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Boasting a good blend of youth and experience Mustangs will begin state playoffs Saturday
Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Medina freshman third baseman Brody Fry, shown here making a throw backed up by senior shortstop Joe Cecchini, and their Mustang teammates will face Palmyra-Macedon in the Class B Far West Regional at 2 p.m. Saturday at Monroe Community College.
Having captured both Niagara-Orleans League and Section VI Class B titles, Medina will now begin state playoff competition on Saturday with a squad that has has been a very successful blend of veteran and youthful players.
Now at 21-3, Medina will face undefeated (23-0) Palmyra-Macedon in the Class B Far West Regional at 2 p.m. Saturday at Monroe Community College. The victor will advance to the state semifinals on June 10 at Binghamton. Pal-Mac blanked Bath Haverling 7-0 Thursday to advance.
“They have melded together very nicely,” said Medina Coach Jon Sherman of his Mustangs squad whose regulars include 4 seniors, 1 junior, 2 sophomores, 3 freshmen and 1 eighth grader. “We have a lot of young kids but everyone has come together and they’re all good buddies. It’s really nice to have that good team comradery.”
Four players from Medina’s 2019 state Final Four team – senior pitcher/first baseman Zach Fike, senior shortstop Joe Cecchini, senior catcher/pitcher Xander Payne and junior pitcher/first baseman Aidan Paul – have provided the veteran leadership for the Mustangs whose regulars also include freshman second baseman Tyler Kroening, freshman third baseman Brody Fry, sophomore leftfielder Julian Woodworth, eighth grader centerfielder Vinny Gray, senior rightfielder Hayden Woodroe, sophomore designated hitter Richard Keppler and freshman Ryleigh Culver who catches when Payne is on the mound.
On the mound Fike is 10-0 with 116 strikeouts and an earned run average of 0.746. Paul is 6-2 with 122 strikeout and a 1.607 era. and Payne is 5-1 with 55 strikeouts and a 1.180 era.
At the plate, Paul is hitting .427 with 6 doubles, 1 triple, 1 home run and 23 RBIs, Payne .412 with 12 doubles, 3 triples, 3 home runs and 14 RBIs, Fike .385 with 10 doubles, 3 triples, 2 home runs and 25 RBIs, Cecchini .324 with 10 doubles, 1 triple, 2 home runs and 24 RBIs, Keppler .309 with 10 RBIs and Woodworth .283 with 14 RBIs.
“Our pitching has been solid all season and you have to have that to go very far,” said Sherman. “Now we need our pitchers to keep doing what they’ve been doing, play good defense and score a few runs.”
Pitching in fact has been a strong suit for both teams as Mustang hurlers have registered 11 shutouts and the Red Raiders mound staff 13.
Medina is 2-0 in previous Far West Regional appearances having defeated Sodus 4-0 in 2003 and LeRoy 10-2 in 2019.
Meadworks Axe League week 9 standings
The standings after week 9 of the Meadworks Axe League season are as follows:
1 – Mother Chuckers, 3320; 2 – The Kill Shots, 3244; 3 – Pain in the Axe, 3195; 4 – Axing for Trouble, 3078; 5 – Lizzie Borden, 2914; 6 – Bustin Axes, 2850; 7 – Great Axepectations, 2829; 8 – Two Cord, 2747; 9 – Happy Hippies, 2682; 10 – Berserkers, 2678; 11 – Axing for a Friend, 2565; 12 – Here for Pizza, 2492; 13 – Swoosh, 2448; 14 – Kiss our Axes, 2394; 15 – Bad Axes, 2389; 16 – Axe Like That, 2350; 17 – Anger Management, 2345; 18 – Axedental Fun, 2175; 19 – Smack My Axe, 2044; 20 – Lillie Girls, 2025; 21 – Axe About Us, 2024; 22 – JackAxes, 1898; 23 – Mad Axes, 1841; 24 – The Slits, 1299.
Green completes 1st round at U.S. Open
Contributed Photo – Melanie Green
Getting an early start playing in the second threesome of the day, Medina’s Melanie Green shot a five over par 76 this morning on the opening round of the 77th annual U.S. Women’s Open Tournament being played at the Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club in Southern Pines, North Carolina.
