Rochester, NY – August 30, 2009 – For Immediate Release – The ’99 Cleveland Junior Lumberjacks kicked off their 2009-2010 season by capturing the Silver Bracket Championship at the Annual Rochester Americans Preseason Invitational held August 28th thru August 30th.  The Jacks made a strong showing, posting a 5-1 overall record in the tournament and narrowly missing out on the Gold Bracket Playoffs by virtue of a tiebreaker with the Mercer, NJ Chiefs.

The boys defeated the Pittsbugh Hornets 6-1 and then the Springfield Pics 8-1.  On Saturday, the Jacks suffered their first loss of the season 5-0 to eventual Gold Bracket runners up, Bay State Breakers, but they rebounded in the afternoon with a 6-4 win over the Buffalo Regals.  Their 3-1 round robin record earned them the No. 1 seed in the Silver Bracket Playoffs and this momentum carried them to a 4-2 victory in the morning semi-final against Assabey Valley (MA) Patriots.

The championship stage was set for a possible matchup with city rival Cleveland Barons but the Barons could not put away the fiesty Buffalo Regals and the Regals took this game 4-3 in an overtime shootout to set up a rematch with our Jacks.  The Jacks came out with fire and intensity and dominated the Regals enroute to a 5-0 victory to take the Silver Bracket Championship.

“There is no doubt we have lots to learn but, WOW, have they come a long way.  Most importantly, win or lose, these kids really enjoy being together”, said Jacks Coach Bill Menges during his post-game interview.

Congratulations are in order for Rick Vinal’s Syracuse Nationals team, who won the Gold Bracket Championship 5-3 over the Bay State Breakers.  Overall, it was a strong weekend for all the Empire West League teams.  Of the 12 teams in the tournament, 4 teams represented the Empire West and 3 of these 4 teams (Syracuse, Cleveland Jr. Jacks and Buffalo Regals) made the championship games and the host team, Rochester Americans, made the Gold Bracket semi-finals.

The Jacks will continue their practice regimen as they gear up for two more games against the Buffalo Regals on September 12th.