Contributed Photo – Albion goalie Chris St. James makes a save during the Purple Eagles inaugural game against Hilton.

Over the past few years club high school hockey has become increasingly  popular in the area including the formation of the Roy-Hart/Barker/Medina and Newfane/Wilson teams. However, for a brief period of a couple of years in the mid 1990’s Albion High had its own varsity hockey team.

Playing in the Monroe County League and with the Batavia rink serving as its home ice, the Purple Eagles hockey team debuted in the 1994-95 season.

The Purple Eagles went through a losing learning debut season which began with a loss to Hilton in the season opener.

Albion earned its elusive first ever victory early in the 1995-96 season romping past Brighton 7-1. Six players contributed goals to that win including Lester Green, Eric Pike, Chad Pike, Collin Reid, Chris Pearls and Matt Kenny.

The Purple Eagles also nipped Brighton 1-0 later in the season 1-0 a goal by Greg Moore. Chris St. James earned the shutout in goal.

However, Brighton avenged those losses by downing Albion 3-0 in the first round of the Section V playoffs.

St. James earned first team All-Monroe County Division II honors after being named to the second team the year before.

Contributed Photo – Kyle Barna in action for Lake Erie College.

Having made strong contributions two collegiate lacrosse programs, Medina High graduate Kyle Barna recently competed his senior season at Lake Erie College in Ohio which was cut short when the coronavirus pandemic caused the remainder of the schedule to be cancelled.

When competition was halted for the season Barna was leading the Storm offensively with 15 points on 12 goals and three assists. He tied his single game career high of four goals in a game against LeMoyne, which was ranked No. 2 in the nation.

Barna began his collegiate career at Pfeiffer University in North Carolina where he earned All-Conference honors after a big 52 goal season.

He transferred to Lake Erie and in his first full season with the Storm last year he had 26 goals and 10 assists for a total of 36 points which was third highest on the team.

Highlighting that season was Barna’s four goal, two assist effort against Merrimack College as the Storm just missed upsetting the No. 1 ranked Warriors which went on to win the national title.

A strong offensive player, Barna has also shown his defensive prowness having totaled 70 ground balls.

For his collegiate career, Barna finished with a total of 93 goals and a total of 108 points when assists are added in.

During his scholastic career at Medina, Barna had a total of 280 points on 181 goals and 99 assists.

Contributed Photo – Lyndonville’s Mario Fidanza, left, and Albion’s Cody Wilson.

Two state championship tournament place finishers, Albion’s Cody Wilson and Lyndonville’s Mario Fidanza, both seniors, head the annual All Orleans County wrestling team as selected by the coaches.

Wilson (285), who placed sixth at the state championships, went 33-7 on the season. He also placed second at the Section VI state qualifier to earn a wildcard berth to the state tourney.

Fidanza (220), who placed eighth at the state championship, went 31-7 on the season. He also placed second at the Section V state qualifier to earn a wildcard spot in the state tourney.

Albion is also represented by senior Bryce Kelly (220) who went 17-8 and won a Niagara-Orleans League title; junior Cameron Bell (195) who went 19-16 and placed second at the Section V Class B tournament; sophomores Amilcar Morales (126) who went 26-12 won an N-O title and placed fourth at the Class B tourney and Dayne Aina (170) who went 23-13 placed second at the N-O tourney and fifth at Class B.

Lyndonville is also represented by juniors Rodney Davis (170) who went 22-12  won a Section V Class B tourney title and placed fifth at the Section V state qualifier and Brennon Munn (138) who went 24-15 and placed fourth at the Class B tourney along with sophomore Connor Bell (113) who went 30-11, won a Class B title and placed fifth at the state qualifier.

Holley-Kendall is represented by the quartet of seniors Tristyn Moyer (126) who went 28-6, Dawson Custer (152) who was 28-16, Jayden Pieniaszek (138) who went 22-9 and freshman Bruce Rasmusson who went 24-10.

Medina has placed the foursome of senior Riley Black (195) who went 18-10, junior Miles Hartway (152) who was 21-8, sophomore RaShawn Bloom, who went 23-10 and freshman Noah Skinner (160) who was 6-4. Black, Hartway and Skinner all won N-O titles. Bloom finished second at the N-O tourney and fourth at the Section VI Class C tournament.

Completing the All-County team are seven Honorable Mention selections including sophomore Maddox Stirk (182) and eighth header Sebastian Temich (126) from Lyndonville; juniors Cole Spierdowis (195) and William Freeman (182) from Albion along with junior Mitchell Silversmith (285), freshman Dominic Callara (99) and eighth grader Ethan Page (113) from Medina.

