Sports

At the top of the ninth inning, the Dwyer Stadium PA announcer played a song by The Doors.

This is the end
Beautiful friend
This is the end
My only friend, the end

Of our elaborate plans, the end
Of everything that stands, the end
No safety or surprise, the end
I'll never look into your eyes...again

For the Auburn Doubledays, it could have been a sign that the Muckdog's 4-1 lead could withstand any offensive assault. It could have been a reference to the final game of the season.

Or, perhaps, a dirge for the final game of the Batavia Muckdogs. Ever.

It's too soon to say, and nobody really knows, whether there will be a 2012 campaign of professional baseball in Batavia, but at least the Muckdogs gave the faithful something to cheer about on a cloudy Sunday in September.

The Muckdogs close out 2011 with a record 37-38, good enough for fourth place in the Pickney Division of the NYPL (a storied baseball league founded in Batavia), but leaving them eight games out of first place.

Vance Albitz, scrappy shortstop who played his college ball in San Diego but went undrafted despite twice being named defensive player of the year, helped lead the Muckdogs to victory with two hits, two runs scored and an RBI.

DH Jeremy Lee Patton, another first-year player, finished out the season with a .293 average after banging out two hits.

The win went to Javier Enrique Avendano (1-2) and Danny Miranda picked up his 15th save even though he surrendered two hits and run.

Miranda was helped out by two crucial Doubleday base running blunders.

Bryce Ortega, who should have been out at second except for a throwing error by second baseman Garrett Wittels, tried to advance to third. Ortega's decision to race for third was questionable with his team down by three runs. But with third baseman Daniel Stienstra busy retrieving Wittels' errant throw, maybe worth the gamble.

Stienstra grabbed the ball and was able to flip it to Miranda, charging toward the bag, and Miranda applied a tag with Ortega still two feet from the base (though some fans on the third-base side said the tag was never made).

When Russell Moldenhauer doubled to center, Matthew Skole scored and Moldenhauer, perhaps feeling greedy, tried to stretch his double into a triple. He was, as the say, out by a mile.

And that, my friend, was the end.

If you have trouble viewing the slide show below, click here.

The Blue Devils erased a 14-0 fourth-quarter deficit only to see a shot at victory slip past them. With less than 30 second to go in the game, Bath's Matt Nevius connected with Dan Leonard on a 47-yard TD pass.

In the season opener, Batavia's John DiFante connected with Brett Scheurline on a 65-yard pass to put the Blue Devils on the board.

In their next offensive series, the Blue Devils converted on fourth down to keep the drive alive and then scored on another fourth-down play, a three-yard run by Alex Ianita. Batavia's conversion attempt was a run by Codee Gangarossa, who managed to just get the ball across the goal line to tie up the game.

On Bath's next drive, the Blue Devil's defense looked like it might have a chance to stop Bath, but Leonard managed to sneak past a defender. Once he secured the pass from Nevius, there was nothing between him and the goal line.

The Blue Devils are at home again, 7:30 p.m., Friday, against Bishop Timon-St. Jude HS.

In other Genesee County football action on Friday: Way-Co beat Le Roy 28-8; Notre Dame beat Attica 27-7; Pembroke beat Alexander 21-14.

NOTE: About the video -- I shot the first half with the same video camera I've used each of the past two seasons, but it wouldn't stay in focus for some reason.  At the half, I decided to switch to my DSLR and use its video function. I decided not to even bother processing the first-half video, so the video above is only from half-time on. Ironically, during one of the key plays of the game, the tripod slipped, causing the camera to lose focus, but I included it in the video anyway.

Notre Dame scored 20 first-quarter points in route to a 27-14 victory over Attica in the opening week of high school football.

Quarterback Tim McCully tossed two TD passes to his brother Doane. Doane had four catches on the night for 90 yards. Doane also had a kick return for a touchdown.

Nick Conklin scored on a 10-yard run for the Fighting Irish in the first quarter and in the fourth quarter, Tim MCully connected with Nick Taylor on a 24-yard TD pass.

Photos submitted by Bare Antolos. His web site is bareantolos.com

The newly formed Pembroke Boys Varsity Soccer Team started its season at the Holly soccer tournament Thursday night. Playing in their very first game together, the boys played with great heart against the very powerful Holly Hawks team. Despite losing to the host team by a 5-0 score, coach Aaron Burch was very happy with the boys' effort. Go here to see more photos of the game.

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On Tuesday, Jim DiSalvo invited me to his house on Fargo Road, Stafford, to meet his son, Jason, and Jason's racing team. I thought I'd get a picture and share a little bit about the great season Jason is having.

I set up a shot with a couple of bikes in the background and just as we were getting ready to make a photograph, Jason asked, "When will your picture run?" I told him, "probably tonight."

Well, that would never do. See that Triumph in the background -- the racing world didn't yet know that Jason would be running it this week at the final race of the season in New Jersey.

I agreed to hold the picture until the bike change was officially announced, and I also redesigned the shot to better include the bike in the picture.

This evening, the DiSalvo team officially announced that for the last race as well as next season, Jason will race a Triumph 675 Triple in Daytona Sportbike class races.

