe Frazier.

In Edgerton's mind, the greatest of them all was Smokin' Joe.

Frazier owned a gym in Philadelphia and one day after school it popped into Edgerton's mind that Philly wasn't all that far away and maybe some day he could train in Frazier's gym.

"So I called up Joe Frazier's gym, and guess who answered the phone?" Edgerton said.  "Joe Frazier, Smokin' Joe. He was my idol. I tried to pattern myself after him. I took a lot of hits coming in, but just like Joe -- you get in there and as long as you could wreak some havoc, that was worth it."

It was a nice little conversation, Edgerton said. He explained his situation -- not much in Batavia for boxers and he was thinking of trying to come down to Philadelphia to train for a day.

"He said, you know what, you come down here, you make the effort to come down here, and I'll personally spend some time with you," Edgerton said. "It was great, just talking to him was fantastic."

Alas, Edgerton never made the trip.

"I was pushing it once a month with my dad to go to Buffalo," Edgerton said. "He wasn't going to Philly."

It's a shame Batavia's once thriving boxing scene died out after the 1950s.

At one time in the 1930s, there were at least 40 competitive boxers living in Batavia. Some of the top local fighters of the day included Tony DiCarlo, Norfe Colombo, Joe Goodsell, Nick Tundo, Dick Warboys, Lou Cecere, Butch Zito, Joe Church, Frankie Flynn, Anthony Sciolino, Angelo Yannuzzi and Mickey Devine.

Devine's given name was Joe Cintorino. He was one of a handful of local boxers to turn pro and perhaps the most successful.

The Brooklyn-born Cintorino came to Batavia with his family while still a child. He was coaxed into the gym by DiCarlo. He fought for the first time in 1930 at the American Legion Hall in Buffalo. The decision went to Rochester's Joe Ryan, which sent the crowd into a frenzy of boos -- they thought Cintorino was the better man.

Batavia's Joe Church. Church was a member of the 1936 Olympic Team in Berlin, but was sent home for disciplinary reasons.

A power puncher who could land devastating body blows, Cintorino was known as Batavia's Blonde Terror. By 1932, he was considered one of the top four amateur bantam weights in the nation and was invited to the Olympic Trials in San Francisco. He missed a shot at a state NAA title when a referee, just before the title fight, discovered he was running a high fever and canceled the fight.

Cintorino had a history of lost decisions that were unpopular with fight fans in the crowd. The crowds booed when he lost the final Olympic Trials match to Joseph Lang of San Francisco.

He fought under the name Mickey Devine for the first time later that year in a bout in Rochester representing a group that wasn't sanctioned by the New York Boxing Commission. He beat a fighter from Saratoga Springs that night.

On Nov. 8, 1932, Cintorino beat Canada's reigning bantam weight champion, Jackie Cullura. Zito said it was the biggest bout of his amateur career.

The Blonde Terror turned pro as Mickey Devine in late 1933 and started fighting at 126 pounds.

Devine won his first seven fights and was 7-2-1 when "Ring" magazine named him one of the top featherweight prospects in the nation.

The closest Devine got to a title match was in 1936. The reigning light heavyweight champ, Lou Ambers, kept dodging the fight however, not wanting to take on a talented southpaw.

In 1940, Devine retired with a record of 25-9-2. He died in 1999 and is buried at St. Joseph's Cemetery in Batavia.

It's unclear what happened to boxing in Batavia after 1940. We hear there was boxing locally for at least another decade. Angelo Prospero, who graduated from Batavia HS in 1947 and now lives in South Carolina, is a boxing historian and has written about local boxing. We tried to arrange an interview with Prospero but breaking news on Tuesday and Wednesday got in the way. Hopefully, we can catch up with him some time and find out more.

Whatever happened, it's clear that by the time Edgerton entered the scene, there was no boxing scene in Batavia. He was on his own.

He had Pixley to help. He had Sudac to help. He also bought and watched boxing films -- Joe Louis, Frazier, Ali, Tony Zale and Sugar Ray Robinson.

"I'd watch those fights over and over studying their moves and techniques," Edgerton said.

He had a speed bag and heavy bag in his garage and he would shadow box, trying to imitate what he'd just seen on film.

Uncle Norman had been a pretty good boxer in his local area, but was defeated in his three tries at a Golden Gloves title.

"Tim, I don't know what happened, but the lights went out three times," Uncle Norman told Edgerton. "They carried me out of the ring. Those guys were good, a different caliber."

Edgerton always thought maybe he could win the Golden Gloves title his uncle never did.

First, of course, there had to be a first fight.

Tim lost.

But learned a valuable lesson, one that would eventually make all the difference in the world.

"I was beating the guy pretty good, but I ran out of gas," Edgerton said. "When I went into the fight, I didn't know where I stood as far as conditioning. The second time I dropped my mouth piece, the ref stopped the fight. After that fight, I knew how to train, how to gauge myself, how to pace myself."

By the summer of 1976, Edgerton could drive himself to Rochester to train at Ossie Sussman's gym.He signed up for a 10-week course.