Contributed Photo – Members of Lyndonville’s 1953 Section V Class C championship are shown here with their league and sectional trophies. In front are Norman Skinner, Jon Postle, Ronnie Mapes and Carl Woods. In the middle row are Tim Bowersox, Stanley Church, James Enderby, John Church, Richard Kenyon and Gordon Joy. In the top row are Larry Joy, James Marcks, Coach Arnold Hartsen, Larry Meland and James Costich.

Putting together an outstanding run of four sectional championships made the decade of the 1950’s a truly Golden Era for the Lyndonville High baseball program.

The decade saw Coach Arnold Hartsen’s Tigers capture  Section V titles in 1951, 1953, 1955 and 1959.

In 1951 Lyndonville and Clyde battled to a 2-2 tie in an 11 inning marathon at McArthur Stadium in Batavia before Section V officials declared the teams Class B co-champions. The sectional title was the first in school history for the Tigers.

The Tigers tied the game with a run in the seventh inning but neither team could cross home plate again over the next four innings before the contest was halted and co-champions declared.

Lyndonville needed two come-from-behind wins to reach the finals.

First, the Tigers erased an 8-4 deficit by scoring five times in the fourth inning and three in the fifth to key s 12-10 quarterfinal win over York. Then in the semis the Tigers scored four runs in the fifth inning to erase a 3-1 deficit and key a 5-4 win over Bolivar.

Dean West was on the mound for the Tigers in both the semifinals and finals.

Two years later a pair of second inning runs proved to be just enough to give Lyndonville a 2-1 win over Naples and the 1953 Class C championship.

A squeeze bunt by Norm Skinner plated what proved to be the game winning run for the Tigers after a fielders choice play of the bat of Gordy Joy drove in the first tally.

Ronnie Mapes earned the win on the mind allowing three hits and striking out five.

Lyndonville advanced to the title contest by defeating Hemlock 11-0 in the quarterfinals and Andover 5-1 in the semis.

Mapes hurled a no hitter with 16 strikeouts against Hemlock and a two hitter with 12 strikeouts against Andover.

Lyndonville’s string of every other year title campaigns continued in 1955 as the Tigers blamed Cuba 3-0 to claim the Class C championship.

Mapes capped off an outstanding varsity career by hurling a three hit shutout with 17 strikeouts. Mapes also drove in what proved to be the game winning run with a single in the first inning.

In the quarterfinals, Lyndonville blanked York 2-0 as Mapes threw a one hitter with 15 strikeouts. Two bases loaded walks in the sixth inning drove in the Tigers runs.

The semifinals then saw Lyndonville down Red Creek 4-1 as Mapes hurled a two hitter with 12 strikeouts. A squeeze bunt by Jon Postle plated two quick first inning runs for the Tigers which later locked up the win with two in the top of the seventh as Larry Meland tripled.

Lyndonville capped off the memorable decade by capturing the 1959 Class C championship with a 14-1 romp over Belmont.

Tom Zapf, Bob Long and winning pitcher Willie Long each had two hits for the Tigers which scored four runs in the first inning and seven in the fourth. Zapf’s hits included a home run and Willie Long’s a triple.

The Tigers had a much closer encounter in the quarterfinals where they nipped Romulus 2-1 in nine innings. Danny Taylor slid home with the winning run in the ninth as he scored from second base on a single by Mike Zapf. Willie Long earned the win on the mound allowing four hits and striking out 14.

In the semifinals, Lyndonville trimmed Cuba 6-4 as a big five run fifth inning keyed the win. A two-run double by Jim Thorpe and an RBI single by Mike Zapf highlighted that decisive uprising. On the mound. Willie Long scattered seven hits and struck out 15.

After this surge of four titles in a span of just nine years Lyndonville would have to wait some 23 years before claiming another sectional crown when the 1982 Tigers downed Cuba 2-0 for the Class C championship.

Pending approval by the New York State Public High School Athletic Association’s Executive Council, area high school football teams could be returning to playing an eight game regular season this fall for the first time in over a decade.

When the sectional playoffs added a quarterfinal round in 2008  the regular season was reduced from eight to seven games.

Now sections around the state, including Section VI, have a proposal before the State Executive Committee to reinstate that eighth regular season game. It would be played as a season opener during the weekend which has been used for scrimmages.

