Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Eastern Elite Girls Hoop Team Crowned Zero Gravity Circuit's National Champion

The Eastern Elite girls varsity basketball team earned a National Championship this past June.

Zero Gravity Basketball is a tournament company that stages basketball events from Massachusetts to California and this year's championships were held in Boston, MA.

The Eastern Elite squad was made up entirely up Section II talent - just continuing to prove that Capital District basketball is some of the most dominant and dynamic in, not only the area, but the entire nation.

Congrats to the entire team!
Brittney Sardina - Fort Edward
Skylar Girard - Glens Falls
Taylor Boucher - Fort Edward
Taulie Frierson - Troy
Cheyenne Williams - Troy
Rachel Apfel - Averill Park
Alex Godfrey - Fort Edward
Lindsay Mannion - Maple Hill
Emily Drake - Coxsackie-Athens
Jenna Erickson - Tamarac
Sam Godfrey - Fort Edward
Lexi Thomas - Fort Edward

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Electric City Bombers 14U Softball Takes USSSA Crown

The Electric City Bombers 14U Red softball team had already set program history earlier this summer and they weren't about to slow down when they reached the national stage.

The squad, which has played together for over a year with a total record of 75-8-1, qualified for the USSSA World Series in Salisbury, Maryland last fall and took the ultimate title last week.

After opening pool play at 2-1 on Thursday, the Bombers won their first two games in the elimination bracket round. A loss to Pennsylvania-based team Silver Creek pushed the Bombers into the losers bracket and earned them an 8 am. Sunday-morning start.

Ultimately, the Bombers battled back through a five day, including beating the ultimate runner-up twice, en route to the championship.

The Bombers - a team made up of 13 girls from all over the Capital District - played a total of 13 games in four days, going up against teams from 10 different states to secure a World Series title.

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Calling All Current and Former Troy High Football Players

Guys.

I know it's summer and we're still a little over two weeks out of the official start of football season, but I have a football-related request for you all.

Coach Burger is being inducted in the Capital Region Football Hall of Fame on August 10 and The Record (a.k.a. me) will be doing on a feature story on his career at Troy High before the ceremony.

So, what do I need from you?

I need you guys to dig deep, straight into your emotions, and share your Coach Burger stories? Have a memory of him working one-on-one with you to get better on or off the field? Ever get an inspirational pep talk on the sideline? Feel his the best coach you've ever had?

Any of that - and more - is exactly what I'm looking for. I want to know why you think Coach Burger deserved to be nominated for the Hall of Fame in the first place and what he's done to help make you a better football player and overall person.

You can comment on the story here, e-mail me at lamato@troyrecord.com or tweet me at @LauraAmato. Please just make sure to include your full name and, if you're a former player, what years you were on the team.The story is running in The Record on August 9, so I need all your stories, memories and anecdotes before then. Share away!

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

AABC North Atlantic Connie Mack Regional Tournament

We're reaching the final stretch of summer-league baseball here, folks.

Next up on the coverage list is the Connie Mack Regional Tournament, which begins on Thursday and goes through Saturday at Geer Field in South Troy.

I'll be following the Dodgers through the tournament - complete with live tweets and video! - but I'll also be updating the bracket here on the blog while we go through the weekend matchups. All double elimination too, so keep that in mind.

In the meantime, check out the times for Thursday's first group games as well as the pairings for each team.

ROUND ONE
Thursday, July 25
Ontario vs. Mass, 9 a.m. (Game #1)
Titans vs. South Colonie, 9 a.m. (Game #2)
Ct Bombers vs. Brooklyn YS, 12 p.m. (Game #3)
North Jersey vs. South Troy, 12 p.m.  (Game #4)
ROUND TWO
Thursday, July 25
Winner's Bracket
Game #1 winner vs. Game #2 winner, 6 p.m. (Game #7)
Game #3 winner vs. Game #4 winner, 6 p.m. (Game #8)
Loser's Bracket
Game #1 loser vs. Game #2 loser, 3 p.m. (Game #5)
Game #3 Loser vs. Game #4 loser, 3 p.m. (Game #6)

ROUND THREE
Friday, July 26
Winner's Bracket
Titans vs. Dodgers, 3 p.m.
Loser's Bracket
South Colonie vs. CT Bombers, 12 p.m.
North Jersey vs. Ontoario, 12 p.m.

Friday, July 19, 2013

2013 District 3 American Legion Baseball Tournament

MORE BASEBALL.

