News & notes

 The Albany Patroons placed six players in double figures, led by AJ Mosby's 18 points, as they ran their current winning streak to six in a row with a 100-92 win over Syracuse. The two teams will play a home & home series next Sunday (Syracuse) and May 18 (Albany).

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The season is over for the Albany FireWolves, as they go one and done in the National Lacrosse League playoffs. The top seeded Buffalo Bandits defeated Albany for the 3rd time this season, 10-5. The loss snapped Albany's three game win streak.

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The Tri-City Valleycats are getting their in-game fan contests in gear, with a shade more than a week before the home opener vs. Lake Erie on May 17. However, when it came to sports or music trivia, it was amateur night.

While the 'Cats were giving away excess supplies of bobblehead figures, win or lose, two young contestants whiffed on some relatively easy questions. For example, with the video board inactive for the night, the PA announcer had to read a question that normally would've been read by former TV & radio personality Brian Sinkoff.

The question was, which of the following players is not in the Baseball Hall of Fame:

A. Vladimir Guerrero, Sr.

B. Chipper Jones.

C. Roger Clemens.

D. Derek Jeter.

Struck by nerves, and, likely stage fright, the contestant picked Guerrero. Nope. The answer was not revealed, likely because they'll save that for a night during the regular season. I felt sorry for the millennial who had to try to identify a song or artist from before his time. Chicago's "Saturday in The Park" played over the PA, but the poor kid simply thought it was Bon Jovi. "Saturday" gets regular airplay on oldies channels.

On to the game. In front of a sparse crowd of less than 50 people (due to lack of promotion of pre-season games), Tri-City scored five runs in the 5th inning without the benefit of a hit, thanks to two walks, two hit batsmen, and two Empire State Greys errors to lift the 'Cats past the Greys, 10-6. Apparently, the official scorer was multi-tasking, and missed one of the five runs, and also a 2nd inning error by the Greys. Carson McCusker homered for the 'Cats, who finished a perfect pre-season, including two closed games where no fans were admitted.

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The Albany Empire finished a 2-0 trip through Florida with a 78-61 win over the Orlando Predators on Saturday. Check the video:

Albany comes home for a rematch with Jacksonville next Saturday at 7. The Predators, not quite the same franchise that lost the 1999 Arena Bowl to the Firebirds, will be in town in July.