muckdogs

The Muckdogs (18-15) added one to the loss column, falling 6-3 to the Oneonta Tigers (17-16).  Jameson Maj (2-2) got the start and the loss, pitching five innings with four hits, two runs, one walk and two strikeouts.  For the Tigers, Darwin De Leon (3-1) got the win in five and two-thirds innings with three hits, two runs, two walks and one strikeout.  Aaron Fuherman pitched the last three and a third innings with two hits, one run and two strikeouts to get his first save of the season.

Oneonta struck first in the 3^rd inning when Ben Guez reached on a fielding error, Joshua Workman doubled and Bryan Pounds flew out for the RBI.  Angel Flores singled to score the other run in the inning.  In the 6^th, they made it 3-0 when Mike Gosse reached on a fielder’s choice and scored on Brent Wyatt triple.

Batavia answered back in the bottom of the inning when Shane Peterson was hit by a pitch and Blake Murphy hit his third homerun of the season.  However, Oneonta scored three in the 7^th to seal their win.  Guez walked, stole second and scored when Pounds singled.  Then Billy Nowlin and Gosse both had RBI singles.

The Muckdogs’ last run came in the bottom of the 7^th on a Beau Riportella double and a Jose Garcia single.  Riportella ended the night 2-for-4.

Batavia Middle School will get a rock climbing wall. The city School Board approved the purchase of the $55,000 wall at its meeting last night, according to the Daily News. Reporter Joanne Beck writes: "The district can afford the purchase with surplus year-end funds from 2007-08, Business Administrator Scott Rozanski said."

At the same meeting, following the purchase of the rock wall, the board then approved an increase in breakfast and lunch prices at city schools, reported Beck. Breakfast will now be $1.10 at the elementary school and $1.25 at the middle and high schools; lunch will be $1.55 and $1.85, respectively.

Work on the Walnut Street roundabout and street reconstruction will be postponed until next year. City Manager Jason Molino told the Daily News that "the decision was made by contractor CATCO." It was decided to hold off on the project "to minimize disruptions to the normal traffic flow," and meetings will be held in February to "help people understand how best to navigate and use the roundabout."

Mercy Flight and the Batavia Muckdogs will join together for a fundraiser that will grant two lucky raffle winners the chance to ride a helicopter from the airport to Dwyer Stadium and throw out the first pitch of that night's game. A $10 ticket will include admission to the Muckdogs game on August 4, as well as entry into the drawing. "Mercy Flight will get $6 out of every $10 ticket sold." Tickets can be purchased at Dwyer Stadium and at Mercy Flight's base at Genesee County Airport. Winners will be announced at the August 1 Muckdogs game.

Congratulations to Batavia's 11-year-old Little League Baseball all-stars whop took home the District 3 championship last night in the second straight defeat of Oakfield. In its past three games, Batavia has outscored its opponents 34-4. Talk about an offensive powerhouse!

As always, we encourage you to get out and pick up a copy of the Daily News at local newsstands. Or, better yet, subscribe at BataviaNews.com.

For the second Sunday in a row the Muckdogs were rained out, this time after not quite a full inning of play.  The game is re-scheduled for August 6th when Auburn comes back into town.

The Muckdogs were on the road this past Wednesday through Sunday for a three-game series against Staten Island and a game in Auburn.  They finished the trip 2-2.  Here is a quick recap of those games:

