Photos by Makenna Dunbar, story by Chris Brooks
WELLSVILLE — To convey that the Lions of Wellsville have been smacking the ball left and right, would be declared a massive understatement.
Across their torrid and extraordinary 12-1 campaign leading into Monday night’s renewal of their historic rivalry with Hornell, the lineup one through nine has found a way to deliver each and every time. Among those hitters was Alex Green, who might perhaps be a five-alarm fire, scouring 10 hits across the last three games for the Lions to ignite his boomstick at the plate.
When the night reached its conclusion, the Wellsville senior morphed into a towering inferno behind his perfect 4-for-4 outing at the plate. One that saw two doubles and a fourth inning grand slam come to complete fruition, totaling five RBI in the contest and scoring three runs himself to jet the Lions towards a 15-3 five-inning win over the visiting Red Raiders.
“I’d be afraid to go after Alex because he is smoking hot. He deserves everything that he’s earned here,” Lions coach Tom Delahunt said. “He’s such a hard worker and he’s a really coachable kid. He’s our leader and to see him with the success he’s had so far this year, I couldn’t imagine it happening to a nicer and more hard-working young man. Alex has battled through a lot, and he doesn’t let the setbacks get him down. He does everything he can do to get on that field and play the game he loves to play.”
Before the Lions (13-1) were able to get their pistons firing on all cylinders, they had to work their way from behind after their early 1-0 lead against Hornell evaporated in the top of the third with all three of their runs — two of them incepting from a single by Charlie Oyer to pull the Red Raiders ahead with a 3-1 lead.
But the advantage Hornell was able to garner from Wellsville was short-lived, as the Lions tripled down on their response in the following half of action with a nine-run bonanza, taking a two-run deficit and flipping it upside down on the Red Raiders with a commanding 10-3 lead going to the fourth inning.
In the midst of some dynamic relief efforts staged by Cooper Brockway in the fourth inning, the Lions would syphon that defensive energy and put it to good use to help finish off their win over their longtime rivals, as they posted five more runs — four off the bat of Green, who went yard to deep left center field with his grand slam.
The 15 runs authored by the Lions were recorded off 16 hits at the plate, with Green’s 4-for-4 outing leading the charge.
Following up was Brockway, who had a perfect 3-for-3 himself, driving in three runs and scoring once. Ty Vogel garnered three hits including a double, and scored two runs, while Karson Grover had two hits, also including a double, driving in two and scoring twice himself.
“We crushed the ball tonight and we found all the gaps. They weren’t seeing-eye singles, we had six doubles and a grand slam against Hornell,” said Delahunt. “We’re seeing it really well and putting some great swings together to hit the ball everywhere. That’s through the entire lineup. If one kid doesn’t hit the ball, another one will. It’s really fun to watch all of this take place. The game was still within reach when Hornell took the lead, and when Cooper shut their rally down, we fed off of that in the third.”
On the mound, Brockway put the stamp on the victory in relief with three strikeouts. As for Hornell on the mound, Wyatt Evingham went into the fourth inning during his start, fanning three.
At the plate, Andrew Davis and Brayden Vaughn each had a hit.
The Lions will now await their two seniors and their arrival home from Senior Trip festivities this upcoming weekend in Boston, as they host Senior Night next Monday night in the Lion’s Den against Cuba-Rushford, beginning at 5 p.m.
Hornell 003 00 – 3 3 3
Wellsville 109 5X – 15 16 3
HHS – Wyatt Evingham (LP) (3K), PJ Picco (4) (2BB), Brayden Vaughn (4) (BB) and Logan Snyder.
WLSV – Ty Vogel (3K, 4BB), Cooper Brockway (WP, 3) (3K) and Alex Green.
Makenna Dunbar photo gallery:
