Wednesday Roundup: In battle of Section V powers, Lions display magnificent firepower to dispatch dominant 13-3 win over B-R; Fri/Scio outlasts Fillmore, Lady Wolverines downed by A-P in 8 innings
Photo: Wellsville’s two seniors, Cooper Brockway, left, and Alex Green were the starting battery against B-R. At the plate, each went 2-for-3 with triples. Photo provided.
Photos and story by CHRIS BROOKS, managing editor, wellsvillesports.com
WELLSVILLE — It was something that was circled on the baseball calendar over and over again for quite some time.
Since their returns home from Myrtle Beach back in the first week of April, two of Allegany County’s elites have been on warpath. Game after game, run after run, and pitch after pitch, Bolivar-Richburg and Wellsville have kept tabs on one another.
They both have done it all. And as a direct result, the two squads now find themselves at the top of their classes with Sectionals beginning to close in quicker than ever, with the Wolverines holding the top spot in Class C2, while the Lions remain alone at the top of a jam-packed Class B field.
Between the two local foes, who feature a combined record of 29-2 on the season, those small little tidbits have never meant so much more now than ever before.
When the eighth of May finally arrived in its entirety on the calendar, it was time to go to war.
The fireworks that the Wolverines and Lions both brought to the table on an absolutely blustery, but beautiful Wednesday night, were put on full display across the first offensive stand in the game.
Bolivar-Richburg was the first to erase their goose egg with a fast start against the Lions. But despite the early sense of pressure, Wellsville countered right back with one of their hardest punches.
A first inning haymaker.
It would not go without another response from the Lions, as they fired right back with just as fast of an answer to the Wolverines, and then some, by scoring five of their first 12 runs in the bottom half of the frame to claim an advantage they wound up never losing again, as the Lions strolled past Bolivar-Richburg with ease in a 13-3 five-inning victory.
“Five triples and a double, and we had six kids get two hits. They weren’t all cheapies either. We hit the ball hard and we found gaps, and we were also driving it through the wind. That really plays a factor,” Lions coach Tom Delahunt said. “We were finding the barrel all night long and it’s been like this all season. We’re really locked in at the plate, and for six guys to step up and get multiple hits, that is pretty impressive especially against a quality team like Bolivar-Richburg. We’ve been keeping track of how well they’ve been doing, and this is a rivalry game to us. We came out and we gave them our best showing tonight.”
Right away, a colorful display at the plate is exchanged between both squads, with the Wolverines striking first on a pair of runs — one off an Aydin Sisson base hit that resulted in an error by the Wellsville (15-1) defense, and later, a Landon Barkley base hit past second and into right field to plate Sisson.
The Lions not only punched right back at the Wolverines (15-2), but they delivered a devastating blow, as the entire batting rotation went up and down the lineup a full term to help scavenge a five-run bottom of the first, set up by Aiden Cowburn’s lead-off triple, with Ty Vogel, Cooper Brockway, Trenton Green and Karson Grover all posting RBIs every step of the way.
Following what was that five-run, six-hit frame for the hosts in black and orange, the extra electrifying rush of energy allowed them to reignite the bats one more time in the bottom of the third with a multitude of Lions hits getting involved to break the game wide open against Bolivar-Richburg, scoring seven massive runs to escalate towards a 12-2 lead after the first three innings.
The Wolverines would go on to score their final run in the top of the fourth inning off an RBI double from Kingston Loucks to chip at their game-long deficit. But in the end, it would prove to be too much to ultimately overcome, as Trenton Green ended Wellsville’s colossal victory in style with the bases loaded in the fifth inning, poking his game-winning single deep into the right center field gap.
The Lions posted 13 runs off 16 total hits — that, with six different Lions hitters all scoring at least a pair. Generating the efforts for Class B’s top team was Vogel, who went 3-for-4 with a triple, two RBI and scored two runs. Karson Grover was a perfect 3-for-3, recording a double and two RBI of his own. Trenton Green also picked up two hits, including the walk-off hit in the seventh, totaling three RBI all together.
Rounding off, Aiden Cowburn, Alex Green and Cooper Brockway all had two hits including a triple. On the mound, Brockway claimed responsibility for Wellsville’s win on the mound, as he held Bolivar-Richburg (15-2) quiet with two strikeouts, allowing just five hits.
