Clinching at least a tie for the title, Medina used a big first inning scoring burst to key an 11-0 victory at Newfane this afternoon in a Niagara-Orleans League baseball game.

The N-O title is the third in a row for undefeated (10-0) Medina which used a big 6 run first inning to key the five inning run rule win.

A two-run single by Kolton Fletcher was the only hit of the decisive first inning as the Mustangs other runs came home on three errors and a fielders choice play.

Aidan Papaj later had a two-run sacrifice fly to highlight a three run fourth inning.

Preston Woodworth earned the win on the mound as he allowed only 2 hits and struck out 13.

Medina will close out the N-O season by hosting Newfane at 7 p.m. Wednesday and then visiting rival Albion at noon on Saturday for a makeup game.

Contributed Photos – Mark McVay, left, nephew of the late Joe Mortellaro, congratulates Randy Hanks, proprietor of Oak Orchard Bowl in Albion, upon Hanks’ selection as the first Joe Mortellaro Memorial Award recipient.

By Mike Pettinella

Albion’s Oak Orchard Bowl proprietor Randy Hanks received the inaugural Joe Mortellaro Memorial Away at this weekend’s Genesee Region USBC annual Banquet at Batavia.

The award, sponsored by the Mortellaro family and the GRUSBC, honors Joe, the longtime president of the Batavia Bowling Association, pro shop owner and outstanding bowler, who passed away in December 2024.

The banquet was also highlighted by the induction of two new members into the GRUSBC Hall of Fame – Ed Doody from Pavilion and Christopher George from Dansville.

In addition, new GSUSBC officers and directors were re-elected including Sargeant-at-Arms Gary Gillman from Albion and Director Rebecca Carpenter from Middleport.

In his acceptance speech, Hanks recalled meeting Joe Mortellaro for the first time during the New York State Open Championships at Rapids Bowling Center in Niagara Falls in 2010.

“We all were getting ready to bowl the states and Joe was sitting down and he came up to me and said, ‘Hey, I hear you’ve been doing a lot of good things at the (Oak Orchard Bowl) bowling center.’ And that just meant the world to me, especially from an outsider,” he said, “I heard it a lot from, obviously, our league bowlers, but it was just something amazing that Joe said that to me and I appreciated it very much.”

Hanks, who has built his league base from 100 to close to 400 over the 20 years that he has owned the 18-lane center, thanked the committee consisting of the Mortellaro family and the GRUSBC board for the award. He also thanked his wife, Renee, and grown children who work at the lanes. “If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be here now,” he said.

Guest speaker Josh Kierpiec of Rochester congratulates Sarah Cassidy of Albion, who bowled a 300 game in January — the first by a woman bowler at Oak Orchard Bowl — and Gianna LaPiana of Mount Morris, who had the high game (246) and series (628) in girls’ youth competition this season.

A founding member of the Youth Bowlers Tour in the Rochester area, Hanks is a member of the New York State Bowling Proprietors Association and is a former delegate to the New York State USBC annual meeting. In 2014, he was named “Proprietor of the Year” by the NYS USBC. Oak Orchard Bowl conducts several charity tournaments, including for the PAWS Animal Shelter in Albion and the Scott Whittier Memorial Scholarships.

Mark McVay, Joe’s nephew, presented a plaque and $200 gift card to Hanks after sharing a heartfelt tribute to his “Uncle Joe,”

“To me, Uncle Joe was more than an accomplished bowler. He was my uncle, my neighbor and such an important part of my everyday life,” McVay said. “Having him so close meant more to me than I can express, especially after my dad (Fred) passed away. Uncle Joe filled the void at that time in my life when I needed that steady presence and guidance and support. He was my mentor and my favorite uncle.”

Mortellaro, known as “Mr. Bowling” in the Genesee Region, was the longtime co-owner of Joe’s Pro Shop.

