Thursday C&C SportsROC Report
The Rochester Red Wings downed the Indianapolis Indians, 5-2, on Thursday night to move into a flat-footed tie with Scranton/Wiles-Barre for first place in the International League North Division. Both teams have 30-24 records.
The Wings took a 1-0 lead in the second when John Ryan Murphy ripped a 2-out double and came home on Wilfredo tovar’s single. The Tribe tied the game in the home half.
Rochester took the lead for good with 3 runs in the fourth. Tommy Field and Buck Britton both singled. Adam Brett Walker walked to load the bases. Murphy lofted a sacrifice fly to left, scoring Field. Tovar singled home Britton, and James Beresford singled to reload the bases with one out. Jorge Polanco delivered a sacrifice fly to left to plate Walker.
Eddie Rosario smashed a solo homer in the fifth for the Wings final run.
The victory also broke the all-time series record tie as the Red Wings now hold a 75-74 slate against the Indians since Indianapolis rejoined the IL in 1998.
The Minnesota Twins signed OF Logan Schafer and assigned him to Rochester on Thursday.
Byron Buxton, recently promoted to Minnesota on May 31, has received the most votes among International League players and James Beresford has also received the most votes among IL second basemen as of 12 p.m., the league office announced Thursday.
Other players in the top five of their respective positions are J.T. Chargois (3rd, RP), Jason Wheeler (3rd, SP), Wilfredo Tovar (4th, SS), Kennys Vargas (4th, 1B), Adam Brett Walker (5th, DH) and Jose Berrios (5th, SP).
The fan vote will count as one-third (33%) of a player’s total and will be added to the votes of media (33%) and Triple-A field/general managers (33%) to select the starting players. Voting ends at 11:59 p.m. ET on June 24.
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Greece native, and former Hilton student, Ryan Callahan has been named a member of the USA World Cup roster on Wednesday by General Manager Dean Lombardi of the Los Angeles Kings, and USA Hockey.
Callahan, a forward for the Tampa Bay Lightning, was selected for his grinding play up front.
Former Rochester Americans coach, and head coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets, John Tortorella will be the head coach of Team USA.
Lombardi was quick to point to the Chicago Blackhawks’ Patrick Kane, Minnesota Wild’s Zach Parise, and San Jose Sharks’ Joe Pavelski as the offensive talent that should mesh with the toughness of Callahan, Columbus Blue Jackets forward Brandon Dubinsky, St. Louis Blues captain David Backes, and Anaheim Ducks center Ryan Kesler.
Lombardi and fellow USA Hockey management members Paul Holmgren and Brian Burke like a certain amount of size and toughness on their teams, so they knew this team would have a certain MO. Hiring Tortorella cemented that, and the final roster meetings in Colorado included a lot of the coach’s input.
“If you’re going to pull it together quickly, it’s very clear what your roles are,” Lombardi said. “You don’t have time for players to figure that out. That’s what a player wants. He wants to know his role, then he’ll fit into your team concept.”
With a focus on NHL-sized ice and Canada as the target, Lombardi hopes he put together the right mix to win it all in Toronto this fall.
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The Rochester Rattlers won their second straight home game with a 13-9 victory over the first place Ohio Machine on Thursday night at Wegman’s Sports Complex at Aquinas Institute.
The Rattlers are 2-3 as the Machine dropped to 4-2.
Ned Crotty paced Rochester with 6 points on 2 goals and 4 assists. Jeremy Boltus tallied 4 goals as Jordan Wolf collected 2 goals and 2 assists. John Ranagan contributeded 2 goals and 1 assist as Kip Orban and Jordan MacIntosh added 1 goal apiece.
Goalie John Galloway recorded 21 saves in earning the victory.
Rattlers head coach and general manager Tim Soudan recently named John Galloway, Joel White, Jordan MacIntosh, and John Ranagan team captains for the 2016 season.
The Rattlers hit the road for their next 3 games before returning to Aquinas on July 2, to take on the Boston Cannons at 5 p.m.
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The Western New York Flash announced Rob Ferguson as the club’s Director of Coaching on Thursday. Ferguson comes to the Flash after serving as Huston-Tillotson University’s head coach for the men’s and women’s soccer teams from 2014 to 2015. Ferguson was previously with Lonestar Soccer Club, based in Austin, Texas, as the club’s Executive Director of Business and Head Coach from 2008 to 2015, where he played an instrumental part in the club’s development.
“I feel privileged and excited to be joining the WNY Flash, and have been impressed from the beginning of the professionalism and vision presented by Alex, Aaran and the entire Flash organization “, said Ferguson. “The opportunity to be joining one of the nation’s most established professional clubs and steer the Academy towards a vision to develop Western New York youth soccer was too greater an opportunity to pass up.”
With the WNY Flash Academy being recently admitted into the Elite Clubs National League (ECNL) and the announcement of U.S. Soccer’s new girls’ development academy, the Flash know Ferguson has the necessary experiences to push the Flash Academy to the next level.
“We are thrilled to be announcing the addition of Rob to our club,” raved WNY Flash Vice President Aaran Lines. “He is an asset on and off the field with outstanding credentials, abilities and great vision and leadership to take this club to the next level in our first year in the ECNL. His experience at the Lonestar ECNL and DA will be incredibly beneficial to not only the WNY Flash Academy, but to the WNY and surrounding areas to grow the Flash into a Northeast powerhouse for years to come.”
The Flash is focused on developing youth talent with the goal of becoming a pipeline to its professional team. With so many programs emerging focused on youth development and the WNY Flash Academy eagerly joining those programs, Ferguson believes it is “an exciting time to be a soccer player in Western New York.”
“I have seen firsthand the opportunities within a club that offers the ECNL, the U.S. Soccer Development Academy, and U.S. Youth Soccer programs,” Ferguson continued. “With such great player opportunity, comes great responsibility for us as an organization. We are focused on providing opportunities to young players of all ages and abilities and to providing a clear pathway for their development and progression through the levels of play.”
The Western New York Flash look to continue their scoring momentum at home as they take on Alex Morgan and the Orlando Pride on Saturday, June 11, at 7 p.m. at Rochester Rhinos Stadium.