Local Sports

Hickory Ridge leagues weekly roundup

Contributed Story Posted 20 June 2023 at 8:09 am

The Tuesday Ladies Night Out league started off the week at Hickory Ridge  with Deb Wood posting a low gross of 42 while Kathy Babbitt was at 47. Babbitt took low net of 39 with Eileen Snyder had a net 41. Birdies were had by Wood and Snyder.

For the season so far Wood and Martin lead the standings with 41 points. Ferguson and Brawn have 34 points for second place with Schuth and Hanneckey hold down third place with 34 points.

The Thursday morning Peter Sullivan Sr league shows Rich Wheeler shooting 78 for 18 holes. Chuck Covell took low net on the day with 67. Skins were won by Dana Vosburgh and Wheeler. Vosburgh, Wheeler, Steve Novak and Dave Strasenburgh all shot birdies. Closest to pin on number 6 was Vic Velasquez at 19 feet, 3 inches. Closest second shot on number 15 was Gordy Watt at 15 feet, 1 inch.

The Mens Thursday Traveling League has a tie at the top of the standings. Denniston and Draper who had been leading almost from the start of the season are now tied with the team of Molisani and Soria with 106 points each. Close behind is the team of Hanlon and Schrader.

Low gross for the day was Jason Schrader with a 41. Low net was Jeff Hillabush win 30. Plenty birdies that night as Schrader, Joey Molisani, Kyle Smith, Randy Van Houten, Josh Bennett, Jim Pegelow and Don Draper all had birdies.

Mustangs FC wins with second half rally

Contributed Story Posted 19 June 2023 at 8:35 am

Coming from behind in the second half, the Medina Mustangs FC downed Moby Ducks 4-2 Sunday to improve to 4-1-1 in Division 3 of the Buffalo District Soccer League.

Trailing 2-1 at the half, the Mustangs pulled even on an unassisted goal by Nate Dillenbeck.

Steven Anderson then put Medina ahead for good at 3-2 with a goal off an assist from Ethan Leonard.

Dillenbeck then added an insurance tally as Leonard again earned the assist.

The Mustang had grabbed an early 1-0 lead as Greg Husung scored off an assist from Kristian Snyder. However, Moby Ducks answered with a pair of goals to take a 2-1 lead at the half.

Medina next hosts Munster FC at 6 p.m. Sunday at Vets Park.

This past Thursday, the Mustangs dropped a narrow 4-3 decision to Buffalo Brighen Stars in a Matthews Cup contest.

Anderson, Dillenbeck and Snyder each scored a goal as Husung and Aaron Feltz had assists.

Sandstone posts Midget League shutout win

By Mike Wertman, Sports Writer Posted 19 June 2023 at 8:31 am

Sandstone blanked Rotary 10-0 this past week to improve to 4-0 in Albion Midget League action.

Brayden LaMartina struck out 9 in 4 innings of work on the mound and Omer Fugate fanned 6 in 2 innings for Sandstone.

At the plate, LaMartina had a two-run home run in the first inning and Fugate a three-run triple in the second and a two-run single in the fourth.

Barre also downed Carlton 7-2.

Special Awards highlight Block ‘M’ Banquet

By Mike Wertman, Sports Writer Posted 18 June 2023 at 8:55 am

Contributed Photos – Iyla Lilleby and Roosevelt Mitchell received the Mustang Heart Award at this past week’s annual Medina High Block ‘M’ Banquet. It was a special week for Mitchell who also announced on social media that he has given a verbal commitment to play football at Akron University.

The presentation of a number of special awards highlighted this past week’s annual Medina High Block ‘M’ Banquet.

Senior Cayden Lilleby and Rylee VanNostrand received the Babe Ruth Award.

The Russell Houserman Award was presented to freshmen Luke Duffina and Emiliana Batista.

Aidan Paul, Aiden Pitts and VanNostrand received the Larry Decker Scholarship.

The Boice/Ossont Scholarship was presented to Bryson Costich and Lydia Fox.

Noah Skinner and Cayden Lilleby received the Kyle Barna Scholarship.

The Niagara-Orleans Scholarship was presented to Lydia Fox and Aidan Paul.

Roosevelt Mitchell and Iyla Lilleby received the Mustang Heart Award.