• Wednesday, July 16: Staten Island 6, Batavia 5:  Ramon Delgado (1-1) got the start and the loss, going three and a third innings with eight hits and six runs (five earned). Jameson Maj had a strong performance, throwing the last four innings allowing only one hit with six strikeouts and no walks.  Offensively, Batavia had twelve hits to Staten Islands ten.  Colt Sedbrook went 2-for-5 with his first homerun of the season.  Jermaine Curtis and Domnit Bolivar went 4-for-5 and 2-for-4, respectively, each with a double.
• Thursday, July 17: Batavia 4, Staten Island 2: Scott Gorgen started the game, going four innings with three hits, two runs, one walk and two strikeouts, but Miguel Tapia (3-2) scored the win.  Tapia pitched three and a third innings with three hits, two walks and three strikeouts.  Adam Reifer pitched a scoreless 9th with one strikeout for the save.  Sedbrook was big at the plate again, going 3-for-4 with a double and a stolen base.
• Friday, July 18: Staten Island 3, Batavia 2:  The Yankees broke a 2-2 tie in the bottom of the 9th to win the rubber-match.  George Brown (0-1) suffered the loss in three innings, letting up five hits, three runs and one walk with three strikeouts.  Thomas Eager started the game, throwing five innings with two hits and three strikeouts.  Frederick Parejo went 2-for-4 with a homerun and Christian Rosa went 2-for-3 with a stolen base.
• Saturday, July 19: Batavia 7, Auburn 5:  Josh Hester had a great start, pitching four and a third innings, allowing only one hit and five strikeouts.  Hector Cardenas (2-0) pitched three innings with a walk and two strikeouts for the win.  Reifer pitched another scoreless 9th with one strikeout for his eighth save.  At the plate, Sedbrook went 2-for-4 with a triple.  Shane Peterson went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI, and Rosa went 2-for-5, also with a double and a RBI.

The Muckdogs (17-14) are now tied for second place in the Pinckney Division with Auburn, whom they play tonight.  They then come home for a three-game series against the Oneonta Tigers.  Tuesday and Wednesday's games start at 7:05 and Thursday has an early start of 11:05.

The Muckdogs (15-12) dropped the first game 3-1 but rallied back in dramatic fashion to win the second game and the series against the Aberdeen Ironbirds (13-14).

In the first game, Josh Hester (1-1) pitched three innings, giving up six hits and three runs with two strikeouts in the loss.  Aberdeen’s Cole McCurry (4-0) earned the win, pitching five innings with five hits, one run and four strikeouts.

The Ironbirds scored two in the 2^nd when Lee Ellis singled and Robert Widlansky hit a homerun over the right field wall.  The Muckdogs looked to threaten in the bottom of the inning when they scored their one run.  Chris Swauger doubled and Domnit Bolivar singled to move Swauger to third before Xavier Scruggs flied out for the RBI.

Aberdeen’s last run came on three singles off the bats of Caleb Joseph, Jacob Julius and Tyler Kolodny.  Batavia’s Colt Sedbrook went 2-for-3 in the game.

In the second contest of the night, Hector Cardenas (1-0) got the win through his one inning of work.  Joseph Esposito (0-1) got the loss and the blown save as he allowed two hits and three runs with three walks and two strikeouts in one inning.

The Ironbirds jumped out to an early lead in the 1^st when Calvin Lester singled, stole second and scored on a wild pitch. Batavia started their offense in the 3^rd, scoring three runs.  Charley Cutler singled then Sedbrook tripled to drive him in.  Jermaine Curtis singled and Shane Peterson doubled to score the other two.

Things then got interesting when Aberdeen had a big six-run 6^th inning.  An Eric Perlozzo single, Calvin Lester single, then a Joseph double started the rally.  After a pitching change, Julius walked and Kolodny was hit by a pitch to load the bases before Joseph scored on a wild pitch.  An Ellis double and Widlansky single plated the other runs.

The Muckdogs weren’t done though, as they started the comeback, scoring twice in the bottom of the 6^th.  Peterson singled and Jon Edwards was hit by a pitch before both advanced a base on a wild pitch.  Cutler then singled to get two RBI.

After holding Aberdeen in the next inning, Batavia continued their rally.  Sedbrook led off with a walk and moved to second on a wild pitch.  Curtis followed with another walk.  Then with two outs, Christian Rosa dropped a single in front of the plate to score Sedbrook.  Scruggs then came into the spotlight, as he smashed a double to right field to score the two winning runs to end the game as the Muckdogs won 8-7.

Peterson went 2-for-4 with a double and Cutler went 2-for-3 with two RBI to finish out the homestand.  The Muckdogs now travel to Staten Island for a three game series.

