Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Banes players and coaches celebrate after capturing both the Medina Women’s Softball League ‘A’ Division regular season and playoff championships today. In front is Sami Heschke. Kneeling are Sarah Surdel, Sue Seefeldt, Alisha Foss, Connie Heschke and Donna Bane. In the middle are Robin Blaun, Amy Allis, Patti Paige, Jessica Carpenter and Jamie Chatt. In back are Bruce Seefeldt, Jackie Davis and Kathy Allen. Missing from the photo is Jen Masse.

Scoring a sweep, Banes Machine Shop/Banes Plumbing scored key victories today to capture both the Medina Women’s Softball League ‘A’ Division regular season and playoff championships.

Banes opened the day by downing Orleans Vets 12-8 in a special tie breaker game for the regular season title after the two teams had finished the season deadlocked at 8-2.

Banes later capped off the day by scoring in 5 of 6 innings to nip Jr. Wilson 8-6 in the second and deciding title round game to capture the playoff championship.

Jr. Wilson had sent the playoffs to the limit by winning the first title contest 7-4 as Banes was blanked in 6 of the 7 innings.

Jessica Rosenbeck bangs out a hit for Jr. Wilson.

Banes used a 4 run first inning scoring burst and a 6 run fourth frame to key the tie breaker victory over Orleans Vets.

Kathy Allen had 4 hits, including a pair of doubles, to lead the Banes offense as Robin Blaun and Sue Seefeldt both added 2.

Banes also edged past Orleans Vets 7-5 in the winners bracket final as Blaun, Allen, Jamie Chatt and Sarah Surdel all had hits to key a 4 run fourth inning.

The opening game of the title round saw Jr. Wilson snap a scoreless deadlock by tallying twice in the fourth frame on hits by Sara Flansburg and Michelle Crandall and an error.

Jr. Wilson upped the advantage to 7-0 by scoring three times in the fifth frame as Flansburg had a double and twice in the sixth on a double by Jackie Gudzek and a single by Flansburg.

Banes, which finally broke onto the scoreboard with 4 runs in the seventh on a two-run double by Chatt and RBI singles by Surdel and Amy Allis, kept the momentum going into the second and deciding title round contest.

Banes erupted four 4 quick first inning runs in that contest on a two-run double by Allen, and RBI double by Seefeldt and a run producing single by Surdel.

Connie Heschke, who ignited that uprising with a single, tacked on an RBI triple in the second inning and Allen added an RBI single in the third to make it 6-3. A fielders choice play off the bat of Blaun later added a run in the fifth an en error plated the final tally in the sixth.

Heschke, Seefeldt, Allen and Allis each finished with 2 hits.

Jr. Wilson got on the scoreboard with 3 runs in the third on a two-run single by Flansburg and an RBI single by Sami Johnson.

Jr. Wilson later pulled to within one at 6-5 after scoring twice in the fifth on an error and a single by Flansburg but could not pull even.

Flansburg, who also had an RBI single in the seventh, finished with 3 hits as did Jodi Zacher.

Defensively each team turned a pair of double plays. Heschke and Blaun keyed the double plays for Banes as did Johnson and Bri Gudzek for Jr. Wilson.

Banes third baseman Sarah Surdel awaits the throw as Penny Roth closes in on the bag for Jr. Wilson.

Jamie Chatt stretches to try and make a catch in the outfield for Banes as Sue Seefeldt moves in to back up the play.

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Albion’s Mike DiCureia dives safely back into first base as Kyle MacDonald takes the throw for Somerset. The action took place during Somerset’s semifinal win this evening at Barre Town Park.

Avenging a pair of regular season losses, Somerset blanked Albion 7-0 this evening in a Lockport Midget ‘A’ League playoff semifinal game at Barre Town Park.

Eddie Wasnock hurled a 1 hitter with 15 strikeouts for Somerset which dropped 4-1 and 4-3 decisions to Albion during the regular season.

Eddie Wasnock hurled a 1 hitter with 15 strikeouts for Somerset.

Somerset, which scored in 6 of the 7 innings, took a quick 1-0 lead in the first frame on a walk, a single by Preston Harris and a run producing fielders choice play off the bat of Jacob Hoffee.

Two more walks and an error plated another run in the second inning before Somerset upped the advantage to 4-0 with a pair of third inning tallies on a triple by Hoffee and a wild pitch.

A single by Kyle MacDonald and a double by Harris, his third hit of the night, set up a fifth inning tally on a wild pitch.

Somerset closed out the scoring with one run in the sixth on a single by Logan Harris and one in the seventh on a wild pitch.

A first inning single by Liam Ward was Albion’s lone hit.

Albion did get two runners aboard via walks in both the fourth and fifth frames but both times Wasnock quickly got out of trouble with a clutch inning ending strikeout.

Defensively, Somerset catcher Preston Harris threw out two runners trying to steal second base and Albion third baseman Mike DiCureia turned in an unassisted double play in the fifth frame.

