baseball

The Batavia Muckdogs remain a mere percentage point ahead of Mahoning Valley in the Pinckney division after splitting a double header with the Williamsport Crosscutters on Monday.

Batavia took the first game 5-1 as Matt Carpenter and Ryde Rodriquez continued to swing hot bats, each picking up a pair of RBIs.

Devin Goodwin also had two hits from the lead off spot while Xavier Scruggs continues putting together a good start to the season with a double and an RBI.

San Diego native Deryk Hooker pitched five innings giving up four hits and no runs to pick up his first win of the season.

In the second game, Crosscutters' pitching held the Muckdogs to only five hits, with only D'Marcus Ingram notching a multi-hit game. The Muckdogs dropped the nightcap 4-3, with Joshua Squatrito taking the loss -- his first of the season.

Squatrito pitched one and a third inning giving up two runs, but only one of those was earned. 

San Diego State grad Tyler Lavigne pitched the first three and two-thirds innings, giving up two earned runs.

The Muckdogs battle the Crosscutters again tonight in Williamsport at 7:05. Batavia returns home tomorrow for a 7:05 p.m. game against Jamestown and then are home again Friday night against the Jammers.

Matt Carpenter and Ryde Rodriguez  each collected three hits while Xavier Scruggs homered to lead the Muckdogs to a 9-2 victory over Jamestown Saturday.

Sunday's game against Williamsport was rained out.

At 5-2, the Muckdog's are in first place in the Pinckney division, a half game ahead of Mahoning Valley.

Carpenter is leading the league with a .483 batting average. Rodriquez is the early RBI leader with nine.

The Muckdogs play a double header in Williamsport today (making up Sunday's rain out), and face Williamsport again tomorrow. The team returns home Wednesday and Friday to host Jamestown (with fireworks following Friday's game, of course).

Batavia (4-2) got them on, but couldn’t get enough in as they lost 3-2 to Jamestown (2-5).  They stranded 13 runners on base, reaching on eight hits and ten walks.

Things got dramatic in the bottom of the 9^th when the Muckdogs got a two out rally.  Matt Carpenter and Xavier Scruggs had back-to-back walks and came in to score on a triple off the bat of Ryde Rodriguez.  Niko Vasquez then reached on another walk, but Jack Cawley followed him going down looking to end the game.

Batavia also had threatened in the 6th.  Rodriguez led of the inning with a base hit.  Bases became loaded later after both Cawley and Beau Riportella drew walks.  However, with two outs, Rodriguez ended the inning at home when he attempted to slide in on a ball in the dirt.

The Jammers got on the board first in the top of the second after Ricky Orton walked, Sequoya Storecipher singled and Jose Ceballos got them both in on a two RBI base hit.  They added one more in the 6^th when Kyle Jenson singled and came home on an error.

Michael Blazek (1-1) suffered the loss as the starter, going four innings with two runs, four hits, three walks and three strikeouts.

Beau Riportella was effective at the plate tonight, going 1-for-2 with a double and two full-count walks.

The offense wasn’t there for the Muckdogs (4-1) tonight, as they were handed their first loss of the season by Williamsport (3-3) ona slim 1-0 margin.

Crosscutter starter Siulman LeBron (2-0) had a brilliant start, going seven strong innings with only two hits and one walk while striking out ten for the win.

The one decisive run of the game came in the top of the 3^rd for Williamsport.  Jiwan James had a two-out double and came home during the next at-bat on a base hit by Evan Porter.

Batavia pitching remained sharp despite the lack of run support.  Starter Tyler Leach (0-1) threw four innings with three hits, one run and one strikeout.  Relievers Christopher Corrigan and Josh Squatrito combined for only three hits, two walks and one strikeout.

Matt Carpenter made up most of the Muckdog offense, having 2 of the team’s 4 hits.

Batavia is on the road tomorrow to start a three game series with Jamestown.  They return home on Friday night at 7:05.

Ryan Gugel, the Gulf Coast League barely got to know you.

The Batavia high grad who signed a free agent deal with the Philadelphia Phillies organization after the Major League Baseball Draft didn't get to play in the GCL Phillies opener because he's been promoted from the short-season rookie league to long-season A ball.

The catcher will make his professional debut with the Lakewood BlueClaws of the South Atlantic League.

The club is 42-26 and leading the Northern Division.

Fellow BHS grad Chris Page was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds organization, but has yet to sign a contract. The Reds drafted four first baseman and is waiting to offer him a contract until a position opens up.

Batavia (4-0) pitchers shutout the Crosscutters (3-2) and the Muckdog bats came up with ten hits on the night.

