News & notes

 It's becoming a trend, with pro athletes in other sports moonlighting as horsemen, owning racehorses.

The first example is former Philadelphia & Washington star Jayson Werth, whose horse, Magic Chuck, named for his manager with the Phillies, Charlie Manuel, was euthanized over the weekend after a training injury.

The latest is Shen grad Kevin Huerter of the Detroit Pistons. Huerter looked so dapper Saturday, as a horse has a share of, The Good Life, upset first time starter Powerline in the 1st race under jockey Manuel Franco.

On the same card, hometown star Dylan Davis scored with Shape Note in the 4th race. Sister Katie finally found the winners' circle in Sunday's 3rd race with Big Brooklyn. Dylan came back three races later to win with Braums Run, then made it two in a row with Silvology in the 7th.

Racing resumes Thursday.

The season is over for the Carolina Blaze.

After Monday's game vs. Oklahoma City was suspended by rain with the Blaze already up by double digits, they resumed play earlier today, and the Blaze won via mercy rule, 11-1, in 5 innings. Ana Gold went 0-2 with a walk. There's always next year.

News & notes

 If you believe WWE's math, they drew more people to MVP Arena, 7300 and change in this case, for last night's Smackdown broadcast on USA Network. This morning, the wrestlers are headed back to New York for the 2nd half of Fanatics Fest.

Siena normally averages anywhere from four to six thousand fans for home games at the arena.

Adam Pearce, former NWA champ and current Monday Night Raw general manager, was filling in for his Smackdown counterpart, and another former NWA champion, Nick Aldis, for the 2nd time in 3 weeks.

Check the highlight reel:

Saturday Night's Main Event, emanating from Madison Square Garden, and referenced frequently in the above video, takes place tonight (Peacock, 8 pm).

Irad Ortiz, Jr. has wasted little time reestablishing himself as the top dog in the jockeys' room at Saratoga.

Ortiz had 4 winners on Friday's card, brother Jose had 2, on the 10 race card. Most of today's card will air on FS1 in addition to OTB-TV.

The Tri-City ValleyCats, back from the All Star break, split a doubleheader with Quebec, winning the opener, 9-0, then dropping the nightcap, 7-5. Aaron Whitley (Niskayuna) batted 9th in game one, then was elevated to 3rd in the 2nd game, and finished with a 1-7 ledger with 2 runs scored.

News & notes

 Manuel Franco had a riding triple Thursday at Saratoga as racing resumes, beginning week 3 of the summer meet. First post today is 1:10 pm.

If you can't afford a ticket for tonight's Friday Night Smackdown card at MVP Arena, take comfort in knowing it'll air on USA Network starting at 8 pm. 

The next Mets game to air on WTEN will be Sunday at 1:30 at Philadelphia. WXXA has the finals of the World Cup at 3 pm.

The Carolina Blaze were officially eliminated from the AUSL playoffs Thursday, losing to Chicago, 15-7. Ana Gold (Ballston Spa/Duke) snapped out of a slump with a 2 run homer, but it just wasn't enough.

The Bandits won the game via mercy rule in 6 innings. As we've outlined before, the mercy rule's a little different than it is at the high school level, where a team up by 8, instead of 10 or more, runs can close out a game early.

News & notes

 Riley Mulvey (Albany Academy/Siena) is turning pro, but not here in the US just yet.

Mulvey has signed with BKM Lucenec in the Slovak Basketball League. No word on when their season starts.

Saratoga's Ben Coryea will stay in the 518 to play college football.

Coryea has signed on as a walk-on with UAlbany after a standout senior season with the Blue Streaks. We'll be keeping an eye on him during the fall.

It doesn't look as though the Carolina Blaze will reach the AUSL playoffs, which start next week.

The Blaze dropped a heartbreaker, 7-6, to Chicago on Wednesday night, their 7th straight loss, which all but eliminates them from the postseason. Ana Gold (Ballston Spa/Duke) is continuing to struggle, going 0-4 on the night, as the game went 8 innings.

Game 2 is tonight at 7 pm on CBS Sports Network.

LaSalle 2026 fall sports schedule released, though incomplete

 I meant to do this sooner, but life happened. Anyway, in the interests of equal time, here's the bulk of LaSalle's fall sports schedule. Not all the football games are listed on Arbiter Live, and they don't differentiate between actual games and scrimmages.

August:

31: Women's golf @ Holy Names.

September:

1: Women's golf @ Emma Willard.

2: Men's golf @ Schalmont.

3: Men's soccer @ Ichabod Crane. Women's soccer home opener vs. Ichabod Crane.

4: Men's soccer home opener vs. Columbia.

8: Women's golf @ Voorheesville, men's soccer vs. Troy.

9: Tennis @ Voorheesville, men's golf home opener vs. Troy.

10: Women's golf home opener vs. Ravena.