The Senior Athlete of the Year Award was presented to Aidan Paul and Tatyana Baity.

Iyla Lilleby and Roosevelt Mitchell received the Junior Athlete of the Year Award.

The Sophomore Athlete of the Year Award was presented to Cole Callard and Addy Paul.

Vinny Gray and Penelope Schalck received the Freshman Athlete of the Year Award.

Rylee VanNostrand, Aidan Paul and Aiden Pitts received the Larry Decker Scholarship.

Bryson Costich and Lydia Fox received the Boice/Ossont Scholarship.

Noah Skinner and Cayden Lilleby received the Kyle Barna Scholarship.

N-O honors All League tennis team

By Mike Wertman, Sports Writer Posted 17 June 2023 at 7:27 am

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Medina’s Henry Rigerman, left, and Albion’s Leo Bolton have earned first team Niagara-Orleans All-League tennis honors.

Six schools are represented on the first team of the annual Niagara-Orleans All-League tennis squad.

Albion is represented by sophomore Leo Bolton, a repeat first team honoree, Medina by senior Henry Rigerman and Barker by senior Matt Ryan.

Undefeated (12-0) champion Akron has placed senior Caleb Suckow, a three-time first team honoree and this season’s N-O Player of the Year, and sophomore Samantha Niescer.

Newfane is represented by juniors Luke Gunby and Jack Goehle and sophomore Miles Czekaj and Wilson by junior Aubriana Cristano.

Barker has a quartet of second team honorees in senior Tommy Harris, junior Luke DerSarkissian and freshmen Dan Goodwin and Whitney Coopman.

The second team also includes Albion junior Mark Ames, Newfane sophomore Ben Trotter and Akron junior Cole Fleming along with Wilson sophomores Tyler Goff-Brown and Paul Gast.

The Honorable Mention selections, listed by school, are as follows:

Akron – Morgan Towsan (Sr.), Will Aken (Sr.) and Stella Van Wyk (Sr.)

Albion – Aidan Miller (Sr.), Clara Bolton (Sr.) and Jason Anstey (Jr.)

Barker – Levi Hauser (Sr.)

Medina – Logan Trilizio (Sr.), Angel Mulcachy (Jr.) and Seagan Majchrzak (Sr.)

Newfane – Alex Ostrozinski (Sr.) and Sabrina Niver (Sr.)

Roy-Hart – Evan Gerdes (Sr.) and Sophea Allee (Sr.)

Wilson – Cassidy Wagner (Sr.) and Natalia Ward (So.)

Final Standings: Akron 12-0, Newfane 10-2, Albion 7-5, Barker 7-5, Wilson 4-8, Roy-Hart 2-10, Medina 0-12

Mustangs Hall of Fame has 3 new members

By Mike Wertman, Sports Writer Posted 16 June 2023 at 8:34 pm

Contributed Photo – Medina High’s newest Athletic Hall of Fame inductees include, from left, Eddie Bloom, Miranda Benthin and JR Roberts.

The Medina High Athletic Hall of Fame inducted three new members –  JR Roberts (Class of 2002), Miranda Benthin (Class of 2002) and Eddie Bloom (Class of 1981) – at the annual Block M Banquet on Wednesday.

Roberts is Medina’s only two-time state wrestling champion (2001 and 2002). He went 43-2 as a junior and 41-0 as a senior and finished his career with a school record 170 wins.

Benthin was a five year varsity soccer player who  earned N-O All-League first team honors as a junior and a senior. She had a career total of 52 goals. In track she was a member of Medina’s 1600 Relay team which captured the Section VI B2 title and finished second at the state championship meet with a school record time of 4:02.46.

Bloom helped Medina capture both the Division VI and Section VI football championships his senior year. He was named the MVP at the sectional championship game when he scored 2 touchdowns and rushed for 152 yards in Medina’s 20-14 win over Silver Creek. A three-year varsity player he scored 5 touchdowns and rushed for 457 yards on offense and had 2 interceptions and a fumble recovery on defense his senior year as he earned Div. VI first team honors.

