Contributed Photo – Melanie Green

Surviving a roller-coaster second round today, Medina’s Melanie Green has made the cut at the LPGA’s Canadian Open being held at Edmonton, Alberta.

The wild ride, which included five birdies and four bogies, earned Green her second straight 1 under par round of 69.

That two day total of 2 under 138 was enough for her to advance to the weekend as the cutline was even par.

Starting on the back 9, Green had a bogey on 11 but rebounded strongly with birdies on 12, 14 and 15 to go to 2 under for the day and 3 under for the tournament.

However, the front nine proved to be a bit more troublesome.

Green had bogeys on both 3 and 4 to slip back to even for the day and 1 under for the tournament.

Again though she rebounded strongly with birdies on both 6 and 8 to go back up to 2 under for the day and 3 under for the tourney.

Unfortunately, the roller-coaster round had once more costly dip as a bogey on the final hole ended her day at 1 under and put her 2 under for the tournament.

The tourney will continue on Saturday and conclude on Sunday.

Contributed Photo – Banes celebrates the playoff championship victories. In front are Rileigh McCabe Sue Seefeldt, score keeper Samantha Heschke, Connie Heschke and Lindsay Chatt. In back are Amy Lavender, Morgan Allis, Teri Schrlau, base coach Bruce Seefeldt, Patti Page, Kathy Allen, Jami Chatt and base coach Mark Allen. Missing from the photo are Sophia Goyette and Krissy Schrlau.

Banes captured the Medina Women’s Softball ‘A’ League playoff championship by sweeping a doubleheader from Jr. Wilson by scores of 14-1 and 10-5 Monday evening.

Banes 14, Jr. Wilson 1
Banes erupted for 10 runs in the first inning to key the win over previously unbeaten  (in the playoffs) Jr. Wilson to force a second game for the championship.

Batting around the decisive first inning uprising included singles by Connie Heschke, Jami Chatt, Kathy Allen and Patti Page; RBI singles by Lindsay Chatt, Sue Seefeldt, Amy Lavender, Rileigh McCabe, Heschke, Jami Chatt, Lindsay Chatt and a double by Teri Schrlau.

Banes capped off the win with 4 runs in the fifth on a double by McCabe, singles by Schrlau and Page and RBI singles by Heschke, Jami Chatt and Lindsay Chatt.

Jami Chatt finished with 4 hits as Heschke and Lindsay Chatt both had 3,

For Jr. Wilson, Jessica Rosenbeck and Lizzy Hazel both had 2.

Banes 10, Jr. Wilson 5

Both teams scored 2 quick runs in the first inning.  Banes tallied on singles by Heschke, Jami Chatt, Lindsay Chatt and Morgan Allis and Jr. Wilson on a triple by Alyssa Robarge and singles by Hazel, Rosenbeck and Jaclyn Rodriguez,

Jr. Wilson then jumped out to a 5-2 lead by scoring 3 runs in the second inning on singles by Connie Hornquist, Chasity Chinn, Hazel and a triple by Robarge but would not score again.

Banes closed the gap to 5-4 by scoring twice in the fourth inning on an RBI single Rileigh McCabe and a double by Teri Schrlau

Banes then took the lead for good at 7-5 by scoring 3 in the 5th inning on singles by Jami Chatt and single Lindsay Chatt a 2 RBI triple Morgan Allis and an RBI single Kathy Allen

Banes capped off the title clinching win with one run in the sixth on a double Schrlau and RBI double by Page and 2 in the seventh on singles by Allis and Allen and an RBI double by Lavender.

Banes pitcher Sue Seefeldt then made a double play to end the game.

Multiple hitters for Banes were Morgan Allis with 3 including a triple and Schrlau with 3 include 2 doubles.

Playing well defensively were  Lindsay Chatt and Morgan Allis in the outfield.

Multiple hitters for Jr. Wilson included Hazel with 4 including a double, Robarge 2 including 2 triples  and Rosenbeck 2.

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Rileigh McCabe of Banes gets the out on Lizzy Hazel of Jr. Wilson at third base.

Stormi Beach bangs out a hit for Jr. Wilson.

Photos by Charyl Wertman – The Albion/Medina OC Rivals varsity runs through a play during this afternoon’s first fall preseason practice session at Albion.

Preparations began in earnest for the fledgling Albion/Medina OC Rivals football team’s debut season with the start of fall preseason practices this afternoon at Albion.

After a series of summer camp sessions over the last couple of months, this three week preseason, which will include a scrimmage on August 29, will get the squad set for the OC Rivals historic first game on Thursday September 3 at Akron on the Tigers new artificial turf field.