Although, we might not be #BaseballInTheHeat (Yup, I just hashtagged on the blog) as it's supposed to rain overnight. Please, let it rain overnight.

That being said, I come bearing matchups for the first round of the Legion baseball tournament, which starts tomorrow (Saturday) and runs through Friday, July 26th.

I'll be updating the pairings every day since, once again, there will be no fancy Photoshop brackets available. I'm sad about that too. 

Under the cut, check out the times, locations and matchups for Saturday's first round. Now, keep in mind, this is District play so we're going NINE INNINGS and there's only one round on Saturday so everyone will play on Sunday.

Also, if you're interested, the final records of the teams during the regular season are under the cut so we all know where we stand.

Read more »

14U Devil Cats in NABF Wold Series

The 14U Devil Cats have made their way out of the Capital District to the NABF World Series in Altavista, Virginia and the squad is already making waves in the tournament.

Going up against the Pal Rangers from New York, Rob Debendetti connected on a bases-loaded RBI single to tie the game at one all before Dylan Maxon hit a ground-out RBI to give the Devil Cats a 2-1 lead.

The Pal Rangers were able tie the game up but the dramatics weren't quite over yet.

A walkoff single gave the Pal Rangers a 3-2 victory after nine innings.

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

UNYSABA Connie Mack Tournament

Right on the heels of the Mickey Mantle tournament, the Connie Mack squads get underway for more BASEBALL IN THE HEAT.

Now, these games are only being played at Knickerbocker Park in Lansingburgh and Dutchmen Field in Guilderland, so that makes things a little bit easier to get to.

Again, as much as I would love to make beautiful Photoshop-ed brackets, things are all up in the air depending on what happens in the first round, so, under the cut you can check out the pairings for Thursday's games and then we'll update from there.

The winner of this tournament moves on to the regional matchup, which is back up at Geer Field in Troy next week.

Read more »

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

ENY Mickey Mantle State Baseball Tournament

It's hot and it's time for SUMMER LEAGUE BASEBALL TOURNAMENTS.

Starting tomorrow (Wednesday) the Mickey Mantle state tournament starts with games happening all over the place - Knickerbocker Park, Schenectady Babe Ruth Field and Sorensco Babe Ruth Field.

Now, I was going to get all technologically-advanced and make brackets photoshop-style again, but there are a lot of games and double elimination and that was just too many photoshop-layers. So, under the cut you can still see the opening-day matchups and then we'll update as we go. Deal? Deal.

I'll probably be camping out all over the Capital District to cover this tournament over the next few days, so brace yourself for upcoming live-tweets. Let's all try not to get heat exhaustion in the process.
Read more »

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Lansingburgh Lady Royals Adding New Teams

After the continued success - and local involvement - of the Lansingburgh Lady Royals softball teams, the organization is officially adding a handful of new teams for next summer.

Right now the program has two teams competing locally; the 16U and 14U squads, both of which play regularly at Knickerbocker Park. But, as more girls have expressed interested in play, the Royals are looking to field four teams competing at the 12U, 14U and 16U levels in 2013-2014 season.

Currently, tryouts are scheduled to begin on August 10 at Kncikerbocker with more dates later in the month. For full information on the scheduled tryouts and the teams as a whole, head to the Royals site right here: http://ladyroyalssoftball.wordpress.com/.

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Melvin Roads & Lansingburgh's Lozado Makes Baseball Donation

Gabriel Lozada - who plays baseball for both Lansingburgh and Melvin Roads American Legion - recently visited family in the Dominican Republic but his trip was much more than just a simple social call.

The Melvin Roads program donated used equipment for Lozado to bring with him on the trip and the 'Burgh native passed it all along to kids who are learning the game of baseball.

Lozado sent back this photo from his trip, saying in an e-mail, "The donation went well."


Monday, July 1, 2013

2013 All-State Baseball Team

Directly on the heels of the all-state baseball team, we've got another all-state announcement for baseball.

Under the cut check out the player and coach of the year in all five classes as well as those Section II players who were nominated to the teams. To see the entire list from the New York State Sportswriters Association go ahead and click here.

Congratulations to everyone on a fantastic season and enjoy the summer!

Read more »

2013 All-State Softball Team

You thought school and high school sports were over, weren't you?

Well, I bring to you MORE ALL-STARS. That's right. More. All. Stars.

The New York State Sportswriters Association released their all-state softball all-stars and, because we're all pretty awesome, Section II had a great showing. Now, under the cut check out the player and coach of the year for all five classes as well as any and all Capital District student-athletes that made the lists.

Congrats to everyone!

Read more »