Story by CHRIS BROOKS, managing editor, wellsvillesports.com. Photos by ELLA GREEN
WELLSVILLE — Fresh off an unbelievable and dominant victory against Bolivar-Richburg in the middle of the week, there was no better time than now to continue keeping the pistons firing on all facets.
Although rain put a damper on most action around the surrounding area, the Lions of Wellsville overcame a hole in their tarp covering the field and worked furiously to get it ready in time to face off with Addison on Friday.
After the hard work by many involved to get it back in working order, it was go-time in the Lion’s Den. And despite some of the early complications, the Lions did not lose a beat.
Behind a resilient three-hit gem tossed by Aiden Cowburn on the hill, Wellsville cemented another brick onto their foundation behind another divine offensive effort, assembling a 1-0 lead that soon snowballed into an advantage that the visiting Knights could not match, as they hit cruise control to finish off what was a 10-0 blank after five complete innings.
“Aiden pitched very well for us today. He got into a little trouble here and there, but it was nice to see him have a complete game shutout only giving up three hits,” Lions coach Tom Delahunt said. “That’s the nice thing about this team, the depth we have with pitching. Every night we can throw someone else out there and they can do the job. We’ve marched Aiden out there once a week and he’s done a great job. It was nice to see, and he’s a competitor that is getting some great success after not having been able to pitch all last year.”
Following the first issuing of a scoreless inning to Addison, the top of the order struck gold for the Lions (16-1) to open the battle, with Ty Vogel garnering the first run of the game on his RBI double to score Cowburn. The momentum that Wellsville built was halted slightly by what was Addison’s biggest threat of the game a short time later.
In the top of the third inning with one out, the Knights found a potential momentum-shifting groove at the plate, loading up the bases behind the Lions defense not once, but twice. The hosts would manage to unjam the threat, scoring a humongous out at the plate following a wild pitch before Brennen Geffers took care of a fielder’s choice at third base to leave Addison frozen in their tracks.
From that point on, Wellsville regained a big charge of momentum on offense and kept Addison in the rearview mirror with the game’s last nine runs in consecutive fashion in the remaining three innings of action, scavenging a trio of them in the bottom of the third as their response to a terrific display of defense.
The Lions would go on to score four more runs in the fourth and then utilize a walk-off single from Cooper Brockway within their two-run fifth inning to put a bow on their 12-hit victory over the Knights.
Leading the bats were Ty Vogel and Trenton Green, as each Lion recorded a 3-for-3 outing at the plate, combining for four RBI and scoring five times. Alex Green chipped in with two hits, while Brockway had two more hits, including a double to couple along with his walk-off single, to chip in.
On the mound, Aiden Cowburn allowed just three hits in his complete game twirl, fanning eight and walking three.
The Lions will now get set for battle for the final week of the regular season, beginning with their last road trip on the slate on Monday in a 5 p.m. visit to Wayland-Cohocton.
Addison 000 00 – 0 3 0
Wellsville 103 42 – 10 12 0
ADD – Kolby McLean (LP) (3BB), Zane Specht (3) (BB), Caleb Stuby (5) and Sawyer Westervelt.
WLSV – Aiden Cowburn (WP) (CG, 8K, 3BB) and Alex Green.
