News & notes

Four games remain for the Tri-City Valleycats in 2019 after splitting a double-header Thursday at Lowell. The 'Cats finish their series with Lowell tonight before returning to Troy to close the season vs. Vermont Saturday-Monday.

The only question remaining is whether or not the revolving door will spin again if Ozney Guillen is not retained as manager for 2020, but does the Houston Astros organization want to make the managerial change an annual tradition, win or lose, in Troy? We'll know soon enough.
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Troy High's men's soccer team snapped a winless streak dating back to the end of the 2017 season Thursday, beating Hudson Falls, 4-2, in a non-league game. This will give Troy some momentum as Suburban Council play begins on Tuesday. Unfortunately, they begin the league season at Shenendehowa, and will have the home opener two nights later vs. Schenectady.

On the other hand, the women's tennis team falls to 0-2 after being shut out for the second time in three days earlier today, dropping a 9-0 decision to Averill Park. Similarly, Troy's golf team has yet to win a match after losing to AP on Thursday, and we must assume they also fell to Bethlehem on Tuesday. The result of today's match at Christian Brothers Academy is not available at press time.
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The University at Albany dropped its non-league opener to Central Michigan, 38-21, on Thursday night in a game that was delayed nearly two hours due to weather. Former Florida coach Jim McElwain currently pilots the Chippewas, and is off to a quick start, but reality will set in next week, as CMU will play Wisconsin next.

Former Troy High star Dev Holmes was limited to four catches for 24 yards, and I'm guessing the Chippewa defense was prepared for him. Joe Casale, now playing linebacker for Albany, had four solo tackles.

Wouldn't mind seeing the Great Danes on TV at least once this season.

Troy High sports then & now, part 1

While classes don't start for another week, the 2019-20 high school sports season has already begun.

Today, we're starting a three-part series on Troy High's athletic programs, illustrating the differences in the school's fortunes between the time ye scribe was a student there (1979-81) and today. With the fall season having started, it's our focus in part 1. Part 2 covers winter sports, and will be presented in late November or early December, right before the start of basketball season. Part 3 will be in either March or April.

So where do we start? How about soccer?

Back in the day, Troy's boys' soccer team was among the top teams in the now-defunct Big 10 conference. In 1980, the Flying Horses posted a 11-5-2 overall record, but for reasons known only to school officials, the team opted against taking part in the sectionals. As I am looking at the 1980 record from my yearbook, it seems that not all of the schools in the Big 10 had a soccer program, and so Troy played a number of non-league games, including sweeping Lansingburgh (Colonial Council) in a home & home series. Coach Charles Boland retired following the season.

Today, seven years removed from a Section II title, current coach Mike Murnane is coming off a 0-15-2 campaign in 2018. The season began today with a non-league game at Hudson Falls, but as of press time the score had not yet been reported to the press, even though the game ended nearly 5 1/2 hours ago.

I do not know if the girls' soccer team has ever had a winning record. The 1980 squad won just two games, finishing 2-8. Last year's club won three, and the 2019 edition has a rough road to hoe when their season begins next week, including a non-league tournament September 7-8.

The women's tennis team shared the Big 10 title in 1980 with Linton at 8-3. Today, the Lady Horses would be happy to actually win a match. Tennis results don't always appear in the papers with any consistency these days due to a lack of resources. What I do know is that Troy has struggled in tennis, both for men & women, since entering the Suburban Council in 2015. The Troy women lost their opener, 9-0, to Bethlehem on Wednesday.

Troy's golf team is now co-ed, but that wasn't the case in 1980, as Troy finished with a 12-9 ledger. They are clearly hoping the addition of women to the team will do the same on the links as it did on the bowling lanes last winter, lifting the Flying Horses out of the cellar. Tuesday's opener at Bethlehem was not reported to the media.

In volleyball, Troy was again among the top teams in the Big 10, and in 1980, the Lady Horses won their 3rd straight league title, finishing at 10-2. As with tennis & golf, volleyball results today are not reported with any consistency, and Troy finished with just 3 wins last year.

Troy's swimming team is now split into two units, with the women in the fall, and the men now merging with Christian Brothers Academy in the winter. In 1980, the Horses had "a solid record", but full records are hard to find. The men's team's merger with CBA can be attributed to dwindling interest among the boys at either school, a trend in other sports around Section II.

