Saturday Roundup: Donohue, Calladine engage in pitcher’s duel, Mattison sets up 4-3 walk-off victory for And/Whi over Fri/Scio; B-R baseball taken to extras again, but garner 1st loss to Bloomfield
By CHRIS BROOKS, managing editor, wellsvillesports.com
ANDOVER — Right in the midst of some Saturday morning gusty winds, Friendship/Scio’s Matt Donohue and Andover/Whitesville’s Colton Calladine were in the process of directing their best performances of the season at the first field position for their respective teams.
At the snap of the metaphorical clapperboard, the two hurlers came together and handed out 22 chairs in total across all seven innings. It was clear to say that the offenses were limited with what they could produce. But at the same time, there were also occasions where the timely hit was the most important piece to the puzzle.
Just like in the final inning of play.
Andover/Whitesville was the first to reach the scoreboard, as they collected a run in the first and middle frames to engineer a 2-0 lead. Then, the fireworks started to go off, with Friendship/Scio ending the shutout bid with a go-ahead final stand to claim their first advantage.
All of a sudden, after a game-long journey in the driver’s seat, it was up to the hosts to provide a corresponding answer.
They would find a way to tie the game, as well as set up the game-winning sequence at third base when Jake Mattison stepped into the batter’s box. With no hesitation, the Andover/Whitesville freshman smoked a shot straight out into right field to allow Colton Calladine to come in and score with ease, as they picked up their first win of the season in thrilling fashion with a 4-3 walk-off victory over Friendship/Scio, in Andover.
“It was good to get the win, even though it was quite scrappy and it wasn’t pretty at times,” said Andover/Whitesville co-coach Jake Bannerman. “We are still struggling with some little things and trying to have quality at-bats. With only one senior and one junior, we have a lot of potential as we get more experience, so this was a great game for them to figure out a way to win. I’m really proud of Jake, he had some rough at-bats, but he stayed focused and he really came up clutch when it really mattered the most.”
The defenses in the field went right to work at holding one another at bay, trading scoreless barbs in four of the seven innings of action. That included the first two frames to keep the score on the board without one going into the third. Andover/Whitesville’s (1-4) offense began to pick up some steam in the bottom of the third, with Calladine poking a big double out to deep center field to reach, navigating his way to the plate later on to break the ice.
It would remain at a 1-0 standstill on the board until the hosts in purple dragged across a major piece of insurance in the bottom of the sixth to double their advantage.
With time running out on the opposite side of the field, it was Friendship/Scio’s (0-6) turn at the offensive assembly line. With a Nick Sortore RBI single aiding the efforts, the visitors in black and gold were able to manufacture a go-ahead marker to garner their first lead by a 3-2 count with their heroic final tenure at the plate, as Brody Vance was able to halt the visiting bats in relief with a resonating inning-ending strikeout.
But the advantage was short-lived, as Andover/Whitesville fed off the slight burst of momentum and morphed it into a game-ending walk-off victory, as Vance reached on an infield single that would allow him to make a run all the way around the bases and to home later on following an errant throw went into the outfield to tie the game at three.
In the process of Vance’s tally, Colton Calladine followed right in his footsteps after beating out the Friendship/Scio defense to reach himself, as he charted his course to third base, where he would stand 90 feet away in his observation as the winning run.
The dinner table was then set for Mattison, who then unloaded a hit into right field to bring Calladine home with ease, as Andover/Whitesville came through the clutch with their first victory of the season in style.
Both Matt Donohue and Colton Calladine were given no decisions across their starts that would elongate into the final act, with Donohue fanning 12 and walking two for Friendship/Scio, while Calladine struck out 10 and walked three for Andover/Whitesville across nearly six innings of work.
Calladine also had the home team’s strongest bat, scoring three hits in total of the team’s eight, including his fourth inning double. Blaise Richmond had a double of his own to chip in. On the other side, Friendship/Scio totaled three runs off five hits.
Andover/Whitesville will head over the hill and into Whitesville on Monday, as they look to feed off the victory with a 5 p.m. visit from Hinsdale in store, while Friendship/Scio heads back home to host Genesee Valley/Belfast for a 5 p.m. first pitch in Scio on Wednesday.
Friendship/Scio 000 000 3 – 3 5 2
Andover/Whitesville 001 001 2 – 4 8 3
F/S – Matt Donohue (12K, 2BB), Cooper Greenman (LP, 7) and Greenman, Charlie Taylor (7).
A/W – Colton Calladine (10K, 3BB), Brody Vance (WP, 6) (K) and Jake Mattison.
