Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Cole Seefeldt tries to head the ball into the goal for Medina-Lyndonville United U17 during this evening’s semifinal playoff win over Niagara Pioneer at Lyndonville.

A lightning quick three goal scoring burst in the first 8 minutes ignited Medina-Lyndonville United to a 7-0 victory over Niagara Pioneer in the semifinal round of the Buffalo and Western New York Junior Soccer League U17C Division playoffs this evening at Lyndonville.

Dan Mandujano scored just five minutes in and Nate Dillenbeck followed up with two goals quickly put M-L United in command. Cole Seefledt had two assists and Roman Heinsler one during that key stretch.

M-L United then capped off the victory with four goals in the second half as Mandujano scored from Seefeldt, Evan Harris from Devin Rounds, Oskar Heinsler from Zaric Boyce and Rounds from Jon Slingerland.

Improving to 7-0-2, M-L United now hosts Niagara-Wheatfield in the championship game at 6:45 p.m. Thursday at Lyndonville.  N-W blanked Wilson in the other semifinals

M-L United had a win (3-1) and a tie (2-2) during the regular season against N-W which is 7-1-1.

M-L United’s Zaric Boyce works to keep the ball away from a pair of Niagara defenders.

Contributed Photo – M.D. Johnson threw a strong ninth inning giving up no runs on Sunday. The Muckdogs lost, 9-2.

BATAVIA – The Batavia Muckdogs lost in grand style on Sunday as the Connecticut Tigers powered by a grand slam home run by Avery Tuck powered the visitors over the Muckdogs, 9-2.

Despite the loss, the Muckdogs (29-20) still have a four game lead in the New York Penn-League Pinckney Division as second place West Virginia also lost and are tied with State College for second.

Batavia’s J.D. Orr continued his impressive 2019 season with a 2-for-4 performance and a run, raising his league-leading average to .368.

Gunner Schubert was 2-for-3 and is hitting .444 since joining the team last week. Harrison Dinicola also had two hits and a RBI for Batavia while Nic Ready and Kobie Taylor had hits.

Moises Nunez also homered for the Tigers and Riley Greene, the No. 1 pick of the Tigers in the 2019 draft and No. 5 pick overall, had a RBI single and scored.

Jackson Rose fell to 5-3 with the loss for Batavia as Brock Love threw a strong two innings with one hit and two strikeouts without allowing a run and his ERA is still 0.00.

M.D. Johnson threw the ninth for Batavia and gave up a hit and no runs.

Batavia is on the road for six straight games in six days at Williamsport and State College before returning home on Sunday, Aug. 11 to play Mahoning Valley at 5:05 p.m.

Regular season champion Medina-Lyndonville United will begin Buffalo and Western New York Junior Soccer League U17C Division playoff competition by hosting the Niagara Pioneers in the semifinals at 6:45 p.m. Monday at Lyndonville.

Monday’s other semifinal will have Wilson at Niagara-Wheatfield.

The two winners will meet in the championship game on Thursday.

M-L United, which brings a 6-0-2 record into the playoffs, posted a pair of wins over the Niagara Pioneers during the regular season by scores of 4-0 and 4-1. The Pioneers are 1-5-2.

Niagara-Wheatfield, which is 6-1-1, likewise scored a pair of wins over Wilson (2-4-2) during the regular season by margins of 3-2 and 2-0.

Girls U17
Jumping out to a 2-0 first half lead, host Niagara-Wheatfield went on to blank the Lady Rams 3-0 Saturday in the girls U17 season finale.

The Lady Rams finish at 4-3-3.

Contributed Photo – Melanie Green

Medina’s Melanie Green will open U.S. Women’s  Amateur championship competition on Monday at the Old Waverly Golf Club at West Point, Miss.

Green will tee off on the 10th hole at 1:45 pm. in a threesome which will also include two other U.S. players, Alexis Linam from Arizona and Elina Sinz from Texas.

The field of 156 golfers will play 18 holes of stroke play competition on both Monday and Tuesday.

After Tuesday’s round the field will be cut to the top 64 for match play competition which gets underway on Wednesday.  The field will again be cut to 32 and then to 16 on Thursday with the quarterfinals set for Friday, the semis for Saturday and the 36 holes championship round on Sunday.

The national tourney will be the second in as many months for Green who tied for sixth place at the Girls Junior PGA championships in July.

BATAVIA – The five-game win-streak for the Batavia Muckdogs ended at the hands of the Connecticut Tigers, 5-3 on Saturday night.

The Muckdogs (29-19) have a four-game lead in the New York-Penn League Pinckney Division going into the rubber match of the series on Sunday. The game is at 5:05 p.m. at Swyer Stadium.

Batavia starter Andrew Miller had an outstanding six inning outing, scattering give hits and not allowing a run. The lefty draft pick of the Miami Marlins in the 2018 draft did not walk a batter and struck out three lowering his ERA to 3.57.

The Muckdogs mounted a comeback in the eighth as Gunner Schubert ripped 2-RBI single to cut the Tigers lead to 4-3. But the Tigers tacked on an insurance run and held on for the win.

J.D. Orr (run), Andrew Turner and Andres Stormes had hits for Batavia.

Today is a 5:05 p.m. start with autographs and photos with players for the fans before the game near the concession stands.

Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Alex Benz bring the ball up field for Medina-Lyndonville United U15.

Closing out the season on a five game winning streak, Medina-Lyndonville United nipped Wilson 1-0 Friday evening in a Buffalo and Western New York Junior Soccer League U15C Division game at Gasport.

Bryson Costich scored the game’s only goal midway through the first half off an assist from Mason Moreland as M-L United finishes the season at 7-3.

Jackson Moreland earned the shutout in goal as Jack Whipple, Kevin Travis, Gavyn Snook, Aidan Owczarczak, Costich and Mason Moreland all helped to anchor the defense.

