A POTTER OF GOLD: After remarkable Class D title win last week, Fillmore baseball captures 1st ever Far West title behind Potter’s walk-off single in thrilling 4-3 win over Franklinville
Stories and photos by CHRIS BROOKS, managing editor, wellsvillesports.com
NEWARK — The scene at Maple City Park in Hornell last weekend was something straight out of a movie.
A cinematic marvel that was so intense, so mesmerizing and, in the champion’s case, so overwhelmingly gratifying. It was one of those moments where dreams and fantasy became a reality, even if the process leading up to it wasn’t an easy-going one at first.
In what was their third trip to the Finals in four years, they seized their second title. The Fillmore Eagles had toppled the defending State Championship-winning empire governed by the Arkport-Canaseraga Wolves after one of the more masterful comebacks was met with completion in one of the most exciting finishes to a game of baseball, ever.
But this title? It’s clear that this one will hold no bounds. It will be an instant replay that will be rewound and played over and over again. A replay with no words to describe it. Something you had to truly see to believe.
Now came another chapter to chronicle within their baseball fairytale story. They now prepared to put their pen down onto the pad for the Class D Far West Regional.
A second chance to author a different outcome following their previous trip there.
In this final step before States back in 2023, it was another one of those instances where the game had gotten away from them. In Salamanca against Section VI superpower Clymer/Sherman/Panama, an electric start through the first three innings by the Wolfpack allowed them to garner the upper-hand on the Eagles.
But as resilient as they had been all through that season, it was clear and obvious that the Eagles were never going to show any quit.
Never.
Instead, they reversed the momentum in the top of the seventh by taking a 3-0 game-long deficit, and shaved it down to a single run with one final rally to employ a great deal of compulsion against them. But in the end, the Wolfpack warded it off to capture the Far West Regional crown, ending Fillmore’s season.
At Colburn Park in Newark two years later, the Eagles received that key once again to unlock the same path forward to Binghamton next weekend. This time, against the Franklinville Panthers.
With the home of the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League’s (PGCBL) Newark Pilots seeing both teams being well represented on each side of the field, there were also two special guests sitting up high in the sky above one of the light towers in right field taking in all the action.
Two bald eagles.
Perhaps a good omen?
Right away, the Eagles were met with a nearly identical scenario as they did last week — falling under the gun early. But once again, they were never fully out of reach. Not by a long shot. They were able to overcome the early struggle to seize their first lead, all before Franklinville evened the playing field down the stretch.
With the defenses remaining rock solid throughout, there was yet another opportunity that the battle-tested Eagles would face extra innings for a third time in five games this postseason. After an absolutely resilient outing to keep the Panthers at bay in the seventh inning, a presentation of a chance to record another exciting finish for the ages.
They worked to the top of their lineup just in the nick of time to give Franklinville everything they could handle, one last time. With the game-winning run occupying base, that set up shop at the plate for another potentially dynamic finish for the books. The spotlight was on Damon Potter to do it.
In one swing of the bat, he did not hesitate.
The Fillmore side of the field erupted in chaos. The mobbing of their star senior, followed.
The Eagles were now soaring as high as they’ve ever been before.
All the way to Binghamton.
With a brilliant comeback performance from Jared Boon in relief helping set the stage for their final at-bats of the game, all the momentum they had built off their last line of defense had fully transitioned to their offense. Led by a lead-off double by Boon, it was Potter just two at-bats later that ended the game, blasting a walk-off single into right center field to score his freshman teammate easily to put the prettiest of bows on what will be their first ever trip to the New York State Final Four next weekend, as they claimed the Class D Far West Regional title in exciting and thrilling style with a 4-3 win.
“Jared gets the double, right? That’s huge for us and then we have Damon step in. Damon’s been struggling lately at the plate, but you want your best players up at the biggest moments. Everything else before that, whether he was zero for his last 50, it didn’t matter. He’s our best player. We want him for this. Did he ever deliver,” said Eagles coach Kaiden Bowers. “What a time to do it. Holy cow. This is unbelievable. The goal at the beginning of the year is to always compete for a Sectional championship. But everything after that, it’s kind of like playing with funny money. The bonus. I just can’t say enough about these guys. They deserve so much for the work they’ve put in all year to get here. All the glory goes to them. It’s amazing. It’s awesome.”