The Wolverines were paced by Trey Buchholz, who recorded three strikeouts and a walk during his two-inning start. At the plate, Landon Barkley connected with a pair of hits, while Reiss Gaines and Kingston Loucks each provided a double.
As for the win, Delahunt hopes that the win will keep giving the team all the boosts they need.
“We’re playing with a lot of confidence right now. It couldn’t come at a better time with Sectionals just over a week away,” the Lions skipper said. “Our goal is the number one seed, we can get home field advantage through the Semifinal round. We want teams to come to us and play, and it’s great to be winning games like this to gain that confidence going into the big dance. Cooper and Ty did a great job shutting them down while our bats were going too.”
Both teams are back in the saddle Friday night, with Wellsville back on the hop with a 5 p.m. visit from Addison, while Bolivar-Richburg hits the road for the Rich Sullivan Complex in Belfast to take on host Genesee Valley/Belfast in a 5 p.m. contest of their own.
Bolivar-Richburg 200 10 – 3 5 2
Wellsville 507 01 – 13 16 2
B-R – Trey Buchholz (LP) (3K, BB), Caden Allen (3) (K), Kingston Loucks (4) (2K, 3BB) and Aydin Sisson.
WLSV – Cooper Brockway (WP) (2K), Ty Vogel (5) (2K) and Alex Green.
More baseball and softball after photo gallery:
Fillmore 23, Friendship/Scio 1 (F-5)
SCIO — A momentous 15-run inning for the Eagles of Fillmore is what the doctor ordered for them to set the tone, carrying over Tuesday night’s big win at Arkport-Canaseraga as their momentum burst to garner an advantage they never looked back on over the road again, this time in Scio to record a 23-1 five-inning victory over host Friendship/Scio the very next night, on Wednesday.
The Fillmore offense scooped up 23 runs off 13 total hits at the plate, utilizing four errors and seven walks issued by Friendship/Scio along the way to help propel their attack even further. Amongst the hitters, Isaac Wilcox and Jack Boon had the two biggest sticks for the Eagles (8-6), combining for seven of them, four of them doubles to lead the way.
James Hillman went 2-for-2 with a triple, two RBI and two runs scored to further the cause.
On the mound, the win belonged to Malcolm Nusbickle, who went the first four innings behind five strikeouts and two walks.
For Friendship/Scio (0-14), they collected their lone run off an RBI double by Kody Marvin in the bottom of the fifth to spoil Fillmore’s shutout bid. The double was one of three total hits. On the mound,
Deacon Brown struck out four and walked five during his start that stretched into the fourth inning of play.
Both teams will make their return to the diamond on Saturday, with Fillmore heading back home to host doubleheader action beginning at 11 a.m. against Franklinville, while Friendship/Scio hits the road for a 12 p.m. visit to Lima Christian.
Fillmore 0(15)0 71 – 23 13 0
Friendship/Scio 0 0 0 01 – 1 3 4
FIL – Malcolm Nusbickle (WP) (5K, 2BB), Nolan Krzeminski (5) (2K, BB) and Ryan Vedder.
F/S – Deacon Brown (LP) (4K, 5BB), Nick Sortore (4) (3K, 2BB) and Charlie Taylor.
SOFTBALL
Wellsville 17, Addison 2
ADDISON — Although Wellsville spent over a week away from action, they showed absolutely no signs of rust, picking up where they immediately left off in their road trip to Addison by posting a whopping 25 hits on offense.
With goliath-esque sticks possessed by both Makenna Dunbar and Brazen Beckwith, the Lady Lions were unstoppable right from the start, as they strolled towards a 17-2 road win over the Lady Knights.
“We talked about the fact that we hadn’t played since last Monday. We wanted to start out real focused and strong tonight,” said Lady Lions co-coach Shelley Chaffee. “We definitely did that. Everybody through the lineup is just hitting the ball really solidly, even the balls that Addison’s defense went out to make a play on. The (Ava) Knowles girl at shortstop came up with some pretty exceptional plays especially. Overall, it was a nice game to come back from after a week away.”
