high school sports

Coming off a 5-4 record, a young Oakfield-Alabama Hornets team is hoping to show some improvement in 2013, but already the injury bug is starting to pinch, said Head Coach Brian Palone.

Three players will miss this Saturday's scrimmage, but it will also be a time for some players at key positions to show whether they're ready to step into starting roles.

"I'm pretty confident in two or three kids at each position now, but I just want to evaluate further as we go along in the week here and as this scrimmage rolls," Palone said.

The Hornets will lean heavily on captains Chris Nanni, linebacker, Chase Manzella, running back, and Hogen Mejia, a lineman.

"We started bring guys a couple of years ago when they were young and now I feel like we have some guys with years of varsity experience, especially at our skills positions, so I'm happy with what I'm seeing right now and how they're developing," Palone said.

Manzella is in line for a QB slot, but Allen Chatt, who finished out last season as QB, has the inside track as the starter.

"He's been working hard this summer and so far working hard in camp," Palone said. "We'd like to keep him at quarterback and Chase at running back.

Today, The Batavian stopped in on the Elba Lancer's football practice for a few snaps.

Head Coach Michael Cintorino said that even with standouts Zach DuBois and Zac Gillard graduating, the Lancers have had some good young players waiting in the wings and are now ready to step into starting roles.

Garrett Chapel steps into the starting QB role, Andy Underhill will help anchor the backfield and Brandon Naylor will lead the defense.

Expectations are high for Le Roy football this year, with players such QB Mike McMullen who started as sophomores when the Knights contended for a Section V title and now return as juniors. The group includes Tom Kelso, Kody Lampkin and John Pierce.

Here's some photos from today's practice.

The team captains were named today. The captains are Kody Lampkin, Mike McMullen, Tom Kelso and Brandon Van Grol.

McMullen wore his patriotic socks.

Mike McMullen

Tom Kelso

Lineman Anthony Paladino, who transferred from Notre Dame back to Le Roy, with head coach Brian Moran.

Center and defensive lineman Kody Lampkin

Conrado Caballero.

Tom Kelso

John Pierce

Today was the first day of official practice for Section V football teams and we stopped in for the practice sessions at Notre Dame and Batavia, both varsity and JV.

Local athletes competed in the state finals in track and field. Photos by Bare Antolos.

For complete results, click here.

Above, Batavia's Alec Egeli, 110m Hurdles.

Notre Dame's Meghan Duell, Discus.

Notre Dame's Jeffrey Antolos, 3200m.

The Batavia High School Softball Team won the Section V Class B-1 championship today, beating Livonia, 3-2 at Monroe Community College.

Photo by Dan Kemp.

Without walking seven batters, maybe Notre Dame beats Lyndonville 3-0, Head Coach Mike Rapone said after the Fighting Irish lost to the Tigers 7-3 in a Section V Class D semifinal game at Dwyer Stadium.

Starter Tyler Stroud, normally in command of his pitches, struggled to get the ball over the plate and squandered an early lead. With only a couple of hits, the Irish saw their 3-0 lead slip to 3-2 and then disappear to a 4-3 deficit.

Two of those runs scored on a wild pitch and a passed ball after walks helped Lyndonville base runners advance to third.

"Walks, passed ball, ground out, and little by little we let them back into the game and we never got the momentum back," Rapone said.

Rapone praised the effort of Lyndonville but repeated, it was the walks that did in his team.

"Their pitcher threw a nice game," Rapone said. "He kept us off balance. We didn't hit the ball that well. I think if we didn't walk seven guys, the three runs might have been enough."

The Batavia Blue Devils beat Livonia today to advance to the Section V Class BB championship game in Geneva at 6 p.m., Friday against Pal-Mac. In the Class C final, Pavilion was eliminated by Bolivar-Richburg.

Top photo: Tommy Prospero scores in the first on a steal of home. The Tigers' catcher dropped the ball.

To purchase prints of photos from this game, click here.

]

Notre Dame's golf team won a Section V title in a tournament at the Livingston Country Club in Geneseo.

From left: John Lapple -- 81, Drew Morabito -- 85, Coach Bill Sutherland, Noah Hoy -- 83, Ben Warner -- 87, and Jared Thornton -- 92. This is the second year in a row that they have won the Section 5 Class C Championship with the same five players.

Photo and information submitted by David Warner.

Chelsea Cleveland of Oakfield-Alabama won the Section V Class C triple jump title with this winning jump Saturday.