In order to put the wraps on yet another first for Fillmore Central School this Spring, the Eagles (15-7) had to chart their course from behind right away against the Panthers, who utilized some small ball activity to ignite their offense. After Bretton Blecha laid down the first off to the right side to reach, he was then identified as the game’s first run, as he scored off an Isaac Towne base hit past third base and into left field to break the ice.
“It’s always tough giving up one early and getting behind the eight ball soon after that,” said Bowers. “We were in that same situation last week against Arkport-Canaseraga. We trust our process. We trust our bats, and if we’re doing what we’re preaching, we know the runs are going to come eventually or at least the hits and getting a little bit of momentum will. Once we get that momentum, we can hopefully ride that.”
And trust they did.
After both teams traded a scoreless half inning each, Fillmore then went to work themselves at the bottom of their order. With two runners standing on base, eighth grader Liam McCumiskey — the Eagles No. 9 hitter in the lineup, came through in the biggest of ways to give them their first advantage, driving a 3-2 pitch straight up the middle to plate both runs for a 2-1 lead.
McCumiskey then later scratched across the plate off a passed ball to the backstop by Franklinville, scoring with ease to triple their advantage over the Panthers.
The scoring would then cease for the Section V champions, as Franklinville made a change on the mound from Blecha to Matt Spittler. And it was a pitching alteration that threw the Eagles through a loop across the next several innings, as Spittler proceeded to toss four straight shutout innings to transfer the propulsion to their side of the field.
As a result, the Panthers leveled the playing surface with a run in each of the next two innings, beginning with Spittler’s single into left field in the top of the third to score Blecha, and ending with a throwing error to first base off of Nick Hillman’s sacrifice bunt in the top of the fourth inning that scored the game-tying run.
Bowers praised Spittler’s command on the mound to keep his team off-balance.
“Spittler threw amazing today,” he said of the Franklinville reliever. “He worked really quickly, he pounded the zone and it was hard for us to kind of get anything going at the plate. Three up, three down quick innings hurt, and how quick he was working, it felt like we were spending more time on defense than we were on offense. But we continued to make plays out there that kept us in the game until the moment mattered.”
At time came in the midst of the scoreless inning stalemate traded between each squad, as the Panthers garnered two prime chances to lay claim on the advantage for the first time since the beginning.
In both the sixth and seventh innings, they connected with a pair of runners on base. In the latter of the frames, it was a tremendous momentum-shifting moment, as Boon approached the mound in relief of Damon Potter and delivered an awe-striking back-to-back strikeout sequence to keep Franklinville stuck in idle going into the bottom of the seventh.
That all stemmed after a simple and brief conversation on the mound. To spread the continued word they’ve preached all season: Take it one pitch at a time.
“The message on the mound was the same it’s been all year, take it pitch by pitch,” said Bowers. “After every pitch, we reset and refocus. We’re just kind of getting our defensive positioning aligned and making sure everyone knew what we were doing. We have a lot of trust in Jared. He’s a freshman but he doesn’t carry himself like one. He prepares like a professional. The kid is very serious about everything that goes on, on this field. Just like last weekend, he made some big pitches in some big moments to get us where we are.”
That big moment came in thrilling, walk-off fashion for the Eagles, as they used a lead-off double from Boon to get their final stand of offense started. After navigating his way into scoring position, Potter then stepped into the batter’s box and delivered the goods for the Section V champions, blasting a bullet straight into the outfield to score Boon, sending Fillmore’s side into the field into instant pandemonium once again to earn their first ever trip to the State Final Four.
A moment that left Bowers speechless again.
“I don’t have words again. This has just been so fun, and the boys are out there just playing baseball. We come to the field every day, and they work hard and we have fun, and then in big moments, players are just making big, big plays,” the second-year coach said. “It’s hard to comprehend where we are and how many tight games it’s been now, and the fact that we’re on one hit or one play in any of our last three or four games and we’re done a long time ago. But we’re just guys embracing this rollercoaster, and they know they have tons of support from Fillmore behind us. They’re playing loose in some ways, and they’re having so much fun, which is the most important part.”
Boon was credited with the win on the mound, striking out three and walking one for the Eagles. Prior to his relief sequence, Potter went the first six innings with six strikeouts and four walks in his no-decision.
At the plate, Fillmore tallied their four runs off six hits, with James Hillman, Isaac Wilcox and Connor McCumiskey all adding a hit each.
The Eagles will witness the conclusion of their magnificent season on the diamond come to full fruition on the last weekend of the sports season, as they now head for Binghamton University for their Class D State Semifinal appearance.
