News & notes

 The Tri-City Valleycats return home to Bruno Stadium tonight to open a series against the New Jersey Jackals, looking for revenge after the Jackals won 2 of 3 last weekend. Tri-City went 2-4 on their road trip after losing to the NY Boulders, 9-3, on Thursday. For baseball fans, the 'Cats are the only game in town, with the Albany Twilight League having ended its season on Wedneday.

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Speaking of the Twilight League, congratulations to the Capital City Kings, who blew out Waterford for the 3rd straight game, 10-4, on Wednesday to win the title series, 3-1. A national Stan Musial Baseball tournament awaits the Kings.

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Siena College has updated its logo, which had been in place for the last 20 years or so. The Saints' new logo looks like this:

It illustrates that the Saint Bernard, for whom the team is named, is ready for action, which, I think, is the point. The new logo was designed by students in the school's communications department.

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Zach Remillard (LaSalle/Coastal Carolina) didn't play Wednesday night as the Chicago White Sox defeated the Yankees, 9-2. Remillard, though, did appear in the first two games, entering as a pinch-hitter late in Monday's game, and laying down a sacrifice bunt. He finished the series 1-3 with the bunt and a run scored, but his average has dropped to .259 after a recent slump.

News & notes

 Two months after capturing the Class A title, Columbia High's baseball team will be honored by the Yankees prior to the August 22 game vs. the Washington Nationals. It will be the last time the 2023 team will appear together before the seniors who've since graduated leave for college.

A former Blue Devil, Danny Watson, is currently in the Yankees' farm system, and could be in the bigs in about 2-3 years.

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The Capital City Kings could close out the Albany Twilight League season as early as tonight.

The Kings have a 2-1 series lead over the Waterford Nationals after winning game 3, 10-6, last night. Game 4 is set for tonight at 7:15 at Bleecker Stadium.

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Siena College has not yet released its full basketball schedules, but we do know the men have at least 2 home dates firmed up, both in November.

The Saints open the 2023-4 season at MVP Arena on Monday, November 6 vs. Holy Cross. The annual Albany Cup game vs. UAlbany, as revealed yesterday, will take place on Sunday, November 26. However, the women's Albany Cup will be at Broadview Center six nights later, on December 2. Go figure. The balance of the schedule will be out soon.

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The last Camp Day for the Tri-City Valleycats didn't go the way they'd hoped.

Ex-Valleycat Chris Kwitzer was in the middle of it again, as his base hit touched off a 6 run 5th inning for the homestanding NY Boulders as they beat the 'Cats, 12-6. The two teams continue their series tonight at 7 pm. The 'Cats, losers of 4 of their last 5 after a 9 game win streak, return to Bruno Stadium Friday to play the New Jersey Jackals, who beat Tri-City in 2 of 3 last weekend.

UAlbany basketball returns home, releases 2023-4 schedules

 The biggest downside to UAlbany's 2022-3 basketball season was the lack of promotion in getting fans outside the Great Dane community to visit Hudson Valley Community College's Ed McDonough Field House, where the Danes played their home games. A co-worker of mine is a season ticket holder for the men's games, and she confided that attendance was sparse at HVCC.

Then again, HVCC President Roger Ramsammy hasn't exactly been popular with students and alumni at his own school for reasons we've discussed here previously, and didn't roll out the red carpet for the Danes.

Come November, however, the Danes return home to Broadview Center (formerly SEFCU Arena) after extensive renovations.

While the ladies said good-bye to Grace Heeps (Columbia), who has transferred to Canisius as a graduate transfer, Colleen Mullen says hello to Shenendehowa alumnus Meghan Huerter (Providence), who transfers to UAlbany to join Lily Phillips (Cambridge) and Abby Ray (Saratoga) in representing Section II.

The women's schedule:

November 6: @ Merrimack.

November 10: @ Fordham.

November 12: Home opener vs. Rosemont.

November 16: @ St. Bonaventure.

November 22: @ Cornell.

November 26: @ Stanford.

December 2: Siena.

December 6: @ Central Connecticut State.

December 9: Marist.

December 12: Dartmouth.

December 16: Stonehill.

December 20: @ UMass-Amherst.

January 4: Bryant.

January 8: New Jersey Institute of Technology.

January 13: @ Binghamton.

January 18: @ UMass-Lowell.

January 20: @ Bryant.

January 25: Maine.

January 27: New Hampshire.

February 1: Vermont.

February 3: @ University of Maryland-Baltimore County.

February 8: Binghamton.

February 15: @ NJIT.

February 17: UMBC.

February 22: @ Vermont.

February 24: UMass-Lowell.

February 29: @ New Hampshire.

March 2: @ Maine.

Meanwhile, while there are fans who are calling for coach Dwayne Killings' head, he will return for a 3rd season to coach the men's team. The schedule:

November 7: @ UMass-Amherst.

November 11: @ Columbia.

November 15: @ Seton Hall.

November 19: @ Quinnipiac.

November 21: Army.

November 26: @ Siena.

November 29: Boston University.

December 2: Dartmouth.

December 5: opponent TBA.

December 10: Temple is scheduled. What is not certain is if this game will be at Broadview Center or in Philadelphia.

December 16: @ Drexel.

December 19: Sacred Heart.

December 22: @ South Florida.

December 30: @ Long Island University.

January 2: @ Harvard.

January 6: @ NJIT.

January 13: Binghamton.

January 18: UMass-Lowell.

January 20: Bryant.

January 25: @ Maine.

January 27: @ New Hampshire.

February 1: @ Vermont.

February 3: UMBC.

