Roundup by CHRIS BROOKS, sports editor, wellsvillesports.com
WELLSVILLE — A Saturday afternoon at the ballpark for the Lions of Wellsville was nothing short of extraordinary. Hosting visiting Addison, the Lions went all-in on a fast start in their first round of at-bats and cashed in, scoring an early 5-0 lead on the Knights that they never looked back from, building upon it until the game closed up in the fifth in what was a 13-0 win.
“This was a really complete and well-rounded victory for us to get,” said Lions coach Tom Delahunt. “Once again, we had some excellent pitching really set things up for us, and we played tremendous defense behind our staff. We really fed off of that by hitting the ball really well, and we were aggressive on the bases.”
Cooper Brockway and Logan Dunbar, who made his first pitching appearance of the season for the Lions (8-6), combined to hold Addison to a four-hit shutout, with Brockway pitching a superb game behind three strikeouts and one walk, while Dunbar handed out a pair of chairs himself in relief.
In turn, the Wellsville offense came together for a nine-hit outing at the plate, with three different Lions scoring at least a pair of hits, using the momentum to get the start they wanted right from the gate, scratching across five early runs in the bottom of the first to ultimately set the tone against the Knights for the remainder of the day.
Aidan Riley led the bats with a perfect 3-for-3 outing, driving in a run and scoring twice. Dunbar drove in a run off two hits, and scored two more runs, while Cody Costello helped the cause with a pair of knocks including a double, driving in one and scoring three times.
The RBI train continued rolling down the tracks with Alex Green knocking in a pair of runs off a single.
On Monday, the Lions will look for their fourth straight victory, as they start back-to-back games beginning on Monday over the road with a 5 p.m. trip to Olean to visit the Huskies.
In the JV game, Wellsville won, 17-1 over Addison in a game stopped after five innings.
Trent Green hit for the rare cycle, blasting a home run in the first inning, a triple in the second innings, a double in the third inning and with the hard stuff out of the way, singled in the fourth.
Green finished 4-for-4 with 6 RBI’s and three runs.
Also for the Wellsville JV’s, Bryce Rahr was 2-for-2 with a double and four runs scored, Karson Grover scored three times and had a triple and three hits, Kory Nurse and Kam Dodge had hits, Gavin Haggerty had a RBI, Louie Griggs belted a RBI triple, Cameron Lyons had a hit and a run, Brody Heaney had two hits and two stolen bases and Austin Jones had a RBI single, stole a base and scored.
Green also picked up the win on the mound for the JV team, tossing a 2-hit shutout with seven strikeouts.
Addison 000 00 – 0 4 4
Wellsville 523 3X – 13 9 0
ADD – Camden Mahnke (LP) (4K, 4BB), Aidyn O’Berther (3) (3K, 2BB), Trent Watson (5) (K), and Jacob Howe.
WLSV – Cooper Brockway (WP) (3K, BB), Logan Dunbar (5) (2K), and Alex Green, Cody Costello (4).
B-R Tourney: Wolverines capture 2nd straight crown behind Danaher’s no-no
BOLIVAR — The tournament began 24 hours ago in the midst of a rainy night in Bolivar.
The host Wolverines would kick off the action with Oswayo Valley in a game that saw the offense came alive to secure a Championship game vacancy the next day. All that was left to do, was wait, with the other first round matchup between Cuba-Rushford and Honeoye being moved to Saturday morning.
In that first round battle, both the Bulldogs and Rebels broke loose in the early-going, each navigating their way towards an early first inning tie before Honeoye jumped out front. The momentum would eventually continue to swing Honeoye’s way, as they went on to score the next five runs before Cuba-Rushford provided a late push in the end, holding on to secure the 8-4 victory.
“We just couldn’t find that hit to break the ice against Honeoye,” said Rebels coach Pat Wight. “Honeoye had a big hit from (Evan) Cuba that really saw them stretch their lead. Credit to the guys, they made one last effort in the end to try and cut away at the deficit, but that triple took the wind out of our sails.”
Before Honeoye was able to tie the game in the home half on the scoreboard, Cuba-Rushford was able to grab the game’s first lead with some help from Jack Frank and his RBI single to score Noah Siegel, ending the first inning in a 1-1 tie.
From that point forward, the Bulldogs saw their offense come to life with seven straight runs coming across the plate, two off the bat of Evan Cuba, who blasted a crushing triple to the outfield, branching their lead to 8-1 before the Rebels applied some late pressure down the home stretch.