Everyone knows that Troy's football team is one of the elite in Section II today, but it wasn't always that way.

In the two years I was a student there, the Flying Horses were unable to win a single game. Things were so bad, and I've shared this story elsewhere, the offense could not successfully execute their goal line formation at a pep rally. The futility of the football team resulted in Coach Steve Forman being replaced after the 1980 season. Forman also coached the hockey team to a 9-7 record during the winter, which took some of the sting out of all the losing.

In 1980, Troy's cheerleading team had a squad of 11 on the varsity. In recent years, that number has doubled. They've had anywhere between 22-25 women on the team in the last four years. Troy actually experimented with having boys on the cheerleading team, with the first one joining the team in 1981 after I graduated. There's been none since, however.

I recall that Troy had a cross country team in 1980, but there's no record of their 1980 season in the yearbook. Again, track results are hard to come by in this era.

Now, if there's anything I might have missed, don't hesitate to let me know.

It's not quite artistic, but.....(Valleycats 4, SI Yankees, 0, 8/27/19)

On Tuesday night, the Tri-City Valleycats had Arts in The Park night, and saluted community heroes as the 'Cats sought to salvage a split of their four game series with the Staten Island Yankees.

Starter Angel Macuare allowed 1 hit in 2 innings of work, but poisoned his own efforts by throwing 50 pitches in those two innings. He struck out five, but walked three, contributing to the high pitch count.

Tri-City struck first in the home first. With one out, and Korey Lee at first on a walk, Nate Perry lashed a double to right center, scoring Lee all the way from first to give the hosts a 1-0 lead. One out later, Juanrael Paulino took Staten Island starter Wellington Diaz out of the yard for a 2 run homer to right. Tri-City had a 3-0 lead after 1 inning.

In the third, just when it looked like Diaz was settling down, Preston Pavlica drilled a solo homer to center to end the scoring. In all, Diaz went 3 2/3, giving up all four runs on four hits with five strikeouts and two walks.

Bryan De Paula went three innings to pick up the win, giving up just one hit while walking two and striking out two. Blair Henley & Cole McDonald each pitched two innings to finish the shutout.

Tri-City heads for Lowell to play the first place Spinners tonight through Friday before returning for the final homestand of the season vs. Vermont on Saturday night.

The Aurora Games will return to Albany, but they might be better off in a smaller venue

It was announced Sunday that the Aurora Games will return in 2021 & 2023, with both events set to be, as was this year's inaugural event, in Albany, presumably at Times Union Center.

Apparently, arena GM Bob Belber & his staff were wearing blinders, because the 6 day event drew just over 20,000 fans total, an average of over 4,000 per day, in a building that can house up to 16 or 17,000 for a concert. Siena College's men's basketball team has been known to crack the 10,000 mark in attendance for a game, depending on the opponent.

But there are questions.

Like, who really wants to see hockey or figure skating in the middle of the summer?

How do they compete with Saratoga race track, which had over 45,000 fans for the Travers on Saturday?

Does the TUC and event organizer Jerry Solomon lower ticket prices to make things more affordable for families? A family of four, at $25 per ticket, plus parking and the overpriced concessions, would have to pick one of six nights to go, not able to afford going every night, unless this was the family of a state worker, or Governor Cuomo.

ESPN2 covered events on four of the six dates, leaving Friday & Sunday to ESPN3, their online service, due to previous commitments. ESPN's own commitments to MLB & the WNBA made it impossible for the Aurora Games to air on the so-called "Worldwide Leader in Sports". The network would be wise to work with a local station so that local viewers can see all the events next time.

As the Albany Patroons found out when they morphed into the Capital Region Pontiacs nearly 30 years ago, playing basketball in the cavernous TUC (back then known as the Knickerbocker Arena) was not a good idea, but their home, the ancient, acoustically challenged Washington Avenue Armory, isn't a good idea, either. For Aurora Games II to succeed, they need to move uphill to the Capital Center, which hosted "Fan Zone events all week. A smaller venue should draw more people and money, shouldn't it?

Bob Belber, your move.

News & notes

With 11 games left, the Tri-City Valleycats could be facing elimination from playoff consideration for the third time in four years.

