The Wellsville softball team after the win over Hornell with their lone senior, Emma Dunaway.
By CHRIS BROOKS, managing editor, wellsvillesports.com
WELLSVILLE — Time was beginning to wind down in the regular season. On Monday, Emma Dunaway had one of her final moments in the sun for the Lady Lions of Wellsville.
With the sun beginning to set beyond the horizon, the lights at historic Tullar field flickered on, shining bright on the lone senior for the back-to-back defending Class B2 champions, as Dunaway was honored alongside her family, teammates and coaches for her many contributions towards propelling the program towards great success.
That includes this season, where she has provided the Lady Lions a major spark plug which allowed them to pick up where they left off from last year. With the Lady Red Raiders of Hornell in town for a second time in as many games, Dunaway would help celebrate an emotional and energetic night by using a method that the team has perfected in almost every way.
By swinging the bat.
From within the team’s 12-hit bonanza on offense, Dunaway was one of five different Lady Lions to post at least two hits during their tenure at the plate, as they broke away from a back-and-forth battle with Hornell early on with a massive fourth inning that allowed them to break through the floodgates soundly, working their way towards an 8-4 win to ensure that one of the her final regular season moments on Tullar Field would end on the highest of notes.
“Tonight it was nice to get a win on Senior night for Emma Dunaway. She has shown tremendous leadership this year, and she has been the spark at the top of our lineup that keeps us going,” said Lady Lions coach Matt Burke. “It’s very poetic that she was able to get two doubles tonight, because she has had an amazing offensive season for us and it continues.”
From left, mom Holly West, Emma Dunaway and Dad, Mike Dunaway
The Lady Lions (14-1) dueled with Hornell across the early stages of the contest, after both squads exchanged a pair of scoreless opening at-bats in the first inning. With a 2-2 deadlock waiting to be broken, the hosts in orange provided the night’s biggest response — a six-run fourth inning to branch their lead to a half dozen, paced by a massive two-run blast by Makenna Dunbar, her sixth of the season, to further distance themselves from Hornell’s grasp.
The visitors in red and blue remained vigilant however, and began to turn up the pressure against Wellsville late, cutting their deficit in half in the top of the fifth with a pair of runs. But from within the circle, Makenzie Cowburn and Makenna Dunbar managed to hold down the fort to end the night strongly, as Dunbar recorded a pair of strikeouts in the top of the seventh to shut the door on the Lady Red Raiders.
Cowburn would pick up the win across six innings of hard work, fanning eight Hornell batters.
“We had a great pitching outing from Makenzie and Makenna helped close the door. Makenna continues to swing a hot bat,” said Burke.
At the plate, Dunbar added in a triple to finish her two-hit evening, driving in three runs in all along the way. Brazen Beckwith and Sawyer Burke each recorded two hits, driving in a run while Lindsay Stuck also had two hits, including a double.
For Hornell, Jordyn Dyring posted a perfect 3-for-3 outing at the plate, driving a double and scoring an RBI. On the mound, Lillian Hoyt struck out three and walked three in her complete game.
Wellsville hits the road Wednesday night for a 5 p.m. visit up north to Our Lady of Mercy in Rochester.
Hornell 011 020 0 – 4 6 2
Wellsville 011 600 X – 8 12 2
HHS – Lillian Hoyt (LP) (CG, 3K, 3BB) and Ireland Harrison.
WLSV – Makenzie Cowburn (WP) (8K), Makenna Dunbar (7) (2K) and Brazen Beckwith.
Friendship/Scio 1, Avoca/Prattsburgh 0 (F-8)
SCIO — Nevaeh Ross unraveled another one of her most dominant performances of the season for Friendship/Scio on Monday. It would come in the midst of an all-out defensive war alongside Avoca/Prattsburgh, where the two squads delivered back and forth scoreless punches all throughout the night.
After seven straight scoreless frames, extra innings were required. Through it all, the Friendship/Scio junior would never lose her touch against the Lady Titans.
But as far as cracking the game-long goose egg? That was left up for Claire Calhoun.
While keeping the Lady Titans locked down on defense, Ross would use her speed around the bases to work her way into prime scoring position for her senior teammate. With one swing of the stick, Calhoun laid down a ground ball that allowed Ross to come in and score the game’s lone run — the game-winning run, as Friendship/Scio walked it off for their sixth straight win in a 1-0 blanking in Scio.
“We struggled a little bit at the plate today. Their pitcher wasn’t overpowering, it was more about us not finding a way to get our offense going,” said Friendship/Scio coach Deb Warner. “Nevaeh had 20 strikeouts and gave up two hits. Avoca/Prattsburgh had a sound defense against us, but fortunately, we were where we wanted to be in a right spot in our lineup going into the eighth inning to win the game.”