Starting on the ninth hole, Green scored birdies on the 11th and 1st holes and had bogeys on holes 10, 12, 15, 16, 5, 6 and 8.
Half of the 156 player field still has to play this afternoon but at the end of her round Green was eight shots off the pace as there was a tri of co-leaders at -3.
The second round will be Friday after which the cut will be made to determine the players advancing to Saturday and Sunday’s final two rounds.
Mustangs have had good success at Regional
Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Joe Rosenbeck hurled Medina past Sodus in the Far West Regional at Dwyer Stadium in Batavia in 2003 in Medina’s first ever appearance in the state playoffs.
Saturday Section VI champion Medina will begin state playoff competition when the Mustangs take on the Section V champion (either Palmyra Macedon or Bath Haverlng) in the Class B Far West Regional at 2 p.m. at Monroe Community College.
The victor will advance to the state Class B semifinals on June 10 at Binghamton.
This will be Medina’s third trip to the state playoffs. The Mustangs are 2-0 in previous Far West Regional appearances having defeated Sodus 4-0 in 2003 at Batavia’s Dwyer Stadium and LeRoy 10-2 in 2019 at Lockport.
In the win over Sodus, Joe Rosenbeck hurled a 1 hit shutout with 9 strikeouts and the Mustangs scored three times in the fourth inning on two fielders choice plays and an RBI single by Matt Heiligenthaler.
In the more recent victory over LeRoy, Medina broke the game open with two big back-to-back scoring innings. The Mustangs scored four in the third inning on two-run singles by both AJ Seefeldt and winning pitcher Trevor Luthart and five in the fourth as Chris Goyette had a two-run single and Seefeldt and Zach Fike boh added RBI singles.
Interestingly, in all four players on the roster from that 2019 squad are starters on this year’s team including Fike, Xander Payne, Joe Cecchini and Aidan Paul.
The Mustangs will find out this evening who their Saturday opponent will be as Pal-Mac and Bath are scheduled to play for the Section V Class B title at 5 p.m. after being rained out Wednesday. Pal-Mac, which captured the Section V Class B1 title is 22-0 on the season and Bath, which is the B-2 champion, is 19-2.
Zach Fike, at left, takes a throw for an out at first base and Joe Cecchini makes a catch in the outfield for Medina during the Mustangs 2019 Far West Regional win over LeRoy at Lockport. The duo join Xander Payne and Aidan Paul who were all on the 2019 squad’s roster and are now starters for this season’s team which is headed back to the state playoffs.
Albion U16 girls open season with 4-0 win
Photo by Tom Rivers
CARLTON – Kayla Burgio of Albion gets the ball past three Rush-Henrietta defenders during Wednesday evening’s game at the Carlton Town Park. Burgio scored three goals in Albion’s 4-0 victory in the season opener for the U16 girls in the Rochester District Youth Soccer League. Alexandra Sanders also scored for Albion and Hailey Warren had a shutout as goalie.
Will North tops Medina Unified in playoffs
The Medina Mustangs Unified basketball team dropped a narrow 30-27 decision at undefeated (7-0) Williamsville North Tuesday in the first round of the playoffs.
Medina did get off to a good start, leading Will North 11-7 after the first quarter. Malikiah McGill lead the Mustangs with five points. Jackson Tuohey added four and Thomas Miesch two.
The Spartans came back in the second quarter by outscoring Medina 12-6, to take a 19-17 halftime lead.
The Mustangs though came right back in the third quarter outscoring Will North 10-4 to lead 27-23 after three periods. Tuohey had four points while McGill and Miesch each had a three-pointer.
However, Will North’s size was too much for Medina, especially in the fourth quarter. The Spartans shut out the Mustangs in the last period 7-0.
McGill led the Mustangs with 10 points, Tuohey had 8, Miesch 5 and Steven Secore 4.
Medina (3-3) next travels to Lancaster on Thursday for their final game starting at 6:00 P.M.