“I’ve been coaching for 30 years and this is a super exciting chapter,” said Head Coach Eric Valley. “I’m very excited and have very high expectations of what we can have with this team. It’s a challenge but I know our coaches are up to it.”

“Everything has been going good,” said quarterback Preston Woodworth. “Everybody knows each other which really helps.”

“It’s really been going good,” agreed lineman Jackson Snook. “Everyone has the same goal and that goal is to win.”

“It looks like we have a lot of kids who can compete for spots and they have been picking up our system very well,” said Valley who points to the importance of having larger numbers on the merged squad. “Safety is always paramount and having larger numbers than if we had separate teams makes for a better team. Now you don’t have to put kids in positions they are not ready for.”

The OC Rivals Varsity, JV and Modified teams will be practicing at Albion this week and at Medina next week.

Albion/Medina becomes the 15th merged schools team among the 62 Section VI football squads.

A panoramic view of today’s practice sesssion.

Contributed Photo – Albion defenders Jai’Kaih Drisdom and Christopher Swan move in to tackle Holley’s Hudson Ashton during Saturday’s JV Division game at Albion.

Albion registered three victories to open the Niagara Orleans Football Association (NOFA) season on Saturday.

Albion downed Holley in the Mini and JV Divisions and Barker/Roy-Hart in the Varsity Division.

Mini Division
Albion 47, Holley 6
The Albion Mini Eagles opened things up in a big way, defeating Holley 47-6 behind a balanced rushing attack.

Five different Eagles found the end zone as Albion piled up yards on the ground. Patrick Westlund led the way with 126 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Trey Ellis added 55 yards and two touchdowns, while Hudson Palmer rushed for 77 yards and a score. Xavier Weis added 32 yards and a touchdown, and Lexington Pridgen scored on the ground with 14 yards.

Albion also received strong contributions from Elijah Cornick with 46 rushing yards, Joshua Bennett with 32, Artavion Lewis with 28, Arlen Beecher with 24 and Gunner Jackson with five.

Defensively, Westlund led the Eagles with seven tackles. Beecher, Palmer, Chazz Monacelli and Carter Hall each recorded four tackles, while Drake Neri, Weis and Bennett finished with three apiece. Roman Pridgen, Jackson, Ellis, Colton Daggs, Jai’Heem Drisdom and KK Harper each added two tackles.

Xavier Richardson highlighted the defensive effort by coming away with an interception.

JV Division
Albion 50, Holley 19
The Albion JV Eagles put together a dominant performance on both sides of the ball, defeating Holley 50-19 behind a balanced rushing attack and two defensive touchdowns.

Jayce Torres led the Albion offense with a huge game, rushing for 150 yards, adding 27 receiving yards and scoring three total touchdowns. Cayden Farrell added 66 rushing yards and a touchdown while also throwing a touchdown pass. Jaidyn Harper also found the end zone with a rushing score.

Albion received contributions throughout the backfield, with Arkell Lewis rushing for 28 yards, Greyson Roberts 18, Jai’Kaih Drisdom 15, Moses Taylor 14 and Christopher Swan 10.

The Eagles’ defense also made its presence felt. Parker Gardner led the team with seven tackles, followed by Kairo Bennett and Kaydence Russaw with six each. Kyle Schomske and Harrison Froman recorded five tackles apiece, Conor Murphy had four, and Harper and Taylor each added three.

Lewis, Mason Cornick, Wyatt Purnell, Zeus Vallejo, Drisdom and Khrystopher Wilston-Jones each finished with two tackles. Farrell, Torres, Elijah Warren, Owen Marritt, Matthew Swan, Zion Richardson and Kaynon Reamer also contributed tackles.

Albion’s defense provided two of the biggest plays of the game. Russaw scooped up a fumble and returned it 52 yards for a touchdown, while Gardner intercepted a pass and took it 32 yards to the end zone for a pick-six.

Varsity Division
Albion 33, Barker/Roy-Hart 19
The Albion Varsity Eagles earned a 33-19 victory over Barker/Roy-Hart behind a strong rushing attack.

Jeramiah Hildreth led Albion with 147 rushing yards and three touchdowns. AJ Lewis added 101 yards and a touchdown, while Camden Holt rushed for 73 yards and a score. Damareon Shine added 20 yards.

Defensively, Holt led the Eagles with nine tackles, followed by Lewis with four and Brady Graham and Hildreth with three each. Hudson Armer, Cooper Traxler, Ryan Gardner, Roman Allport and Shine each recorded two tackles, while Jace Wright, Parker McDaniels, Matthew Colmenero and Liam Saporito also contributed.

Allport added an interception to help seal Albion’s 33-19 victory.