The Batavia Muckdogs' home game tonight, 7/14, against the Aberdeen Ironbirds is a double header since the game was rained out on Sun., 7/13.  Game start time is 5:05pm.  Booster Club 50/50 sales will begin normal time, 6pm.  If I'm not mistaken, both games will be a total of 7 innings each, unless there's OT.

The Muckdogs (14-11) improved their winning streak to three games, winning 4-1 against the Aberdeen Ironbirds (12-13). LaCurtis Mayes’s (1-0) one inning of work was enough to get him the win on the mound. Adam Reifer (6) pitched a scoreless 9^th, walking one and striking out two to get the save. On the losing end, Aaron Odom (1-3) pitched five innings with seven hits, two earned runs and eight strikeouts for the loss.

 The Muckdogs (12-11) rallied early to edge out the Lowell Spinners (11-12) 5-3 behind the winning pitcher Jameson Maj (2-1). Maj went five innings, striking out six while giving up four hits and two runs. Lowell’s Yeiper Castillo got the loss in his one inning of work, walking three and allowing four earned runs.

Adam Reifer let up one hit and had one strikeout in the 9^th to get his fifth save. Murphy went 1-for-4 on the night with a double and three RBI.

Don't forget everyone...  Every Friday home game of the Batavia Muckdogs, from now until the end of the season, is scheduled to have fireworks every night after the game.

A story in the local section of today's Daily News about the logo design contest for the New York-Penn League was missing one very important element. In a story all about designs, it would have been nice to see them.

So I went online and found them.

First things first, make sure you visit the Web site and vote for your favorite. There are six altogether from five finalists — Matthew Steinberg of Corfu got two submissions into the finals. Unfortunately, you can't tell which two are his. (This one to the left here is the current logo.)

Here are some more details about the contest from the Minor League Baseball Web site:

At the beginning of April, the New York-Penn League announced their current logo would be retired at the completion of the 2008 season. In an effort to find a new mark, the league announced a contest to help design the new logo. The league received over 80 designs from talented artists as far away as Paris, France, as well as designers from throughout the New York-Penn League community. After narrowing the competition to the top five designs, the contest will now be turned over to you, the fans, to select the league’s new logo.

And here are the final six. I kind of like Option Nos. 4 and 5.

Now, go vote!

Nice little tidbit buried at the bottom of the Buffalo News story on Jeff Weaver signing with the Bisons.

The Muckdog's game drew a record crowd: 3,021.

We were there handing out water bottle kozies -- we gave out 1,000 of them prior to the game. They were a big hit with people who arrived before we did coming from the stands to ask for their own once they saw they were available.

We also handed out about 750 at the Ramble yesterday. Again, big hit.

It was fun to meet so many people who already visit The Batavian regularly, and we made several new friends, I think.

But back to the Muckdogs, please be sure to check out Eric Manning's post on the Muckdog's hot prospects. I stumbled about Eric's blog Future Redbirds the other day and asked if he would be willing to fill us in on who the top players are on the Muckdogs.  If you're a St. Louis Cardinals fan (and there seemed to be several of them at the game on Friday), Future Redbirds seems like a must-read web site.

And while we're talking about Muckdogs coverage, the Muckdog's intern Molly Radzinski, a broadcasting major from Albion, has been doing a great job of providing us game recaps. Here's one.

I couldn't stay for the whole game Friday because I promised my wife I wouldn't be gone long, but I need to get back to Dwyer Stadium soon -- it's a great ballpark. There isn't a bad seat in the house, near as I can tell, and the fans are really into the game.

I need to go to a game soon, and so should you.

