By CHRIS BROOKS, managing editor, wellsvillesports.com
WELLSVILLE — No matter where you go outside New York State, baseball can transform into a completely different animal. With one final game in the month of March on the docket and some luggage waiting to be packed and loaded right after for sunrise the next day, the trip down south to Myrtle Beach was officially nigh.
Wellsville Lions head coach Tom Delahunt discussed the importance of getting that massive proliferation of momentum to store away for the trip, where they will play a quartet of games beginning bright and early Tuesday morning.
“Getting three games under our belt is important going into the four games on our Myrtle Beach trip,” he said. “The nice thing is that we haven’t thrown the same pitcher twice. In our three games, everyone has gotten their fair share of work. That will help us tremendously getting everyone some innings before we go. Our defense, I’ve been really happy with. To only have two defensive errors to start this season, it’s very good to see.”
With comeback victories against Allegany-Limestone and Bath-Haverling now sitting patiently in the wagon, the Lions would look to keep their focus pinpointed directly at the forefront of their attack while remaining exceptionally vigilant in the field during their defensive terms. But like the previous two contests, they would quickly find themselves in a slight deficit inside the preliminary stage of Saturday afternoon’s tussle with Canisteo-Greenwood in the Lion’s Den.
The Chargers took full advantage of their opening round of at-bats in the top of the first with a pair of runs to provide the first break into the ice. As for the Lions, they have provided major responses each time down the homestretch of their two foundational contests earlier this week. But this time around, their response would come immediately out of the gate in their first tenure at the plate.
Wellsville responded by raising the stakes higher by another run, claiming a one-run lead that they ultimately held onto despite some additional pressure from the Chargers in the first three innings of play. Chasing down their coattails every step of the way, the Lions searched for extra cushioning to keep their opposition in the rearview mirror.
Their response? — The top of the order.
Led by the speedy Aiden Cowburn around the bases, the red-hot bat of Ty Vogel and the first lineup appearance of the season for Alex Green, the possibilities were endless. In the bottom of the fourth inning, the three Wellsville juggernauts came together and forecasted a game-altering tsunami to keep Canisteo-Greenwood frozen at the plate.
While Cowburn worked his way around and across the plate, his efforts were aided by a continuation of Vogel’s cantankerous start to the season with his ninth RBI in his first three games, while Green brought him in on the very next at-bat on a mammoth and high-towering two-run no-doubter to straight-away center field.
A detonation that landed directly onto the school’s rooftops to power up a four-run frame out of seven unanswered they closed the game with, as they cemented a 3-0 start to their campaign with an 11-3 win over the Chargers.
“This was Alex’s first time in the order this year after recovering from some of those offseason surgeries he’s had. We were taking it easy with him, and we didn’t want to rush him back. But a couple days ago, he came to me and said he was feeling good in practice. Now, he looks like he’s in mid-season form, and it’s great for him because he missed a lot of time last year from a separate injury,” said Delahunt. “It’s nice to see him demonstrate what he can do, because he is so vital to our lineup. Tyler is huge as well. It’s nice to have someone with a hot bat like his, especially when there are base-runners on for him all the time. Aiden’s been one of those guys and he’s scored six runs so far, most of them off his at-bats, so that is huge in itself.”
After the ball was given to Trenton Green to start the contest for the Lions (3-0) on the mound, Canisteo-Greenwood came out of the gate early with a two-run frame led by the likes of Taige Stewart, who blasted an RBI double over the head of Brennen Geffers in center and straight to the fence, allowing Colby Lamphier to fire up the engine with the opening marker across the plate.
The second run for the Chargers was converted on a special teams play after a dropped third strike was lost in the dirt at home, with the runner reaching safely at first and Stewart speeding home to score.
But despite the early push from the Chargers, the Lions did not let it faze them in the bottom half, as they fired a stronger punch back with three runs of their own accord. With the top of the order all reaching base consecutively, their first run was connected off a heads-up play at third from Cowburn on an errant throw to the base going wide and to the fence, scoring with ease to cut their deficit in half.
Matt Ritter and Derek Coleman would each provide damage of their own to give Wellsville their first lead — an advantage they ultimately kept glue together for the foreseeable future, with Ritter smoking a sacrifice to left to plate Vogel, while Coleman beamed a liner straight up the gut into center to score Green for a 3-2 lead.
The Lions would add to their lead in the second after a 1-2-3 outing from Trenton Green on the hill kept the Chargers at bay, with his older brother Alex charging the first of his three RBI on a dart to left field, plating Brennen Geffers. Not long after, the two-run lead was short-lived as Canisteo-Greenwood’s Joe Mitchell provided what would be the final response to the hosts in black and orange with his two-out base hit into right field before the frame wrapped up on a brilliant pick-off to first base from Green to catch him off-guard.
The two foes would trade a pair of zeroes across the next inning leading up to the bottom of the fourth, where the game was flipped upside down by Wellsville, first being captained by Vogel and his pop-fly to shallow right field landing directly in the gap between the No. 9 position and second base, allowing Cowburn to score his second run.
On the very next at-bat, Green brought his supercharged boomstick to the plate and absolutely demolished a screaming pitch to center field where it navigated its way to the top of the school for a two-run jackhammer and a 7-3 Lions lead.
In all, a four-run frame came to complete and full fruition, with the final run being scratched across on a bases-loaded walk.
To ensure their lead remained well intact, Wellsville cashed in on three more runs in the bottom of the fifth. All while the start of Green and a brilliant relief appearance from Vogel in the fifth inning onwards allowed the Lions to deadbolt the door shut on the Chargers and end a chilly and misty afternoon at the park.
The two hurlers for the hosts posted 15 strikeouts against Canisteo-Greenwood, with Green being credited for the victory behind eight of those strikeouts and two walks. Vogel countered with seven strikeouts of his own, walking three in their combined three-hit twirl. On offense, Vogel and Alex Green each posted two hits and scored five runs altogether.
In addition, Trenton Green, Derek Coleman and Gavin Haggerty each had a hit to finish off a seven-hit display at the plate for Wellsville.
Up next, the long bus ride down south to South Carolina begins, as the Lions gear up for the first of four games on the beach at sunrise Tuesday morning, when they take on Independence hailing from West Virginia, at Socastee High School in Myrtle Beach.
Canisteo-Greenwood 201 000 0 – 3 3 6
Wellsville 310 430 X – 11 7 1
C-G – Taige Stewart (LP) (5K, 4BB), Kevin Sirianni (4) (K, 4BB), Brendon Ackerman (5) and Thomas Sirianni.
WLSV – Trenton Green (WP) (8K, 2BB), Ty Vogel (5) (7K, 3BB) and Matt Ritter, Alex Green (5).
