Contributed Photo – Niagara Nationals players and coaches celebrate capturing the Boys of Summer League playoff championship.

The top seeded Niagara Nationals edged past Lewiston 3-2 this evening in the Boys of Summer League playoff championship game at West Seneca.

Trevor Luthart hurled a 1 hitter with 6 strikeouts to spark the Nationals on the mound.

At the plate, the Nationals snapped a 1-1 deadlock by scoring twice in the fourth inning as David Belsito and Chris Goyette had singles.

The Nationals first run came on a home run by Joe Dell’oso in the opening frame.

Lewiston, which had only a first inning single, scored solo runs in the first and seventh frames.

The Nationals advanced to the title contest by nipping the Lou Gehrig Reds by an identical 3-2 margin in the semifinals on Tuesday.

The Medina Parents Athletic Club will be hosting their second annual Alumni 5k Fun Run/Walk this Saturday. All proceeds will benefit the Jeff Evoy Scholarship at Medina High School.

The Fun Run/Walk will start at 9 a.m. and registration begins at 8:30 at the Medina Sacred Heart Club on North Gravel Road. The run/walk will start and end there, and the route will go along the canal towpath.

The Evoy scholarship is given in memory of the the late Medina School District superintendent who passed away in 2016.

The Niagara Nationals nipped the Lou Gehrig Reds 3-2 this evening in the semifinal round of the Boys of Summer League playoffs.

The Nationals scored the game winner in the seventh as Carson Harper reached on a fielders choice, advanced on a double by Hunter Briggs and came home on a passed ball.

The Nationals other two runs came in the fourth as Chris Goyette and Trevor Luthart had singles.

Luthart and winning pitcher Aiden Johnston both had a pair of hits on the evening.

Johnston went the distance on the mound scattering 4 hits and striking out 6.

The Nationals play in the playoff title contest on Wednesday.

A big 6 run third inning scoring burst keyed Banes Machine Shop/Banes Plumbing to a 9-4 win over Tonawanda Monday to close out the Medina Women’s Softball League regular season.

Jen Masse and Sue Seefeldt both had a single and a double in the decisive frame which also included singles by Connie Heschke, Jami Chatt, Kathy Allen and Patti Page.

Another double by Masse, along with singles by Seefeldt and Robin Blaun, helped to plate two early runs in the first inning.

Tonawanda scored 4 times in the fourth frame.

Masse, Seefeldt and Jessica Carpenter each finished with 3 hits as Sarah Surdel, Allen and Page each added 2.  Surdel also turned in an excellent defensive game at third base.

Banes finishes the ‘A’ Division regular season at 8-2 and tied with Orleans Vets for first place. The two teams will play in a tie breaker game for first place at 6:30 p.m. August 7 at the Sacred Heart Club Field.

Standings
‘A’ Division – Banes 8-2, Orleans Vets 8-2, Jr. Wilson 6-4, O’Brien’s 4-6, Tonawanda 4-6, Albion Vets 1-9
‘B’ Division – NYSCOBA 9-0, Mariachi 6-3, Jr. Wilson II 5-4, Champs 3-6, Erin Townsend 2-7, Hojack Bar and Grill 2-7

The Medina Lacrosse Club’s U16 team split a pair of games at the TLA Tournament held this past weekend at West Seneca.

Breaking away from a 3-3 half-time deadlock, Medina used a big 6-1 second half scoring surge to defeat Niagara-Wheatfield 9-4 in the opener.

Mitchell Silversmith scored 4 goals to spearhead the Medina attack. Dan Mondujano and Chase Prest each added 2 goals and Tom Vasquez 1.

In the second game, Medina dropped a 9-5 decision to host TLA.

Christian Silversmith and Mitchell Silversmith each scored 2 goals and Mondujano 1 for Medina which trailed 5-3 at th half.

Wesley Hughes and Robert Morehouse shared in the goaltending duties for Medina.

In the 5/6 division of the tournament Medina went 0-4.

Josh Wilson scored for Medina which also got strong defensive play from Ollie Wilson, Tyler Allen and Bryden McMurray who had over 15 saves in goal on the day.

Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Liam Ward bangs out a hit for Albion during this evening’s narrow Midget ‘A’ League loss to Tri City at Barre Town Park.