After getting drilled by Hudson Valley, 12-5, on Friday, the two teams travel to Dutchess Stadium in Wappingers Falls today for the final meeting of the season between the two clubs. The Renegades have won all 8 games so far vs. Tri-City, which has never been swept in a season series in franchise history. You'll recall that Tri-City beat Hudson Valley to win the NY-Penn League title last year, so this is revenge with interest.
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Back in the day, the NY Racing Association (NYRA) never had to cram so many stakes races onto a card to support one of their tentpole attractions at Saratoga.

Today's 13 race card, already underway as of this writing, literally is half-full with stakes races, including the 150th running of the Travers, which will be the 11th race on the card. To accomodate television, particularly Fox, the Travers will go off at 5:45 pm, as the last of six stakes races. By the end of the race, most folks will be streaming for the exits, and only the hardcore racing fans will stay for the final two races, the last of which will go off sometime before 7.

I can relate. In 1985, I was part of a group that went to the track on Travers Day. Back then, there was just a 9 race card, as memory serves. The "Old Spa" was so packed, if you weren't the first in line at the betting windows for any race, you had no chance. Same with the self-serve betting machines on the grounds. As an amateur handicapper, I had scouted the card in the newspaper earlier that day before sallying forth for Saratoga. Had I put a bet in, and won, I would have had an equally difficult time cashing in the ticket. Just sayin'.
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It's depressing to read how the Times Union Center, which can hold 17,000 fans for a concert, such as the Jonas Brothers on Monday, can't seem to draw as many for the Aurora Games, which runs through tomorrow. An announced crowd of just over 2,000 took in the basketball game on Thursday night. As I wrote before, television certainly has something to do with the low attendance, as some folks are opting to stay home and save the $15-25 on tickets, plus concessions & parking, per night. However, due to other commitments, ESPNU didn't have coverage of last night's hockey game, nor will they have beach volleyball tomorrow.

Yeah, I know. ESPNU doesn't reach as many homes as ESPN or ESPN 2, but there's the Little League World Series, which shifts over to ABC today, getting in the way, in addition to ESPN's commitments to MLB & WNBA.

Simply put, the Aurora Games are taking place at the wrong time of the year, at least here in NY. With the Valleycats and racing at Saratoga, the Aurora Games are not a priority option for most folks. That's just the way it is.

Troy High 2019 women's soccer schedule

The 2019 women's soccer schedule at Troy High is now official. Scrimmages have already begun, with two on the plate for next week. Regular season action begins Tuesday, September 3. Coach Justin Haviland has just 13 players on his roster, and that lack of depth spells trouble for a club that has had trouble winning games.

All home games, except where noted, begin at 6:30 pm.

September:

3 @ Shenendehowa. (4:15 kickoff).
5 Home opener vs. Schenectady.
7-8 Hall of Fame tournament @ Niskayuna Town Park.

*-Troy is scheduled to play New Hartford on the 7th, and Schoharie on the 8th.

12 Guilderland.
14 @ Shaker (11 am).
17 @ Albany (6:30 pm).
19 Ballston Spa.
24 Niskayuna.
26 Columbia.

October:

3 @ Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake (4:15 pm).
5 @ Bethlehem (3 pm).
7  Senior Night vs. Hoosic Valley (7 pm).
10 @ Averill Park (7 pm).
17 @ Saratoga (7 pm).
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To correct an earlier report, Troy isn't just adding women to their golf team this year, they're actually fielding a women's team, under the direction of former women's basketball coach Paul Bearup. The golf season has already started for some teams, but not Troy, who will begin play next week.

News & notes

The Aurora Games began last night at Times Union Center with tennis, but the turnout was disappointing, per today's Albany Times Union. Reportedly, the TUC had sold 4,000 tickets for last night, but it seemed there were fewer than that in attendance, which is a shame for an event that has been heavily promoted the last few months.

Part of the reason might be ESPN.

The Games are being shown on ESPNU (Spectrum Cable channel 370), and while event tickets run from $15-25 per night, some folks might be more inclined to save money and gas by going to the TV. Television ratings will tell the tale there. With all the events indoors, including beach volleyball, set for Sunday, the Games could take an even bigger hit the rest of the week due to competition for the consumer dollar from the Tri-City Valleycats, who return home tomorrow, and Saratoga race track, which will have the 150th running of the Travers on Saturday.

All we can say for now is, stay tuned.
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Former Troy High three sport star Joe Casale will line up at linebacker for UAlbany this season after appearing in just four games last season before being redshirted. A new NCAA rule allows for freshmen to be redshirted after appearing in a minimum of four games during the season. That rule took effect last year, and the Great Danes hope that pays off for Casale.