So you're going to a Muckdogs game, but you're just not sure who you should be paying attention to. I am the main writer and founder of the blog FutureRedbirds.com, and as someone who tracks the farm system very closely but doesn't have the privilege of being in driving distance to Dwyer Stadium, here are the players I'd be watching keenly at each game if I were you:

Hitters

(Photo: Mark6Mauno)

Shane Peterson, OF---Shane Peterson was drafted this year in the 2nd round out of perennial powerhouse Long Beach State University, a team that featured 8 players drafted in the first seven rounds, and has recently helped produce rising hitting stars Troy Tulowitzki and Evan Longoria. Peterson was the first of the many Dirtbag players selected on draft day. The sweet-swinging lefty played first base and pitched in college, and has the speed and arm to hold down a corner outfield spot. Peterson was among the leaders in the Big West Conference in batting average (.390) slugging percentage (.582) and he led the conference in on-base percentage (.506). Being a rather statistically-inclined club as the Cardinals are, they jumped on him on draft day. Not everyone in scouting circles are sold on his hitting ability in spite of his tremendous college stats, as Peterson has an unorthodox hitting approach; he holds his bat up by his ear and uses a two-step swing. He does however generate excellent bat speed and has a high finish, allowing him add loft to the ball. Whatever he is doing is working so far in his first taste of pro ball, as Peterson is currently batting .379, the second highest average in the New York Penn League.

Jon Edwards, OF---Edwards fell to the 14th round of the 2006 draft in part because he was ineligible for the first half of his senior season in high school. The Cardinals went well over slot to sign him, giving him a bonus of $100K. He is a serious physical specimen, standing at 6-5 and 230 lbs. He has as much raw power as any Cardinal hitter in the system, but as with most high school players, he came to the club quite raw and is still a work in progress. In his first minor league season he hit .266/.360/.461 (AVG/OBP/SLG) for rookie league Johnson City and was ranked a Top 10 Appalachian League prospect by Baseball America. He returned to the Appy League in his 2nd pro season, but had trouble making contact, batting only .245. He still showed the ability to take a walk and hit for power, and was moved up to Batavia at the end of the 2007 season. In his short time at Batavia, Edwards went 13-for-33 with 5 extra base hits. That hot streak has carried over so far this season; he's sixth in the NY Penn League batting race (.358) and is leading the league in slugging percentage by a wide margin, with a whopping .736. Edwards profiles as a "Three True Outcomes" hitter; the Three True Outcomes being a homer, walk or a strikeout, a la Adam Dunn. He has a long swing but generates lots of power, but has good pitch recognition for a 20 year old hitter. He has a strong arm in right field, but has below average range.

Other names to know, hitters to watch

3B Jermaine Curtis was the club's 5th round pick in 2008 out of the University of California. He is known for having a fine glove and a keen batting eye, and his 42 walks were the most drawn by any Bruin since Troy Glaus drew 57 in 1997...1B Xavier Scruggs was an uncertain sign as a junior and therefore fell to the 19th round this past June, but was ranked the 197th best draft prospect by Baseball America. For UNLV he hit for the Mountain West Conference triple crown. He’s strong and quick to the ball, and has sound plate discipline, but has struggled mightily thus far...19 year old catcher Luis De La Cruz was ranked the clubs' 30th best prospect by BA headed into the 2008 season, particularly for his all around defensive skills behind the plate. He struggled for the low A River Bandits and was demoted to Batavia...CF Frederick Parejo was signed out of Venezuela as a 16 year old free agent two years ago and is developing fairly rapidly. He was the talk of Extended Spring Training amongst the Cardinal coaches and scouts, and was rewarded with an aggressive promotion. He's considered a pure center fielder.

Pitchers

(Image: sportsillustrated.cnn.com)

RHP Lance Lynn---Lynn was the Cardinals supplemental round pick this past year out of Ole Miss. The Indiana native was originally drafted by the Mariners in the 6th round of the 2005 draft but opted to go to school. That decision paid off handsomely. For the Rebels this past season he posted a 4.52 ERA with 110 strikeouts to 30 walks over 89.2 innings. He has a potential for two plus pitches-a fastball at 92-93 and a sharp curve, and profiles as a middle of the rotation innings eater. He has terrific mechanics and also throws a slider and a change-up, although both are inconsistent offerings at this point. Lefties had no troubles hitting Lynn in the SEC last year, so he'll need to work on getting more consistent with the change.