Across all eight scoreless innings, Ross struck out one Avoca/Prattsburgh after another until the job was done, as she handed out 20 chairs in all — 12 of them coming across four different 1-2-3 innings on defense for Friendship/Scio (12-3) to set the tone.
The momentum would finally find a way to shift over to the plate during extra innings when Ross led off the eighth with a single — one of two she would have in the game, and four for the team in total, using her speed to work all the way around the bases and into prime scoring position at third. On the very next at-bat, Calhoun would deliver the time’s most timely knock of them all on a grounder into the infield, creating just enough breathing room for Ross to make a break for home to score the game-winning run to secure Friendship/Scio the narrow walk-off win.
Kiara Grover and Morghyn Ross helped round off the offense for the hosts with a hit each. For Avoca/Prattsburgh, Meyah Putnam recorded both of the team’s hits at the plate, leading off both times with singles in the first and seventh. In the circle, Emily Hammond went the distance with seven strikeouts and three walks in her twirled four-hit complete game.
Friendship/Scio will have a quick turnaround this evening back over the hill tonight, as they head to Friendship to welcome in Cuba-Rushford for a 5 p.m. first pitch.
Avoca/Prattsburgh 000 000 00 – 0 2 0
Friendship/Scio 000 000 01 – 1 4 0
A/P – Emily Hammond (LP) (CG, 7K, 3BB) and Jordan Swift.
F/S – Nevaeh Ross (WP) (CG, 20K) and Morghyn Ross.
Genesee Valley/Belfast 8, Arkport/Canaseraga 0
ARKPORT — It was a time that Genesee Valley/Belfast coach Mark Sullivan hoped would come.
There was no better time for the bats to erupt than right down the homestretch leading into Sectionals, as the team went over the road to Arkport/Canaseraga on Monday and provided a 16-hit explosion against the host Lady Wolves, using it to speed away towards what would be an 8-0 shutout to springboard back over .500 on the season.
“Finally the bats have woken up. Out of the six losses, we had some tough ones we had to fight through. We didn’t have the key hits, but up and down the lineup tonight, every girl hit the ball,” Sullivan said. “This was a huge confidence booster, you could see it in their faces. The pitching has been really well done these past few games, and tonight was even more evidence of that. It’s been a lot of fun the way we’ve been playing recently.”
Five different hitters for Genesee Valley/Belfast (7-6) all posted at least two or more hits to set the pace for the attack, with Sondra Guilford’s three-hit evening occupying the driver’s seat. Hannah Southwick-Powers, Jenna Hill, Abby Sullivan and Anna Drozdowski all had two hits each to add into the fray to help build an early 4-0 lead through the first three innings of play, never looking back soon after.
While the offense was keeping their fire aflame, Southwick-Powers, along with Ashley Burrows, came together to record a two-hit shutout in the circle, with Southwick-Powers recording another stellar win behind 13 strikeouts and three walks. Burrows would add four more strikeouts and a walk in relief.
For the Lady Wolves, Grace Groves recorded a triple while Summer Marcus chipped in with the team’s final hit. In the circle, Groves went the distance with three strikeouts and three walks.
A quick turnaround for Genesee Valley/Belfast will be had this evening, as they return home to welcome in Andover/Whitesville for a 5 p.m. battle in the Jungle in Belmont.
Genesee Valley/Belfast 220 220 0 – 8 16
Arkport/Canaseraga 000 000 0 – 0 2
GVB – Hannah Southwick-Powers (WP) (13K, 3BB), Ashley Burrows (6) (4K, BB) and Jenna Hill.
A/C – Grace Groves (LP) (CG, 3K, 3BB) and Nicole Merry.
Alfred-Almond 9, Andover/Whitesville 6
ALMOND — The Andover/Whitesville ladies gave it their all against the Lady Eagles of Alfred-Almond in their latest road trip on Monday, overcoming an early deficit to respond with the game’s most enormous stand of offense to take the lead.
But the hosts in blue and gold remained resilient despite being held without a response in the bottom of the fourth after losing their advantage, as they finished the game with the last five runs in a row to regain traction against Andover/Whitesville, reclaiming their spot up front for good to edge their way towards a 9-6 home win.
“The girls are starting to hit the ball with purpose, which is good to see,” said Andover/Whitesville coach Al Barber. “We had a couple of defensive miscues with two outs in the sixth, but without those, we go into the seventh with the lead. John’s (Gemmell) girls did a great job of dropping down multiple bunts late in the game that allowed them to take control.”