February 8: @ Binghamton.

February 15: NJIT.

February 17: @ UMBC.

February 22: Vermont.

February 24: @ UMass-Lowell.

February 29: New Hampshire.

March 2: Maine.

March 5: @ Bryant.

We'll have the Siena schedules up as soon as they're released.

News & notes

 Four days after announcing a change to the school's nickname, Union College announced Monday that the football season finale vs. RPI will remain billed as the Battle For The Dutchmen's Shoes. This year's edition is set for Veteran's Day, November 11, at Frank Bailey Field on the Union campus.

It was also announced that Union will introduce its new mascot soon, likely before the start of the season.

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The Albany Twilight League's championship series is even at a game apiece after Capital City crushed Waterford, 21-1, on Sunday (OUCH!). However, game 3, scheduled for last night, was rained out, and they're holding out hope that they can play tonight. I wouldn't count on it. There's a better chance they'll play tomorrow, then pray for help so they can play games 4 and, if needed, 5, with rain in the forecast for Thursday and Friday as well.

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UAlbany grad Thomas Greaney saw some time at tight end for Cleveland during the Hall of Fame game vs. the Jets. Greaney caught 4 balls for 15 yards. He's still got a shot at making the opening day roster, with the season opener September 10.

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The Tri-City Valleycats will play what figures to be their last "Camp Day" game this morning in Paloma vs. the NY Boulders. 1st pitch is at 11 am. Tri-City sits in 2nd place in the Frontier League's East division, a half-game behind New Jersey.

News & notes

 The season is over for the Troy Fighting Irish.

All we know is that the team lost its regular season finale Saturday afternoon to the Upstate Predators, but no score has been provided, and the YouTube feeds of the game were taken down when the uploaders closed their accounts.

What we do know is that the team was in a period of transition with new ownership and coaches, and finished 4-5 on the season, a rare losing record for the Irish. Now, if they could just figure out a better way to promote the team for next year, and move their home games back to Lansingburgh High......!

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The Tri-City Valleycats have fallen out of first place in the Frontier League's Eastern division after dropping 2 of 3 to the New Jersey Jackals over the weekend. Sunday's game turned into a softball game with all the scoring, and they still managed to get nine innings in under 3 hours.

James Nelson hit 3 homers to lead the Jackals to a 16-12 win over the 'Cats. Elijah Gill went 4 innings and took the loss. Tri-City stays on the road, and will visit the NY Boulders on Tuesday.

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Chicago White Sox rookie Zach Remillard (LaSalle/Coastal Carolina) will be on your TV screens again over the next three nights, starting tonight, as the Yankees visit the ChiSox. 1st pitch tonight is set for 8:10 pm on YES (Spectrum channel 321). Remillard was the subject of a feature article in Sunday's Albany Times-Union, and has been more of a utility player so far, playing some outfield in addition to infield positions.

News & notes

 UAlbany announced Thursday that they are adding a women's rowing program to their athletic schedule. I think they may be the only college in the area that even is considering taking up the sport, but I may be wrong.

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Union College has made it official, retiring the "Dutchmen" & "Dutchwomen" in favor of the Garnet Chargers, effective this season.

This means that the only time the "Dutchmen" will even be referenced at Union going forward would be, of course, the annual Dutchmen's Shoes game between Union & RPI, which is the regular season finale in football for both schools in November.

On the other hand, I don't know if Guilderland High or the Perfect Game League's Albany Dutchmen would need to make any changtes, considering the Dutch had more of a historical impact on Albany and its suburbs than on Schenectady. Stay tuned.

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The Tri-City Valleycats' 9 game winning streak ended in horrific fashion on Thursday, as the Empire State Greys salvaged the series finale, 10-1. Tri-City won the season series, 6-3, as this was the Greys' final visit to Troy.

Valleycats President Rick Murphy may have given the Greys some bulletin board material in some remarks made to the Albany Times-Union in Thursday's edition in which he expressed a desire to see the Frontier League add a team to replace the barnstorming Greys, who don't have a home field. The 'Cats are in New Jersey this weekend to play the Jackals, with tonight's game set for a 6:35 pm first pitch.

News & notes

 The Albany Twilight League will crown new champions this weekend. No, seriously. The perennial champs, the Albany Athletics, were upset in the semi-finals by Waterford. The Nationals will now face the Capital City Kings in a best of 3 series which starts tomorrow, weather permitting. Waterford downed the A's, 3-2, Wednesday night at Bleecker Stadium. The ancient venue will host the championship series as well.

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UAlbany QB Reese Poffenbarger has been named to a watch list for the Walter Payton Award, which will be handed out at the end of the 2023 season. Poffenbarger is a redshirt sophomore, and among 35 players in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) on the watch list for the Payton Award, given to the most outstanding offensive player. Should Poffenbarger win the award, he would join an elite group of players who later went on to success in the NFL, including current Rams star Cooper Kupp and former Giants & Patriots star Dave Meggett.

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The Tri-City Valleycats will be looking to run their winning streak to 10 in a row tonight, weather permitting, as they look to close out the Empire State Grays at Bruno Stadium. The 'Cats won handily Wednesday, 9-3, clinching yet another home series (13-0).

In other 'Cats news, the team is expected to renew its membership in the Frontier League, as their current deal expires at the end of September. While attendance has dipped below 3,000 per game, last Wednesday's matinee being a big exception, the Valleycats remain a popular attraction in the 518.

Also, the team has 3 more years left on its lease at Hudson Valley Community College. While they didn't play HVCC's squad in a preseason game this year, it would be beneficial to both parties going forward if it became an annual tradition.