More stories after Chris Brooks photo gallery:
Bloomfield 11, Bolivar-Richburg 10 (F-9)
BLOOMFIELD — In less than a 24-hour span, the Bolivar-Richburg Wolverines were on an outrageously wild and wacky adventure heading into the weekend. After they circumvented an 11-inning victory over Port Allegany on Friday night to remain undefeated, they were caught right in the thick of an extra-inning impasse once again.
When a Saturday afternoon trip to Bloomfield was all said and done, the Wolverines would go on to play nearly the full length of three high school regulation games following their enforcement of extra innings with a herculean game-tying seventh inning.
In the last three innings of play between both teams, 11 runs would score — seven of them altogether belonging to the visitors in black and red to claim a two-run lead going into the bottom of the ninth.
But the Bombers had other plans in store, as they shelled out one final stand of their own. After their game-long advantage of Bolivar-Richburg was erased, they would dig deep and create the winning sequence at the plate with the bases jammed, tying the game on sacrifice to the outfield before ending it on the next at-bat on a single to hand the Wolverines their first loss of the season by a chaotic and tempestuous 11-10 count.
“It was a crazy game filled with all tons of weather conditions, but they weathered the storm through it all,” Wolverines coach Dustin Allen said. “20 innings in less than a day, I was really proud of how we battled and never gave up. Bloomfield is a very well-coached team, very solid and we knew that going in. The goal was to get ready for Sectionals, and even though we got behind and made a nice comeback, we couldn’t get enough to get it done. This game will help us in the road ahead, and there’s still more work left to do.”
Bolivar-Richburg (7-1) was immediately placed at a disadvantage in the first inning, as Bloomfield started red hot in their opening tenure with a three-run frame to shatter the ice — two of those stemming from a Levi Gumar home-run blast off the arm of Landon Barkley.
The advantage for the Bombers was held secure until the action unfolded into the third inning, when the Wolverines commenced an unanswered stretch of runs to tie the game, starting with a run in the top of the third before garnering two more in the fourth inning. In a similar fashion, the Bombers fired right back an unanswered stand of their own, plating the next four in a row to claim their largest lead against Bolivar-Richburg going into the last inning of play.
When the seventh inning arrived, it was final call for the Wolverines at the plate. No problem.
They went forward and posted a mammoth four-run offensive outburst, starting with Caden Allen’s gargantuan three-run detonation to deep right field to close Bolivar-Richburg’s gap down to one. Two at-bats later, it was Tavyn MacDonell’s turn to do damage of his own, as he sent a pitch straight out of play for a game-tying solo bomb to complete an unbelievable come-from-behind chain reaction to ultimately force extra innings.
Both teams would remain tied across an eighth inning that saw both teams plate one run leading into the final extra inning needed to decide it all, as the Wolverines jumped out to a 10-8 lead — their first advantage they would grasp in the entire afternoon, plating a pair of runs following some outstanding baserunning on special teams.
But in the bottom half, Bloomfield had one final card to play, as they stole the show and the lead away from the Wolverines with three runs, ending it with a walk-off single to hand them their first loss of the campaign.
The Wolverines came together for a grand total of 10 runs off 11 hits at the plate, with Trey Buchholz’s 3-for-6 outing helping charge the efforts, earning a double and scoring four runs. MacDonell and Allen combined to record three hits, with MacDonell totaling two, including his game-tying home run.
On the mound, Landon Barkley went the first six innings in his start, fanning six and walking two.
Bolivar-Richburg will hop right back onto the field Monday night, as they return home to welcome in the Fillmore Eagles for a 5 p.m. first pitch.
Bolivar-Richburg 001 200 412 – 10 11 6
Bloomfield 300 022 013 – 11 11 5
B-R – Landon Barkley (6K, 2BB), Reiss Gaines (7) (K, 4BB), Brayden Zilker (LP, 9) (BB) and Aydin Sisson.
BLO – Joey Walsh (6K, 3BB), Morgan Mclaughlin (7) (2K, 2BB), Grady Rogers (WP, 9) (2K, 3BB) and Levi Gumar.
SOFTBALL
Wellsville takes two in Saturday afternoon tourney at Mudville
HERKIMER — At the sound of birds chirping and the sun making its final ascension over the horizon Saturday morning, the Lady Lions of Wellsville were in for a long three-and-a-half hour long trip out east past Syracuse and into Herkimer for a pair of contests at a place where some of the best teams in New York State converge for one day only — the Mudville Tournament.
Their day would begin with a pitcher’s duel all the way down to the wire across extra innings, and then end later in the evening with a dominant performance off a 17-hit output, as the Lady Lions walked away as tournament champions after surviving one of their toughest challenges this season against Section VI’s Nardin Academy in eight innings, and ending their tenure with a win over Section III’s South Jefferson.