Thunder claims U15C championship
The Lockport Thunder, which is comprised mainly of Roy-Hart players, locked up the U15B Division championship with a 5-0 victory over South Buffalo on Thursday evening.

Five players took turns scoring the goals including Trent Choate, Elijah Girioux, Landen Guild, Luke Gunby and Christian Lates as the Thunder finish at 8-1-1.

Contributed Photo –  Nic Ready is doused by water from Sean Reynolds after he hit a 2-run home run and then the eventual game-winning RBI double to lift the Muckdogs to a 6-5 win, their fifth straight.

BATAVIA – The five-game win streak for the first place  Batavia Muckdogs is intact thanks to another clutch performance from Nic Ready.

Ready hit a home run to give Batavia a 3-0 lead, but with the Muckdogs tied 5-5 in the seventh, his RBI double proved to be the game-winner.

“I knew he was going to try to challenge me, he went in on me earlier and I didn’t get to it,” said Ready of his double. “I thought he was going to come with a fast ball, I got my foot down, I got my timing ready and I put the barrel on it.”

Ready, who graduated from the U.S. Air Force, was a 23rd round draft pick of the Miami Marlins this year. He finished the game 2-for-3 with the home run (his fifth) and double and 3 RBI’s.

Batavia is 29-18 and up five games on West Virginia and six games on State College. Both teams chasing Batavia lost Friday night.

“It’s the dog days of August, the dog are hot, let’s have a strong second half,” said Ready.

Troy Johnston, a 17th-round pick by the Marlins out of Gonzaga this year, had the game-winning run and went a perfect 3-for-3 with two runs and a RBI to up his average to .297.

Gunnar Schubert and Brayan Hernandez (two hits, run) tripled while J.D. Orr (run), Julian Infante and Dustin Skelton singled.

Evan Brabrand continued his impressive 2019 season, picking up his 10th save of the season. He threw a scoreless ninth, striking out one and lowering his ERA to 2.19.

Edison Surial (2-1) picked up the win, throwing 2.1 innings with three strikeouts and did not allow a run.

Easton Lucas had a solid start, going four innings, lowering his ERA to 2.55 by scattering three hits with no runs and a strikeout.

Batavia is home tonight for a 7:05 p.m. start and fireworks sponsored by O-AT-K-A after the game.

Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Jack Whipple had two assists in Medina-Lyndonville United’s win over West Seneca.

Making it four wins in a row Medina-Lyndonville United avenged an early season 1-0 loss by defeating West Seneca 4-1 Thursday evening in a key Buffalo and Western New York Junior Soccer League boys U15 game at Gasport.

The victory boosts Medina-Lyndonville United’s record to 6-3 (18 points) and keeps them within a point of Niagara PAL which is 6-2-1 (19 points) in the battle for second place.

M-L United hosts Wilson in the season finale this evening at Gasport at 6:45 while Niagara PAL, which has won five in a row, winds up the season on Monday against undefeated (9-0) division leader Amherst.

Breaking away from a 1-1 half-time deadlock M-L United outscored West Seneca 3-0 in the second half to claim the victory.

A goal by Daric Boyce, off an assist from Aidan Owczarczak, put M-L United ahead for good at 2-1.

Felix Isaacson then scored from Bryson Costich to make it 3-1 and Cole Callard followed up with the clincher off an assist from Jack Whipple.

West Seneca did jump out to an early 1-0 lead but M-L United pulled even before half-time as Isaacson scored from Whipple.

Jackson Moreland earned the win in goal.

Contributed Photo –  Joey Steele, left, had a perfect inning with three strikeouts to keep his ERA at 0.00 this season. Steele, a 2019 Miami Marlins drat pick, has thrown 10 innings, struck out 16 and walked one without giving up a run. To the right is Geremy Galindez who won on Tuesday to improve to 3-0 with a 2.63 ERA.

TROY – Thursday was a new day with new leading hitters and new pitchers for the Batavia Muckdogs, but the same result, a victory.

The Muckdogs defeated the Tri City ValleyCats, 4-1 to sweep all three games of  the series on the road.

The Muckdogs (28-18) have won four straight, sit in first place in the New York Penn-League Pinckney Division and play at home Friday, Saturday and Sunday against the Connecticut Tigers.

Jack Strunc (double) had two hits and a run for Batavia while Andrew Turner also doubled and had two hits.Troy Johnston had a RBI single and scored while Kobie Taylor and Ronal Reynoso singled.

Harrison Dinicola continued his three-game tear for the Muckdogs, driving in two runs with a single. He then scored on a Dustin Skelton RBI.

Edgar Martinez picked up the win to even his record at 2-2 with a 2.85 ERA. He struck out seven in five innings, allowed just one hit and no runs.

Janaikevr Villalobos threw two innings giving up a run then Joey Steele continued his dominance with a perfect inning, striking out the side in the eighth. His ERA remains at 0.00 and he earned his second hold.

In the ninth, Josh Simpson came on and the lefty threw a perfect inning for his second save and struck out one.

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Brooke Livergood (27), who scored the Lady Rams second goal, works to keep the ball away from a Holland defender during Wednesday’s game at Gasport.

A goal in each half earned the Lady Rams a 2-0 victory over visiting Holland Wednesday evening in a Buffalo and Western New York Junior Soccer League girls U17 Division game at Gasport.

A first half goal by Nadia White proved to be the game winner for the Lady Rams.

Brooke Livergood later netted an insurance goal in the second half.

Rileigh McCabe earned the shutout in goal.

Improving to 4-2-3, the Lady Rams next visit Niagara-Wheatfield on Saturday to close out the season.

Hanna Willard of the Lady Rams works toward the Holland goal.