Now, if we can just get the Danes to appear on TV once in a while......
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Football training camps in Section II opened on Monday, and teams will have nearly three full weeks of practice before play begins September 6. Other fall sports, such as golf, volleyball, & soccer, will begin play next week, otherwise the final full week of summer vacation. Most of those events will be contested in the morning, as would be the case for baseball/softball during Easter week.
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Speaking of the Valleycats, with 13 games remaining, Tri-City sits about 81/2-9 games in arrears of Lowell in the Stedler Division of the NY-Penn League, and would have to run the table just to be in position for a Wild Card. Tri-City entertains Hudson Valley tomorrow & Friday before the teams move to Wappingers Falls, thanks to a scheduling quirk, on Saturday. The 'Cats then return for a four game series with Staten Island on Sunday.

To make up for a postponement recently, the 'Cats will have fireworks following tomorrow & Friday's games.
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Things have gotten so bad for the Troy Fighting Irish, such that they can't be bothered to update their team page online. The Irish lost their second straight, 30-6, to Syracuse, but you'd have to go to the Strong's page on hometeamsonline.com to get that information. Troy's home finale in Saturday vs. Monroe County, and one wonders what morale is going to be like by then.

News & notes

Catching up on some off-season high school news.

James Thomas has resigned as women's varsity basketball coach at Schenectady. Thomas' Lady Patriots won just six games in two seasons, and Thomas chose to pursue career opportunities in Texas. He played his college ball at the University of Texas after graduating from Schenectady.
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Last season, Saratoga had two head coaches for hockey. This season, they'll have just one.

Dave Torres thought that he could still coach the Blue Streaks, six years removed from a state title, despite retiring from teaching. The Saratoga school board had other ideas. Tim Horst, who shared coaching duties with Torres last season, will be the sole head coach this year. Torres had expressed a desire to continue with the core group that are entering their senior season this year, but that isn't going to happen.
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A late afternoon thunderstorm ripped through South Troy, resulting in the cancellation of tonight's game between the Tri-City Valleycats and the Aberdeen Ironbirds. Since it's the last meeting between the two clubs this season, the game will not be made up. Tri-City goes on the road downstate over the next few days, starting with a series at Brooklyn, before the NY-Penn League All-Star Game Wednesday night at Staten Island. Tri-City comes home Thursday to open a series with Hudson Valley.

News & notes

The Tri-City Valleycats snapped a four game losing streak Sunday, beating Connecticut, 5-1, scoring four runs in the eighth to pick up the victory. Tri-City had been swept by Hudson Valley, losing 13-3 on Saturday night, before rebounding against the Tigers. The 'Cats return home Wednesday for a return match vs. Aberdeen.
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Albany native Bobby Fish failed in his quest to regain the NXT tag titles on Saturday in Toronto, as the Undisputed Era fell to current champs the Street Profits at the latest Takeover event. The Undisputed Era was also on the losing end of a tag match at the Capital Center on Thursday, and, to be honest, with the Profits (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins) appearing on Monday Night Raw of late, I'd thought there'd be a title change on Saturday. Didn't happen.
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It wasn't exactly 20 years to the day, but the Albany Empire completed "unfinished business" Sunday, beating Philadelphia, 45-27, before more than 12,000 fans at Times Union Center to bring the ArenaBowl home for the first time since the Firebirds pulled off the same feat on August 21, 1999. Ryan Grady threw 5 TD passes, and the other touchdown was scored on defense. Congratulations to the Empire, only in their 2nd season in the AFL.

News & notes

The Tri-City Valleycats have come back down to earth.

Avenging their loss in the NY-Penn League championship series 11 months ago, the Hudson Valley Renegades ended the 'Cats' 6 game winning streak on Thursday, sweeping both ends of a double header set up by a rainout last month. The Renegades, who also won last night, 9-1, will look to sweep out the Valleycats tonight in Wappingers Falls. The Renegades currently lead the McNamara division, while the Valleycats are in the Stedler division basement.
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After 13 seasons as women's basketball coach, Paul Bearup left the Troy High bench at the end of the 2017-18 season. I don't know how long he's been coaching the golf team, but let's give him some credit for trying something different this season as Troy seeks to shake off the doldrums of four years of losing on the links in the Suburban Council.