Photo and info submitted by Chris Covel.

Two home-field pitchers, two dominant performances, a pair of very similar results for Batavia and Notre Dame in Section V playoff games at Dwyer Stadium on Friday.

Behind the 15-K, two-hit performance of Zach Hale, the Blue Devils shutdown Newark 1-0.

In the night cap, Alec Covel was just as masterful for the Fighting Irish. In the process of striking out 10, Covel gave up only one hit, and that wasn't until the top of the 6th inning, leading Notre Dame to a 2-0 victory over Alfred-Almond.

Batavia Head Coach Rick Saunders said Hale pitched the game of the year.

"What a performance," Saunders said. "The whole game is Hale. He got the base hit, and then I pinch run for him, and he's the winning run."

Mike Rapone, head coach of Notre Dame, was just as impressed with the performance of Covel, who started only three games this season prior to Friday because of an injury. Both Rapone and Covel said he came into the game, fresh, strong and eager to pitch.

"He threw only 78 pitches," Rapone said. "He was pounding the strike zone. His curve ball was sharp. He's a great player. He really is."

Both Newark and Alfred are lower seed games, but in sectionals top-ranked teams are going find themselves going against the best pitcher of their opponents.

"Their kid pitch great, too," Rapone said. "That's the thing with sectionals. They've got a .500 record, but they probably won every game that he pitched and maybe they lost all the ones he didn't, so you never know what you're going to run into when you get into sectional tournament. I mean, for a nine seed, heck, that kid threw the ball well."

Saunders was equally impressed with Newark's starter.

"i don't know anything about their pitcher, but I'll tell you, he is quality," Saunders said. "He threw a real nice fastball and a sweet curve ball."

Batavia was limited to four hits, but still managed to get a couple of runners to third. It made Saunders a little nervous when his offense couldn't close the deal.

"We had our chances," Saunders said. "Those games bother me more than anything, when we see guys on third base many times, one out, and you don't score, you go 'oh-oh, something bad can happen.' Nothing bad happened because Hale was in control of the game."

Being out on the mound in a big 1-0 game is exactly where he wanted to be, Hale said.

"I usually throw better later, but especially after we got that run," Hale said. "It really gave me a boost. I'm like, hey, better close it out.

"The rush is crazy," he added. "When you're out there every batter means something. It's not like it's a 10-0 game."

Covel said he just likes to be in that commanding situation, taking control of the game.

"All of my pitches working and with the strong defense behind me, it just gives me all the confidence in the world," Covel said.

Slide show from Batavia game. To order prints, click here.

Slide show for Notre Dame game below. Click here to purchase prints.

The Notre Dame girls softball team closed out the season Friday with a come-from-behind victory over Lyndonville in game played at GCC.

As the defending state champions, the Fighting Irish finish out the season with a 10-8 record, which is good enough to make it to the first round of sectional play, but Head Coach Rick Mancuso said the team still needs to eliminate some mistakes to advance further.

"We're getting better," Mancuso said. "The girls are working really hard. We're not probably where we want to be, but we'll see what happens. We'll throw our hat out there and see how it goes."

Friday's game was a seesaw battle, with Notre Dame and Lyndonville exchange the lead just about every inning.

Going into the bottom of the seventh, down 10-9, the Irish needed to string some hits together and plate two runs to pull out a victory.

The team was loose and confident at the start of the inning and got the job done to notch an 11-10 victory.

"The girls did a great job of rallying back any time we got down," Mancuso said. "They showed a lot of character today."

In the slide show is the sequence of shots from Maddie Mancuso's slide into home in the 4th inning. She was called out. You make the call.

To purchase prints, click here.

Oakfield-Alabama's Salina Stymus connects for a home run during a tournament game in Nunda.

The Hornets advanced to the championship game, but dropped the match 7-0 to Keshequa.

Information and photos submited by Ron Welker.

It was a long day of baseball at Dwyer Stadium Saturday as offense dominated in all four games leading up to a 19-1 tournament championship win for the Batavia Blue Devils over the pitch-weary Oakfield-Alabama Hornets.

This was the 15th year for tournament, sponsored by the Batavia Rotary Club.

To reach the finals, Batavia beat Attica 8-6 and O-A beat Notre Dame 10-9, erasing a 7-0 deficit for the comeback victory.

In the consolation game, Attica downed the Irish 14-10 in a game punctuated by numerous complaints about the ball-strike calling of the home plate umpire.

