By CHRIS BROOKS, sports editor, wellsvillesports.com
ALLEGANY — With Mother Nature shelving what was originally slated as Wellsville’s season opener back on Monday against Canisteo-Greenwood, their wait to mark an official return to the diamond would see them freeze in place for the next 48 hours.
When Wednesday finally arrived, it was go time.
A visit to the Swamp at Allegany-Limestone was in store for the Lions to open a three-game set across the next four days before they embark on their Spring Break journey down south to Myrtle Beach, while in the same swing, presenting an opportunity to perhaps cash in on a big burst of momentum to transport with them.
Right from the get-go, Wellsville would engage in a game-one fight for their lives with Allegany-Limestone. Despite a strong first inning start to project themselves into the cat bird’s seat first, the Gators tilted the balance of power in their direction with an elongation of runs of their own accord to claim an advantage that would reach as large as five runs.
Entering the back half of the contest, they looked to issue perhaps a game-altering piece of exuberance. It would begin with a change on the mound, as Wellsville turned to sophomore Brennen Geffers to deliver the goods.
During his time on the hill, the Lions reliever provisioned a paralyzing and vulcanizing tenure of pitching that halted everything Allegany-Limestone was able to produce from the fifth inning onward. As a direct result of his efforts, it would allow Wellsville to translate and feed off every drop of metaphorical jet-fuel to replenish their bats with.
In short: The offense was supercharged to the absolute max.
Facing an 8-3 deficit straight in the mirror, Wellsville went to work on a barbaric comeback of epic proportions beginning in the top of the fifth inning. After closing the gap down to three runs, it served as a tremorous prelude for the tandem of earthquakes that followed right behind it — a seven-run sixth inning and a six-run, game-ending seventh inning.
In all, 15 unanswered runs were accounted for to aid the Lions’ incredible comeback against the Gators to start the campaign with a scintillating 18-8 road win.
“We spent the entire week inside with bad weather like everyone around here does. You don’t know what to expect at first for the first game, but I was pleasantly surprised with how hot our bats were tonight,” said Lions coach Tom Delahunt. “18 runs on 12 hits, and even though we were down five going into the fifth, we came out and we were absolutely on fire. We finished extremely strong and besides the bats coming alive, Brennen came in to pitch in the fourth and got us out of a big rut. We were reeling after going down 8-3, and he threw up zeroes across the last three frames. He’s a sophomore and he shut the door to give us an opportunity to score those runs and win the game. His unexpected performance to get his first Varsity win was just great to see him grab it.”
The ice was broken out of the gate with five quick runs between both teams, with the Lions (1-0) cracking through first with a three-run opening stand at the plate, paced by a giant RBI triple off the bat of Trenton Green. Allegany-Limestone responded with a pair of runs during their first at-bats to trim the deficit to a single run.
It would remain on the scoreboard up until the bottom of the third after the two teams shelled out a scoreless second inning, when the Gators punched in a three-run bottom of the third to start an unanswered six-pack of runs to claim an 8-3 lead entering the final three stanzas of play.
Following Wellsville’s deficit-trimming pair of runs in the fifth, the Lions offense boiled over with a tumultuous seven-run outburst that was fronted by the bat of Ty Vogel and his issuing of a bases-clearing triple to propel his six-RBI night. The junior would finish with a 3-for-4 outing altogether that consisted of the game-changing triple, two doubles, six total RBI and three runs scored.
To ensure what was a 12-8 lead going into the final homestretch of the night in the Swamp, Wellsville added to their advantage with six more runs behind the guidance of Vogel, Cooper Brockway, Matt Ritter and Derek Coleman, all adding RBIs into the mix to finish off the fortification of their first win of their campaign.
With their southern trip on the horizon after their next two games on the docket this week, Delahunt hopes this is the start of a momentous step forward to keep the ball rolling.
“It’s great to get these games in before we leave to go south. The teams we face down there have already blown through half of their schedule and we just got done playing our first game after being outside twice,” he said. “Having this, and then Bath the next day and Canisteo-Greenwood this weekend, it will help us immensely before we go. Hopefully, we can keep building off this and continue to roll starting tomorrow. Bath ended our season in the Semifinals last year, so we’re looking for redemption. We want to get back at them and the kids are excited for that opportunity to do it.”
Geffers’ relief appearance powers his first career Varsity victory for the Lions on defense, as he handed out eight chairs and walked three. During his three-inning start for the squad, Cooper Brockway provided four strikeouts and two walks.
As for the offense behind Vogel’s mammoth night, Trenton Green finished with three hits, totaling two RBI and scoring four runs. Brockway, along with Matt Ritter and Derek Coleman, each recorded two hits and also drove in a pair of runs.
Geffers and Gavin Haggerty each had an RBI and a run, Aiden Cowburn scored three runs and Cam Lyons scored a key run during the comeback.
Also helping on defense during a big moment in the fourth, Karson Grover recorded a strikeout on a curveball and the runner attempted to steal second when senior catcher Alex Green threw the runner out for two outs on one pitch. Allegany-Limestone didn’t attempt to steal again.
Tonight, the road swing continues for the Lions with a 5 p.m. visit to Bath-Haverling to take on the Rams — last year’s Class B2 runners-up.
Wellsville 300 027 6 – 18 12 1
Allegany-Limestone 203 300 0 – 8 8 4
WLSV – Cooper Brockway (4K, 2BB), Karson Grover (4) (K, 5BB), Brennen Geffers (WP, 4) (8K, 3BB) and Alex Green.
A-L – Collin Forrest (4K, 4BB), Zane Gleason (LP, 5) (4BB), Vinny LaBella (6) (2K, 2BB) and AJ Riordan.
