It was a banner year academically for the Medina High varsity sports teams.

All 21 of the Mustangs varsity teams earned New York State Public High School Athletic Association Scholar-Athlete Awards by compiling a grade point average of at least 90.

That accomplishment has earned Medina a NYSPHSAA School of Distinction Award. The award is given to schools which have 100 percent of their varsity teams earn scholar-athlete awards.

Albion and Roy-Hart have both received School of Excellence Awards by having 75 percent of their varsity teams earn Scholar-Athlete Awards.

“The School of Excellence and School of Distinction Awards exemplify the mission of NYSPHSAA, education through interscholastic athletics,” said Dr. Robert Zayas, NYSPHSAA Executive Director. “It is amazing to see the commitment to academic excellence from the schools, administrators, coaches, and student-athletes.”

“The purpose of the School of Distinction and School of Excellence Awards is to unite athletic departments in challenging their teams to achieve a statewide academic honor,” he added. “This year, 84 schools earned the School of Distinction Award and 219 schools earned the School of Excellence Award.:

A full schedule of tournaments and league games has meant for a very busy and to date very successful season for the local Dynamites Travel U15 baseball team.

Comprised of players from Roy-Hart, Medina, Akron and Lockport, the Dynamites have compiled a fine 24-7 record heading ino this weekend’s competition at the Cortland Tournament.

Roy-Hart is represented by Isaac Smith, Evan Poeller and Gavin Heideman, Medina by Vinny Gray, Ryleigh Culver and Brody Fry and Akron by Aiden Romesser.

“We’ve got a good group and they’ve been doing well,” said Coach Jim Heideman.

Fry has a team leading .339 batting average with 23 RBI and Culver is hitting .322 with a team leading 27 RBI, Poeller .282 and Romesser .272. Smith has driven in 16 runs and Gray 12.

No less than nine players have seen time on the mound. Fry is 5-0 with 62 strikeouts, Romesser 6-3 with 51 strikeouts and Smith 4-1.

In earlier season tournament action, the Dynamites placed second in both the Lou Gehrig Iron Horse and the Battle at the Falls.

In addition to tournament competition the Dynamites also compete in the WNY Premier League where they are currently 4-0.

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Roy-Hart’s Kara Choate works the ball up field during Tuesday’s win over visiting Kenmore as Madison DiNiere backs up the play.

Staying in the thick of the title race, Roy-Hart downed visiting Kenmore 4-1 in a Buffalo and WNY Junior Soccer League girls 19U game Tuesday evening.

Kara Choate scored all 4 goals for Roy-Hart as Natalie White, Grace Trombley and Sophia Santella all earned assists.

Now in second place with a 6-1-1 record, Roy-Hart will now close out the season with back-to-back games against front running Akron (6-0-2). The games will be at Roy-Hart on August 1 and at Akron on August 8.

Sophia Allee drives the ball up field for Roy-Hart.

Contributed Photo – Players and coaches of the Futures 15U team celebrate capturing the “Falcons for a Cure” Tournament. In front are Mikey Colucci, Vinnie D’Agostino, Anthony Abbatiello, Mason Standish and Sean Pietrzykowski. In the back row are Coach Colucci, Colby Hughes, Ty Sherman, Gavin Braun, Jonny Conte, Aiden McDaniels and Coach D’Agostino.

The Futures 15U baseball team comprised of players from Kendall, Brockport, Alexander, and Pembroke won the “Falcons for a Cure” tournament in Corning, this past weekend,

On Saturday, they defeated High Heat Baseball Academy 15U from Binghamton 7-2 and Finger Lakes Falcons 15U 10-9.

On Sunday, they beat Community Baseball 15U 12-0 in 5 innings and won the Championship game against High Heat Baseball 15U by a score of 10-9. Anthony Abbatiello from Pembroke had the game winning walk-off hit to bring home the winning run in the bottom of the 7th inning.

Leading the team in hits over the weekend were Jonny Conte with 7, Abbatiello, Vinnie D’Agostino and Sean Pietrzykowski with 5 apiece, while Aiden McDaniels and Ty Sherman each contributed 4 hits.

Pitchers Nic Cole, Ty Sherman, Gavin Braun and Mikey Colucci recorded wins. Catcher Colby Hughes tallied 20 putouts with a perfect fielding percentage and also added 3 hits.

The team finished their tournament season with a record of 11-3-1, including 2 tournament championships.

An ill timed rumble of thunder proved costly as the Holley United U17 girls soccer team had to settle for a 1-1 tie with visiting Penfield Monday evening in a key Rochester District Youth Soccer League game.

The contest was tied 1-1 at the half when thunder caused the remainder of the contest to be cancelled.

Sam Bates scored Holley’s goal in the first half off an assist from Jailyn Bishop to tie the game.