Zach Hale was named tournament MVP after fanning 15 in the nightcap.

And nightcap it was. The game was scheduled to start at 7 p.m., but with the high-scoring games prior to the championship game, the Blue Devils and Hornets didn't take the field until 8:15 p.m.

To purchase prints of photos, click here.

Following a 7-4 Batavia victory over Pembroke, both coaches for the girls softball teams said they see things to build on that could carry them into sectional play.

"We need to be more consistent," said Pembroke's Ron Funke. "We're a good hitting team, but we to do the little things. The mental mistakes are hurting us right now."

The Lady Dragons are 3-4 so far this year and Funke said that now that the weather should improve and the girls play together more, those little mistakes will get ironed out.

"The more games we get in, the more consistent we'll become," Funke said.

For Burt Howell, head coach for Batavia, he saw a pitcher today, and his hitters who are starting to put things together.

"When you see them go from practice to game and get some of the skills in it makes you think they're going to get better fast," Howell said.

Kim Walsh threw hard today and Howell thinks that was the big difference in the game.

"She controlled the game from the circle," Howell said. "If she she pitches like that on a daily basis, there isn't anybody we don't think we can't beat. We need the youngsters to make plays behind her, but when she throws like that the girls are in the game and we start to actually make plays."

Among the younger players who stepped up their performance today was Hannah Bowen, who went 2-4 and his hitting .667 so far this season. She's in eighth grade. She also had three RBI on two doubles.

Walsh also went 2-4, including a monster double that would have cleared any fence in a typical softball field if there was one at the Batavia field.

Pembroke had 10 hits, led by Deanna Perry, who went 2-3, and Danni Dellapenta, who was 2-4 with two doubles, and Bre Johnson, who had a triple.

Howell praised Perry saying that she proved she could turn on Walsh's fastball, so they had to change speeds on her.

To purchase prints of photos, click here.

The Batavia High School Boys Tennis Team beat Honeoye Falls-Lima today, 6-1.

Head Coach John Kirkwood thinks this team will be notching quite a few more wins this season.

"I see us going very deep in sectionals and I see us representing very well in the Class B  tournament as we've done the past three or four years," Lockwood said.

Batavia is now 1-1 in Monroe County league play and 1-0 in its division.

In this early part of this season, with all the bad weather, Lockwood is letting his younger guys play a few more matches so they can gain some experience before the team heads into a tougher part of the schedule.

"That helps young guys develop and that will pay dividends for us down the road," Lockwood said.

The top three singles players are Nate Palmer, Jeff Redband and Samir Jain.

Palmer hasn't played yet this year, but Redband and Jain are off to good starts. Today, the two sophomores won their matches easily, 6-0 and 6-0 for Redband over Max Wilkinson, and Jain beat Leo Orsini 6-0, 6-1.

"We've got one of the tougher schedules we've had in five or six years," Lockwood said.
"We picked up Fairport. We picked up Webster-Schroeder. We've picked up the top programs for our top three or four guys. We need to make sure we had the best teams on our schedule for them to develop."

Advancing in sectionals will take a couple of the younger guys stepping forward and forming a strong doubles tandem.

Palmer, Redband and Jain are all candidates to go deep in singles play when sectionals arrive, Lockwood said, if not make it to state qualifiers.

Also today, Ken McMaster won over Alex Lazarus-Hall 6-1, 6-0.

In doubles, Tim Martin and Jon McMaster defeated Brett Peters and Garrett Fletcher 6-1, 6-0; Avery Midla and Caleb Jackson defeated Joe Moore and Ed Schauber 6-0, 6-0; and
David Knaudt and Ross Chua lost to Austin Ainsworth and Josh Geary 6-0, 6-0.

To purchase photos from today's match, click here.

A lawsuit filed on behalf of three Batavia High School softball players alleges that the varsity softball field there is substandard, but Section V officials and area softball coaches say the field isn't anything out of the ordinary.

Yes, it's not Dwyer Stadium, where the boys play baseball, but no coach has ever complained about the facilities at BHS, according to Bob Huber, chairman of the Section V girls softball committee.

In fact, the BHS has been used previously for neutral-ground games during early Section V playoff rounds.

Representing the girls in the suit is the Empire Justice Center out of Rochester.

The suit alleges a violation of Title IX, a federal law in place since 1972 mandating equal opportunity in public school sports.

According to the suit, the girls have been denied their rights under Title IX because the girl's softball field is not comparable to Dwyer Stadium.

