Sports

By Tim Bojarski for Batavia Downs

Batavia -- James E. Boyd, age 83, of Batavia, New York, died peacefully Thursday April 5, 2018 at the Northgate Health Care Facility in North Tonawanda.

Widely known as "Gentleman Jim," Boyd took over the Batavia Downs track announcing duties from the legendary Max Robinson in 1984 and continued to call races there until it closed in 1996. He was also the announcer at Buffalo Raceway and called races at Finger Lakes racetrack.

Boyd called the richest race ever held at Batavia Downs, the $268,756 Breeders Crown aged-mare trot in 1988 won by Armbro Flori and also Getting Personal’s 1:53.3 track record in 1993.

“Jim was known for a very steady voice and very accurate calls,” Todd Haight, director/GM of Racing at Batavia Downs said. “Even though it’s been over 20 years since his retirement, our old-timers still ask about him.”

Besides calling the races, Jim was also a salesman in the Buffalo area for many years.

Boyd was born in Batavia, the son of the late Harry S. and Marjorie (Price) Boyd and was also preceded in death by his wife Josephine (Nevin) Boyd and siblings, Raymond, Robert, Ronald "Don" and Harry "Jack" Boyd.

He was a graduate of Batavia High School and Alfred State College and served honorably in the Army during the Korean conflict. Upon returning home he became a member of the Glenn S. Loomis Post #332 of the American Legion in Batavia and rose to the position of Post Commander.

Boyd is survived by his beloved daughter, Deborah (William) Evans, of Nevada, dear friends, Paula (Frederick) Leigh, of Batavia, along with many nieces and nephews.

The family will be present from 10 - 11 a.m. Thursday, April 12, 2018 at the Michael S. Tomaszewski Funeral & Cremation Chapel LLC located at 4120 W. Main Street Road, Batavia, New York 14020 where his Funeral Services will be celebrated at 11 a.m. by Jim's nephew, Rev. David Boyd.

He will be lain to rest alongside his beloved wife in Grand View Cemetery with military honors. In lieu of flowers, memorials in his memory are suggested to Volunteers for Animals of Genesee County.

The Batavia High School Varsity Softball Team is pictured above donating a check of $1,000 to board members of Genesee Cancer Assistance.

The team raised $3,000 during a Bat-a-thon fundraising event called "Strike Out Cancer" on March 24th at Batavia High School. It was a priority this season as a way to contribute to a local charity.

"This was something our team and program wanted to do to make a difference in our community," said first-year Coach Jim Fazio. "Our girls went above and beyond in all of our fundraising efforts and this seemed like a perfect place to show our support."

Head Coach Jim Fazio presents the check to Board Member Nickie Fazio, who coordinates the Simply Beautiful program, and office manager Teresa Potrzebowski​ of Genesee Cancer Assistance.

Press release:

Chapin International will be hosting its 11^th Annual Chapin Charity Golf Tournament on Saturday, Aug. 11, at Terry Hills Golf Course in Batavia.

Chapin has proudly selected Justice for Children as its charity to support this year. As in the past all funds collected will go directly to the charity.

Please join us this year supporting Justice for Children by a donation, sponsorship or participation. The tournament provides everyone an opportunity to contribute to this truly amazing charity.

Justice for Children was selected out of several other local charities by Chapin's Golf Committee. Many of you may not even know or have heard of Justice for Children. That is a good thing that you never have had a reason to need the services provided. The services are every discreet, provided to protect the privacy of the children in need. All services are free.

The golf tournament is modestly priced at $75 and includes 18 holes of golf with cart, lunch, and dinner. Shotgun start is at 1 p.m.

Every person will receive a prize. Opportunities will be available for chances to win a car in the Hole-in-One contest.

Three local car dealerships -- Ken Barrett, Castilone, and Toyota of Batavia -- offer cars for the contest. All participants will have two opportunities during the tournament to win.

Max Pies Furniture in Batavia will be again offering a lounge chair to the winner of the putting contest held during registration hours before the tournament starts.

Longest drive, closest to pin, and closest to the line will also be available for all during the event. Everyone at all skill levels will have a chance to win. Mulligans and Skins will be offered as well.

Please go to www.chapincharitygolf.com for registration or sponsorship opportunities.

Early registration is advised to avoid missing out, our event fills to capacity quickly.

For any questions or information contact Norm Hubbard, tournament director at nhubbard@chapincharitygolf.com or call/text 409-7575.

