Scholastic Baseball

Western New York got the ball rolling in baseball with victories over Adirondack and New York City to sweep their first two contests Thursday at the Empire State Games.

Shortstop Chris Bostic went 3-for-4 with two RBI to pace Western to a 7-6 opening round win over Adirondack.  Zack Lauricella, Trey Pascazi, Vinny Bomasuto III and Zachary Lander each had two hits for Western.  Lauricella also drove in a pair of runs.

Adirondack led 4-0 after two innings and were clinging to a one-run lead before Western move ahead for good with three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Sean Larson picked up the win for Western in the opener.

In the nightcap, Bostic again paced the offense by going 2-for-2 at the plate and driving in a game-high four runs as Western won easily over NYC, 11-3.

Lauricella also kept a hot bat, picking up two more hits and driving in another pair of runs.  Ron Pierce picked up the victory in the nightcap.

Western has another double-header scheduled for Friday; a 10am contest against Long Island and will hit the field again at 4pm versus Hudson Valley.

All baseball games are played at the Erie Community College North campus in Amherst.

Western New York hasn’t won a gold medal in baseball since 2004, the last of three consecutive gold medals.

Women’s Scholastic Hockey

Julianna Iafallo scored a pair of goals while Erika Bronk had a pair of assists as Western New York had no problems in their opening 5-0 shutout over Hudson Valley at the Amherst Ice Facility.

Julia Ditondo and Susan Allen combined for the shutout, stopping all 10 Hudson Valley shots.

Western, which last took the gold in women’s scholastic hockey in 2004, next takes on Central Friday at 11:30am and plays against versus New York City at 3pm.

Men’s Scholastic Hockey

Western New York trailed Long Island, 2-1 at the end of the first period before scoring three unanswered goals to close the game and take a 4-2 victory Thursday at the Amherst Ice Facility.

Bryan Komasara, Joshua Kielich and Alexander Iafallo scored for Western after spotting the early lead.  Kielich and Iafallo each added an assist.

Paul Berrafato had 25 saves in net for Western, who face New York City next at 5pm on Friday.

The typically dominant Western squad is looking to regain the gold medal back from Central, who ended Western’s eight-year run as Empire State Game champions when the games were last played in 2008.

Central opened up play Thursday with a 6-0 shutout of Adirondack.

Women’s Open Bowling

Heather Derrico (Rochester) became the first Western New York individual to capture a 2010 Empire State Games gold medal, bowling a 836 set to comfortably take home the top prize at Transit Lanes in Williamsville.

Helen Waite of Adirondack captured the silver with a 774 while Long Island’s Adrienne Oshman took bronze with a 745.

Men’s Open Bowling

The team of Bill Stoddard, Nicholas Secours and Scott Dingman won a gold medal in the men’s bowling trio final by rolling a set of 2,411 Thursday at Transit Lanes.

For a complete list of results from all sports on Thursday, make sure to check out the official Empire State Games website.