WATERTOWN, New York (WWNY) – The Watertown Rapids played at the Alex T. Duffy Fairgrounds Friday night as they hosted the Geneva Red Wings.
The Rapids looking for their 4th straight win as they hosted Geneva for the only time this season.
At the top of the 1st, Geneva got on the board when Branden Myers dropped a base hit in front of the right fielder. Phillip Bernstein comes in to score to make it 1-0 Geneva.
At the bottom of the 1st, the Rapids tie it up when Thomas McCaffrey lofts a sacrifice fly to right field. Tony Santa Maria tags and scores from 3rd, knotting the game at 1.
At the bottom of the 3rd, the Rapids take the lead when Dixon Black hits a dribbler to the pitcher that’s thrown away. That allows Santa Maria to come around all the way from 2nd to score, giving Watertown a 2-1 lead.
Geneva would tie it up, but Watertown regains the lead when Santa Maria hits a blooper to right that falls for a base hit. Dylan Broderick advances to 3rd and scores on an errant throw to put the Rapids on top 3-2.
T.I. and LaFargeville product Owen Parliment got the start for the Rapids and was impressive. He went 4 innings, giving up 1 run on 3 hits while walking 2 and striking out 3.
The Rapids go on to win 5-4 in 10 innings.
The William I. Graf award was created in 1954 by the Italian American Civic Association to honor Mr. Graf’s association with Watertown High School sports. He coached a number of sports at Watertown and also served as Athletic Director.
The Northern New York Community Foundation is the caretaker of the award now. Two Watertown student athletes were honored this year with the Graf Award.
Sarah Kilburn won the women’s honor. She was an accomplished 3 sport athlete, competing for 5 years in varsity lacrosse and swimming and 4 years in varsity volleyball. She was also a 5 year Frontier League Scholar Athlete.
She’s headed to Canisius on a lacrosse scholarship.
Riley Connell was a standout 2 sport athlete, competing for 3 years in varsity lacrosse and varsity soccer. He was a 3 year Frontier League Scholar Athlete.
Riley will attend SUNY Geneseo this fall.
Both reflected on their athletic careers at Watertown. You can hear what they had to say in the video above.
These Graf Award winners are exceptional student-athletes.
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