About Justice for Children

The Justice for Children GLOW Foundation is honored to be the beneficiary of the 11^th annual Chapin Charity Golf Tournament. The mission of the Justice for Children GLOW Foundation Inc. is to provide philanthropic support to enhance the work of the Justice for Children Advocacy Center and multidisciplinary team throughout Genesee, Livingston, Orleans, and Wyoming (GLOW) counties.

The support provided by Chapin will assist us in meeting our goal of ensuring that every child who comes to the Justice for Children Advocacy Center receives the care and support necessary to begin their journey toward healing.

Since opening in 1998, the Justice for Children Advocacy Center has served more than 2,500 children and their families who have been impacted by physical or sexual abuse. In 2018 alone, 287 children and their families benefitted from the services available at the Justice for Children Advocacy Center. These services include victim advocacy, forensic interviewing, mental health counseling, medical exams, and multidisciplinary case review.

The proceeds from the Charity Golf Tournament will be used to replace existing, outdated medical equipment with a state-of-the-art imaging system to be used on site at the Justice for Children Advocacy Center’s Batavia office. This equipment will improve our highly skilled medical providers’ ability to identify, diagnose, and document injuries that have been inflicted upon children who have been physically or sexually abused.

Additionally, this system will create opportunities for continuing education and peer review for our medical providers, allowing them to keep their skills sharp and up to date with current best practices. The welcome addition of this equipment will aid us in our goal of ensuring that all the children we help receive the highest quality care possible.

Batavia left-hander Mike Johnson, coming off his All-Events title in the Genesee Region USBC Association Tournament, rolled a 300 game in The North Pole League last Thursday at Mancuso Bowling Center.

Johnson finished with a 686 series, second to another Batavia lefty, Rich Wagner, who posted a 277 game and 755 series.

For more high rollers across the Genesee Region last week, click on the Pin Points tab at the top of this page.

Genesee Region USBC Association Tournament produces numerous high scores. Click on Pin Points at the top of the page for Mike Pettinella's latest column.

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Unity is a good thing, especially when it brings together students with development disabilities with same-aged, non-disabled students for competition on the bowling lanes.

For the first time, Medina Central School took part in the North Division of the Unified Bowling League – a Section 6 program that took place throughout the month of February.

The Medina team squared off against four schools – Newfane, Clarence, Sweet Home and Akron – winning all four matches, before taking first place in a season-ending tournament at Brad Angelo Lanes in Lockport against those schools plus Starpoint and Niagara Falls.

Each team had eight bowlers – four special education and four regular bowlers – who took part in two-man Baker style (where bowlers alternate frames) matches.

“It was a positive experience for everyone involved, including the coach,” said Rob Dennis, director of transportation for Medina schools who served as the team’s director and coach.

Dennis said the team had five special education students along with many student partners. Team members were Ian Wagner, Jessica Granchelli, Lydia Bataglia, Ian Joseph, Elissa Blount, Morgan Allis, William Brazwell, Alex Allis, Morgan Crossett, Brandie Carson, Jackson Touhey, Enzo Gulliani, Joe and Tom Biacelli, Gracie Cogovan and Steven Secore.

“We couldn’t have been successful without the support of Eric Greenlief, Jim Foss and Tom Allis from the bowling center along with proprietors Gerry Allen, Dr. David Stahl and Chris Bacon,” Dennis said. “My team practiced well over 80 games in this short season, and the lanes supported all our students in this new program.”

Dennis, who is a certified coach through the United States Bowling Congress and coordinator of Medina’s youth bowling program (with his wife, Tina), also thanked Athletic Director Eric Valley, Superintendent Mark Kruzynski and the Medina School Board for their support.

On Saturday March 24th the Batavia girls softball program held a Bat-a-thon called "Strike Out Cancer." The event raised more than $3,000 by all three teams in the program, from Modified-JV-Varsity.

The players did a tremendous job getting sponsors and each player was given the opportunity to hit 20 pitches in the batting cage.

For each ball hit, the girls raised money for the softball program and Genesee Cancer Assistance (GCA). GCA Board Member Nickie Fazio was on hand for the event.

"The girls did a great job with this wonderful event and I couldn't be more proud of them," Nickie Fazio said. "It is so nice to be able to contribute to our community."

"Thank you to everyone for their generous support," said Coach Jim Fazio.

Photos and story submitted by BHS softball team.

