THE CHAINSAW: B-R’s Sisson has performance to remember, drives in 5 to jet offense towards 1st Far West Regional berth in 10 years with 7-3 win over C1 champ Letchworth in State Qualifier
Photos and story By CHRIS BROOKS, managing editor, wellsvillesports.com
HOUGHTON — It is a point of view that was last observed by some of the best of the best in their program’s history. Some of those playmakers? — Pettit, Cole, Crump, Burdick, the list goes on.
Since 2014, the Bolivar-Richburg Wolverines continued to fight tooth and nail, and give it everything they had left in the gas tank each and every season to earn that opportunity to go back and join the Empire State’s elite. They have come close in recent years, but the exclusive door to the New York State Tournament would remain sealed shut.
Following the capture of their eighth Section V title in an 11-year span this past Saturday, the Class C2 champions would come face-to-face with that particular gateway once again at Houghton University a couple days later, on Tuesday. The key was now back in their possession. Now all they had to do was provide one more triumphant performance to unlock it.
The next opponent on the docket — Class C1 champion Letchworth, another formidable foe they could not take lightly. Bolivar-Richburg could feel how close they were to finally being able to relieve the heavy burden on their shoulders.
They needed one.
Ironically enough, that one also served another purpose — as a jersey number. One belonging to the Wolverines. On the team’s jersey that featured gray with red pinstripes, a nameplate sat above the number. Sisson.
Aydin Sisson.
The Wolverines senior was the answer.
Head coach Dustin Allen preached to his team about being aggressive early on. They responded to the dinner bell directly out of the gate with the first lead of the game. Although Letchworth would continue to threaten the Class C2 champions each time they went out to defend, they never lost sight of the task at hand.
As for their No. 1, he was indeed number one, putting the pieces to the puzzle together for one of the greatest performances of his career.
His bat accounted for five of the team’s seven runs — three of them came in colossal fashion in the top of the seventh inning when Bolivar-Richburg needed it more than anything at that particular moment in time. As a direct result, the wait was finally over after 10 long years, as Sisson aided in unlocking the door to the Class C Far West Regional this weekend in Salamanca after the Wolverines knocked off Class C1 champion Letchworth with a defiant and monumental 7-3 victory in the Class C State Qualifier.
“I’m beyond thrilled for all of the guys. This is something special,” said Wolverines coach Dustin Allen. “Letchworth gave us all we could handle, but Aydin Sisson had some clutch hits for us today. He had an outstanding game, and he’s been like that all year for us. Along with his bat, his hustle to get the passed ball and give it to Landon (Barkley) for that big out in the fifth when they were knocking on the door, it was clear that he wanted this today. That’s what Seniors do.”
Sisson’s reign of terror from the batter’s box commenced almost immediately in the top of the first inning for Bolivar-Richburg (23-2). Behind some key base-running to place runners in scoring position, the first of the Wolverines senior’s five RBI he would contribute came soon after, using special teams to his utmost advantage by delivering a grounder to the right side of the field, plating Trey Buchholz to break the ice.
But just like their Class C2 Finals bout with Geneseo, a quick response was provided, this time by Letchworth in the bottom half on a base hit straight into the right center field gap from Quinn Baker to score their lead-off runner right from second base, creating level playing ground with a 1-1 deadlock. With more threats looking to work around the bases, the first of numerous jams behind Landon Barkley on the mound were conducted by the Wolverines, as they executed a 1-6-3 double play and secured a fly-out to Reiss Gaines in center field to put a halt on the scoring.
Both teams would match zeroes on the board across the second inning, with the Wolverines maintaining their momentum after the retirement of just four batters by the defense in the frame. Then, Sisson pitched in his second RBI to break the tie in the top of the third, sacrificing a shot to deep right field to allow a speedy Gaines to traverse home and propel their ascension back on top with a one-run lead.
Despite losing grasp of the Wolverines in the early stages, the pressure built up against the Class C2 champions would gradually reach a boiling point as time went on. In the bottom of the fourth, the first of two back-to-back stands for Letchworth arose. Proceeding a 1-2-3 of Bolivar-Richburg in the field, the team in red and black went on to put the game-tying run on third base.