They will take the field at 7 p.m. for a battle against Section III’s Oriskany — New York State’s No. 1 ranked team, on Friday.
The winner will face either Section II’s North Warren or Section XI’s Smithtown Christian in the Class D State Championship the following day at Mirabito Stadium, at 4 p.m. this upcoming Saturday.
Franklinville 101 100 0 — 3 8 0
Fillmore 030 000 1 — 4 6 1
FRA – Bretton Blecha (2K, 3BB), Matt Spittler (LP, 3) (7K, BB) and Brady Tatlow.
FIL – Damon Potter (6K, 4BB), Jared Boon (WP, 7) (3K, BB) and Connor McCumiskey.
SOFTBALL STORY AND PHOTOS AFTER CHRIS BROOKS PHOTOS:
Forestville’s 4-run 5th inning response the difference in Class D Far West Regional, as magnificent 2025 Spring for Lady Eagles closes in 5-2 defeat; Fillmore ends at 17-5 overall
HAMBURG — There was a point in time during the beginning of the season where the Lady Eagles of Fillmore were still turning the key to fire up their engines.
In the beginning of April, in their game against Bolivar-Richburg, the Lady Eagles had committed nine errors on the field in what was a 12-9 home loss. But despite the early complications, they continued to grind.
The Lady Eagles continued to perfect their craft, and they continued to keep pulling every positive from every game from that point forward. As a result, they only found the loss column just three more times in the remainder of the regular season, heading into the Class D playoffs with one of the top seeds in hand.
With Mylee Miller beginning to assume the fullest of commands in the circle, along with her tag-team partner behind the plate, perhaps the best bat in the Lady Eagles lineup in Morghyn Ross, the possibilities ahead were endless. One win after another through the postseason, pitted up against the likes of Lima Christian, Andover/Whitesville, Lyndonville and Keshequa, the long-awaited path to championship glory for Fillmore in Section V was officially complete.
Because of their hard work, their dedication, and more importantly, the belief they had within themselves, they reaped the rewards in full. A reward that was the first of its kind in the school’s softball history.
Fillmore also became New York State’s No. 1 ranked team in Class D, amongst other accolades.
Now, this Spring’s ledger had flipped to a brand new blank page. The inscription at the top: The New York State Tournament.
With Class D still coagulated as one entire class for the Section V tournament, the Lady Eagles had already supplied one of two giant punches to their golden ticket to Binghamton — the Far West Regional.
Another would get them there.
Just a five, 10 minute trek down the road from Highmark Stadium, was Frontier High School in Hamburg. Friday was the last stepping stone separating them from that magical trip to the Empire State’s grandest stage next weekend.
Their opponent — the Section VI, Class D queens of softball, the Forestville Lady Hornets, who are ranked inside the Top 5 in the State right alongside the Section V Champions.
Time to go to work.
The Lady Eagles had to overcome a strong start out of the gate from Forestville, falling into an early deficit in the same swing. They remained hopeful crossing into the next threshold of action. And when the fourth inning came around, Fillmore got their answer that was worth double the trouble to springboard ahead of the Lady Hornets for the first time in the game.
They were in control of their destiny. All they had to do was fend off Forestville for as long as they could.
Fillmore missed an opportunity to build on their lead in the top of the fifth inning with two runners on, which allowed a momentum shift to then follow. Forestville started to buzz in their next at-bats, and with it, they ran the table.
Timely hits galore.
Not only did the Lady Hornets create a level playing surface with the Lady Eagles, but they unevened it a short time later, as they dispatched a clutch four-run outing — all scored with two outs on the board, to take the lead away for good. In the field, it was Megan Gruber’s game to put to rest, as she did not surrender another run nor hit to finish off their trip to the Class D State Final Four next weekend while ending Fillmore’s magic carpet ride this Spring with a 5-2 victory.
“The keys to the game ultimately were Gruber’s pitching and then in the fourth inning, we had two outs and honestly, two crazy balls hit that we have to take an error,” said Lady Eagles coach Jon Beardsley. “I will say both of those balls were off the toe of the bat and they were spinning like a sidewinder. I feel for Tenlee (Miller) because they are tough for anyone, and she needs to know that we have her back and she always has ours. Unfortunately after that, they found the holes for a couple of hits that opened up the game for them. Forestville was a very good team that capitalized in the right moments.”
