Mustangs clinch tie for N-O diamond title

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Preston Woodworth hurled a no hitter as Medina scored a five inning run rule victory over Barker at Vets Park this afternoon to clinch at least a tie for the Niagara-Orleans League championship.

Clinching at least a tie for the Niagara-Orleans League championship, Medina romped to a 16-0 five inning run rule victory over Barker this afternoon at Vets Park.

Improving to 9-1 in N-O action, Medina holds a two game lead over runners-up Wilson and Roy-Hart, both at 7-3, with two games remaining.

The N-O title is the third in the last four years for the Medina which will close out the N-O season with a key home-and-home series against Wilson on  Monday (at Wilson) and Tuesday (at Medina).

Preston Woodworth picked up the win on the mound for the Mustangs as he hurled a sparkling no hitter with 10 strikeouts.

Medina took a quick 2-0 lead in the first inning on a leadoff home run by Julian Woodworth and an RBI sacrifice fly by Brody Fry which plated Aidan Papaj who had tripled.

The Mustangs then broke the contest wide open by exploding for 8 runs in the second inning highlighted by a two-run double by Carter Woodworth and RBI doubles by Papaj, Ryleigh Culver and Richard Keppler.

Medina also had a big 6 run fourth frame as Fry and Preston Woodworth both singled in a pair of runs.

During this recent title surge the Mustangs captured the N-O championship outright in 2021 by going 12-0 and then shared the crown with Roy-Hart in 2022 as the two teams finished with identical 10-2 records.

Medina’s Vinny Gray slides into second base as Barker’s Isaac Monaco gets the ball.

Roy-Hart 12, Albion 4
Trailing 1-0, Roy-Hart used a 4 run s econd inning to take the lead for good against visiting Albion as the Rams went on to down the Purple Eagles 12-4.

Sean Mettler had a two-run single in the second as Isaac Smith and Rem Albee both added RBI singles.

The Rams tacked on a pair of runs in the third as Dawson Draper homered and Ethan Kuzma tripled and came home on an error.

Albion rallied back to cut the deficit to 6-4 by scoring three times in the fifth on a single by Andrew Boyce, a fielders choice and a passed ball as singles by Elliott Trapiss and Nate Gibson.

The Rams finally put a lock on the win by scoring 6 times in the sixth inning highlighted by a three-run triple by Jake Gould.

Draper had 2 hits on the day as did Trapiss and  Gibson for Albion which slips to 2-8.

Akron 4, Newfane 3
Akron pushed across a run in the bottom of the seventh inning on a sacrifice fly by winning pitcher Jack Julicher to nip Newfane 4-3.

Newfane had tied the game at 3-3 by scoring twice in the top of the seventh on a double by Aiden Parry and a single by Jon Beiter.

On the mound, Julicher allowed 4 hits and struck out 12.

N-O Standings: Medina 9-1, Roy-Hart 7-3, Wilson 7-3, Newfane 7-5, Akron 4-6, Albion 2-8, Barker 0-10