In game one, Nardin Academy’s Erin Nuwer and Wellsville’s Makenzie Cowburn were at the top of their games from within the circle, as they combined to allow just seven hits while handing out nearly 30 strikeouts to their respective teams.
After three straight shutout innings opened the contest up, both teams would enter into the fray with their first runs coming in the fourth inning to re-deadlock the score back up at one for the foreseeable future ahead.
Nuwer and Cowburn would then buckle back down for the long haul until the end, when extra innings were forced.
In the bottom of the eighth, the Lady Lions were able to collect that one final hit from Brazen Beckwith to send them to victory in walk-off fashion, giving their senior star pitcher the win after a long marathon of battle with her Nardin Academy counterpart.
Cowburn held Nardin Academy to four hits across a 15-strikeout performance to pair with four walks. To go with Beckwith’s walk-off hit, Makenna Dunbar had the last two hits for the Lady Lions, both off singles.
With the momentum now heavily in their favor going into their last battle of the tournament, the Lady Lions would use every bit of it to finish out the road trip on the strongest note possible, accounting for scoring across all six innings — including a monster fourth inning that allowed them to pull away permanently towards championship glory at Mudville with an 11-2 win over South Jefferson.
As opposed to just three hits in their early-afternoon battle, the Lady Lions (6-1) unleashed an overwhelming amount of fury at the plate behind a 17-hit amalgamation, as they propelled the offense towards the lead by a 4-1 count after the first three frames of play to begin.
With time continuing to pass by, the bats for Wellsville kept getting hotter and hotter, as they strung together a four-run bottom of the fourth to aid their lead with even more cushioning to keep themselves out of reach from South Jefferson for good.
Of the 17 hits, Makenna Dunbar and Marissa Ordway each had three hits, with Dunbar posting a pair of doubles, while Ordway collected a triple and double of her own to help the attacking cause. Ayla Faulkner also chipped in with a hit of her own, driving in a pair of runs in the process.
The win in the circle was collected this time around by Dunbar, who went the first five innings behind eight strikeouts and two walks. Cowburn would then re-enter in relief for the last two innings, fanning three more batters and walking one to finish out a sublime two-game set filled with triumph.
The Lady Lions are back home to historic Tullar Field for action Tuesday night, hosting the Attica Lady Blue Devils in a 5 p.m. first pitch.
Game 1
Nardin Academy 000 100 00 – 1 4 0
Wellsville 000 100 01 – 2 3 1
NA – Erin Nuwer (LP) (CG, 13K, BB) and Maddy Scarpace.
WLSV – Makenzie Cowburn (WP) (CG, 15K, 4BB) and Brazen Beckwith.
Game 2
South Jefferson 001 010 0 – 2 8 0
Wellsville 121 421 X – 11 17 2
SJ – Colleen Davis (LP) (4K, 2BB), Shea O’Dell (6) and Bryanna Moroughan.
WLSV – Makenna Dunbar (WP) (8K, 2BB), Makenzie Cowburn (6) (3K, BB) and Brazen Beckwith.
Portville Tournament: Randolph 4, Cuba-Rushford 3
PORTVILLE — Despite some outstanding pitching from the arms of Jordyn Radomski and Sydney Howard across all seven innings for the Lady Rebels of Cuba-Rushford, some timely hitting for Randolph ultimately served as the difference maker, as the Lady Cardinals scored four consecutive runs to take the lead away while avoiding a last-inning comeback to claim a 4-3 edge in tournament action in Portville.
The Lady Rebels (1-4) grabbed upon their emergence from the starting gate, as they broke the ice with a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. They would go on to use an excellent source of pitching from Jordyn Radomski along the way to keep their lead intact, leading into the top of the third when the Lady Cardinals were able to break through in a big way by doubling their first-time lead.
While Randolph began a strand of four straight shutout innings dealt to Cuba-Rushford on defense, the Lady Cardinals continued to add to their lead with two more massive runs in the top of the fourth to carry a 4-1 lead — the game’s largest of the day, forward.
The Lady Rebels would make a call to Sydney Howard in relief of Radomski in the fifth inning, as she came on and made a megaton of noise from within the circle by holding Randolph to just two more hits in the last three innings, fanning five and walking two batters along the way.
Her dynamic outing allowed the Lady Rebels to build off the momentum down the homestretch, giving them an opportunity to pull ahead of Randolph one last time with a run in the sixth and seventh innings to close the gap down to a single run.
But in the end, the deficit ultimately became too much to overcome, as the Lady Cardinals held on for dear life to come away victorious.
The Cuba-Rushford offense came together to assemble three runs off just four hits, with Howard leading the way with two of them. Lizzie Kocsis chipped in with a double and drove in two of the three runs to further the cause.