Press release:

The Batavia/Genesee County Police and Fire Ice Hockey Team is playing in the third Annual Police and Fire Hockey Tournament in Buffalo this April.

The Batavia/Genesee County Police and Fire team is comprised of members of the City of Batavia Police Department, City of Batavia Fire Department, Genesee County Sheriff’s Office, and Town of Batavia Fire Department.

The tournament is played at Harbor Center in Downtown Buffalo, and has participants from law enforcement and fire departments from all over the Northeast and Canada. This year’s tourney is April 20th and 21st.

The team is greatly appreciative of its sponsor, Kenny Mistler, owner of Ken’s Charcoal Pits and Bar-B-Q, located at 59 Main St., Batavia. Kenny has continued to support first responders in the community, and this is the second year of helping the team participate in this tournament.

For those wishing to watch some exciting, fast-paced hockey at no cost, and cheer their local first responders on, head to Buffalo this April!

Submitted photo: This year's team with sponsor Kenny Mistler and mascots Sammy and Diesel.

The Batavia Ramparts 18U Empire team won the Rock and Roll Tournament championship this past Sunday in Cleveland, Ohio.

The team won all three preliminary games leading up to Sunday's final where they won by a score of 6-1.

Photo and information provided by Michael Freeman.

From the Zonta Club at Batavia High School:

Let Us Learn Madagascar 5K Run/Walk, sponsored by Batavia High School’s Zonta Club, will be held on Sunday, April 29.

Z-Club members are excited to invite you to participate in this charity run/walk that benefits educating girls in Madagascar.

Registration at 1 p.m., race begins at 2. The race starts and ends on Denio Street, near the Muckdogs' baseball field.

Race Entry: $15 for individuals (prior to April 29); $20 race day registration; $50 for a team registration of five runners/walkers. *Teams need to combine and submit registration forms.

If you have any questions feel free to contact:

• mlholsopple@bataviacsd.org
• jcorbelli@bataviacsd.org
• ldisanto@bataviacsd.org

Teams representing Mancuso Bowling Center and Mount Morris Lanes are in first place in the Open and Women's Team divisions, respectively, after the first of two weekends of the 12th annual Genesee Region USBC Association Tournament at Mount Morris Lanes (Team event) and Livingston Lanes in Geneseo (Doubles & Singles events).

Go to www.bowlgr.com for for unofficial standings through Sunday, March 18.

Competition resumes on Friday and there are plenty of openings for both Team and Doubles/Singles events. To enter, contact Mike Pettinella, GRUSBC association manager, at 585-861-0404 or at mikep@bowlgr.com.

In the Open Team event, Barber's Five (Mancuso's) leads the way with 3,336, followed by Medina Lanes at 3,204. Gerry Barber paced his team with 673 scratch while Aaron Verheyn posted 731 and Ray Neuman 712 for the Medina squad.

In the Women's Team event, King & Her Court is in first place with 2,444 (four person team) and Hawks (Medina Lanes) are in second at 2,408. Karen Henry's 548 series led the King & Her Court team, captained by Jan King.

Other event leaders:

Open Doubles -- Mike Cunningham and Chris Huntz (Perry Bowling Center), 1,343; John Wolff and Ron Lawrence (Mancuso's), 1,335.
Women's Doubles -- Cathi Fournier and Karen Henry (Mount Morris Lanes), 1,251.
Open Singles - John Wolff, 744; Chuck Bobo (Mancuso's), 678.
Women's Singles -- Cathi Fournier, 628.
Open All-Events -- Gregg Wolff (Mancuso's), 1,943; Casey Palmer Sr., 1,935.
Women's All-Events -- Cathi Fournier, 1,996.

Competition will take place in three divisions -- Open (men and women), Women and Scratch (men and women). In the Open and Scratch divisions, teams are comprised of five players; in the Women's division, teams consist of four players.

Handicap is set at 90 percent of 215 in the Open and 90 percent of 200 in the Women's.

Entry fees are $25 per person per event and $10 for optional All-Events.

Head Coach Jim Fazio (far left) with Assistant Coach Mark Janes (far right) along with members of Batavia High School Girls Softball Team receive a check for $1,000 from owner Kathy Ferrara yesterday afternoon at Batavia's Original Pizzeria, Batavia. 

The girls did a great job promoting this event and in honor of International Womans Day on March 8th, Ferrara said she decided to match their fundraising efforts.

"I believe empowering women is important in our community and these young ladies represent a strong future, so I wanted to help them raise funds towards their trip," she said.