One of those moments that were capitalized upon by the Lady Hornets came during their opening at-bats. In fact, it was the very first at-bat they possessed in the batter’s box from Carilene Sliwa, who took a 3-1 pitch and sailed it straight to left center field where it met the top of the fence and out for a lead-off home run to give the Section VI victors the first lead of the contest.
It would take some time for the Lady Eagles to re-adjust after the lead-off jack, being kept quiet in the top of the second with three strikeouts from Gruber in between an Abby Earley two-out walk.
The two teams then traded a rapid pair of 1-2-3 innings in the bottom half of the frame and in the top portion of the third inning.
With Forestville clinging to a one-run lead, their next chance to bolster their lead came in their third at-bats, placing two runners on with two outs to spoil another 1-2-3 inning for Miller and the Lady Eagles defense.
Instead, they rebounded in the field off a perfectly fielded ball by Chloe Hennard at second to leave both on, avoiding further damage.
The momentum then shifted to a full roar in the fourth when the Lady Eagles surfaced with a game-tying moment of their own from Mattie McCumiskey, countering Silwa’s lead-off homer with one of her own, also on a 3-1 pitch, sending it to straight-away center field and out to send the Fillmore dugout into a frenzy before meeting her for a celebratory mobbing at home plate.
That wasn’t all either. They wanted more.
They got more.
In the midst of some beautiful base-running from Mylee Miller to put the Forestville defense on pins and needles, it was Kelsie Songster that brought her home on a bunt. After some shimmy-shaking between third and home, a throw to catch Miller at third went wide and allowed the sophomore pitcher to score easily to double their lead on the Lady Hornets.
Later on, Songster advanced to third right after Earley worked another bunt in the inning to become Fillmore’s second runner on base. But no more damage was supplied, as Gruber kept both threats occupying the bases stranded with a big strikeout to close up the defensive half of the frame.
Gruber finished with a complete game 11-strikeout, two-walk performance for the Lady Hornets.
The advantage for the Lady Eagles remained glued in place leading up to the fifth inning, where Forestville managed to crack through the timely hit facade with three devastating blows, beginning with Madison Christian’s RBI single into right field to tie the game at two each side.
With two runners on base, Olivia Valentine put down the lumber on a blistering base hit back out into right, bringing both runners around to flip the momentum back in their favor while doubling their newly-garnered advantage.
The scoring would cease following their third and final timely hit of the frame from Kaylee Adamczak, who skirted a 2-2 pitch over the head of Chloe Hennard at second and, again, back into right field to score Valentine.
That would completely change the complexion of the game for Forestville, as they went on to score back-to-back 1-2-3 lines of defense against Fillmore to officially end their season on the field while becoming Far West Regional Champions themselves.
The Lady Eagles supplied their two runs on six total hits, with Ross leading the way with two. Tenlee Miller and Abby Earley had a hit each to chip in.
On the mound, Mylee Miller went all seven innings, registering three strikeouts and three walks.
An amazing 2025 breakthrough season for Fillmore has officially reached its conclusion, as they put a wrap on the Spring and the school year with a record of 17-5 overall and their Section V, Class D Championship — the first ever in school history.
The Lady Eagles will return all but three seniors next year to try and do it all over again, as they bid farewell to Summer Friedl, Ryleigh Goodliff and Montana Gayford.
For Beardsley, he said next season, with all the returners coming back for another round, will be another filled with overwhelming promise.
“We have a lot to be proud of this season. If you saw us in the second game with nine errors, you might not think we made it to a Regional Championship. Their hard work and improvement earned them a great season and a first Sectional championship in school history,” he said. “We have three seniors. Montana, who missed some time with an injury, still came with us on these trips every day to support us. Ryleigh, who came out for the first time ever and gave us a great deal of leadership. And then there’s Summer, who just improved leaps and bounds this season. Seniors can make or break you, and this group made a positive difference for sure.”
Beardsley continued his reflection, noting that “We return a big core of our line-up, and I can already tell you that they’re looking forward to the next chance again. Overall, these girls are a pleasure to coach. I love being with them and they have a great perspective. Winning is a big goal for us at Fillmore, but a bigger goal is focusing on our journey together and doing things the right way. The outcomes are a result of this, and this group gave everyone a journey to enjoy and remember.”
Fillmore 000 200 0 — 2 6 2
Forestville 100 040 X — 5 8 0
FIL – Mylee Miller (LP) (CG, 3K, 3BB) and Morghyn Ross.
FOR – Megan Gruber (WP) (CG, 11K, 2BB) and Jade Work.