Somerset will next  face Orchard Park in the title contest which is scheduled for 2 p.m. Sunday at Orchard Park. Orchard Park won by forfeit in the other semifinal over visiting Roy-Hart which had only 7 players on hand at game time.

Somerset’s Devin Mangan puts the tag on Albion’s Evan Pappalardo at second base.

No. 2 seed Albion will host No. 3 Somerset in the semifinal round of the Lockport Midget ‘A’ League playoffs at 5:30 p.m. Friday at the Barre Town Park.

Albion trimmed Somerset twice during the regular season by scores of 4-1 and 4-3.

Top seed Orchard Park will host the winner of this evening’s opening round game between Tri City and Roy-Hart in the other semifinal on Friday.

The playoff championship contest is scheduled for Sunday.

Contributed Photo – Christiana Carestia, who will be running cross-country at St. John Fisher College this fall, is shown here with her parents Susan and Tom Carestia.

Barker Central School is pleased to announce that Christiana Carestia will continue her cross-country career at St. John Fisher College this fall where she will also major in nursing.

As a first year runner in fall of 2016, Christiana earned both Honorable Mention All-Western New York and NYSPHSAA Scholar-Athlete recognition.

In addition to running cross-country, Christiana was a major point contributor and captain of the Barker girls swim team throughout her 6-year varsity swim career.

In the classroom, Christiana was one of the top students in the senior class all while having been an active member and leader of several school/community clubs.

“We are very proud of Christiana.  She models all of the characteristics of an outstanding individual and effective leader.  She is honest, respectful, hardworking, appreciative, and dependable. St. John Fisher College is fortunate to have her as a student-athlete this fall,” stated Barker Athletic Director, Dave Carson.

An error aided four run first inning sparked Orchard Park to an 8-0 victory over visiting Albion Monday evening in a Lockport Midget ‘A’ League baseball game.

Isaiah Callicutt had 2 hits and Liam Ward 1 for Albion which twice left the bases loaded.

Now at 4-5, Albion is slated to face Orchard Park again Wednesday in the regular season finale. The playoff semifinals are slated for Thursday and the title contest for Saturday.

Rain washed out this evenings’ opening round of Medina Women’s Softball League ‘A’ and ‘B’ Division playoff games.

Those games are now rescheduled for 8 a.m. Saturday including No. 4 O’Brien’s vs. No. 5 Tonawanda and No. 3 Jr. Wilson vs. No. 6 Albion Vets in the ‘A’ Division at Jr. Wilson and No. 4 Champs vs. No. 5 Erin Townsend and No. 3 Jr. Wilson II vs. No. 6 Hojack Bar and Grill in the ‘B’ Division at Butts Park.

Also at 8 a.m. Saturday Banes and Orleans Vets, which finished the ‘A’ Division regular season tied for the top spot at 8-2 ,will play a tie breaker game for first place at Sacred Heart Club.

In the ‘B’ Division the top two seeds, NYSCOBA and Mariachi have draw first round byes.

The playoff championships games are slated for Saturday afternoon at Jr. Wilson for the ‘A’ Division and at Butts Park for the ‘B’ Division.

Contributed Photo – AnJo Bombers U8 players and coaches celebrate capturing the District 1 tittle.

The AnJo 8U Bombers came out victorious in the District 1 championships this past week defeating the NT Nighthawks 13-8 in the finals.

Nik Monaco led the bombers with 3 doubles scoring 3 of the runs. Brayden Seitz crushed the ball to midfield with an in the park home run and a double. Drew Walker had 3 hits with a double and scored 3 runs as well. The final big double came from Nick Gagliardi.

The Bombers defense was once again led by 6 putouts from second baseman, Jeter Serrano.

The Bombers closed the season with eight straight district wins including the championship victory.

The AnJo Bombers travel teams are currently holding tryouts for the following age groups: 8U, 9U, 10U ,12U, 14U and 16U. Times and locations are available on the AnJo website at anjobaseball.org.

Playoff action is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. this evening for both the ‘A” and ‘B’ Divisions of the Medina Women’s Softball League.

In the ‘A’ Division, No. 4 seed O’Brien’s (4-6) will face No. 5 Tonawanda (4-6) and No. 3 Jr. Wilson (6-4) will take on No. 6 Albion Vets (1-9) at Jr. Wilson.

The “A’ playoffs will continue on Saturday at Jr. Wilson beginning with games at 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. The losers bracket finals will be at 1:30. The championship game is slated for 3 p.m. with a second game, if necessary, at 4:30 p.m.

Also this evening, Banes (8-2) and Orleans Vets (8-2) ,which finished the regular season tied for the top spot, will have a tie breaker game at 6:30 p.m. at Sacred Heart Club for first place.

In the ‘B’ Division this evening’s opening round at Butts Park will have No. 4 Champs (3-6) vs. No. 5 Erin Townsend (2-7) and No. 3 Jr. Wilson II (5-4) vs. No. 6 Hojack Bar and Grill (2-7).  The top two seeds, No. 1 NYSCOBA (9-0) and No. 2 Mariachi (6-3) draw a bye.

The ‘B’ Division playoffs will continue on Saturday at Butts Park.