Alfred-Almond would get the scoring started in the first three innings of play with a 4-0 lead on Andover/Whitesville (1-10), courtesy of Isabel Badeau’s big bat, breaking the ice in the biggest of ways by sending a pitch into orbit with a two-run nuke before helping branch the lead out two innings later in the third with an RBI single.
But the early deficit was overcome by Andover/Whitesville in the top of the fourth, as they posted all six of their runs to claim their first and only lead of the evening by way of a two-run single by Olivia Waters and an RBI single added along the way by Mathea Reynolds. The two Andover/Whitesville batters combined to record seven of the team’s nine hits, with Reynolds recording four and Waters tallying three.
The advantage would not hold for much longer however, as Alfred-Almond provided one last push in the fifth inning to take the lead back for good with Badeau’s assistance one last time, as she scored an RBI single to ignite the fuse before Alexis Rao set it off with a two-run double to the outfield to spring the Lady Eagles over the top with a 7-6 lead. The hosts would use some additional key baserunning in the sixth to score their last two runs to further cement their victory.
Andover/Whitesville posted six runs on nine hits, while Makaila Brewster took charge of the defense with a complete game, fanning three Alfred-Almond batters and walking three.
As for the Lady Eagles, Badeau was a force on both sides of the spectrum, as she garnered the victory in dominant fashion across all seven innings, handing out 13 chairs and walking four. Badeau, along with Rao, would front the team’s attack with three hits each out of the team’s 10 total.
Up next is a return to action over the road tonight for Andover/Whitesville, as they hop back on the bus and head into Belmont where they pay a 5 p.m. visit to Genesee Valley/Belfast.
Andover/Whitesville 000 600 0 – 6 9 3
Alfred-Almond 202 032 X – 9 10 0
A/W – Makaila Brewster (LP) (CG, 3K, 3BB) and Gabbi Hall.
A-A – Isabel Badeau (WP) (CG, 13K, 4BB) and Ali Hurd.
Golf sectional qualifiers
GOLF
Wellsville competes in Section V qualifier, Allegany County Qualifier action
CALEDONIA/RUSHFORD — The hunt for Section V glory is soon upon the horizon for all local golfers. That included the Lions of Wellsville who made the trek north to the Caledonia Country Club to partake in Independent League tri-match battle against Aquinas and Bishop Kearney on Monday.
At the end of the 18 holes played on the links, the Kings were the kings of the afternoon, as they were led by a match-low round of 74 — two over par for the course, shot by Danny Wehle, who helped Bishop Kearney to a team score of 410 to claim the highest honor between Aquinas and Wellsville.
The Lions (5-9) placed third overall with a team score of 583, led by Ethan Bailey and his team-low round of 93. Noah Brogan posted a 117. Fletcher Kaye chipped in with a 122, while Maddy Parks and Jackson Shoughrue followed with rounds of 124, and 127 respectively.
Wellsville returns to regular season action on the road at Allegheny Hills in Rushford on Thursday, visiting Cuba-Rushford at 4 p.m.
As for Allegheny Hills, only four Allegany County golfers would earn the right to advance forth to compete for a Sectional championship this weekend at Clifton Springs Country Club. At the end of the day, Hinsdale’s Caden Miller earned that right by becoming the first to punch his ticket, firing the Qualifier’s leading round of the day of 93, as he joins Fillmore’s Anderson Wiltsey and Reid Cockle, along with Cuba-Rushford’s Sebastian Saulter on the way there on Saturday.
Wiltsey recorded the second lowest round of the four, paving his way towards a 98. Cockle would follow with a 100, while Saulter rounded off with his round of 102. All four golfers would receive County All-Star nods along with four more golfers, joined by Cuba-Rushford’s Haven Kellogg, Genesee Valley/Belfast’s Chris Weaver and Will Guilford, and Bolivar-Richburg’s Ryder Easton.
Listed below are the next matches for all remaining local teams, as they mark their returns to regular season play.
Fillmore – vs Bolivar-Richburg, Wednesday 4 p.m. at Allegheny Hills
Genesee Valley/Belfast – vs Cuba-Rushford, Wednesday 4 p.m. at Wellsville Country Club
Cuba-Rushford – at Genesee Valley/Belfast, Wednesday 4 p.m. at Wellsville Country Club
Bolivar-Richburg – at Fillmore, Wednesday 4 p.m. at Allegheny Hills
Hinsdale – at Bolivar-Richburg, Thursday 4 p.m. at Bolivar Golf Club
