Albion will play host to rival Medina at 4:45 this afternoon in a key Niagara-Orleans League baseball game.

Both teams are battling to stay in the thick of the N-O title chase. Medina is currently in third place at 6-2 and Albion in fourth at 6-3. The Mustangs and Purple Eagles are both chasing defending champion front-running Roy-Hart (8-1) and runner-up Akron 7-2.

Medina downed Albion 9-1 in their earlier season meeting at Vets Park.

The game will be the first for Albion on the Purple Eagles renovated diamond.

Indians 2, Somerset Yankees 1

The  Indians won 2-1 with a strong combined pitching effort by  Luke Duffina 3 innings 6 strikeouts, Lex Gray 2 innings with 3 strikeouts and Aidan Papaj 1 inning with 3 strikeouts.

Jacob Duffina had 2 singles 1 RBI and a scored run. Aidan Papaj had 2 singles and a RBI. Zach Graham reached base and scored the game winning run. Others reaching base for the Indians were Clayton Wagner, Jackson McGrath and Lukin Szatkowski.

Pirates 8, Braves 3
The Pirates scored six runs in the top of the sixth inning to defeat the Somerset Braves.

TJ Champney lead the team with three hits.  Timmy Vasquez, Lathan McEwen-Miller and Max Pilon all had two hits a piece.  Sawyer Lilleby, Aleks Seefeldt, Devin Fuller and Gavin Hughes all added one hit.  Seefeldt’s lone hit was a two run homer that put the Pirates on top to stay.

Shane Fearby, Vasquez and Seefeldt combined for 15 strikeouts.

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Roy-Hart’s Maddie Fry slides safely into home ahead of the tag by Medina catcher Ashlee Howell. The action took place during the Lady Rams league title clinching win over the Mustangs this afternoon at Vets Park.

Putting a lock on the league championship, Roy-Hart posted a 10-6 victory over Medina this afternoon in a key Niagara-Orleans softball game.

The victory keeps Roy-Hart undefeated at 11-0 in N-O competition with just one game remaining (against Akron on Wednesday) while runner-up Medina slips out of contention at 8-2.

Medina’s Camri King slides safely into third base before Roy-Hart’s Jamie Bower can tag her.

Winning pitcher Mallory Steiner, Maddy Glena, Maddie Fry and Lexie Lovewell each had two hits for Roy-Hart as did Lacey Kenward, Camri King and Ryenn Oliver for Medina.

Roy-Hart took the lead for good by scoring three quick runs in the first inning as Glena had an RBI single and Jayden Townsend an RBI sacrifice. A single by Fry and a double by Kayla Brown set up the threat.

Medina picked up a run in the top of the second inning on a double by Kenward and an RBI single by Morgan Allis but Roy-Hart answered right back with three tallies in the home half of the frame to go up 6-1. Lovewell and Glena both had RBI singles to highlight the uprising which was started by a double by Steiner.

A two-run single by Oliver, which followed hits by Ashlee Howell and Alisha Scroger, pulled Medina back to within 6-3 in the top of the third.

However, again Roy-Hart answered right back with three runs in the home half of the frame on a two-run double by Lovewell and an RBI double by Glena to up the lead to 9-3.

Medina cut the deficit to 9-6 as a two-run home run by Oliver highlighted a three run uprising in the top of the fifth. The Mustangs though could not cross home plate again.

Medina got two runners aboard in the sixth after an error and a walk but Roy-Hart catcher Fry threw the lead runner out at third base to end the inning.

Again in the seventh the Mustangs got runners to second and third after a single by Abby Neuman and a double by Kenward but Steiner registered two clutch strikeouts to quickly end the threat and preserve the Lady Rams title clinching victory.

Last year Roy-Hart shared the N-O title with Medina and Akron at 9-3.  The Lady Rams last won the title outright in 2015.

Roy-Hart’s Kayla Brown tags out Medina’s Ryenn Oliver on the way to third base.

Putting together a clutch late rally, Medina nipped host Iroquois 12-11 this afternoon in a non league lacrosse game.

Medina rallied to first tie the game at 11-11 on a goal by Mason Lewis with 1:15 remaining and then to claim the victory on a tally by Brendan Luthart with only 46 seconds to go. It was the Mustangs only lead of the afternoon.

Tim Roy and Zach Blount both had key goals earlier in the decisive final period which saw the Mustangs rebound from a 10-8 deficit at the three-quarter mark.

Roy and Silversmith both finished with 3 goals as Lewis, Luthart and Blount each netted 2. Luthart also dished out 6 assists.

Iroquois led 5-3 after one period and 7-5 at the half.

Now at 6-4  overall, Medina next faces a pair of key D Division contests at Akron on Tuesday and at home against Gowanda on Thursday.

Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Trevor Luthart hurled a no hitter in Medina’s non league win at Attica today.

A big early scoring surge backed a steady no hit pitching performance as Medina shutout host Attica 13-0 this morning in a non league baseball game.

Trevor Luthart hurled the no hitter for the Mustangs striking out 9 and allowing no walks in the five inning contest.

Brian Fry and Chris Goyette both banged out a pair of hits to lead the Medina attack which got base raps from a total of eight players.

Aided by three walks and a single by Goyette, Medina jumped out to a quick 3-0 first inning lead.