All the Lady Lions (12-1) needed was the opening frame to make a returning statement, blasting the cover off the ball with 10 of their 17 runs — all of them coming with two outs, to establish a lead for their 25-hit barrage in immediate fashion, setting the tone for the remainder of the game.
Four different Lady Lions recorded at least three hits each, with Makenna Dunbar and Brazen Beckwith propelling the ascension with five hits each, with Dunbar recording a triple and three RBI, while Beckwith had two more RBI to pitch in.
Makenzie Cowburn and Averee Palmatier each had three hits, combining for three RBI. In addition, Lindsay Stuck had a double to add. In the circle, Cowburn went all seven innings for the visitors, holding Addison to just two hits, fanning 16 Lady Knights batters and walking just two to pick up the win.
Wellsville is right back over the road today for a 5 p.m. visit to the Maple City, taking on the host Hornell Lady Red Raiders.
Wellsville (10) 02 101 3 – 17 25 0
Addison 0 00 002 0 – 2 2 1
WLSV – Makenzie Cowburn (WP) (CG, 16K, 2BB) and Brazen Beckwith.
ADD – Bregan Jones (LP) (CG, 3K, 4BB) and Hadleigh Watson.
Avoca-Prattsburgh 5, Bolivar-Richburg 4 (F-8)
AVOCA — Proceeding what was perhaps their biggest victory over the season just 24 hours ago against Friendship/Scio at Stan Harris Field, the Lady Wolverines of Bolivar-Richburg were presented with an opportunity to keep the sails pointed directly with the wind and maintain their full speed ahead to the end of the regular season right around the corner.
Next up on the docket was Avoca-Prattsburgh — a team fresh off a split of Bolivar-Richburg’s Pink Out Tournament this past weekend, as well as a split of their Monday night doubleheader with Arkport-Canaseraga.
Between the two foes, it was a tale of two halves, with the Lady Wolverines re-establishing a big burst of momentum to claim the early lead against the Lady Titans in the first three innings of play. But there was a catch: Those would be the only runs they would manage to scratch across.
In short, the comeback for the Lady Titans was on.
Going into the back half of the battle, Avoca-Prattsburgh continued to grind away against the Lady Wolverines until they found an opening to exploit. From the bottom of the fifth inning onward, the Lady Titans went on a mad dash to make up for lost time, as they posted five straight runs to force and win in extra innings in Avoca by a 5-4 count.
The start for the Lady Wolverines (9-9) was as sublime as imaginable, as they scored all four of their runs in the opening sequences to set up shop against the Lady Titans. It would commence in the top of the first with the game’s first two markers, both off a big base hit by Rylee Whiting to break the ice.
The lead would remain intact up until they provided a two-run extension to it in the third, scoring a run off an error and off a Cassidy Stives RBI single to claim what was a 4-0 lead.
It was the largest lead that the visitors in black and gold would hold within their grasp, continuing to ride the coattails of Rylee Whiting in the circle, who retired the first 12 batters she faced to keep Avoca-Prattsburgh off the board.
But after four complete innings, a flip of the script was performed by the hosts, who then ran the table on the Lady Wolverines with five unanswered runs — two of them in the fifth inning off back-to-back wild pitches to cut the deficit in half.
Later on in the sixth, the Lady Titans kept creeping closer with an RBI single off the bat of Lily Hausauer. Then, it would reach a boiling point in the seventh inning where they ultimately tied the game at four off of Isabelle Button’s RBI single. It would remain tied at four leading into the bottom of the eighth, where Ellie Farrell served as the team’s superhero on her walk-off single to close out the comeback victory.
Harrell, along with Payton Hopkins, each led the Avoca-Prattsburgh bats with two each of the team’s nine in total. On the mound, Meyah Putnam went all eight innings to garner the win, fanning seven and walking just one.
As for the Lady Wolverines, Jayna Thomas led the bats with three hits, while Danika Loucks had two. In the circle, Kylee Whiting was superb across all eight innings of her tenure, handing out 12 chairs and walking just two in her tossed gem.
Bolivar-Richburg will now take some time away to prepare for a Tuesday night visit over the road to Fillmore, beginning at 5 p.m.
