Thursday Roundup: Consistency key as Cowburn, Dunaway, Ordway propel Lady Lions towards successful start in title defense with 13-0 win at A-L; Wellsville, C-R baseball falls at A-L

ALLEGANY — The title defense. It’s something that the Wellsville Lady Lions have waited for nearly 20 years for. The opportunity came via a road trip to visit the Allegany-Limestone Lady Gators in their first battle of the 2022 season. Almost immediately out of the gate, the statement was made.

The Lady Lions hung 13 runs off 16 total hits at the plate, while the defense remained as dominant as ever, holding the Lady Gators scoreless from all facets behind the guidance of Makenzie Cowburn, who recorded a brilliant debut in the circle with a no-hit performance to propel Wellsville to a successful start to their Class B2 title defense with a 13-0 shutout over the road on Thursday.

“I thought we swung the bats well tonight. Makenzie did a good job hitting her spots, and it was a nice way to start the season.” said Lady Lions coach Matt Burke.

Consistency was the key up and down the lineup for the Lady Lions (1-0), with five different hitters recording multi-hit games. Among them was Emma Dunaway, who started her season brilliantly with a 4-for-4 outing at the plate behind a pair of doubles and three RBI.

The offense took complete control after building an early 2-0 lead in the first inning, as they recorded a monsterous six-run second to ultimately branch their lead out from Allegany-Limestone’s reach for good. On the field, Cowburn would help provide the rest for the defense, recording her first win of the season in no-hit fashion behind 10 strikeouts and two walks in her complete game.

Helping further the cause for the Lady Lions was Brazen Beckwith, who added in three hits of her own. Marissa Ordway provided two additional hits, including a double, and driving in a team-high five runs in the process. Lindsay Stuck and Sawyer Burke both chipped in with two more hits, while Marley Adams added in some special teams help with two stolen bases to go with an RBI.

Both teams will complete the home-at-home this weekend at Tullar Field in a 12 p.m. first pitch for the Lady Lions in a special home opener, Saturday afternoon.

Wellsville 262 03 – 13 16 0

Allegany-Limestone 000 00 – 0 0 2

WLSV – Makenzie Cowburn (WP) (CG, 10K, 2BB), and Brazen Beckwith, Lindsay Stuck (5).

A-L – Jenna Margeson (LP) (CG, 2K, 3BB), and Ellie Strade.

Fillmore 18, Canisteo-Greenwood/Jasper-Troupsburg 8

FILLMORE — Both offenses came alive in what was an explosive season opener for both the Lady Eagles of Fillmore, and visiting Canisteo-Greenwood/Jasper-Troupsburg on Thursday. In a game that saw 26 runs combined off 22 hits, it saw the visitors jump out to an early lead.

But then the bats began to click for Fillmore in the second inning, as they went on to score 12 unanswered runs, taking the lead away from Canisteo-Greenwood/Jasper-Troupsburg ultimately for good from within a heavily active third inning to stroll towards a season-opening 18-8 win on their home field.

“I was really glad to get the first live action of the season. It had all the makings for a first game. Some good, some bad and an opportunity to see where we are at, and what we need to work on. Saige Friedl started the season strong at the plate, and she was solid on the mound for us.” said Lady Eagles coach Jon Beardsley.

Canisteo-Greenwood/Jasper-Troupsburg started out hot with a 3-0 lead of the Lady Eagles right out of the gate, but the early advantage wouldn’t last long. In the bottom half of the second, Fillmore (1-0) would tie the game up at three with their first three runs.

It would soon lead to bigger things to come for the offense, as the Lady Eagles went on to score 12 straight against Canisteo-Greenwood/Jasper-Troupsburg, with five more runs coming in the bottom of third, led by a two-run double off the bat off Saige Friedl, who also picked up Fillmore’s victory from within the circle in her tossed complete game.

Friedl fanned nine and walked six in her triumphant performance for the hosts, while in turn being the team’s leading hitter with a 4-for-5 outing with a triple and three runs scored to go with her two-run double.

Canisteo-Greenwood/Jasper-Troupsburg would try and close the gap on Fillmore in the last half of play, scoring their last five runs in the fifth and sixth innings, cutting their deficit down to seven, but the lead was pushed back out to double digits one last time by the hosts in black and green with their final three runs being scratched across in the bottom of the sixth.

Helping further the cause on the attack was Lizzy Nugent, who was a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate with a triple, double and three RBI. Kada Frazier added in two hits of her own, driving in two runs and scoring three, while Zoe Beardsley scored three runs.

The Lady Eagles are back on their field Saturday afternoon with a 1 p.m. first pitch against the Perry Lady Yellowjackets.

C-G/J-T 210 023 0 – 8 8 5

Fillmore 035 433 X – 18 14 2

C-G/J-T – Kayla Atherton (LP) (CG, 4K, 7BB), and Cadance McCaig.

FIL – Saige Friedl (WP) (CG, 9K, 6BB), and Lizzy Nugent.

