Author: Jonathon Norcross

VANCOUVER, CANADA — Jackson Hornung, a Skidmore College alum who plays in the Toronto Blue Jays’ minor league baseball system, was named to the Northwest League All-Star Team last week.

In his first full season with the Vancouver Canadians, Toronto’s High-A affiliate, Hornung led the team with 105 hits in 112 games. He also had 27 multi-hit games, a team high for the season. He finished the year with a .714 OPS, 25 doubles, 6 homers, and 47 RBI. Usually a catcher, Hornung also saw playing time at first base, left field, and designated hitter. 

Hornung was selected in the 16th round (484th pick) of the 2023 MLB Draft by the Blue Jays. He was the first Skidmore alum to be drafted by a professional team.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — The annual Strides for CJD Awareness and Fundraising Walk on Oct. 5 hopes to spread the word about Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD), a rare brain disorder that can cause dementia-like symptoms.

The event’s organizer, Darlene Chorman, an associate broker at Roohan Realty, lost her father Charles Hildenbrand to CJD nearly three decades ago.

“The medical community is still not as aware of this disease, and it goes undiagnosed too frequently,” Chorman told Saratoga TODAY. “My dad was hospitalized several times by different doctors who made diagnoses that were wrong, so this is why I work every year to raise funds for awareness, support the families affected, and in memory of my dad.”

According to the Mayo Clinic, symptoms of CJD can be similar to those of Alzheimer’s, but CJD usually gets worse much faster and leads to death. The clinic estimates that 1 to 2 cases of CJD are diagnosed per million people worldwide each year. But Chorman suspects that rates might be higher than reported because CJD can often go undiagnosed, and if the disease isn’t listed on a death certificate as a cause of death, it isn’t calculated into the stats.

“Over and over, when I talk to people even in the medical community, they don’t know about it,” Chorman said. “It’s not on their radar, they weren’t really educated on it.”

Chorman said that when her father was diagnosed 27 years ago, the only diagnostic test available to confirm the disease was a brain biopsy, which was considered a risky procedure because hospitals didn’t have an effective way to sterilize equipment that came into contact with infectious tissue.

Since then, sterilization, a spinal tap procedure, and, most recently, a pharmaceutical trial by Ionis, have all become significant breakthroughs in the treatment of CJD. 

“These are all advancements since my dad died from this,” Chorman said, “and the CJD Foundation has been instrumental in raising funds to educate the medical community.”

The Strides for CJD Awareness and Fundraising Walk is on Oct. 5 at the Veterans Memorial Park on Adams Road off of Geyser Road.

NOTE: This article was changed to make clear that the brain biopsy was a diagnostic test, not a “treatment” as originally stated.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Saratoga Racers, an American Basketball Association (ABA) team, unveiled the schedule for its debut season last week. Season tickets, which cost $50, recently went on sale as well.

The regular season schedule, while still tentative, includes home games against Poughkeepsie’s New York Lights, the Albany 518 Ballers, Buffalo Xtreme, and Binghamton Bulldogs. The team is also working on scheduling a special event for Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend. Exact locations for each game will be announced closer to the dates.

Saratoga Racers 2024-2025 Schedule 

October 8 — Saratoga Racers at Redemption, 5:30 p.m. at Sage College (exhibition game) 

October 19 — Saratoga Racers at Word of Life, 7 p.m. (exhibition game)

October 27 — Connecticut Flyerz at Saratoga Racers, 3 p.m.

November 2 — New York Lights at Saratoga Racers, 7 p.m.

November 3 — Herkimer Originals at Saratoga Racers, 3 p.m.

November 16 — Saratoga Racers at Rochester Royals, 7 p.m.

November 23 — Saratoga Racers at Binghamton Bulldogs, 7 p.m.

December 1 — Saratoga Racers at Herkimer Originals, 3 p.m.

December 7 — Connecticut Surge at Saratoga Racers, 7 p.m. 

December 14 — Albany 518 Ballers at Saratoga Racers, 7 p.m. 

December 28 — Saratoga Racers at Buffalo Xtreme, 7 p.m.

January 4 — Saratoga Racers at Herkimer Originals, 7 p.m.

January 5 — Bennington Martens at Saratoga Racers, 3 p.m.

January 18 — Buffalo Xtreme at Saratoga Racers, 7 p.m.

January 19 — Rochester Royals at Saratoga Racers, 3 p.m.

January 25 — Herkimer Originals at Saratoga Racers, 7 p.m. 

February 1 — Saratoga Racers at 518 Ballers, 7 p.m.

February 2 — Saratoga Racers at Bennington Martens, 3 p.m.

February 8 — Saratoga Racers at New York Lights, 7 p.m.

February 16 — Binghamton Bulldogs at Saratoga Racers, 3 p.m.  

February 22 — Saratoga Racers at Connecticut Surge, 7 p.m.