Jason said the team felt they would get great support from Triumph and he was excited about the switch.

Race 1 on Saturday will start at 2 p.m., and Sunday's race starts at 2:15 p.m.  Live timing for both events can be viewed at www.amaproracing.com.

Speed TV will air the races at 11 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

Jason is currently third this season in points standing with three wins and four pole positions.

Pictured with Jason are Jordan Fielder, left, Bubba Evoy, Chase McFarland and Ronnie Saner.

It's official -- it's a tie.

Batavia Downs officials announced late this afternoon that, after spending hours reviewing all available pictures and video of the 2011 Wiener Dog Race, the final match ended in a dead heat.

Lindsay Ryan, owner of first-year runner Gordon, will receive $200 in free play at the casnio. 

After Sunday afternoon's race, when Jake Arnold, owned by Jane Smart, was declared the winner, Smart received the $200 in free play prize.

Hours after the race, evidence began to surface suggesting that Jake Arnold wasn't a clear-cut winner, leading Batavia Downs officials to delay certifying the race results.

A rematch is in the works, tentatively set for Sept. 24. Officials are waiting from confirmation from the Jake Arnold camp.

“It’s simply too close to call," said Todd Haight, general manager of live racing. “I know there is video out on the Internet that appears to show Gordon in front, but our official photo-finish camera shows both dogs hitting the line simultaneously. So in all fairness a dead heat was the right way to go.”

The rookie Gordon came a breath away from upsetting defending champion Jake Arnold.

In a statement released by Batavia Downs, Lindsay Ryan said, "We came to the dog races because we wanted to get my friend's mom, who has cancer, out of the house. We knew Gordon would run his heart out for her and he did. She had so much fun. I am so happy with how things turned out." 

The Batavia Bulldawgs Youth Football Team sold raffle tickets for a 2011 Johnny Pag Spyder motorcycle provided by Grease Lightning. The tickets were $40 each and only 150 were sold.

The winner was Chris Schafer of West Falls (He was not present.)

More pictures of the game can be found here.

UPDATE 11:18 p.m.: Race results are under review.

For the third-straight year Jake Arnold bested a large field of eager wiener dogs -- and some not so eager -- to take the 2011 Wiener Dog Race championship title.

A large crowd of wiener dog race enthusiasts were on hand to cheer for their favorite hungry little dachshund.

Jake Arnold, a 4-year-old owned by Jane Smart, won the big race in a photo finish, beating out first-year entrant Gordon, owned by Lindsay Ryan, and long-time rival Rudy, an 8-year-old owned by Ron Schiller.

Rudy, a previous race winner, finished second ton Jake Arnold for the previous two years.

In all, 63 elongated canines raced at the Downs on today.

More photos in the slide show below (if you have trouble viewing the slide show, click here.) 

To purchase photos from this event, click here.

Photos from the JV Youth Football game 8/27/11. Pembroke was the home team.

Minis: Pembroke 8, Oakfield-Elba 0

JV: Pembroke 36, Oakfield-Elba 6

All pictures from the event are available here for readers of The Batavian.

Former Batavia resident Jeff "The Buddha" Van Buren has purchased the Gambler Pro Tour and is on the road following the pool-players circuit in order to visit billiard rooms and sign up players.

“The Gambler Pro Tour is positioned to elevate the sport of billiards to the next level," says Van Buren, in his press release.

The GPT has an ambitious plan for events to take place in Western New York, Northern Pennsylvania, Eastern Ohio, Indiana, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Georgia and Florida.

He says the tour will attract seasoned veterans and amateurs, as well as, reach out to those who are new to billiard competition. Coverage of the events will be taped and edited for local cable broadcasting.

The Gambler Pro Tour was formed last year by Dan Dennis. Two events were held in Florida and Georgia. Ten more were planned with 10K each in added money. In May of this year, Van Buren, with expansion on his mind, struck a deal with Dennis to purchase the tour. The transfer took place with Catherine Jenkins, of the Mt. Dora, Fla.,Chamber of Commerce, recording the transaction.

Room owners will not be required to add money for semi-pro events. Many events will have no added money. This will take the lure away for seasoned players and give amateurs a chance at cashing in on events.

According to Van Buren, Gambler Pro Tour is not seeking to compete with established pool tours and does its best not to enter markets where there is already a popular tour in place like the Lone Star Tour in Texas, Great Southern Billiards Tour, Joss Tour, Tiger SE Tour, and the newly formed Action Pool Tour.

Van Buren, who now resides in Fort Myers, Fla., is the commissioner of the Pool Hustler Series, and founder of the Shooters Tour that covered Upstate New York. In addition to owning a pool room, he operated the Shooters Tour for 10 years. It grew to 1,000 players holding 30 to 40 events per year with all sponsorships coming from outside of the industry. He was well-known for holding charity events, his favorite being the Make-a-Wish Foundation.

To find out more, phone Van Buren at 239-822-5255, email him at poolhustlerseries@yahoo.com, visit online at www.GamblerProTour.com

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

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

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

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

Stephanie Schmidt

Michael Richenberg

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

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

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

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

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

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

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