“Uncle Joe loved gathering with family and friends … he was warm, generous, approachable and loved by many,” McVay said. “I am grateful to the USBC committee for creating this award. It means so much to me that his impact upon the sport and this community will continue to be remembered for years to come.”

Birdies proved to be very hard to come by as Medina’s Melanie Green posted a 2 over par 74 today on the final round of the LPGA Tour’s Mizuho Americas Open Tournament being played at West Caldwell, New Jersey.

Green, who started the day at 3 under, had only one birdie, which came on 17. That was not enough to offset three bogeys, on 7, 15 and 18, which left her at 2 over for the day.

Green, who had rounds of 72, 70 and 71 over the first three days of the tournament, finished with a 1 under par total of 287 good for a tie for 20th.

Next up on the LPGA Tour is the Kroger Queen City Championship at Cincinnati, Ohio this coming Thursday through Sunday.

Shelridge will host the Section VI golf championships on Monday beginning with a shotgun start at 9 a.m.

The competition will be for both individual and team sectional championships.

Niagara-Orleans League golfers who will be competing include Owen Spencer and Drew Pritchard from Albion, Cam Fike from Medina, Gavin Heideman and Evan Poeller from Roy-Hart, Ben Meyers from Wilson and Caleb Rivera from Newfane. In addition defending league champion Roy-Hart will be competing for top team honors.

The golfers will play 18 holes after which the field will be cut to the top 20 and ties. That group will then play an additional 9 holes with the champion being decided at the end of the 27 holes.

The team champion will be determined by the lowest 4 of a team’s 5 individual scores after the first 18 holes.

The top 9 players will represent Section VI at the upcoming state championship tournament.

The Niagara-Orleans League baseball and softball title races will wrap up this week.

Defending champion Medina at 9-0 holds a two game lead over 8-2 Roy-Hart in the baseball standings. The Mustangs have a pair of games against Newfane and a makeup  game against Albion this week to close out the league season while the Rams have a pair of games against Wilson.

In the softball race, Barker at 9-2 holds a narrow lead over 8-2 Wilson as Roy-Hart is still in contention at 6-2. Roy-Hart will visit Barker in a key contest on Monday.

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

Weekly Schedule
Monday
Baseball – Medina at Newfane, Akron at Albion, 4:45 p.m.; Barker at Alexander, Lyndonville at Notre Dame 5 p.m.; Wilson at Roy-Hart, 7 p.m.
Softball – Medina at Newfane, Roy-Hart at Barker, Wilson at Akron, 4:45 p.m.; CSAT at Lyndonville, Notre Dame at Kendall, 4 p.m.; Holley at Attica (doubleheader 4 and 6 p.m.)
Tennis – Albion at Roy-Hart, Akron at Barker, 4:15 p.m.
Lacrosse – Brockport at Medina, 6 p.m.
Golf – Sectionals at Shelridge, 9 a.m.

Tuesday
Baseball – Byron-Bergen at Lyndonville, 5 p.m.
Softball – Akron at Roy-Hart, 4:45 p.m.; Lyndonville at Medina, Barker at Sweet Home, Holley at Byron-Bergen, 5 p.m.; Attica at Kendall (doubleheader 3:30 and 5:30 p.m.), Albion at Newfane, 7 p.m.
Track – Newfane at Medina, Barker at Roy-Hart, Akron at Wilson, 5 p.m.

Wednesday
Baseball – Albion at Akron, Roy-Hart at Wilson, 4:45 p.m.; Oakfield-Alabama at Barker, Pembroke at Kendall, 5 p.m.; Elba at Lyndonville (doubleheader 4:30 and 6:30 p.m.); Newfane at Medina, 7 p.m.
Softball – Albion at Wilson, Newfane at Akron, 4:45 p.m.; Roy-Hart at East Aurora, Holley at Oakfield-Alabama, 5 p.m.
Tennis – Medina at Albion, Roy-Hart at Akron, Barker at Newfane, 4:15 p.m.
Lacrosse – Medina at Wilson, 6:30 p.m.