After a Landon Barkley pitch slithered past Sisson behind the plate, it gave Letchworth a chance to come home and even the game again. But behind the hustle of the Wolverines catcher, Sisson was able to shovel the ball off to Barkley at the plate, where he met the Letchworth runner with a tag in the nick of time to grab the final out of the frame, keeping the offense at a third consecutive standstill.
As a result, it was used as a massive momentum shifter again by Bolivar-Richburg. Following a lengthy at-bat from Brayden Zilker that landed him on base, Sisson came in through the clutch with a double into left field to take a two-run lead off his third RBI — the largest in the game at that period of time.
Despite narrowly missing the opportunity to tie the game, Letchworth didn’t show any quit.
Instead, they put every ounce of pressure on Barkley on the hill in what was their very last chance to shift the pendulum in their favor. They would go on to logjam the bases not once, but twice, utilizing a bases-loaded walk to cut the deficit to just one before a titanic strikeout in less than five pitches from the Wolverines junior on the mound left every single runner stranded to end the stanza.
After Barkley’s fine five-inning start reached its conclusion, the ball was handed to Caden Allen, who proceeded to keep Letchworth at bay with a rapid fire bottom of the sixth inning before the offense kicked it into the highest of gears.
If there was ever a time to set sights on a breakaway, the seventh inning was it. That was exactly what Bolivar-Richburg put into full fruition, as Trey Buchholz started the scratching of the insurance across the plate with his single into right field, scoring a galloping Maddox Davison along the way to double their lead over Letchworth.
Then, you already know what occurs next. Sisson.
To finish off his incredible field day at the plate, Sisson made sure the Wolverines stayed out front permanently, destroying a pitch straight into the left center field gap that took a bounce before sputtering all the way to the fence, sending both runners on base directly home while he arrived safely to second with his second double of the game.
He would then score the fourth and final run in the frame on a wild pitch, as they blew the doors off on Letchworth completely with a 7-2 lead.
The Class C1 champions would add one more run in the bottom of the seventh on an RBI triple from Noah Almeter, but it would not prove to be enough to challenge the Wolverines one last time, as Bolivar-Richburg went on to lock up their first trip to Regionals in a decade.
The Wolverines accounted for seven runs off eight hits to aid the offense. Following behind Sisson in the box were six different hitters — Reiss Gaines, Trey Buchholz, Caden Allen, Landon Barkley, Maddox Davison and Brayden Zilker, all of which chipped in with a hit, with Gaines and Buchholz each scoring two runs in addition.
On the mound, the win belonged to Barkley, who fanned five and walked three in his five-inning start before Allen turned in two more strikeouts of his own in relief to help shut the door on Letchworth.
“Landon Barkley was outstanding. He was in control, and at times he thought he was losing it, but he bounced right back,” Allen said. “He did a great job of mixing things up and buckled down, and then Caden came in to close the door. That bottom of the sixth really gave us some more room to breathe. We’ve played in a lot of games where it boiled down to the end. We saw it early on against Genesee Valley/Belfast, the Myrtle Beach trip, we had it this past Sunday against Geneseo. These are the kinds of things that challenge us to stay calm all throughout.”
Coming up next, Bolivar-Richburg now travels to Salamanca to take on Section VI, Class C champion Wilson in the Far West Regional, where an opportunity to head for Binghamton to join amongst the State’s elites in the Final Four the following weekend, will hang in the balance.
First pitch between the two foes is slated for a 7 p.m. start on Friday, following the Class D Far West Regional between Arkport-Canaseraga and North Collins.
Bolivar-Richburg 101 010 4 – 7 8 2
Letchworth 100 010 1 – 3 10 1
B-R – Landon Barkley (WP) (5K, 3BB), Caden Allen (6) (2K) and Aydin Sisson.
LET – Quinn Baker (LP) (3BB), Adam Halsey (4) (5K, BB) and Noah Almeter.