The storm shortened tie contest drops Holley United to 9-0-2 on the U17 Division season and out of the title race. Holley United has only one game remaining, at Batavia SC on Friday, enabling the Cobras FC, which had already finished the season with an 11-0-1 record, to now claim the title.

Banes trimmed Poler’s Pub 11-9 and White Birch downed JR. Wilson 9-5 in Medina Women’s Softball League action Monday evening.

Banes 11, Poler’s Pub 9
Breaking away from an 8-8 tie, Banes regained the lead for good by scoring 3 runs on singles by Patti Page, Lindsay Chatt and Jami Chatt along with 2 walks.

Earlier, Banes built up an 8-3 lead by scoring 3 times in both the fourth and fifth innings. Singles by Rylee VanNostrand and Jen Masse, a walk and doubles by Morgan Allis and Connie Heschke keyed the fourth inning uprising while VanNostrand had a triple and Robin Blaun, Jami Chatt, Kathy Allen and Jen Masse had singles in the fifth.

Poler’s rallied to tie the contest at 8-8 by scoring 5 runs in the top of the sixth on singles by Kelly Jo Pritchard, Melissa Prince, Bridget Tower, Cathy Schmitt, Halle Deuil, Lindsay Ward and a double by Alishia Foss who also had an RBI triple on the day.

Lindsay Chatt, Jami Chatt 3-4, Rylee VanNostrand and Masse all finished with 3 hits for Banes which improves to 6-2.

White Birch 9, JR. Wilson 5

Ella Lewis and Jenahlee Riemer both had 3 singles, Aubrey Lewis, Alecia Hinkson, Kenze Muck, Brynn Howell 2 singles, Maddy Gardepe a double and single, Morgan Ralph a double and Maddy Boyle and Mallory Albone a single for White Birch.

Hinkson drove in 3 runs while Boyle, Riemer and Gardepe each plated one.

Contributed Photo – Medina players and coaches include, in front, Kolton Fletcher, Jimmy Dieter, Ryan Pegelow, Briley Allen, and Lucas Kimber. In back are Coach Gray, Coach Smith, Colton Smith, Lukas Grimes, Brady Christiaansen, Cole Moyle, Vinny Gray, and Coach Dieter.

The Medina Mustangs 15U team earned second place honors at the Battle of the Bats baseball tournament in Hilton over the weekend.

In the championship game on Sunday, Hilton Grosodonia used a 5 run third inning scoring burst to key a 10-0 win over Medina.

The Mustangs started off tournament on Thursday with a win then split the two games on Saturday winning the first one over the Hilton Kings then dropping the second one to Hilton Grosodonia.

The Mustangs entered Sunday as the 4th seed overall.

Medina played at 8 a.m. against the Glow Academy Legion winning 9 – 6.

Next the Mustangs played the top seed RHAA Royal Comets, where they were down by the end of the 5th inning by a score of 9-1. In the 6th inning the Mustangs came back and scored 10 runs to take the lead and closed the game out with strong pitching and good defense to gain a berth in the finals.

“The Mustang coaches and parents were proud of the team’s resilience throughout the tournament especially after losing a key player on Saturday to injury and having to battle from lower seed to keep winning to get into the championship,” said Coach John Dieter. “Many players were cited for going above and beyond to help the team to keep battling.”

Stats for the 6 games:

Player                          Hits   RBI’s   Runs Scored
Briley Allen                    8       5            5
Cole Moyle                     4        6           2
Brady Christiaansen    6       6            8
Jimmy Dieter                4        5            3
Lukas Grimes                6       4            3
Vinny Gray                    6        1            5
Colton Smith                4        3            6
Ryan Pegelow               6        4           4
Kolton Fletcher            2        3           5
Lucas Kimber               3        2           6

Phots by Cheryl Wertman – Emma Brady, who had two assists, drives the ball up field for Holley United during Sunday evening’s U17 Division win over the Brockport Blizzard at Genesee Community College.

One down and two to go!

Needing to score three straight wins this week to claim at least a share of the title, Holley United blanked the Brockport Blizzard 2-0 in a Rochester District Youth Soccer League girls U17 Division game Sunday evening at Genesee Community College.

Sam Bates scored what proved to be the game winning goal late in the first half off an assist from Emma Brady.

Katie Dobri later added a big insurance goal in the second half as Brady again earned the assist.

The Cobra FC, which has already finished the season at 11-0-1, is currently in first place. Holley, which improves to 9-0-1 with Sunday’s win, now needs to close out the season with two more victories – over Penfield this evening at Holley and over the Batavia SC on Friday at Batavia – in order to claim at least a share of the title.

Sam Bates, who scored what proved to be the winning goal in the first half, here works to gain control of the ball for Holley.