Thursday
Softball – Albion at Medina, Roy-Hart at Akron, 4:45 p.m.; Barker at Alexander, Lyndonville at Notre Dame, Kendall at Holley, 5 p.m.
Track – Akron at Roy-Hart, 4:30 p.m.
Tennis – Albion at Wilson, 4:15 p.m.

Friday
Baseball – Kendall at Alexander, 5 p.m.; Lyndonville at Mt. Morris, 5:15 p.m.
Softball – Newfane at Roy-Hart, 4:45 p.m.; Kendall at Pembroke, Holley at Notre Dame, 5 p.m.
Tennis – Newfane at Roy-Hart, Akron at Medina, 4:15 p.m.
Lacrosse – Medina at Akron, 5 p.m.

Saturday
Baseball – Medina at Albion, Roy-Hart at Williamsville East, 12 p.m.
Softball – Barker at Lockport, 11 a.m.
Lacrosse – Medina at Bloomfield, 12 p.m.

Putting together a last inning rally, Alexander edged Kendall 11-10 in a Geensee Region League softball game today.

Trailing 10-7, Alexander rallied for four runs in the bottom of the seventh inning on a burst of six hits including four singles and a pair of doubles. A double by Payton Delelys plated the game winner.

Kendall had grabbed a 10-7 lead by scoring twice in the sixth inning on an RBI single by Brooke Rodas and a fielders choice play off the bat of Sophia Picardo and once in the seventh on an RBI double by Izzy D’Agostino.

D’Agostino, Rodas and Ella Cole each finished with 3 hits.

Building up leads of 4-1 at the end of the first quarter and 7-1 at the half, Lockport went on to down visiting Medina 13-4 today in an interdiviional lacrosse game.

Sawyer Lilleby, Landon Costich, Clayton Wagner and Brennan Allen each scored a goal for the Mustangs.

Medina next hosts Brockport at 6 p.m. Monday in a non league contest.

Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Aidan Papaj hurled Medina past Pavilion/York this afternoon  with a one hitter.

Improving to 12-1, Medina trimmed Pavilion/York 3-0 in a non league baseball game at Vets Park this afternoon.

Aidan Papaj hurled a sparkling 1 hitter with 16 strikeouts on the mound for the Mustangs.

Medina broke away from a scoreless deadlock in the fourth inning on an RBI single by Preston Woodworth. Papaj reached on a single and advanced to third on errors to set up the opportunity.

The Mustangs later added a pair of big insurance runs in the sixth inning on an RBI single by Jimmy Dieter and a ground out off the bat of Cam Fike. Two hit batters and a walk loaded the bases to set up the threat.

Medina returns to Niagara-Orleans League action on Monday with a 4:45 p.m. game at Newfane.

The defending champion Mustangs currently lead the N-O with a 9-0 record.

Kendall scored a pair of come-from-behind victories in Genesee Region League baseball action today as the Eagles improve to 9-1 in the league and 14-2 overall.

First Kendall traveled to Oakfield this morning to complete a game which was halted by bad weather on Tuesday.

Trailing 2-1 when play resumed today, Kendall tied the game by scoring twice with two out in the seventh inning on an RBI singles by Vinnie D’Agostino and Nic Cole. A double by CJ D’Agostino ignited the rally.

The Eagles then pulled out the 3-2 win by scoring once in the ninth on an RBI single by Sammy Conte which followed a single by Vinnie D’Agostino.

CJ D’Agostino earned the win on the mound allowing only 2 hits and striking out 15. He fanned 3 in the bottom of the 8th and 2 in the bottom of the ninth.

Kendall then returned home to post a 12-2 win over Attica this afternoon.

Trailing 2-1, Kendall took control by erupting for 7 runs in the fourth inning highlighted by RBI doubles by Cole and CJ D’Agostino and an RBI single by Vinnie D’Agostino.

Vinnie D’Agostino picked up the win on the mound giving up just 1 hit and striking out 8.