Canisius turned back the clock and also turned up the heat on Buffalo-area baseball competition on Saturday with a 5-3 victory over Orchard Park at Delaware Park.
The clubs are regarded as the two best Western New York baseball squads. As if the prospect of playing a touted opponent wasn’t enough for the Crusaders, Canisius coach Bryan Tenney pumped up his team by digging up vintage, circa-1970s uniforms -- complete with stirrups -- from a storage room.
“They went nuts,” Tenney told The Buffalo News about players’ reaction to the red, pin-striped apparel. “I thought the uniforms were going to disintegrate. They make kids a little bigger today.”
Orchard Park scored single runs in each of the first three innings, but Sean Brady’s two-run triple highlighted Canisius’ decisive five-run third inning. All the scoring took place with two outs, started by Sean Tenney’s RBI single.
Canisius (8-0) pitcher James Tronolone, coming off a 10-inning win six days earlier, struck out eight in a complete game.
More Baseball: Long day at the office for 10th-grader
* Grand Island sophomore right Ben Tomkins went the distance in a 4-2 victory over Niagara Falls at Sal Maglie Stadium. Tomkins allowed 11 hits and two earned runs, and the stint likely wasn’t as tough on his pitching arm as one would think. With no walks and just one strikeout he didn't need to go very deep into many counts.
"After watching Ben in three sports now, I’ve learned he’s just a gamer,” Vikings coach Dean Santorio told the Niagara Gazette. "He does all the little things well and makes the most out of what abilities he has."
* One Spackenkill baseball player has been removed from the team and seven others were suspended for three weeks following an incident that involved marijuana use during a recent trip to Cooperstown to take on Washingtonville, The Poughkeepsie Journal reported.
Four years after winning a NYSPHSAA Class B championship, Spackenkill coach Don Neise was left with 11 players for a game Wednesday at Pine Plains.
* There's a New York connection to New Port Richey, Fla., lefty pitching sensation Patrick Schuster, who recently threw four straight no-hitters. The Daily News in Batavia reports that his parents are 1973 Pembroke graduates Roger and Sharon Schuster.
Softball: A three no-hitter week
* Elba right-hander Sarah Schwartzmeyer pitched her third softball no-hitter in five days during a 4-1 win over Byron-Bergen on Friday in Genesee Region action. Schwartzmeyer struck out 17 batters.
She no-hit Pembroke on Monday and Attica on Wednesday. Elba is 8-2 for the season, with six games on the schedule this week.
* Sandy Creek finally lost a Frontier League softball game last week after 116 victories in a row as Jenna Kraeger of South Lewis threw a no-hitter in a 2-0 victory. Kraeger had a perfect game until a Sandy Creek batter reached base on an error with two outs in the seventh inning.
Track And Field: Lipsey leads hot two laps
LSU-bound Charlene Lipsey of Hempstead covered the 800 meters in 2:05.83 to win at the St. Anthony’s Invitational and move to the national scholastic lead in the event for 2009 on Friday. Garden City junior Emily Menges (2:08.14) and St. Anthony’s freshman Olicia Williams (2:09.60) also went sub-2:10.
Lipsey also won the 1,500 in 4:36.65, and Chaminade star Michael Kiley won the steeplechase in a hot 9:28.81.
Boys Volleyball: State tournament approved
NYSPHSAA boys volleyball teams will get their own state tournament beginning in November 2010.
A vote at the New York State Public High School Athletic Association's Executive Committee meeting last week approved the tournament, contingent upon a minimum of six sections conducting sectional tournaments in the fall. Sections 1 and 9 are expected to join Sections 2, 3, 5 and 6, which previously had conducted a regional championship.
"We felt this was a likely progression," NYSPHSAA Nina Van Erk said. "It's going to be a great addition. The level of competition in the state is outstanding and the boys are very deserving of this championship."
Cicero-North Syracuse will host the 2010 state tournament. The format remains to be determined.
The NYSPHSAA has conducted a girls volleyball championship since 1990.
Also at the meeting, the Executive Committee voted down a proposal to allow football teams not participating in sectional tournament finals to play a 10th game. The 16-6 vote reaffirmed a decision in January in which the committee cut the length of regular-season schedules across the board to cut costs.
The committee also discussed planning regarding the H1N1 virus ("swine flu") and possible effects on sectional and state tournaments. Among the decisions made was that schools forced to close for long periods of time due to outbreaks of illness will not be charged with forfeits for games that are wiped out and cannot be rescheduled due to time constraints.
It’s becoming increasingly likely that the decision will come into play somewhere in the state this month. Fabius-Pompey (Section III) schools will be closed this week, making it seven straight weekdays without classes, and Deer Park (Section 11) schools will also be shut down this week.
Boys Basketball: Stukes makes college choice
Rice basketball star, James Stukes, a New York State Sportswriters Association second-team all-state selection in Class AA, decided earlier this year that he will attend prep school at South Kent in Connecticut next fall. And now he has made a college decision as well.
The 6-foot-5 forward has made a non-binding commitment to the University of Albany after an official visit and intends to enroll in September 2010, FiveBoroSports.com reported.
"I wanted to get it over with,” Stukes told the site. "I just want to focus on getting better for next year. I feel relieved, stress-free. I don’t have to worry about anything."
Stukes averaged 13.3 points for Rice en route to the Federation Class AA championship.
John Schiano, who has written about high school sports in western and central New York for more than 25 years, covers New York for MaxPreps. He may be reached at johnschianosports@gmail.com.