WATERTOWN, New York (WWNY) – The Watertown Rapids played a Sunday afternoon contest at Toyota Field, hosting the Oneonta Outlaws in PGCBL action.
The Rapids looked to rebound from a doubleheader loss to Mohawk Valley Saturday night 8-5 and 6-5.
At the bottom of the 1st, the Rapids were looking to get on the board when David McCann singles to left field. Jax Miller slips coming around 3rd and is gunned down and the game is still scoreless.
At the top of the 2nd, Onoenta takes the lead as Anthony Barone goes the other way., singling to right. Jack Hopko comes in to score: 1-0 Outlaws.
At the top of the 3rd, Beaver River product and Rapids starter Jonah Shearer gets the strikeout.
The Rapids would fall to Oneonta by a final score of 5-3.
The Watertown Red and Black moved to 5-2 in Gridiron Developmental Football League action and 6-2 overall Saturday night with a 41-7 win over the Troy Fighting Irish at George Ashcraft Field.
Quarterback Shawn Johnson threw 4 touchdown passes and Cory Smith ran for a touchdown and returned 2 interceptions for touchdowns.
Those names are new to Red and Black fans, and Red and Black Coach George Ashcraft says the team’s success so far this season is because backup players and new players have stepped up and filled key roles on the team in 2023.
”We’ve had a lot of people miss games and it hasn’t really, truly, with the athleticism that we have, the men that are taking other roles in games, it’s just come together so you can’t ask for it to be any better. The people that are in supposedly backup roles have taken that next step and they’ve produced. Good leadership all the way around. The attitude is still great. We’ve had a good veteran backing from players and the new players have just come right in and just fit the bill right along with them. It’s nice to be on the sidelines and see that happening,” said Ashcraft.
It’s an incredible achievement for a first year team.
The Thousand Islands Spirits will host the North American Box Lacrosse League Championship game Sunday, July 30th at 3 p.m. at the Town of Alexandria Municipal Arena.
The Spirits will be riding a 7 game win streak after beating the Utica Yeti 22-13 on Friday night to improve to 7-2 on the season.
Spirits Owner and General Manager Nate Jobson says a lot of people have played a key role in the team’s success.
”You know, a lot of hard work by coaches, so many volunteers, the community has helped us a lot, sponsors. None of it could happen without them. We’ve had so much support and that’s really what has gotten us to where we are. So, it’s exciting that we get to host right there in the Bay,” said Jobson.
The Thousand Islands Softball Challenge wrapped up Sunday with championship games taking place.
The 3 day event, which completed it’s 20th year, was not only a success on the diamond but off the field as well, providing a big economic impact to the area.
Tournament Director Christopher Tehonica says with a number of families making the trek to the North Country for the weekend, businesses benefitted from the tournament.
”This week alone, if you do the math, the kids and the parents- each family will spend $400 . If you’ve got 1,000 kids that’s $400,000 this is bringing in to the City of Watertown geographical area because the hotels are here. All the hotels are booked, the restaurants are full, and I was surprised last night because I thought most of the people would come up today. But you had a lot of people booking hotel rooms last night on Thursday for Thursday, Friday and Saturday,” said Tehonica.
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