Medina has 7 Class D lacrosse honorees

By Mike Wertman, Sports Writer Posted 16 June 2023 at 6:02 am

Contributed Photo – Seven Medina players have earned spots on the Class D All-Star lacrosse squad. Josh Wilson, Cayden Lilleby and Ollie Wilson have all been named to the first team. Jason Beyer, Ayden Johnson and Will Prest have all been selected to the second team and Cole Callard has received Honorable Mention. In front are Beyer, Johnson, Prest and Callard. In back are  Josh Wilson, Lilleby and Ollie Wilson. Lilleby led Medina in scoring this past season with 71 goals and 30 assists for a total of 101 points. Josh Wilson had 52 goals and 23 assists for 75 points. Callard 24 goals and 12 assists for 26 points and Prest 22 goals and 3 assists for 25 points.

N-O League honors track Players of the Year

By Mike Wertman, Sports Writer Posted 15 June 2023 at 8:50 am

Contributed Photos – The Newfane duo of Kylie Bowman and Ben Dickenson have been named the Niagara-Orleans League’s track and field Players of the Year. Bowman won both the 1500 and 3000 races at the N-O All-League meet. Dickenson was a quadruple winner at the All-League meet taking top honors in the 400, Long Jump, High Jump and Triple Jump.

N-O tops G-R in Senior diamond contest

By Mike Wertman, Sports Writer Posted 14 June 2023 at 6:19 am

Contributed Photos – Kendall’s Zach Barrett makes a diving stop  for the Genesee Region League during Tuesday’s Exceptional Senior game at Vets Park which was won by the Niagara-Orleans League 8-3.

Scoring in each of the first five innings, the Niagara-Orleans League went on to defeat the Genesee Region League 8-3 in the annual Exceptional Senior baseball game at Vets Park Tuesday evening.

The N-O took a quick 1-0 lead in the first inning as Thomas Russo (Roy-Hart) doubled and came home on a double by Aidan Paul (Medina).

The lead increased to 3-0 n the second inning on a two-run sacrifice by Jeff Owens (Akron) following singles by Drew Dabill (Wilson) and Javon Jones (Albion) and a walk.

Paul and Amari Jones (Albion) upped the N-O advantage to 5-0 in the third inning with RBI singles.

Javon Jones had a run producing sacrifice fly in the fourth inning which plated Dallas Ecker (Albion) who had singled. Run producing fielders choice plays off the bats of  Russo and Amari Jones in the fifth inning upped the N-O advantage to 8-2.

On the mound for the N-O, Russo and Aidan Voss (Barker) each registered 4 strikeouts in two innings of work and Paul 3 in two innings of work. Amari Jones, Ecker and Andrew Romesser (Akron) also shared in the pitching duties.

Zach Barrett (Kendall) had an RBI triple and Trenton Muck (Lyndonville) had 3 strikeouts in two innings of work on the mound for the G-R.

Medina shortstop Aiden Pitts takes a throw at second base as Roy-Hart third baseman Thomas Russo backs up the play.

G-R vs. Livingston Softball
The Livingston County League downed the Genesee Region League 13-6 in the annual Exceptional Senior softball game at Genesee Community College Tuesday.

Kendall’s Lauren Pilon, who had 3 hits including a double and 2 RBI, received the G-R’s Coaches Award.

Notre Dame’s Kaydence Stehlar, who had 3 hits including a home run and 4 RBI, was named the G-R’s MVP.

Shelridge crowns Member-Member champions

Contributed Story Posted 13 June 2023 at 7:56 am

Contributed Photo – The annual Shelridge Member/Member Tournament was held this past Saturday and Sunday. The team of Brian Branka and David Wayne, shown here with their championship trophies, won the tournament with a two-day total of 122. It was a best ball tournament with flights created after Saturday’s round. Branka and Wayne shot 56-66 for their 122, defeating the team of Adam Dresser and Dean Dibley by two strokes. Other flight winners include: AIDAN PAUL FLIGHT: Jim Moran/Jim Strumpf and Ray Neuman/Tim Zacher (tie); McCARTHY LANG FLIGHT: Rod Hamilton/Mike Morris and Conrad Walters III/Conrad Walters IV (tie); ADDY PAUL FLIGHT: Mike Rippe/Brad Wilson and the EMILY NEIDRAUER FLIGHT: Rick Rodgers/Rick Eberhardt, Michael Carey/Michael Paul and Alex Misiti/James Tee (tie).