(Photo: Little League District 2 President Todd Palmatier, back row, black shirt, joins the Wellsville team and coaches after the championship win on Tuesday night in Wellsville at Hank Sinkey Field in Island Park)
By JOHN ANDERSON
The incredible undefeated run by the Wellsville Little League All-Stars continued on Tuesday night with an 11-1 win over Ellicottville-Cattaraugus-Little Valley (ECLV).
With the win, Wellsville’s 11-12-year-old All Stars went through the entire District 2 bracket undefeated. Wellsville won both the Scott Johns and Don Jordan Memorial brackets with teams representing the East and West of Allegany and Cattaraugus counties.
Next up, Wellsville’s historic Hank Sinky Field could be hosting sectional games with a trip to the State Final Four and then Williamsport, Pa., on the line. Tonight, Webster and Penfield’s 12u teams in District 4 start a best-of-three series to determine who will play Wellsville.
The Section Championship Series will be a best-out-of-three and played at either Wellsville or Penfield/Webster winner or a combination of the two.
The game was played Tuesday night thanks to Wellsville Little League President Ryan Clark and the team of volunteers on the board and community members (some from out-of-town!) who pulled the tarp off after the rain, mowed the entire facility and had everything rolling (especially for hot dogs). Here are the District 2 championship results:
WELLSVILLE 11, ECLV 1
The Wellsville Little League All-Stars are no strangers to trailing after a half inning, something they have done twice in the playoffs but both times came back to win.
On Tuesday night, ECLV took a 1-0 lead thanks to an Andrew Wade driving in Jack Widger.
After that, the Wellsville kids played like they couldn’t wait for their hot dog, soda and chips at the concession stand before a trip for ice cream at Sugar Daddy’s. The Wellsville All-Stars scored eight in the bottom of the first and didn’t look back, ending the game early with the 10-run rule.
In the first, Wyatt Schieble (run) and Wyatt Green (run) had RBI singles. Bentley Crittenden (two runs), Maddoc Johnson (two RBI’s), Matthew Helveston (run), Sullivan Kehrer (run), Felix Grimes and Colsin Short all had RBI’s.
Luke Aftuck had an RBI single, Mason Russo blasted an RBI double and scored while Jace Herrnecker also scored.
It was a big night for Braidon Potter who earned the win in relief on the mound, throwing 1.2 innings of no-hit ball with three strikeouts. At the plate, Potter ripped an RBI double and scored a run.
Bentley Crittenden had another strong outing, throwing 2.1 innings with seven strikeouts and gave up just two hits.