Two more walks, along with a single by Fry and a sacrifice by Alex Allis, helped the Mustangs plate three more runs in the second inning.

Medina then broke the contest wide open by erupting for six runs in the third inning as Fry and Allis both had doubles and Luthart, AJ Seefeldt and Mat Saj all chipped in with singles.

Now at 9-2 overall, Medina next visits rival Albion at 4:45 p.m. Monday in a key Niagara-Orleans League game.

Albion 7, Notre Dame 4

Albion scored four quick runs in the first inning on three walks, an error, two hit batters, a fielders choice play and a single by Liam Ward to key a 7-4 non league win over Notre Dame this morning at Dwyer Stadium.

The Purple Eagles also scored twice in the seventh on a pair of walks, two fielders choice plays and a single by Isaiah Callicutt.

Vinnie Zona pitched the first four innings for Albion allowing just 2 hits and striking out 4.

Notre Dame 7, Lyndonville 3

Hampered by the loss of two players to injuries and two more to ejections, Lyndonville dropped a 7-3 decision to Notre Dame this afternoon in a Genesee Region League game at Dwyer Stadium.

Zach Johnson banged out a pair of triples for Lyndonville.

Roy-Hart 12, West Seneca West 6

Ben Schwab had 4 hits, including a home run and 6 RBIs, and Charlie and Jake Bruning both added 3 hits to lead Roy-Hart to a 12-6 non league win over West Seneca West. Jake Bruning had a pair of doubles and Charlie Bruning one.

Albion posted a windswept 3-2 1/2 victory over visiting Roy-Hart this afternoon to improve to 5-3 in Niagara-Orleans League tennis competition.

Victories at the first two singles spots by Matthew Kovaleski, 6-2, 7-5 over Patrick Sheelar, and by Victor Benjovsky, 6-4, 4-6,6-3 over Madigan Lang sparked Albion.

The Purple Eagles also got a key win at first doubles by Nate Smith and Chase Froman, 6-3, 6-2 over Cameron VanBuren and Noah Kindron.

Evan Birkemeier won at third singles for Roy-Hart, 6-4, 6-2 over Elliot Neidert.

Roy-Hart, which slips to 6-2, also got wins from the second doubles duo of Mason Collins-Caleb Reith, 6-3, 6-2 over Carson and Hailey Bader, and at third doubles by the team of Kayla Hagen-Jordyn Bobzein, 6-1, 3-5, 6-3 over Josh Riley and Matt Rowcliffe.

The Medina at Wilson match was postponed.

Kendall 3, Pembroke 2

Wins by the singles trio of Nate Warters, Ryan Barrett and Chris Butlin earned Kendall a 3-2 Genesee Region League victory over Pembroke.

In another G-R match Wheatland-Chili blanked Holley 5-0.

It’s been a very challenging spring scheduling wise for area high school teams. Rain and snow have taken turns causing numerous postponements and today it was high winds that caused disruptions.

The strong winds caused the postponement of  key first place showdown Niagara-Orleans League baseball and softball games between front-running Roy-Hart and runner-up Medina. The softball game has been rescheduled for 3 p.m. Saturday at Vets Park and the baseball game for 4:45 p.m. May 14 at Gasport.

On the baseball diamond, defending champion Roy-Hart is at 8-1 and just ahead of 7-2 Akron and 6-2 Medina.

The N-O softball title race has come down to a two team battle between 10-0 Roy-Hart and 8-1 Medina.

The N-O Albion at Wilson baseball game was also postponed along with the Lyndonville vs. Notre Dame Genesee Region League baseball game and the Lyndonville vs. Elba and Kendall vs. Wheatland-Chili G-R softball contests.

The Lyndonville vs. Notre Dame baseball game has been rescheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday at Dwyer Stadium in Batavia while the Albion vs. Wilson contest is now slated for May 14.

The Pirates beat the A’s in youth baseball action on Wednesday by a score of 18-0.

Sawyer Lilleby collected three hits while TJ Champney, Devin Fuller, Max Pilon, Aleks Seefeldt, Timmy Vasquez, Lathan McEwin-Miller and Shane Fearby added two hits each.  Jaden Luxon and Cole Hughes joined in with a hit.

Lilleby and Fearby combined for 11 strikeouts and giving up 2 hits.

Blue Jays 7, to Yankees 3

Backed by three strong innings of pitching by Brandon Christiaansen, the Marks Pizzeria Blue Jays snuck past the MTA Yankees 7-3.

Blue Jays displayed stellar defense all around. Including a run saving catch in centerfield by Ryder Jones.

Breydin McEwyn-Miller sparked the offense early with a home run. Avion Johnson and Carter Woodworth each doubled to drive in key runs to secure the victory.

Josh Hilobuk struck out 4 batters to close this tight game.

Indians 1, Cubs 1
Indians vs Cubs ended in a 1-1 tie as strong pitching from the Indians was key in keeping the game close.

Aiden Papaj pitched 3 innings striking out 8 allowing only 1 run, Lex Gray went 3 scoreless innings with 7 strikeouts.

Jacob Duffina had a double and scored the game tying run with the RBI credited to Gray. Papaj had a single. Treyden Rhim also reached base for the Indians.