Unable to overcome a big early deficit, Albion dropped a narrow 10-9 decision to Tri City this evening in a Lockport Midget ‘A’ League game at the Barre Town Park.

Tri City jumped out to a 9-0 lead by scoring 4 runs in the first inning on 5 hits and 2 errors and 5 more in the second on 3 hits and a pair of errors.

Albion though came battling back beginning with a 3 run second inning scoring burst keyed by 2 walks and a single by Harrison Brown.

Brown, who had a total of 3 hits on the evening, also singled during a two-run third inning as Nate Fearby added a run producing sacrifice fly.

Albion then tallied 4 times in the fifth frame aided by 3 walks, a single by Brown and a sacrifice by Liam Ward to cut the deficit to 10-9 but could not plate the equalizer.  Ward had a pair of hits including a double.

Vinnie Zona registered 9 strikeouts for Albion in a relief role on the mound.

Now at 4-4, Albion is slated to close out the regular season with a doubleheader at Orchard Park on Saturday.

An extra inning win highlighted the AnJo Bombers U14 team’s recent string of three straight victories.

The Bombers scored 4 times in the eighth inning to capture a back-and-forth game from Boston Badgers by an 8-4 score.  A two-run single by Cade Littman highlighted that uprising which snapped a 4-4 tie.

The Bombers took an early lead in the second inning on an RBI single by Reed Albee.

Later the Bombers  knotted the game at 4-4 in the fifth inning as  AJ Seefeldt had an RBI single.

In all the Bombes had 8 hits in the game including 2 each by Albee and Thomas Furmanski.

Joe Watson pitched six strong innings before  Seefeldt took over and closed out the game with two shutout innings.

Defensively Bombers did not commit a fielding error with Rylend Callicutt shining in centerfield. The play of the game came in the bottom of the seventh with two outs and the potential winning run on third. The ball was scorched down the first base line and Colin Fragale made a diving catch to send the game to extras.

The Bombers next downed the Amherst Panthers 16-2 as Jon Gillings led the  way with 5 singles.

The Bombers grabbed a quick first inning lead on a fielder’s choice by Seefeldt, a single by Callicutt, and a single by Albee.

The Bombers capped off the win with 5 runs in the seventh inning on a double by Fragale and singles by Cade Littman, Gillings and Albee.

Gillings, Littman, Callicutt, Albee, Fragale, Joe Watson, and Seefeldt each collected multiple hits as the Bombers banged out a total of 22 base raps.

Watson pitched a complete game allowing six hits and no earned runs.

The Bombers then  took the lead for good in the fifth inning to capture a back-and-forth game from Team Valle by a 7-6 score.  The game was tied at 5-5 when Callicutt grounded out, scoring one run.

Callicutt, Watson, Furmanski, Littman, and Juan Lebron each managed one hit to lead AnJo Bombers 14U.

Furmanski and Callicutt combined on the hill for a six hitter allowing only three earned runs.

Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Jalin Cooper

Medina High School senior Jalin Cooper is set to play in the 2017 Basketball Coaches Association of New York Summer Hoops Festival as a member of Team Buffalo.

The event takes place in Johnson City August 4th through 6th, and was established in 2011 to take replace the basketball portion of the Empire State Games after they folded.

Cooper, a Toledo football commit, earned 6th team All-State basketball honors last year on the hardwood after tying a school record with 458 points for a 20.8 average. He also pulled down 207 rebounds and had 65 steals and 58 assists. Cooper will enter his senior season with a career total of 915 points.

Buffalo will open play in Pool B by facing NY Catholic and Adirondack on August 4th, followed by Mid-Hudson and Central on August 5th. Teams will then be seeded according to record and play for the championship on August 6th. Teams in Pool A include Rochester, Southern-Tier, Nassau, Hudson Valley and Suffolk.

Additional members of the Buffalo roster include: Willard Anderson (East), Chad Biersbach (Depew), Trevor Book (North Tonawanda), Julian Cunningham (St. Francis), Greg Dolan (Williamsville South), Davonte Gaines (Health Sciences), Justin Hemphill (Cardinal O’Hara), Noah Hutchins (Park), Joe Jones (Park), and Dan Scott (Park). The team will be coached by Chris Kensy (Amherst).

The Team Buffalo girls squad will include two local players, Newfane’s Paige Emborsky and Wilson’s Shea Munnikhuysen.