He had been fighting and winning. He was ready for the Golden Gloves championships in Buffalo.

He would have Pixley and Sussman in his corner.

The winter of 1977 was particularly harsh. There was, of course, a blizzard. Twice, the bouts in Buffalo were cancelled.

Still, the Buffallo Golden Gloves organizers needed champions to move onto the next round and time was running short.

"They said they drew names out of a hat to pick the final contestants for each weight class," Edgerton said. "Those people went on to represent Buffalo. When I was looking at the roster, I thought, 'Gee, nobody from outside of Buffalo got selected. It must just be a coincidence.' "

After that, Edgerton thought he needed to buckle down and concentrate on school, so he stepped away from boxing.

Put on the shelf with his gloves was the idea of avenging his uncle's three Golden Gloves defeats.

Edgerton graduated from Byron-Bergen and went to GCC for a year. He then transferred to Sam Houston University in Texas, where he majored in criminal justice.

In Texas, friends encouraged him to box again. He started working out and training and when it came time for the Golden Gloves championship in Houston, he decided to enter.

He drove to Houston with his future wife, Lettie, a Texas girl. He was unaffiliated and only had Lettie to work his corner.

While he was signing up, he noticed a big man in suit watching him. The man motioned him over, so Edgerton walked over. The man asked him if he had anybody to work his corner.  Edgerton said he didn't.

The man said he represented the team from Cut and Shoot, Texas. They were a few boxers short for the team and if Edgerton joined their team, they could provide people to work his corner. That way, Ederton gets help and if he scores any points, the Cut and Shoot team gets the points.

That sounded like a fair deal, Edgerton said.

"Of course they had no idea what my skill level was," Ederton said. "They just went into it blind, kind of like I went with them blind."

Then this man from Cut and Shoot, Texas had another proposal for the 174-pound fighter.

"The guy says, 'what would you think about fighting as a heavyweight?' and I said, 'Are you kidding me?' "

Edgerton would be giving up at least 25 pounds to every fighter he faced.

"You'll be giving up a lot of weight, but you're quick, you're fast," the man said. "Jab and move, stay away from them, try to score some points. Your chances are better as a heavyweight. I know some of the kids in the lightweight division. They're really good. I don't know you, but that's the best I can offer."

Edgerton and Lettie talked it over. The man, whom Edgerton still didn't know from a fence post, seemed to know what he was talking about.

After winning the preliminary bouts, Edgerton was facing a man 45 pounds heavier in the finals.

"He had had to go 220 maybe 225 pounds," Edgerton said. "He was bigger. He was taller. and I won. I don't know how. Maybe out of fear. But I was able to take it to him pretty good.

"It did work out where he was bigger and stronger, but he was slower," Edgerton added. "I could out maneuver his punches, you know, duck. A couple of times he swung and I could just literally feel the air rush over head. If he ever hit me, I would have been gone. They would have been carrying me out."

The fight went all three rounds, and for a moment, Edgerton thought he could score a knockout.

"In third round, I almost has had enough to put him down," Edgerton said. "He was stumbling back into the ropes, but I didn't have enough.

"In my corner, they yelled out, 'stick and move, stick and move, you got the fight won, just stick and move,' so that's what I did," Edgerton added. "I got on the bicycle, started sticking, moving, moving, sticking. He couldn't catch me. He was tired. I was in better shape, thank God, and I ended up winning."

With the victory, Edgerton won his Golden Gloves title, and as a heavyweight. Those points also put the team from Cut and Shoot, Texas, over the top for a team championship.

The man who recruited Edgerton turned out to be Roy Harris, once a top professional who made it as far as 12 rounds with the heavyweight champion of his day, Floyd Patterson.

That was Edgerton's last fight. He finished with a career record of 19-6.

Five of those loses were TKOs. Edgerton said he was a nose bleeder and if he got caught on his sniffer, the ref would usually end up calling the fight.

"I thought, thank God I didn't get hurt in all those fights I had and I said, 'that's enough,' " Edgerton said. "The one thing, though, I set the scale straight for my uncle and I proved to myself I could do it."

Edgerton married Lettie and they moved away from Texas. He wanted to return home, but couldn't land a crime-fighting job in Genesee County. He went to work for the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, living in Detroit for a while.

Eventually, the job brought him back to Batavia

In 1993, he developed Operation Child Intercept, which has been adopted nationwide, to combat the illicit transportation of missing and abducted children across the international borders into the U.S.

He currently manages the Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Criminal Alien Program out of ICE's office in Batavia.

The Edgertons have two daughters, Casey, 20, and Emily, 16. He serves on the Oakfield-Alabama School District Board of Directors.

There was no boxing gym in Batavia for Edgeton when he was growing up, but today's youngsters can't say the same thing.

A few weeks ago, Hands Up MMA opened on Harvester Avenue.

While mixed martial arts is kind of a specialty there, owner Joseph Bailey is a big boxing fan and would love to see more boxers make use of his ring. It's probably the first one in Batavia opened to the public in 50, or maybe 70, years.

