Tuesday, April 11, 2017: Amsterdam strands 16 in shutout loss

   Leading off today: Amsterdam walked all over Schuylerville in Foothills Council action Monday, but that didn't stop the Black Horses from extending their winning streak to three games to open the 2017 baseball season.

   Gifted nine walks and four hit batsmen, the Rams stranded 16 base runners in a 2-0 loss to Schuylerville. Amsterdam, which finished with four hits, loaded the bases in three different innings.

   "We were getting guys on," Amsterdam coach Brian Spagnola told The Daily Gazette, "we just couldn't get the hit to get them in."

   Schuylerville junior Carson Dunkel earned the win with five innings of shutout work. He walked eight and hit one batter, but only allowed two hits. Jared Gregorek walked one and hit three batters, allowing Amsterdam to load the bases in the sixth and seventh innings, en route to the save.

   Another no-no: Joel Alicea set down 13 consecutive batters on strikes en route to his second straight no-hitter and a 10-0 victory for East over Wilson in a Rochester City Athletic Conference baseball game.

   Alicea, a first-year varsity pitcher, finished with 14 strikeouts as Rochester East improved to 4-0 with the school's third-no-hitter of the season. He also threw a no-hitter vs. Northeast Douglass in the Eagles' opener March 29.

   Memorable first hit: Emma Basher's first varsity hit turned out to be a beaut. The Hamilton eighth-grader slugged a two-run, walk-off home run over the left-centerfield fence to rally her team to a 10-9 win over Westmoreland.

   The third baseman's heroics came after a lead-off walk to pinch-hitter Shelby Curtis in the seventh inning and capped a recovery from a 4-0 deficit in the first inning.

   "As soon as she made contact, everybody knew it was gone. We have a fence, about 200 (feet) straightaway," Hamilton coach Bill Dowsland told Syracuse.com. "The whole team mobbed her as soon as she touched home plate. It was so exciting for our home opener. ... We have a lot of young kids. For an eighth-grader to step up and crush it, it was pretty exciting."

   Record-setting effort: Laina Brozost made school-record 19 saves for Penfield as the Patriots downed Rush-Henrietta 7-6 in a quadruple-overtime girls lacrosse contest.

   Alyssa Sproule scored the winning goal as Penfield completed the rally from a 6-4 deficit with 6:00 to play in regulation. Megan Motkowski's goal with :37 left off an assist from Sproule sent the game to OT.

   Sec. 6 assistant coach dies: Town of Tonawanda Police Lt. Thomas Diehl has died.

KenEast hockey and the entire Athletic Dept is grieving the loss of Asst Coach Tom Diehl (far right). With heavy hearts! pic.twitter.com/JOuqKIZTao

— Ken-Ton Athletics (@KenTonAthletics) April 11, 2017

   Diehl, who had been battling cancer, was vice president of the Town of Tonawanda Lightning Hockey Association and was assistant coach with Kenmore East during its run to a 2016 NYSPHSAA Division II state title.

   Alumni news: Former Long Island stars accounted for a combined six goals as the United States Women's National Team defeated Russia twice in soccer friendlies in the past week.

   The USWNT shut out Russia 4-0 on April 6 in Frisco, Texas as Allie Long (Northport) and Crystal Dunn (Rockville Centre South Side) tallied twice apiece.

   On Sunday, Dunn scored twice more during a 5-1 victory in Houston. She was also brought down in the penalty area, setting up a goal by Carli Lloyd on a penalty kick midway through the first half.

    • Binghamton High graduate Bridget Orchard earned her 700th victory as a college softball coach last week. Orchard, in her 16th season at Fordham University, reached the milestone April 2 in a 7-0 victory over St. Joseph's in the first game of an Atlantic 10 doubleheader. She began her career with 129 wins over four seasons at Division III Cabrini College.

    • Ole Miss quarterback Chad Kelly had surgery performed on the wrist of his throwing arm and won't be able to throw for three months according to multiple reports Tuesday. Kelly the NYSSWA Class AA player of the year out of St. Joe's, was diagnosed with acute rupture of a ligament between two bones in the wrist.

   Coming up: The New York State Sportswriters Association will announce its boys basketball all-state selections in Classes B, C and D on Wednesday at 10 a.m.