11: Tennis vs. Ichabod Crane, women's golf vs. Mohonasen, volleyball home opener vs. Holy Names, football @ Johnstown.

14: Volleyball vs. Troy, tennis @ Holy Names, men's soccer vs. Scotia.

15: Women's golf @ Albany Academy.

16: Tennis vs. Troy, men's golf vs. Albany Academy.

17: Women's golf vs. Holy Names, men's soccer vs. Ravena.

18: Women's golf vs. Emma Willard, volleyball vs. Ichabod Crane.

21: Men's soccer vs. Glens Falls.

23: Tennis vs. Ravena, men's golf vs. Ravena, volleyball @ Troy.

24: Men's soccer @ Mohonasen, women's golf vs. Voorheesville, women's soccer vs. Mohonasen.

25: Tennis @ Albany Academy, women's golf @ Ravena, volleyball vs. Ravena.

28: Tennis vs. Emma Willard, men's golf vs. Lansingburgh.

29: Women's golf @ Mohonasen, men's soccer at Cohoes, women's soccer vs. Cohoes.

30: Tennis @ Mohonasen, men's golf @ Ichabod Crane, volleyball @ Mohonasen.

October:

1: Women's golf vs. Albany Academy, men's soccer vs. Lansingburgh.

5: Tennis vs. Schalmont, women's soccer vs. Schalmont, men's soccer vs. Queensbury.

6: Men's soccer @ Schalmont.

7: Volleyball vs. Schalmont.

8: Women's soccer @ Voorheesville, men's soccer vs. Voorheesville. 

13: Women's soccer vs. Holy Names.

15: Men's soccer @ Albany Academy.

16: Volleyball vs. Voorheeesville.

21: Volleyball @ Ichabod Crane.

23: Volleyball @ Holy Names.

Schedules subject to change due to weather or other issues.

News & notes

 As it is the All-Star Break in the majors, so it also is in the Frontier League.

The Tri-City ValleyCats are idle until after the break, but closed out the first half with a flourish, as they salvaged the finale of their series at Ottawa, 12-10, on Sunday afternoon. On Friday, the 'Cats return to Canada for a series vs. Quebec before returning home for a rematch with the Titans next week.

At least Tri-City will be represented at tomorrow's All Star Game with David Glancy & Dylan Broderick playing for Team Atlantic.

The 2016 MLB draft has come & gone, and two former Section II standouts are heading off to start their pro careers.

Ryan Bilka (CBA) was drafted by the Cleveland Guardians out of Miami, while Gavin Van Kempen (Maple Hill) was chosen by the World Champion Los Angeles Dodgers out of East Carolina.

Now, if only the Albany Times-Union would go back to tracking the minor league journeys of these local kids........

With a week to go before the playoffs, Ana Gold and the Carolina Blaze are in danger of missing the postseason.

Carolina has dropped six in a row after getting swept by Texas, 8-0, in 5 innings Monday. Gold was 0-2, as her slump continues. Fortunately for the Blaze, they'll close the season at home, as they'll start a 5 game tomorrow vs. Chicago, streaming on MLB.TV. The finale of that 2-set will be Thursday on CBS Sports Network at 7 pm. After that, they'll finish with Oklahoma City (Saturday at 4 pm, Sunday at noon, and Monday at 7, all on ESPN or ESPN2.). Carolina needs to run the table to get back into playoff contention, as they're currently in 5th place, 5 1/2 games out of first. Utah has locked down the regular season title, meaning the best the Blaze can hope for is to finish 2nd or 3rd.

News & notes

 The Carolina Blaze dropped a heartbreaker to the Texas Volts, 1-0, in 8 innings Friday. Ana Gold went 1-2, starting as the "designated player" before taking the field at 3rd base late in the game. The teams finish the two game series today at 2 pm on ESPN.

The good news for the Tri-City ValleyCats is that they got a game in under three hours Friday at Ottawa. The bad news, of course, is that the Titans defeated Tri-City, 4-2.

Ranko Stevanovic homered for the 'Cats. The team's website might've been joking when they suggested Stevanovic has a future as a meteorologist for WRGB, probably after a guest appearance recently.

Kinnon LaRose might not have been a headline player at Siena, but he's looking to make inroads as a trainer at Saratoga.

LaRose debuts today with three horses entered at Saratoga, including in the first two races.

The jockeys' room will be a little fuller today as Irad Ortiz, Jr. and a few others return from suspension. 

Jose Ortiz, Irad's brother, had another riding triple on Friday. Dylan Davis had two mounts finish in the money on the card. Today's 11 race card begins at 12:35 pm.

The Albany Firebirds close the regular season tonight at MVP Arena vs. Nashville (Vice, 6 pm), hoping to win by 10 points or better to reclaim the top seed. Sam Castronova returns after missing last week's win at Beaumont due to a death in the family. Too bad the 'Birds don't have a radio deal.......