Troy High's website is advertising open tryouts for both boys and girls for golf this season, with the season to start in less than three weeks. The bowling team experienced its best season since joining the Suburban Council by going co-ed last year, so Bearup is hoping the same thing happens on the golf course. Good luck.
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20 years ago, the Albany Firebirds brought an ArenaBowl championship to the 518 by dispatching the Orlando Predators. That year, the ArenaBowl was broadcast on ABC.

This year, step-sister network ESPN2 has the game, which will be played at Times Union Center on Sunday night (it was known as Pepsi Arena 20 years ago). The 1999 game was a matinee, but this is about ratings, of course. Firebird legend "Touchdown" Eddie Brown, whose son, Antonio, is embroiled in a dispute with the NFL over helmets, of all things, delaying his debut with Oakland, will be an honorary captain for the Albany Empire. Will lightning strike twice in the same place twenty years later? We'll all find out together tomorrow night.

News & notes

The Tri-City Valleycats finally got a monkey off their collective backs Monday, beating Lowell, 3-1.

The Stedler Division leading Spinners had won all six previous meetings this season, and had taken a lead in the 7th inning, breaking a scoreless deadlock. Tri-City tied it in the 8th.

Then, in the 9th, ex-Met Jenrry Mejia, signed by Boston in the off-season, gave up a 2-run walk-off homer to Joe Perez to send everyone home happy.

Apparenly, game announcer Joe Mixie has pronounciation issues. He read Mejia's name like it's spelled, pronouncing it "Jen-ry". It's actually "Henry", as all Mets fans know. Funny thing is, Mixie also writes the game notes that are sold at the ballpark, and the game notes have pronounciation guides for certain players. Go figure.
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The season's over for the Albany Dutchmen. Saturday's rain only postponed the inevitable, as Amsterdam completed a two-game sweep Sunday, 10-4, to advance to the league championship series in the Perfect Game Collegiate League. The Dutchmen have yet to reach the championship round since entering the league.

Pride causes an Irish fall

The Troy Fighting Irish were already at a manpower disadvantage before taking the field before less than 50 fans Saturday night at Lansingburgh High vs. the Auburn Pride. That disadvantage would get worse before the night was over.

Nico D'Aquino, complaining of a lack of playing time, left the team following last week's win over the Upstate Predators. Receiver Jallah Tarver was seen warming up at quarterback, but it was ZaQuawn Gordon who got the start.

Auburn, which lost to Troy earlier this season, came looking not only to avenge that loss, but also being swept last season. The Pride won the toss, but their first drive stalled after crossing into Troy territory. Anthony Fogarty, who was an offensive star at Lansingburgh, registered back-to-back sacks, forcing a punt.

On his first snap, Gordon was caught behind the line of scrimmage for a loss, but, two plays later, found Dre Wheatley, who'd gotten behind the defense, for a 70 yard scoring strike. David Fox's extra point barely got through, and Troy had a 7-0 lead, which they took into halftime.

Jump now to the fourth quarter, and suddenly, it's the Kasheem Jones show.

After Gordon came out of the game with a leg injury, Tarver took over at quarterback, but Jones picked off his first pass, and galloped 28 yards for the score. However, the extra point was blocked, and Troy held a slim 7-6 lead barely three minutes into the final frame.

Six minutes later, Jones struck again. With Trevon Perez-Tucker at QB in the Wildcat formation, Jones recovered a fumble, and went the distance again. A 2 point conversion failed, but Auburn took the lead, 12-7.

On Troy's last drive, with under two minutes to go, Tarver's fourth down pass fell incomplete. Tarver went ballistic on the official, arguing that he thought there should've been a defensive penalty on Auburn that wasn't called. The abusive language merited a penalty, but it got worse from there. Tarver bumped the official, and was ejected. The Pride, for all intents and purposes, ran out the clock, and Troy suffers its second loss, both at home, 12-7.

In all probability, Tarver will be suspended for the team's next game, a rematch with Syracuse, on August 17. Troy closes the season at home August 24 against Monroe County.