Edgerton said he would like to see more young people drawn to the art and science of boxing.

"As long as you do boxing safely and take the right precautions, it's one of the greatest sports and one of the oldest sports for a person to be involved with on an individual level," he said.

The individual nature of boxing is what attracted him to boxing over team sports, he said.

"I love team sports, but that's what intrigued me about boxing," he said. "It's all up to you. You train hard. You climb in that ring, and man, it's just you and that other guy. That other guy is out to try to do harm to you and you're out to try to inflict some punishment on him to win. It changes the whole complexion of everything."

UPDATE: Added photo of Joe Church, sent to us courtesy by Bob Caico, of the Buffalo Veteran Boxing Association.

The chiefs Jason Matve Braces himself after a hit.

The Lyndonville Tigers, who play their home games in Pembroke, ran a defense Saturday that shut out the Jamestown Chiefs and helped secure a 40-0 victory at Pembroke Town Park.

Leading the defense was both Howie Wilson and Mike Schepis who each had a fumble recovery that turned over possession in favor of the Tigers.

Helping out on both defense and scoring on the offensive side was AJ Cleaveland who had two interceptions turning over the possession to the Tigers to start scoring drives.

On the offensive end Derick Adams had a total of three touchdowns, one catch and two runs to score. Other scorers in the game were Rob Williams and Clay Johnson with a touchdown each and Matt Mackintosh with a two-point conversion run.

The Chiefs (left) and Tigers line up for a play.

Tigers Matt Mackintosh runs past the Chiefs' Edward Jadlowski.

The Chiefs' Larry Hicks returns a kick off.

Chiefs' quarterback Dwaayne Vanderwork throws a pass.

The Tigers' Clay Johnson celebrates during his touchdown run.

Tigers' Rob Williams cradles the ball after taking a hit from the Chiefs' Shawn Battle.

More photos after the jump (click on the headline).

The Chiefs' Jason Matve takes on the Tigers' Jon Grann.

Tigers' Clay Jonson Runs the ball downfield.

Jason Johnson catches a pass over the Tigers' Derrick Adams.

The Tigers' Aj Cleveland intercepts a Chiefs pass.

The Tigers' Matt Mackintosh runs the ball.

The Tigers' Matt Mackintosh tries to escape the Chiefs defense.

The Tigers' Derrick Adams and Branden Eaton celebrate Adams' touchdown.

The Tigers' defender Mike Schepis blocks a Chiefs pass.

The Tigers' Nate Wright runs the ball through a gap.

A new chapter in Batavia Muckdogs history opened Tuesday when farm hands in the Miami Marlins system took the field at Dwyer Stadium for the home opener of the 2013 season.

The 1,900 fans in attendence can surely hope Tuesday's game is a sign of good things to come. The Muckdogs beat Auburn 10-2.

One of the Marlin's top prospects, 2B Avery Romero, collected his first two professional hits scoring two runs.

Fans were also treated to one of the most exciting plays in baseball -- a triple -- three times. The three baggers were smacked by SS Javier Lopez (1-3 and 3 RBI), LF Austin Dean (1-5) and RF Connor Burke (2-4).

Third baseman Blake Barber had three hits, including a home run.

Starter Helpi Reyes went three innings and gave up one hit and no runs. Beau Wright (W, 1-0) went three innings and gave up two runs, picking up the W. Robert Ravago (S, 1) pitched three innings to qualify for the save.

Batavia is home again Thursday at 7:05 p.m., which is Irish Night. Friday's 7:05 p.m. game will be followed by fireworks.

Chiropractor Thomas Mazurkiewicz invited me over to his office this afternoon to meet Nick and Josh Guarino.

The twins are graduates of Byron-Bergen High School and will compete this weekend in the U.S. Track and Field Championships in Des Moines, Iowa.

They qualified in a meet Saturday -- the last chance to qualify -- by running their personal best times in the 800 meter. Nick won the race with a time of 1:47.13 and Josh was third at 1:47.35.

At the U.S. Championships, there is a field of 37 runners competing for three spots on the U.S. team that will compete in Moscow at the world championships. There are 14 runners who qualified with faster times than Nick. The fastest qualifying time is Duane Solomon at 1:42.82.

"I probably don't have a shot at that (going to Moscow)," Nick said. "But my dream is to make the Olympic team or world championship team."

Mazurkiewicz is doing what he can to help. Mazurkiewicz explained that a slight hip misalignment can cost a world-class runner vital 10ths of a second, which can be the difference between winning a medal or being an also-ran.

Misalignment, he said, can also lead to injury.

There will be dozens of chiropractors tending to runners at the U.S. Championship, Josh said, but they were at Mazurkiewicz's office today for their pre-race treatment.

"Treating athletes is like fine tuning a car," Mazurkiewicz said. "Chiropractic adjustments give athletes a winning edge by giving them proper bio-mechanics, structure, increased range of motion along with proper posture and balance."