Monday C&C SportsROC Report
Rochester Red Wings extended their lead in the International League North Division with a 6-2 victory over the Buffalo Bisons before 5,591 fans at Frontier Field on Monday night.
The Red Wings (33-25) lead the Bisons (31-26) by 1.5 games and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (31-27) by 2 games. Rochester also now has the best record in the IL by half a game after the Columbus Clippers (32-25) lost on Monday night.
The Red Wings got on the scoreboard first in the second inning as Eddie Rosario continued his hot streak with a single. He stole second and took third on Wilfredo Tovar’s single. Adam Brett Walker drove him home with a sacrifice fly.
Rochester started off the third frame with 3 consecutive hits against Bisons hurler Drew Hutchinson. James Beresford and Jorge Polanco sandwiched singles around a ground rule double by Logan Schafer. Polanco’s hit drove in Beresford. Rosario plated Schafer with a sacrifice fly for the 3-0 lead.
The Wings made it 4-0 with an unearned run in the fourth. Adam Brett Walker led off and reached second on a throwing error by the Buffalo third baseman. John Ryan Murphy followed with a RBI hit to right.
The Bisons Casey Kotchman homered in the fifth, but the Wings got that back by a solo blast from Logan Schafer in the sixth.
Kotchman belted his second home run over the right field fence in the 7th to cut the deficit to 5-2.
Rochester answered right back in the home half as Tommy Field led off with a double, and scampered home on a 2-out double by Murphy, his first multi-hit game of the season.
*NOTES — The Red Wings gained sole possession of first place in the North Division for the first time this season with the victory on Sunday over Louisville…Rochester (32-25) entered Monday’s game just a half game behind the Columbus Clippers (32-24) for the overall best record in the IL…The Red Wings have hit 28 home runs, or 63.6% of their season total of 44, over the last 21 games since May 14 vs. Syracuse…Rochester leads the IL in triples with 21 as Jorge Polanco and Max Kepler have combined for 11 three-baggers. Indianapolis is next with 18 triples, but 9 teams have 11 or fewer triples to date.
___________
The Rochester Americans announced on Monday that the team has named Chuck Weber and Brad Tapper as the assistant coaches on Head Coach Dan Lambert’s staff.
Weber returns to Rochester for his second stint with the Amerks after serving as the team’s head coach during the 2010-11 season. Prior to joining the Amerks, Weber spent four seasons (2006-10) as Vice President of Hockey Operations and Head Coach of the ECHL’s Cincinnati Cyclones, where he guided the team to Kelly Cup championships in 2008 and 2010 while compiling a regular season record of 177-92-19. A native of Lockport, New York, Weber won 45 postseason games in his four seasons, the most by an ECHL coach in a 4-year period. In 2007-08, Weber was named the ECHL Coach of the Year.
After guiding Rochester to a 31-39-0-10 record in 2010-11, Weber continued as head coach, and later as associate coach and director of hockey operations, with the AHL’s San Antonio Rampage from 2011 to 2014. Prior to joining Cincinnati as head coach in 2006, Weber served as an assistant coach and assistant director of hockey operations with the Utah Grizzlies (ECHL).
Weber began his coaching career during the 1999-00 season as an assistant with the Orlando Solar Bears (IHL). In his second season (2000-01) as an assistant coach, he was part of the Turner Cup championship team in the league’s final season. The following year (2001-02), Weber was the assistant coach with Trenton (ECHL), and in 2002-03, Weber served as an assistant coach with the Milwaukee Admirals (AHL). He has also had coaching stints in Russia’s KHL and in Great Britain.
Tapper spent the past two seasons as an assistant coach with the AHL’s Chicago Wolves, helping lead the club to a postseason appearance in 2014-15. Prior to joining Chicago, Tapper served as an assistant coach with the ECHL’s Florida Everblades from 2011 to 2013, and with the Orlando Solar Bears during the 2013-14 campaign. In 2012, Tapper helped guide Florida to the ECHL’s Kelly Cup Championship.
A native of Scarborough, Ontario, Tapper enjoyed a 9-year professional career as a player. He appeared in 71 career NHL games with the Atlanta Thrashers, recording 25 points (14+11) and 72 penalty minutes. He also registered 83 points (36+47) in 132 career AHL games with the Chicago Wolves and Binghamton Senators, and spent his rookie season with the IHL’s Orlando Solar Bears in 2000-01 where he won a Turner Cup Championship. He was then a part of Chicago’s Calder Cup-winning team in 2002. Tapper went on to spend his final three seasons in Germany. He also played three seasons of college hockey at RPI before beginning his pro career.
___________
The Buffalo Bills got the top pick for their 2016 draft class signed Monday as Shaq Lawson inked his rookie contract. Bills Insider Chris Brown provides the details. Here is his report:
The Bills have their top draft choice under contract. First-round pick Shaq Lawsonsigned his rookie deal with Buffalo on Monday. Lawson was glad to put contract negotiations with the Bills behind him.
“It felt great to finally get the deal done and be part of the Buffalo Bills,” Lawson told Buffalobills.com. “I’ve been waiting for this opportunity. It’s something I dreamt of as a kid-have a chance to play in the National Football League.”
Lawson is just a couple of weeks removed from shoulder surgery, which will cost him practice time on the field in the run-up to his rookie season this fall. The outside linebacker is staying engaged with the defensive playbook however, despite not being on the field.
“I’m still engaged in meetings and things like that,” said Lawson. “Engaged in practice and watching film. I continue to watch film like I’m still out there playing. I’m taking a lot of mental reps. I’m not physically able to do it, but a lot of mental reps. Seeing things with the older guys, things like that.”
Veteran players have been impressed with Lawson’s approach as a new professional.
“I expect big things from him. His mindset, he’s eager to come in and work,” said Manny Lawson of Buffalo’s top draft pick. “Even when we first met he was asking me questions and how I’ve remained in the league so long and things that he can do to better himself. So I expect big things out of him.”
The Clemson product is not expected to participate at training camp and is likely to miss some time at the beginning of the regular season as he moves through the stages of his rehabilitation.
With Lawson now signed, only fourth-round pick Cardale Jones remains unsigned from Buffalo’s 2016 draft class.