News & notes

The Tri-City Valleycats and Albany Dutchmen held their 5th annual Education Day game Wednesday morning at Bruno Stadium. It was also the debut in front of the home folks for new Valleycats manager Ozney Guillen and his staff, after last year's pilot, Jason Bell, was promoted within the Houston Astros organization earlier this year.

Unfortunately for the 'Cats, things didn't go so well, as the Dutchmen used a five-run second inning to propel them to a 10-4 victory in a game that clocked in at well over three hours. Well, it was a pre-season game, and with all the in-game substitutions, this was bound to be a slog.

Many of Houston's draft picks had not yet signed as of press time, but figure there will be a few in the fold by the time Tri-City leaves for Vermont for a season-opening two-game series vs. the Lake Monsters tomorrow.
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Speaking of the Dutchmen, there is quite a presence from Section II on their 2019 roster. Ballston Spa's Luke Gold isn't playing just yet, as the Scotties are in the state semi-finals. Gold likely won't join the team until next week at the latest. We mentioned before how former Albany Academy star Ben Seiler joined the team this year. Seiler is one of three Siena players on the Dutchmen roster, joined by Ryan McGee (formerly with Colonie) and Nick Melillo (CBA).

And, then, there is Connor McCaffrey, son of Iowa basketball coach (and former Siena coach) Fran McCaffrey, who made headlines when he signed. It has to be a bit embarrassing for the Valleycats to lose to the Dutchmen this year, when Albany is near the bottom of the Eastern division of the Perfect Game Collegiate League. I don't think the Dutchmen will stay there the entire season, but you never know.
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A quick check of the Valleycats' promotions calendar shows that they will not be bringing professional wrestling back to the Joe this year. Northeast Wrestling is not scheduled to hit the Tri-Cities as of press time. Sounds to me like they had trouble drawing fans last year. We'll find out more soon, I'm sure.