Dwyer was built nearly 20 years ago at a cost of $3 million, which was financed by state grants and a city bond. The school district did not participate in its construction or financing.

The Batavia Muckdogs, a short-season Class A team affiliated with the Miami Marlins and owned primarily by the community, plays at Dwyer from June to September. During the spring, the field is open to high school and college teams.

For high school games, the Muckdogs collect $175 per game (Notre Dame plays at Dwyer as well).

Muckdogs General Manager Travis Sick said the $175 fee barely covers the cost of making the field available to high school teams.

"It's a community service and the city owns the stadium," Sick said. "We're happy to make it available."

The suit says the facilities are unequal because the girls field doesn't have 2,200 covered grandstand seats, nor lightning for night games, a ticket booth, an outfield fence, an electronic scoreboard, press box, covered dugouts, concession stand and bullpens.

Of course, the boys don't use all those amenities at Dwyer. Typically, fewer than 200 people attend a high school game.

CORRECTION: Only Notre Dame boys play night games at Dwyer -- twice a year.

But no high school games involve selling tickets and the concession stands are never open during high school games.

Dwyer is also one of the most cavernous professional stadiums around with 330 feet from home plate down each line. Few high school players can hit a home run over Dwyer's 12-foot-high outfield walls.

The suit alleges the girls playing at BHS can't hit-out-of-the-park home runs because there is no fence.

There is no fence at BHS because the outfield overlaps with a soccer field.

Also, according to the suit the "infield is covered with pebble-sized gravel mixed with some dirt, making it dangerous and painful for players to slide."

Ron Funke, athletic director and girls softball coach with Pembroke HS, and a member of the Section V committee, said the Batavia field is the same quality typical not only of girls fields, but boys fields, throughout Section V.

It's a special infield mix commonly used on softball and baseball fields, he said.

The suit states, "The infield material makes it harder for the players to play at their most competitive level and has given them a reputation in their league for having the worst field."

But both Funke and Huber said they've never heard complaints about Batavia's field and Funke said he thinks it's a fine place to play.

Funke indicated he was a little baffled by the suit.

"I don't know where else they'd play," Funke said. "There isn’t anything for softball other than GCC and there isn’t another facility like Dwyer for the girls to play in, and GCC has their own games to play."

The school distirct did manage to schedule four of the girls' 11 home games this season at GCC.

But even GCC's field doesn't have the amenities of Dwyer.

We called the Empire Justice center to respond to some of these issues, but the attorney handling the case is not giving interviews. We were told the center would issue a written statement for all media at a later time.

While the suit alleges that many girls fields in "the league" have fences, dugouts and seating, both Huber and Funke said it's really a mixed bag. There are several teams without fences, they said.

Both said there are also some boys' teams in Section V that play on fields without dugouts and bullpens.

The suit has multiple paragraphs covering the lack of night lightning for girls softball, noting that night games "have a big-league quality not associated with day games."

There are never night high school games played at Dwyer because night lighting is expensive.

The school district included proposed upgrades to the girls' field as part of a bond measure rejected by voters in 2011, and are including $110,000 in funding for upgrades in a bond measure that will go before voters next month.

School officials say, and the suit acknowledges, that Empire Justice attorneys were aware of the proposed bond measure before filing the lawsuit.

The suit complains that if the bond passes, improvements will only cover dugouts, scoreboard and a fence, and that the changes won't take place prior to the 2013 season.

The students named as plaintiffs in the suit are Rebecca Myers, 14, who's a student at Batavia Middle School, Elizabeth Myers, 17, a junior and captain of the team, and Kimberly Walsh, 17 and a senior.

The class-action suit seeks relief for all current and future girl softball players at BHS.

Currently, the school has no JV softball team because of a lack of participating students. In order to field a team for the 2013 season, the team includes two seventh-grade students and one eighth-grade student.

Asked if he was concerned that the district could go to the expense of upgrading the facilities and dealing with the lawsuit only to find that in a season or two, there will be no softball team due to lack of participation, Superintendent Chris Dailey said he is not concerned.

Asked if the district has considered moving the boys out of Dwyer and to one of the district's three baseball fields, Dailey said, "We're always thinking."

Dailey said he doesn't have an estimate yet on how much it will cost the district to respond to the suit.

If the cost of upgrades to the softball field is $110,000, the district will take nearly 45 years at $175 per game to pay $110,000 for the boys to play at Dwyer.