Troy has had problems with attendance, and on a night where the Albany Dutchmen were rained out, and the Albany Empire & Tri-City Valleycats were both out of town, the only thing left that kept fans away, of course, lack of publicity aside, was the simple fact that folks were exhausted after a long day either at Saratoga or any of the dozens of off track betting parlors in the region. The Irish don't have the resources presently to do any advertising to lure in more fans, but word of mouth just isn't working, and one fan said the players are getting discouraged. This can't happen with two games left before the playoffs.
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Speaking of the Valleycats, they made it two in a row over the Auburn Doubledays. Jairo Lopez, Thursday's loser, came back and pitched three solid innings in relief, as Tri-City shut out Auburn, 6-0. The Empire punched their ticket to hosting ArenaBowl at the Times-Union Center next Sunday night, thumping Baltimore, 62-21. They'll await the winner of today's Washington-Philadelphia game.

As noted, the Dutchmen & Amsterdam were washed out due to early afternoon rains making Connors Field at Siena unplayable. They'll try again today at 5.

News & notes

The Tri-City Valleycats snapped a 5 game losing streak Friday, topping Auburn, 4-3. The Jekyll-Hyde performance of the 'Cats to this point has contributed in a small way to a decrease in attendance for fireworks nights, such as last Friday vs. Connecticut, as there were a ton of empty seats at Bruno Stadium that night. Tri-City drew slightly more than 4,000 fans for Thursday's matinee vs. Batavia, but there were sections still unfilled there, too.
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Tonight, it's win or go home for the Albany Dutchmen.

Albany reached the divisional finals of the Perfect Game Collegiate League by dispatching Mohawk Valley on Thursday, but dropped a 8-4 decision to top seeded Amsterdam on Friday night. Former Amsterdam High 3-sport star Dale Stanavich, currently attending Herkimer Community College, was a pitching star for his hometown Mohawks. Box scores are not available at this time.
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Albany Empire fans will be tuning in to see if the Empire can advance to and host ArenaBowl next weekend if they can beat Baltimore tonight on the road. The Brigade needs to make up the 35 point deficit of last week's shellacking at Times-Union Center, and win by 36 or better to upset the Empire. Stranger things have happened.
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Auburn's other summer team, the Auburn Pride of the Northeastern Football Alliance, will be in town to face the Troy Fighting Irish tonight at Lansingburgh High. Troy swept the season series from Auburn last year. Unfortunately, the Pride doesn't have a roster page on their website, which doesn't help anyone covering the game without press credentials, such as ye scribe......

Strunc down in the Muck (Batavia 4, Valleycats 1)

In one of those unique paradoxes in baseball, the Batavia Muckdogs, the NY-Penn League affiliate of the Miami Marlins, one of the worst teams in the National League, visited the Tri-City Valleycats, whose parent club, the Houston Astros, are among the American League's elite, while the 'Cats are stuck in the Stedler Division basement, having lost four in a row entering today's Camp/Senior Day matinee at Bruno Stadium.

Kyle Serrano started for Tri-City, but went one inning, due to pitch count. For some reason, the scoreboard operator didn't bother with the new pitch count box that was added last month while the 'Cats were on the road. There have been some bugs with that so far, anyway, and on a hot day, maybe it made sense. Then again, Serrano left after one largely due to pitch count and the fact that he escaped a bases loaded jam. Jairo Lopez came on in the second, and escaped similar danger without a run scoring.

On the other side, Batavia's Edgar Martinez, no relation to the recent Hall of Fame inductee of the same name, held the 'Cats in check on just one hit through five innings. Just when it looked like the 'Cats' bats had awakened on Wednesday, they went back to sleep.

In the Batavia fifth, Lopez's gears came loose. Jack Strunc opened the frame with a double, and scored on a single by Troy Johnston. After a single by Andrew Turner, Harrison DiNicola doubled in two more, putting the Muckdogs up, 3-0. With one out, Lopez walked Dustin Skelton to force in another run, and that was the end of his day. Strunc, batting a second time in the inning, traded in his daisy a day and struck out to end the inning.

Tri-City finally got on the board in the home 6th, as C. J. Stubbs drove home Luis Guerrero with the last run of the game. Stubbs was subsequently caught stealing to end the frame, and the 'Cats could not muster another threat against the Batavia bullpen. The Muckdogs complete the sweep, 4-1, sending Tri-City to its 5th straight loss. Batavia leads the Pinckney Division, and it was easy to see why.

Tri-City hits the road to Western NY for a quick three game set vs. Auburn before returning home on Monday for a rematch with the Stedler Division-leading Lowell Spinners.