Batavia got on board in the 4th scoring one run after Matt Carpenter doubled and came home on a wild pitch.  They added two more in the 6th.  Devin Goodwin led off the inning with a double.  Two batters later Ryan Jackson singled for the RBI.  Jackson then came home on a sacrifice fly by Xavier Scruggs.

But the Muckdogs weren’t done there.  The team tacked one more on in the 7th after Jack Cawley walked and came home on a fielder’s choice.  The runs kept coming in the 8th when Carpenter singled, Scruggs walked and both were moved up a base on a wild pitch.  Ryde Rodriguez then came up with a base hit to score two.  Another wild pitcher later in the inning scored the Muckdog’s last run.

Williamsport threatened in the top of the first when the first two batters reached on a walk and hit by pitch. Bases were loaded with two outs after Michael Dabbs singled, but Anthony Hewitt followed with a pop out to second base to end the inning.

Deryk Hooker threw four innings in the start with two hits, one walk and four strikeouts.  Tyler Lavigne (1-0) followed him in a strong four innings, letting up only one run with four strikeouts to earn the win.  Dan Richardson pitched a scoreless, winless 9th to end the game.

Wednesday night at 7:00 the Muckdogs go for the sweep to remain perfect.

Batavia (3-0) was down the entire game until it counted in the bottom of the 9^th as they capitalized on Williamsport’s (2-1) mistakes to win 6-5.

Starter Michael Blazek and relievers Dan Calhoun and LaCurtis Mayes held the Doubledays to one run and one hit while the Muckdog offense broke open the game in the first with four runs to keep Batavia perfect at 2-0.

Beau Riportella sparked the rally with a lead off single.  Matt Carpenter followed with a single.  Xavier Scruggs reached on an error by the third baseman while Riportella came around to score the first run.  Havana, Cuba-born Ryde Rodriguez then smacked a 2-0 pitch over the left field wall to make it 4-1.

Blazek (1-0) went five innings in the start, letting up one run and one hit with two walks and four strikeouts for the win.  Calhoun threw the next three innings with no hits, one walk and two strikeouts.  Mayes kept things perfect in the 9^th as all three batters were retired on two groundouts and a strikeout to end the game.

The only run and hit for the Doubledays came in the 1^st inning when Eric Eiland reached on a fielder’s choice, stole second and came home on another fielder’s choice.

Batavia increased their lead by one in the 6^th on a single by Rodriguez and a RBI single by Luis De La Cruz.

Rodriguez finished the day 2-for-4 with a homerun and 3 RBIs.  Jairo Martinez also went 2-for-4 and Carpenter went 2-for-3 with a walk and a run scored.

The win puts Batavia at 2-0 and drops Auburn to 0-2.  The Williamsport Crosscutters come into town tomorrow for a three game series.

*For some reason I am still having trouble uploading videos, but will have them to you as soon as I figure it out!

Batavia came alive on Auburn’s inefficiency in the bottom of the 7^th to break a 1-1 tie to start the season with a 6-1 win.

After David Miller loaded the bases on three consecutive walks, lead off hitter D’Marcus Ingram was hit by a pitch to break the tie.  Ryan Jackson followed with a sacrifice fly to score one.  Randy Schwartz then had a costly error that plated another and put runners on second and third.  Familiar Muckdog Xavier Scruggs then emptied the bases on a 2-run double to make the score 6-1 after 7 innings.

Justin Edwards (1-0) got the win, pitching three innings in relief with one hit and three strikeouts.  Starter Kevin Siegrist looked sharp through the first four innings, only allowing one run on two hits with two walks and three strikeouts.

The Doubledays were first to score at Dwyer this season on a solo homerun by Schwartz in the 3rd.  But that would be all the Auburn offense on the night.

The Muckdogs answered right back in the bottom of the 3^rd when Jackson walked and reached home after back-to-back singles by Niko Vazquez and Scruggs.

Dan Richardson shut the Doubledays down in the 9^th to secure the win.

Offensively, Scruggs had the only multi-hit night for Batavia, going 2-for-4 with a double and three RBI.

The two teams face each other again tomorrow night in Auburn and close out the series Sunday back in Batavia.  First pitch is scheduled for 1:30.

Fans and media were invited out to Dwyer Stadium this evening to meet the 2009 Batavia Muckdogs.  I spoke with manager Mark DeJohn briefly about his new team and snapped a couple of pictures of the work out, including one of DeJohn giving one of his players some instruction on glove work.

 Hey everyone!

As some of you already know, I'm back interning with the Muckdogs again this year.  My jobs have changed some, though.  I am primarily doing media work.  I'll have game stories after every game, feature stories throughout the season and I'll post a new player interview every Monday.

Feedback from fans is key!  Let me know if there's anything you want to know about, any players you want to hear from, any story ideas, etc.  I will try my best to do it all!