Oakfield Gold trims Albion Storm
The Albion Storm dropped a hard fought 7-4 decision to the Oakfield Gold Tuesday evening.
In a repeat match that went much better than last week, Anna Gillette was on the mound all 6 innings hurling 7 strikeouts allowing only 2 hits. The defense had to work and kept Melia Prince on the first base awake. Gillette took 5 shots back up the middle and on one of those turned a double play.
The offense had a hard time connecting last night with only 3 real hits but put the ball in play 12 times, Gillette, Prince, and Madison Blount all got the ball past the infield for singles.
The Storm is 4-4 in league play with three more to go beginning at Attica Thursday night.
Good night for pitchers in Midget League
Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Both pitchers had strong outings as Gavin Boyce, left, started on the mound for Carlton and Drew Pritchard for Sandstone in an Albion Midget League game at Sandstone Park this evening which was won by Sandstone 4-0. Pritchard registered 7 strikeouts in three innings of work and Boyce 6. Both pitchers also banged out an extra base hit at the plate as Pritchard had an RBI triple and Boyce a double. Omer Fugate also had a key two-run double for Sandstone.
Green set to make U.S. Women’s Open debut
Contributed Photo – Melanie Green
Coming off a very successful collegiate season Medina High graduate Melanie Green will step onto the stage of one of the premier events in women’s golf when she makes her debut at the 77th U.S. Women’s Open on Thursday at the Pine Needle Lodge and Golf Club in Southern Pines, North Carolina.
“It’s an opportunity of a lifetime. I really appreciate the opportunity to play and make the most out of it,” said Green who will tee off in the second threesome of the day at 7:11 Thursday morning.
Green is one of 50 first time qualifiers and one of 30 amateurs in the 156 player field. Interestingly, that group of amateurs includes one of the top competitors from her days of scholastic competition in Bailey Shoemaker who twice finished second to Green at the New York State high school championship tournament.
The field also includes 12 former U.S. Open champions, 13 former runners-up as well as defending U.S. Senior Women’s Open champion and three time U.S. Open champion Annika Sorenstram.
Green, who previously competed in the U.S. Girls Junior Tournament in 2018 and the U.S. Women’s Open Amateur Tournament in 2019, qualified for the Open by shooting a 6 under par 138 at the Fort Myers, Florida qualifier on May 4.
And as for the keys to having a successful tournament Green says “just to stay patient and enjoy myself and continue to do everything I’ve already been doing with my game.”
Green, who twice captured the New York state championship while at Medina High, recently completed her sophomore year at the University of South Florida where she earned American Athletic Conference All-Conference honors for the second year in a row.
Hickory Ridge leagues are in full swing
The leagues are in full swing at Hickory Ridge.
The first to report in with results was the Tuesday Ladies Night Out league. A familiar name, Deb Wood, was low gross with a 42. Aleta Martin had a 47 gross and was also low net with a 40. She shared that score with Laurie Freeman and Diane Hennekey. Wood and Martin had the only birdies.
The Men’s Wednesday Night league’ s low gross was shared by Ray Daniels and AJ Gifaldii. Both or them shot a 39. Bob Wyant was low gross with a 33. Wyant and Tim Hendrickson had the only birdies. Team standings will be determined after the fifth week of play.
The Thursday Morning Men’s Senior League reported this week. The closest to the pin on number 18 was Darryl Szklany at 7 feet 2 inches.. Closest on the second shot on number 7 was Darryl Johnson with 7 feet 10 inches. John Gerhardt and Darryl Szklany had two birdies each with Gene Ashe and Gary Wood getting one apiece. The league has a scramble tournament this upcoming Thursday along with a picnic with raffle and prizes after the tournament.
The Men’s Thursday Night league reports Guy Eaton with a 38 for low gross. Low net was Ben Flansburg with 30. The team of Bedford and Burgess lead the standings with 64 points followed closely by Hillabush and Smith with a 62. Burroughs and Snyder take third with 60 points. Dresser and Flansburg with 58 points and Burgess and Eaton with 54 points round out the top five.