Bolivar-Richburg 202 000 00 – 4 8 0
Avoca-Prattsburgh 000 021 11 – 5 9 2
B-R – Kylee Whiting (LP) (CG, 12K, 2BB) and Sydney Faulkner.
A-P – Meyah Putnam (WP) (CG, 7K, BB) and Brooke VanSkiver.
Friendship/Scio 3, Fillmore 2
SCIO — Friendship/Scio was poised to make Tuesday night’s rally from behind by Bolivar-Richburg a thing of the past, with Senior Night now serving as the next exit of the freeway before the regular season closes up one week from now.
On Wednesday, the team paid homage to their three senior stars: Grace Drumm, Nora Thompson and Nevaeh Ross.
The primary focus ahead this time was another challenge they could not take for granted — the Lady Eagles of Fillmore, winners in five of their last seven games. A team also looking to continue steering their ship in the right direction.
Right out of the gate, the Lady Eagles matched the intensity that the defending Class D State Finalists brought right out of the gate, each trading punches across their opening at-bats to work their way towards the first of multiple deadlocks on the scoreboard.
In a game that saw just six hits combined between both offenses, the runs that came with it were issued at a premium. With crunchtime rapidly approaching, something had to give between the two foes.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Nevaeh Ross made sure she went on to have a Senior Night to remember.
On top of 14 big strikeouts of the Lady Eagles at the plate, the Friendship/Scio senior phenom provided as much offense as she could to go with it, collecting all three of the team’s hits while scoring two of their three runs.
That included what was identified as the game-winning marker off a clutch short-field play against the Fillmore defense, as the hosts went on to squeeze their way towards a rebounding 3-2 victory in Scio.
“It was a close one today. Nevaeh made Senior Night memorable,” said Friendship/Scio coach Deb Warner. “The girls were confident at the plate. Nevaeh really moved the ball around, and we managed to capitalize on some base-running behind some of their errors. Aside from that, Fillmore had some solid defense. Morghyn (Ross) hit the ball hard and they kept her off the pads. But Nevaeh stepped up and played tough. She was our offense.”
Both offenses wasted no time making their impact known right away in the first three-inning sequence of their clash, with the Lady Eagles crashing onto the board first behind the aid of Mylee Miller, who blasted an RBI double to break the ice. It would not take long after the hit for Friendship/Scio (12-3) to provide a counteracting response, with Ross scoring the first of her pair of runs off a Lady Eagles error in the field after a dropped third strike to Avery Lamberson.
Following a trio of strikeouts wedged in between Fillmore’s second hit, Friendship/Scio would navigate their way to the front of the line with their first lead behind a Kadence Sadler run, as she made the trek around the bases before heading home on a passed ball to the backstop.
The offenses would freeze at the plate after a pair of quick scoreless innings were traded between Miller and Ross from within their respective circles. In the fifth however, the bats picked back up again.
Just like the opening frame, Friendship/Scio was able to come right back with a big response to establish more onto their lead behind another Ross run from third base. A short time later, Fillmore (8-8) utilized some key base-running of their own to keep the Friendship/Scio defense on their feet, plating their final run in the top of the sixth inning.
The remainder of the contest would rest solely on Ross’ shoulders, as she managed to lock down the Senior Night win with a quick 1-2-3 of the Lady Eagles in the top of the seventh to ward off their strong challenge.
Out of the three-hit performance Ross would collect at the plate, she began the game-tying opening frame with a lead-off double. As for the Lady Eagles, Mylee Miller led the way with two of their three hits on offense, scoring a run along the way while she took command of the circle on defense, fanning four and walking one in her complete game three-hitter.
Fillmore returns to action Saturday morning back home with doubleheader action commencing at 11 a.m. against Franklinville.
Friendship/Scio will look to keep the momentum rolling over the road come Friday night, as they pay a 5 p.m. visit to Avoca-Prattsburgh.
Fillmore 100 001 0 – 2 3 4
Friendship/Scio 110 010 X – 3 3 1
FIL – Mylee Miller (LP) (CG, 4K, BB) and Oakley Frazier.
F/S – Nevaeh Ross (WP) (CG, 14K) and Morghyn Ross.