In the seventh, the frame was opened up by Finn Ricketts and Austin Clement, both going back-to-back with RBI doubles to cut their deficit in half. But the Rebels would run out of time in the end, as Honeoye secured their spot in the Championship game later in the day.
The Rebels collected four runs off five hits, with Ricketts earning three of them and a run scored.
The loss to the Bulldogs would see Cuba-Rushford drop down into the Consolation game of the tournament, where they would ultimately seek redemption against Oswayo Valley, as they posted a big seven-run frame to jump ahead of the Green Wave and towards a 9-4 victory to officially split their tenure.
“Eli looked good in his first career start for us, and he ended up helping us get the win. The defense played well behind him, and we swung the bats much better.” said Wight.
Game two was a different story for Cuba-Rushford (5-8) this time around, as they overcame an early deficit against Oswayo Valley with a big run through the fifth inning, busting the game wide open with a seven-run frame that was highlighted by their legs around the bases through multiple walks issued by the Green Wave.
The Rebels posted nine runs on seven hits, with Logan Lewis and Caleb Root leading the way with a pair and two RBI, with Root earning a double. On the mound, the win was given to Jon White in relief, fanning one and walking one after he took over for Eli Sleggs, who provided a strong first career start with five strikeouts and two walks.
The early happenings would set the table for Honeoye and Bolivar-Richburg to duke it out for this year’s crown.
Despite having to wait nearly 24 hours to step back onto the field, the Wolverines made sure they didn’t lose a beat. With Landon Danaher in complete command of his game on the rubber, Bolivar-Richburg would stroll their way towards a second straight tournament championship, as they shut down the Bulldogs completely behind his no-hit performance in their 11-0 triumph.
“Landon was outstanding today the entire way. He gave us his best game of the season, and stayed ahead of the count. Once again, our bats were absolutely solid. All in all, this was a total team win to have.” said Wolverines coach Dustin Allen.
Danaher was in shutdown mode for the Wolverines (12-1), as he went the distance to supply a 10-strikeout afternoon to set the tone on defense. As for the offense, they strolled towards a 12-hit spully chain, scoring at least a pair of runs in each of the four innings before the game came to a close after five.
Four different Wolverines collected a pair of hits at the plate to propel the offense to big heights, with Reiss Gaines collecting an immaculate 3-for-3 outing to lead the pack. Danaher, along with Trey Buchholz and Ethan Childs all had two hits each to add in, while Cam MacDonell had a double. Of their hits, Danaher and Childs both recorded triples.
Both Cuba-Rushford and Bolivar-Richburg are back in action Monday night on their home fields, with the Rebels welcoming in Canisteo-Greenwood/Jasper-Troupsburg for a 5:15 p.m. first pitch, while the Wolverines host Andover/Whitesville in a 7 p.m. battle under the lights.
First Round
Cuba-Rushford 100 001 2 – 4 5 4
Honeoye 120 230 X – 8 3 2
C-R – Jack Frank (LP) (9BB), Austin Pinney (5) (3BB), and Logan Lewis.
HON – Henry Covey (WP) (3K, 3BB), Sheyenne Lead (4) (3BB), Charles Farrell (6) (BB), and Lewis.
Consolation
Cuba-Rushford 200 070 0 – 9 7 4
Oswayo Valley 022 000 0 – 4 5 2
C-R – Eli Sleggs (5K, 2BB), Jon White (WP, 5) (K, BB), and Logan Lewis.
OV – Nikolas Bonney (LP) (3BB), Cayden Black (6) (3BB), Caiden Goode (7) (3BB), and Ian Bilski.
Championship
Honeoye 000 00 – 0 0 3
Bolivar-Richburg 324 2X – 11 12 0
HON – Samuel Clark (LP) (3BB), Sheyenne Lead (3) (2K), and John Gawel.
B-R – Landon Danaher (WP) (CG, 10K), and Aydin Sisson.
Genesee Valley/Belfast 8, Alfred-Almond 2
ALMOND — A road trip to Almond was made for the JagDogs of Genesee Valley/Belfast on Saturday, and it was one that they would wind up coming home victorious, as they took down the host Alfred-Almond Eagles by an 8-2 count to collect their sixth win in the last eight games.
Stats and a complete box score were not made available to report.
The JagDogs (6-8) are back in action with another road trip on Tuesday, visiting Cuba-Rushford at 5 p.m.