RHP Scott Gorgen---His twin brother Matt is currently Muckdog rival Hudson Valley's closer and pitched for the U of Cal.; Matt was taken in the 4th round this past June out of UC Irvine, and was the higher regarded of the two. For the Anteaters this past spring, Gorgen was 12-3 with a 2.26 ERA and had 123 strikeouts to 40 walks in 115.2 innings. His fastball is in the 87-90 MPH range, and tops out at 92. His change-up is his bread and butter and he'll throw it often and in any count. It's a "plus-plus" pitch and was considered to be one of the best change-ups in this past draft, if not the best. Gorgen can locate the pitch wherever he wishes and it has late tumbling action, much like a split-finger fastball. The main knock on Gorgen is he's short and stocky at 5-10, 190, and he doesn't have much of a breaking ball.

RHP and Closer Adam Reifer---Reifer was drafted in 2007 in the 11th round out of UC Riverside. He was considered a top two round talent but fell due to injury concerns surrounding his pitching elbow and shoulder. He had a bone spur removed in his elbow and shoulder tendinitis, and the Cardinals have been very cautious with him. Before the injury Reifer was throwing 91-94 with regularity, and has touched up to 96 MPH. He also has a hard, late breaking slider. After witnessing the amount of college closers taken in the first few rounds in this past draft, Reifer could be a huge steal.

Other names to know, pitchers to watch

RHP Jason Buursma was the Cards 25th round pick out of Bucknell U. He was a Brooks Wallace Award finalist, one of college baseball's top honors. A two-way player, he hit .367 with 13 homers as an outfielder as well as posting a 9-3 record with a 2.58 ERA as a pitcher. He throws submarine style...RHPs Arquimedes Nieto and Miguel Tapia were two of the top pitching prospects from the Cardinals Dominican Summer League last season. Nieto is a Panamanian product who had 56 strikeouts to only 13 walks with a 2.73 ERA in 59.1 innings for the DSL Cardinals in 2007. In the exact same amount of innings, the 20 year old Dominican Tapia had 57 K's to 29 walks and 3.34 ERA. Although Nieto has shown better command, the organization considers Tapia to have the higher ceiling of the two.

The Muckdogs (10-8) celebrated more than just Independence Day, posting a 9-2 win over the Hudson Valley Renegades (9-9) to complete the series sweep.  Ramon Delgado (1-0) pitched the first five innings to get the win, letting up four hits and striking out one.   Hudson Valley’s Chris Andujar (0-1) got the loss, going three innings with five earned runs, four walks and three strikeouts. 
 

Batavia once again jumped out to an early lead in the 1^st.  Jose Garcia started off with a walk and Colt Sedbrook followed with a RBI triple.  Shane Peterson then singled before Jon Edwards hit a two-run homerun to jump out to a 4-0 lead.  The Muckdogs’ other big inning came in the 5^th as they scored two runs, the first on a solo homerun by Chris Swauger.  Back-to-back doubles by Xavier Scruggs and Charley Cutler scored the second. 
 

Hudson Valley avoided being shutout in the 9^th when John Mollicone reached on a two-out fielding error by Scruggs.  Kyeong Kang followed with a homerun to score the Renegades’ two runs. 
 

Peterson went 3-for-4 with three singles, two runs and two RBI.  Batavia now goes on the road to play a three-game series in Vermont.

After waiting an hour for a rain delay to start the game, the Batavia Muckdogs (7-6) blanked the Jamestown Jammers (7-4) behind a combined 14-strikeout pitching effort. 

Miguel Tapia (2-1) struck out seven Jammers in five innings and allowed only three hits to get the win.  Johnny Dorn (1-1) suffered the loss giving up six hits and four earned runs through three innings.

Batavia jumped out to an early lead in the bottom of the 1^st on a Frederick Parejo double and Shane Peterson RBI single.  But the Muckdogs big inning came in the 3^rd when Jermaine Curtis led off with a single.  Two batters later, Blake Murphy sent his first pitch over the left field wall for a two-run homerun.  Xavier Scruggs followed Murphy’s lead, hitting one over the wall in right.  Batavia’s last run came in the 4^th after Beau Riportella reached second on a throwing error and Parejo drove him in with a single.

The Muckdog’s Scott Gorgen came on in relief to pitch three innings, striking out five and walking two.  Hector Cardenas pitched the 9^th, striking out two of the three batters he faced.