That is possible because the state now requires teams to have only 10 practices, instead of 15 as traditionally was the case, before a scrimmage or game could be played.

Individual schools would have the option to decide if they want to scrimmage or play a game on that weekend.

“I think it would be a great thing,” said Medina Athletic Director and varsity Football Coach Eric Valley. “We would definitely be interested in playing an eighth game. The rest of our schedule would remain the same as has been released.”

“It’s a great thing for our kids,” said Albion Athletic Director and varsity Football Coach Adam Krenning. “We need that eighth game as our season is so short. I know there is quite a bit of momentum for it. We’re excited and we would be very anxious to play an eighth game.”

The State Executive Council is scheduled to vote on the proposal on May 27.

“Hopefully it goes through,” said Section VI Football Chairman Ken Stoldt.

Contributed Photo – Erik Balys

Holley High graduate and Alfred State freshman Erik Balys has been named to the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference All-Academic team for the 2019-20 academic year.

To be eligible for the All-Academic team a student/athlete must maintain a grade point average of at least 3.2.

Balys, who is a defender on the Alfred State soccer team, is majoring in Heavy Equipment Operations.

During his scholastic days at Holley, Balys earned Genesee Region League All-Star soccer honors. He  was also a sectional place finisher in wrestling.

Contributed Photo – Nick Hermann, left, who scored the game winner and Sean Moriarty celebrate Medina’s sectional championship victory over Gowanda.

Avenging a pair of regular season losses, No. 2 seeded Medina outlasted top seeded defending champion Gowanda 13-12 in overtime to capture the 2002 Section VI Class C lacrosse championship and earn a berth in the state playoffs.

Claiming the title in dramatic fashion, the Mustangs earned their first, and to date only, sectional championship on a goal  just 16 seconds into the overtime period by Nick Hermann who completed a rush from midfield by rifling the ball into the Gowanda net from point blank range.

However, the Mustangs needed big plays by both the offense and defense in the hectic final two minutes of regulation time to pull even and force the contest into overtime.

Medina pulled even at 12-12 on a goal by Andy Hermann off an assist from Nate Snell with 1:59 remaining.

Mustangs goalie Nick Outterson then preserved the tie by coming up with a huge save with just two seconds remaining to force overtime.

Medina had trailed by two, 11-9, heading into the final period but rallied into a tie on goals by Adam Dresser and Sean Moriarty before Gowanda regained the lead for the last time at 12-11 by scoring with 2:11 to go.

In all eight players contributed goals for the Mustangs in the sea-saw contest which saw seven ties and four lead changes as Nick Hermann netted three, Snell and Moriarty two and Andy Hermann, Jevon Cecchini,  Dresser, Mike Maryjanowski, Kevin Martin and Trevor Fox each added one.

Medina had lost to Gowanda during the regular season by scores of 7-6 and 18-11.

The Mustangs advanced to the finals by romping past Salamanca 16-6 in the semifinals for their first ever postseason victory.

Medina, which led 9-3 at the half, got four goals from Nick Hermann, two each from Martin, Dresser and Moriarty and one each from Cecchini, Andy Hermann, Josh Hill, Fox, Mohammad Abidi and Mike Crane.

However, the Mustangs historic postseason run came to an end in the Far West Regional as defending state champion PennYan rolled to a 19-2 win.

PennYan, which set the tone with three lightning quick goals in the first three minutes, went on to hold leads of 7-1 after the first period and 12-2 at the half.

Medina again advanced to a Section VI Class C title round matchup against Gowanda in 2003 after again downing Salamanca 18-12 in the semis.

This time though Gowanda gained revenge for the 2002 loss by downing Medina 15-2.

Contributed Photo – Kevin Quarantello

Putting together a memorable five year unbeaten streak, Albion ruled the Niagara-Orleans League tennis courts during the mid 1970s.

From 1973 to 1977 the Purple Eagles captured five straight N-O championships going 56-0 during that stretch.

Albion went 10-0 in both 1973 and 1974 and then 12-0 in 1975, 1976 and 1977.

Taking turns leading Albion at the key first singles position during that reign were Kevin Quarantello, Sandy Church and Dave Shelp.

In addition to leading Albion in N-O competition, Quarantello also captured Section VI singles titles in both 1974 and 1975.

The 1974 sectionals also saw the Purple Eagles duo of Mark Murphy and Dave Lafferty capture a doubles championship.

Jim Dollinger, Tom Anderson, Mike Engle and Steve Brandt were also among the players who took turns manning the Purple Eagles singles positions during that title reign.