Leading off today: Donovan Welsh contributed seven goals and two assists as
Fayetteville-Manlius routed West Genesee 15-6 in a Class A boys lacrosse game Tuesday.
West Genesee is ranked fourth and F-M 18th in Class A this week. (Full rankings here.)
Goalie Ryan Boshart made eight saves and Zak Van Valkenburgh won 14 faceoffs in the victory, which avenged an 11-8 loss to the Wildcats on April 13. F-M was coming off a one-goal loss over the weekend to Victor, ranked No. 1 in Class B.
"Ecstatic," F-M coach Chris Kenneally told Syracuse.com. "Any time we are successful against the Gennys, it's something special. I've said this for years, they've set the standard of excellence over the last 40 years. When we get a 'W,' it's something special."
Weather worries: I've gone easy on highlighting previous-day results in recent blogs because there has been the usual volume of material to chose from. We experience some wet and windy weather at some juncture of the spring season every year, and we're in a prolonged period of problematic weather across a large slice of the state.
A good number of baseball and softball teams have squeezed in 10 or more games this year only because of April trips through Florida, South Carolina and/or Virginia. Others have not been so fortunate.
Buffalo City Honors is 3-1 in softball this spring and needs to squeeze in six more contests by May 15 to be eligible for the Section 6 tournament. However, the Centaurs play an independent schedule and will have trouble making up contests that have already been postponed because most of the opponents are obligated to make league schedules their top priority.
"They don't have to play us so it's getting a little scary," coach Deb Matos told The Buffalo News.
Baseball teams face the added challenge of juggling rotations to conform to pitch-count rules.
"There have been other seasons that were not very good, but nothing has been this bad with this many games canceled," Silver Creek coach Mike Janisch told The Observer. "There are a lot of games to be played in a very short time period. As far as teams with a lot of league games left to play, we are the worst one I believe. Other teams have played six or seven, but we have only played five and have seven to go."
Said Frank Jagoda of Dunkirk: "We are still searching for guys to step up for more than four or five outs. And the rain dates aren't going to help."
Wrestling rules approved: Wrestling's traditional one-piece singlet could soon have company on the mats for meets and tournaments.
An alternate two-piece uniform has been approved for next season by the National Federation of State High School Associations's wrestling rules committee at its meeting last month in Indianapolis. The two-piece uniform consists of compression shorts or shorts designed for wrestling and a form-fitted compression shirt.
In no small measure, the thought process behind the change was that the two-piece uniform will be more appealing to prospective wrestling competitors and boost participation. Schools that experimented with the new look reported favorable feedback, the NFHS said.
Other rules news:
• Rule 4-5-3 now prohibits any activities that promote weight change when an athlete misses weight on his or her