Murphy and Scruggs both went 2-for-4 with a homerun and single.  Riportella went 3-for-4 with a double.

 Photo Courtesy: Casey Freeman

From the Daily News (Monday):

• Batavia High School's Class of '08 walked the stage Sunday at Genesee Community College for the school's 126th commencement ceremony. The school's new principal, Christopher Dailey, officiated most of the ceremony and gave the class advice courtesy of Dr. Seuss (seriously): "You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. You are the one who will decide where to go."
• A guest article from Anne Marie Starowitz of the Holland Land Office Museum takes a look at the history of the Wind Plow Company in Batavia. An interesting bit of history, the article is part of a monthly series called: "History on Display at HLOM."
• The annual Safe Summer Children's Carnival is slated for July 17 at Fellti Ice Arena at 22 Evans St. Cheap pizza, sno-cones and soda will be available, along with "carnival games, balloon sculptures, charactures (sic), face painting, bounce house and educational booths." The festivities start at 10:30am and wrap up at 2:00pm. Call Jennifer Waldron at the Genesee County Youth Bureau at (585) 344-3960 for more information.
• Threats of hail storms scared away "many participants" at the Rotary Rods and Rock & Roll car show and beer festival fundraiser Saturday, writes reporter Joanne Beck. Great quote from the owner of a 1977 Pontiac Grand Prix who did come out for the event. He says of the car: "It's our all-weather car. But it doesn't get driven in the winter." Funny... While the car show — usually the big hit — only drew 350 people, Batavia's Beer Festival brought in 400. More than just a beer tent with a couple kegs of Genny Light, the festival had a slew of fine beers on tap to sample.
• The Batavia Muckdogs and Jamestown Jammers game that was rained out yesterday will be played tonight instead at 7:05pm at Dwyer Stadium. Tune in to WBTA for the full broadcast.

For the complete stories, the Daily News is available on local newsstands, or you can subscribe on BataviaNews.com.

I love baseball, so with a certain amount of pride, I walked into Dwyer Stadium today and snapped this photo of The Batavian sign out in right field.

We're proud to be a 2008 sponsor of Batavia's legendary minor league baseball team.

This summer, we're also a sponsor of the BID's summer concert series.

We're looking at a couple of other sponsorship opportunities over the next couple of months.  If your group or organization is putting on an event and need local business sponsors, let us know, because we'll certainly consider it (we can't sponsor everything of course, but we have some money left in the budget for a couple of more sponsorships this summer).

Check out WBTA for this and other stories:

• The county Legislature approved the $31 million budget for Genesee Community College last night. Also approved at the meeting was the purchase of 17 bulletproof vests for the Sheriff's Office at a cost of $24,038.
• The Muckdogs lost 3-1 to the Jamestown Jammers to drop back below .500 for the year. They'll be in Mahoning Valley tonight. Batavia went 2-1 in their last series against the Scrappers earlier this week.

From the Daily News (Monday):

• The Muckdogs fell apart in the ninth to go down 8-6 against the visiting Mahoning Valley Scrappers last night. After getting sweeped by the Doubledays earlier in the week, the Muckdogs took off for Rochester's Frontier Field Friday where they scored their first win, then won again against the Scrappers Saturday. With the loss yesterday, the home team drops to 2-4 for the season. They'll host the Jamestown Jammers at 7:05pm tonight. Be sure to tune in to WBTA 1490 AM for the broadcast.
• There's really little else in the way of Batavia news in the paper today. Roger Muehlig put together a trio of articles on the Oakfield-Alabama and Elba graduations from this weekend. Today's Local section has an article about a pastor in Albion helping to raise money for a Pakistani school, a response from Medina's Board of Education to a state audit that found problems with the district's funding procedure and an info-piece about a fundraiser in Bergen. The Zwerka Family Fun Day Fundraiser will be July 13 from 1:00 to 6:00pm at the Gillam-Grant Community Center at 6966 West Bergen Rd.

For the complete stories, the Daily News is available on local newsstands, or you can subscribe on BataviaNews.com.