The team has been fundaising since December when they saw an opportunity to play ball in Myrtle Beach, S.C., and add games to their schedule in warmer weather.  

Chris Bardol of Brockport kept the hot hand for a second week as he registered an 834 series last Tuesday in the G&W Vending League at Rose Garden Bowl in Bergen.

Bardol topped the list of area high scores with games of 288-257-289. Last week, he posted a 776 series in the league.

Dave Emler of Rochester popped a big 278 game en route to a 759 series.

At Medina Lanes this morning, Jackie Jurinich came oh so close to perfection as she rolled a 298 game in the Sunday Roll-Offs League. The right-hander came a bit high on the final ball, leaving the 6-10.

For more high rollers in the Genesee Region, click on the Pin Points tab at the top of the page.

Mike Pettinella's Pin Points column will appear on Thursday.

Franklinville Panthers led after the first quarter 18-8 by senior 5'10' Allyson Haskell. Elba's senior Emily Reynolds (pictured above) was held to just seven points on the night along with Leah Bezon (pictured below) guarding Danielle Haskell from Franklinville. The Panthers extended thier lead 32-17 at the half and continued the pace.

Second half Panthers had a lead as much as 29 points but Elba's strongest scoring fourth quarter came up short with a final of losing 60-40. Elba's Freshman Maddie Muehlig led in points for the lancers with 10 on the night, 0 for 6 from three-point range.  

Franklinville will play Edwards-Knox next Saturday, March 17th, at 2:15 p.m. in the Final four at Hudson Valley Community College.

Photos courtesy of David Zuppelli.

One Genesee County girls basketball team is advancing to the regional playoffs and for another, its season is over following a pair of Section V consolidation games played Tuesday.

Elba beat Wheatland, 47-38. The Lady Lancers will play for the Far West Region Class D championship Saturday at Rush-Henrietta High School at 3 p.m. against Franklinville of Section VI.

For the Lady Irish of Notre Dame, their season is over after losing the Class C consolidation game (where Class C1's sectional champion plays Class C2's sectional champion for the right to play in the Class C Far West Regional game) to South Seneca, 61-41. For Notre Dame, Margaret Sutherland scored 18 points and Callie McCulley scored 16 points.

Press release:

Genesee Amateur Hockey Association is holding its Beginner Timbits Cross-Ice Jamboree at the Falleti Ice Rink from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. this Saturday. March 10^th.

The “draft” has occurred and teams are set. Stop down and see these mighty little hockey players in action.

Please stop into Tim Hortons for a beverage and treats to thank them for the sponsorship of the Timbits Beginner Program.

The Pembroke Dragons lost its Section V Class C1 championship battle Monday at Blue Cross Arena to Northstar Christian, 80-72.

Reid Miano scored 17 points and had 11 rebounds. Lucas Kohorst scored 15, Jamil Marable, 13, Zach vonKramer, 12, and Ethan Stone, 10.

For Northstar, Mile Brown scored 39 points.

For the second time in two years, the Lady Lancers of Elba are the Section V Class D2 champions, beating Andover in a tight game, 47-42.

It was one of those games that could have gone either way until there were less than 10 seconds on the clock and Elba had possession of the ball.

Coach Tom Redband gave a lot of credit to the win to his lone senior on the team, captain Emily Reynolds. Reynolds was the tournament MVP, giving her back-to-back MVP titles.

"(The key was) having Reynolds in there as the two-time MVP," Redband said. "The girls were able to keep their poise and take care of the ball and get some stops on defense. If you’re going to win, you want to get those stops."

Reynolds said her role was to keep her teammates calm and remind them to "play Elba basketball."

"My heart was beating fast almost the whole game but I didn’t doubt my girls for one second," Reynolds said. "I had full confidence in us. We prepared really hard."

Championships in her junior and senior seasons means a lot to her, said Reynolds, who scored 23 points.

"I hold it really dear to my heart," Reynolds said. "All of these girls are my family and it means everything to be able to win and have another championship before I graduate. I don’t want my season to end. I want to extend it as long as possible."

Maddie Muehlig scored 11 points and hit five of six free-throw attempts, including two shots to help seal the win with less than a second left to play.

Leah Bezon scored six points.

Redband said he and the girls are proud to represent Elba.

"The girls do that tremendously," Redband said. "They play the right way. They’re good sports. They’re nice people. It means a lot to me."