On the mound across her four-inning start, Radomski handed out seven chairs and walked just one.
Coming up on Monday, the Lady Rebels are back home to welcome in Genesee Valley/Belfast for a 5 p.m. first pitch.
Randolph 002 200 0 – 4 9 0
Cuba-Rushford 100 001 1 – 3 4 1
RAN – Ryanne Bushey (WP) (4K, 3BB), Abigail Pitts (6) (3K, 5BB) and Aryana Sears.
C-R – Jordyn Radomski (LP) (7K, BB), Sydney Howard (5) (5K, 2BB) and Arlah Shaffer.
Bloomfield 9, Bolivar-Richburg 2
BLOOMFIELD — The Lady Wolverines of Bolivar-Richburg proceeded to start with some first inning fire out of the gate Saturday morning in Bloomfield, garnering the leading edge along with it to put the host Lady Bombers in the hole early.
They would hold it in their possession entering a second inning where Bloomfield ripped it away completely, as they went on to score eight go-ahead runs in the last five innings of play behind a complete effort on both sides of the spectrum, rolling towards a 9-2 home victory over the Lady Wolverines.
All three of Bolivar-Richburg’s (2-4) hits were collected in their opening at-bats, with Rylee Whiting and Sydney Faulkner delivering back-to-back RBI singles to account for the team’s scoring with a 2-0 lead. Kylee Whiting would add a single of her own later on in the frame, but the Lady Bombers would leave her on base following an inning-ending strikeout two at-bats later.
The Lady Bombers fired back by cutting the deficit in half in the bottom of the first of an RBI single before finding all their grooves in the bottom of the second to add more on top the foundation. The hosts in blue used a mix of three hits and some key baserunning to generate a five-run frame to pull themselves ahead of the Lady Wolverines with a 6-2 lead marching forward.
To cement their victory for good, Bloomfield would post their remaining three runs in the sixth, with one scoring off an RBI double from Wright.
On defense, Bloomfield would only allow Bolivar-Richburg to reach base two more times from that inning forward, with one reaching on a walk and the next on a hit-by-pitch — both of which stemmed in the fourth inning, as pitcher Ashlyn Wright accounted for three straight 1-2-3 frames of play to close the game out in the circle.
Rylee Whiting went all seven innings in the circle for Bolivar-Richburg, as she struck out 10 and walked seven.
The Lady Wolverines will look to steer the ship back in the right direction back home Monday night, hosting the Lady Eagles of Fillmore in a 5 p.m. first pitch.
Bolivar-Richburg 200 000 0 – 2 3 2
Bloomfield 150 003 X – 9 7 1
B-R – Rylee Whiting (LP) (CG, 10K, 7BB) and Sydney Faulkner.
BLO – Ashlyn Wright (WP) (CG, 11K, BB) and Addy Falsone.
Friendship/Scio 19, Andover/Whitesville 0 (F-5)
ANDOVER — On the very first pitch of the game, Nevaeh Ross set a barbaric tone for Friendship/Scio on Saturday. With the wind whipping in all sorts of directions in the air in Andover, the senior phenom unloaded with a lead-off solo home run to left that exited the field in a hurry.
Coupling the early-bird haymaker alongside a 13-strikeout performance from within her command center on the mound, Ross would proceed to hold Andover/Whitesville without a single hit, as she posted the team’s sixth straight victory in no-hit style despite some less-than-ideal conditions, with a 19-0 blank on the road.
The Friendship/Scio (7-2) ladies would post a run in each of the five innings of action through the course of the morning, beginning with a pair in their opening at-bats before jarring the floodgates wide open in the top of the fifth with a 10-run game-ender. In all, the visitors in black and gold posted 19 runs off 10 hits at the plate.
Adding more assistance along the way at the plate was Morghyn Ross and her 3-for-4 outing at the plate, consisting of two doubles. Avery Lamberson and Cece Davenport both collected a couple of hits.
For Andover/Whitesville (1-4), Olivia Waters went into the fourth inning during her start on the rubber, striking out three and walking five. They will return to action on Wednesday right back in Andover with a 6 p.m. visit from Fillmore.
As for Friendship/Scio, they are off for an entire week until they host their annual Midseason tournament in Scio, where they will have a first-round battle against Genesee Valley/Belfast in store for next Saturday morning at 10 a.m.
Friendship/Scio 233 1(10) – 19 10 2
Andover/Whitesville 000 0 0 – 0 0 2
F/S – Nevaeh Ross (WP) (CG, 13K) and Morghyn Ross.
A/W – Olivia Waters (LP ) (3K, 5BB), Lilly Harrington (4) (4BB) and Reece Winters.
