Jesus Lujano delivered a walk-off victory for the second straight night on Saturday, doubling to right-center with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning as the Tri-City ValleyCats rallied from a six-run deficit for a 7-6 win over the Windy City Thunderbolts at Joseph L. Bruno Stadium in Troy.
Windy City started hot, taking a 6-0 lead after three innings, but the ValleyCats stormed back with four runs in the fifth, then tied it on Juan Silverio’s two-run home run in the eighth.
In the ninth, Pavin Parks led off with a double, but Carson McCusker lined out and Parks was doubled off second. However, Jonah Girard followed with a double of his own and Brantley Bell reached on an error to set the table for Lujano, who connected on the game-winning hit for the second straight night.
Lujano finished the night 3 for 5, having also connected on a two-run double during Tri-City’s four-run fifth. Parks was 3 for 4. ValleyCats manager Pete Incaviglia was ejected from the game in the second inning.
EMPIRE POSTPONED
Due to weather conditions in Florida, the Jacksonville Sharks were unable to take the field for Saturday’s game against the Albany Empire at MVP Arena.
The game has been rescheduled for 5 p.m. Sunday in Albany. All purchased tickets will be honored or refunded, and all fans attending Sunday’s game will receive a ticket to an additional regular season game this year.
CHAMBERLAIN NAMED UNION SWIMMING AND DIVING COACH
Molly Chamberlain, a former Siena College standout, was recently named the new head coach of the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams at Union College.
Most recently, Chamberlain spent four years as an assistant coach at Yale. Prior to that, Chamberlain spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Sacred Heart and four seasons as a volunteer coach at Siena.
A 2011 Siena graduate, Chamberlain spent three years on the swimming team and four years on the water polo team at Siena. She still holds three individual school records at the school in the 100 free, 200 free and 500 free, all of which came during the 2009-10 season in which she was named team MVP, and is a part of the school-record 200 free, 400 free and 200 medley relays.
RPI’S MEDNIKOVA NAMED TOP PLAYER
RPI junior Alex Mednikova was recently named the Liberty League Player of the Year, as she became the first-ever RPI women’s tennis player to earn that honor.
Mednikova was also a first-team selection in both singles and doubles, while teammate Rani Jones was a first-team selection in doubles and second-team pick in singles.
As RPI’s No. 1 in singles, Mednikova boasts a 21-6 record, including 15-5 in dual matches and 6-1 in tournaments. She leads the conference in overall wins (21) and wins at No. 1 singles (15). The second-ranked player in the NCAA Region II ranking and 19th in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Northeast Region, she was selected to compete in the NCAA championship as an individual, which is also a first for the program.
Mednikova was a singles performer of the week in the Liberty League on four occasions, and teamed with Jones to earn the doubles honor four more times. Mednikova and Jones earned qualification to the national tournament and are 18-5 overall, which leads the conference in victories.
In singles, Jones, who captains the squad with Mednikova, went 14-8 while playing Nos. 2 (3-2), 3 (5-5) and 4 (1-0).
Mednikova and Jones will represent the Engineers in the NCAA tournament at the United States Tennis Association (USTA) National Campus in Orlando, Florida, from May 27-29.
SIENA’S FITZMAURICE NAMED SECOND TEAM ALL-REGION
Siena softball senior Ava Fitzmaurice was named to the NFCA Great Lakes Region Second Team as a utility/pitcher
Fitzmaurice is only the third Saint ever and first since 2012 to garner a second-team all-region nod, and became the sixth Siena player overall to pick up a Great Lakes All-Region Nod, joining Carrie Getz (2003), Sarah Rose (2005), Shannon Jones (2012), Madysen Cossack (2017, 2019) and current Siena assistant Isabelle DeChiaro (2021).
For a Siena team that made it to the MAAC championship, Fitzmaurice ranked second on the team with 55 hits, while adding 12 doubles, a team-leading three triples and three home runs. She batted in a team-best 32 RBIs.
As a pitcher, Fitzmaurice held a 10-7 record and a 3.34 ERA over 30 appearances and 109 innings pitched, tossing seven complete games and two shutouts, and leading the team with four saves. She recorded 60 strikeouts.
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