I have one pre-season feature story done, but my video is taking really long to upload, but I'll have that to you as soon as I can.

And don't forget: Open House tonight from 6-8 and of course the Home Opener Friday at 7! Hope to see you all there! :)

The Cardinals Nation blog has posted a tentative roster for the 2009 Batavia Muckdogs, and fans will recognize a few names from last year, including one of my favorites - Beau Riportella.

Other returning Muckdogs include: pitchers LaCurtis Mayes and Dan Richardson, catcher Luis De La Cruz, infielders Jairo Martinez and Xavier Scruggs with outfielder Edwin Gomez.

The roster also includes some top draft picks: fifth-rounder Ryan Jackson, eighth-round pick Jason Stidham and ninth-round selection Nick McCully.

Ryde Rodriquez, signed as a free-agent out of Havana, Cuba, is also on the roster. In 2008 in rookie ball, Rodriquez hit .324 but otherwise failed to impress at either Johnson City last season or Quad Cities so far this year.

Besides the returning Muckdogs, 11 of the other players have previous professional experience.

And, I'm telling you, if Riportella develops plate discipline (not just "some discipline" but any discipline), he'll be a hell of a hitter.  Last year he struck out 32 times against only 3 walks.

You can come out to Dwyer Stadium tomorrow night from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. and meet members of the team.  The season opens Friday at 7 p.m. at Dwyer Stadium.

UPDATE: Here's a post about a Muckdog from last year who won't be back in 2009 with the Muckdogs or any other Cardinals team.

Local baseball fans will be disappointed to learn that newly-minted professional ballplayer, and Batavia High grad, Ryan Gugel likely won't be playing any of his games in Batavia this summer.

The slugging catcher who signed a free-agent contract with the Philadelphia Phillies last week has reported to Clearwater, Fla., in the rookie-level Gulf Coast League, according to the D&C..

The Phillies also have an affiliate in the New York-Penn League, the Williamsport Crosscutters, and it's possible Gugal could make his way to that Batavia Muckdog rival at some point this season or next. Though his next step could just as easily be the Lakewood BlueClaws or the Clearwater Thrashers.

Meanwhile, fellow Batavia High grad Chris Page, taken in the 50th round of the June Draft by the Cincinnati Reds, has yet to sign a contract.  The Reds have rookie-level and Class A affiliates in Sarasota, Fla., Billings, Mont. and Dayton, Ohio.

Ryan Gugel may have gone undrafted, but he is now a professional baseball player, becoming the second former Batavia baseball player to sign a deal this week after Chris Page was drafted in the 50th round of the Major League Baseball draft.

Gugel signed a free agent contract with the Philadelphia Phillies - former parent club of the Batavia Muckdogs - this weekend.

The catcher had a .425 career batting average at Batavia with 22 doubles, seven triples, three home runs and 50 RBIs.

He then went to Genesee Community College where he hit .440 with 26 doubles, six triples, eight homers, 19 stolen bases and 82 RBIs for the Cougars in two years. He then continued his baseball career and education and the University of Albany.

At Albany, he started all 55 games as a junior and hit .297 with 12 doubles, a triple and four home runs. He also had an incredible .972 fielding percentage behind the plate.

He batted .303 with nine home runs and 49 RBIs as a senior. Gugel had a .953 fielding percentage as well as hitting 11 doubles and two triples.

Former Batavia baseball standout Chris Page is going to get his shot at pro ball.

The Genesee Community College pitcher/first baseman was drafted in the 50th round of the Major League Baseball Draft by the Cincinnati Reds. He was the 1499th overall player selected.

"I was supposed to be working but I was watching the draft," said Page, who was picked at about 3 p.m. today. "It was the 49th round and I decided to watch one more. When they called my name, I was speechless."

The Reds have been scouting Page since high school, where the big 6-foot-4 lefty set two Batavia records in his senior season with a .534 batting average and 11 doubles. He also had 31 hits, three triples, two home runs, 19 RBIs and 15 walks in his senior season.

He was also 5-2 on the mound, earning him a chance to play at GCC, where Cincinnati continued to monitor his progress.

The Cougars went 25-13-1 this spring with Page leading the squad at the plate. He had a .456 batting average with 18 doubles, five home runs, 34 RBIs, 52 hits and 33 walks.  He did not pitch due to elbow problems.

He is expected to start his professional career in the Florida Gulf Coast League.

"I am honored to have been followed and drafted by a great organization like the Reds," Page said.

The Astros lost 19 to 15 on saturday in minor league baseball.It was a close game.Thanks to TF Browns for being a sponsor.Thanks to Paul Sputore for all he does for the minor leagues.