BASEBALL

Wellsville, C-R to meet in A-L Tournament Consolation

ALLEGANY — To open up their seasons, Wellsville and Cuba-Rushford begin with a two-day gauntlet at Section VI powerhouse, Allegany-Limestone in tournament action. Up first, the Lions, who are fresh off their first Class B2 Championship in 10 years.

Their first opponent was no slouch either — the Portville Panthers, who are also coming off a near-perfect season themselves which included a trip to the Section VI, Class C title game. The Panthers are led by Division-I commit, Maxx Yehl, who was one of many Panthers returning for another run back toward glory.

Yehl would earn the nod on the mound for Portville when they came face-to-face with the Lions on Thursday, and right away, made his presence known with three shutout innings while the offense built an early lead that they never looked back from, as they rolled into Saturday’s Title game with an 11-3 victory over the defending Class B2 Champions.

“We ran into a pitcher who was pretty solid tonight. This kid two years ago, signed with West Virginia, and he’s a highly-touted player. He’s 6-6, and he’s been clocked in the lower 90s. He was pretty good up against us,” said Lions first-year coach Tom Delahunt. “We’re happy to get this season started, and to get out of the gym finally. I’m happy with certain aspects of our game, and we had contributions from all different kids. We hit the ball hard, and there were a couple of innings where we hit it right at them. It could have made a difference. We have to clean up some defensive errors a little bit, so hopefully we can provide that bounce back on Saturday.”

Portville struck while the iron was hot in the first three innings of play, scoring a run in each of them. But then the power shift would completely fall into their control with a six-run fourth inning, led by an RBI triple from Joe Randolph and a two-run single from Hayden Emley to branch their lead to 9-0 over Wellsville.

The Lions (0-1), after the massive inning from the Panthers, would find their way onto the board with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth to start a stand of offense that saw them score seven hits in the last four innings out of nine total at the plate. In turn, just two were given up by Yehl during his three shutout-inning performance on the rubber, striking out eight Lions to pick up the victory.

Despite the defeat, Wellsville saw three different hitters record at least a pair of hits, with Alex Green, Ty Vogel and Cooper Brockway leading the charge, with Brockway recording an RBI and scoring once, and Green scoring a run. Adding to the offense was Cody Costello, John Layfield and Kavan O’Grady, all having a single each, with O’Grady driving in a run in the process.

On the mound, Jere Havens struck out five and walked two in his three-inning start for the Lions.

Wellsville now moves into the Consolation round of the tournament, where they await either Cuba-Rushford or the host Gators, who ended the evening with the nightcap under the lights.

The Rebels were able to strike first in their opening at-bats against the Gators, but the momentum was quickly shifted to the host’s favor in the bottom half and going forward, as they scored seven straight runs to build a lead of their own that they would never lose to claim the last spot in this weekend’s title game with a 13-3 win in five innings.

“We struggled defensively, the five errors really killed us,” said Rebels coach Pat Wight. “We had a chance to get even in the third inning with the bases jammed, but the Gators made a change and they worked their way out of the jam and kept us off the board. That pretty much set aside what momentum we were able to build against them.”

With a 7-1 lead in hand, a massive opportunity to break open the door came for the Rebels (0-1) in the third inning. Having scored two runs to cut the deficit down to four, they loaded up the bags behind the Gators defense with their best offensive threat of the night.

After a quick change on the mound with nobody out, Allegany-Limestone was able to work their way off the field with three straight strikeouts after Cuba-Rushford’s first three hitters reached, to end the stand.

It would prove to be a momentum killer on one side, and a builder on the other, as the Gators went on to score the final six runs of the game, five of them coming in the bottom of the fifth inning to ultimately force the 10-run rule upon the Rebels to close out the evening.

Cuba-Rushford mustered just two hits on the attack, with Austin Pinney and Benson McCumiskey recording a single each. On the mound, Jon White struck out four and walked five in his three-inning start for the Rebels.

On Saturday, the Rebels and Lions will face off in the tournament’s Consolation game, which will begin at 1 p.m. right back at Allegany-Limestone.

Game 1

Portville 1 1 1 602 0 – 11 12 0

Wellsville 000 200 1 – 3 9 4

PORT – Maxx Yehl (WP) (8K), Nathan Petryszak (4) (3K, 2BB), and Ryan Stillman.

WLSV – Jere Havens (LP) (5K, 2BB), Aidan Riley (4) (BB), Aiden Cowburn (4) (K, 2BB), and Alex Green.

Game 2

Cuba-Rushford 102 00 – 3 2 5

Allegany-Limestone 430 15 – 13 8 5

C-R – Jon White (LP) (4K, 5BB), Austin Pinney (4) (3BB), and Caleb Root.

A-L – Mason Fisher (WP) (2K, 3BB), Gavin Truman (3) (K, BB), and AJ Riordan.

Bolivar-Richburg 6, Canisteo-Greenwood/Jasper-Troupsburg 4

BOLIVAR — Last season, the dynastic, winning ways continued for the Bolivar-Richburg Wolverines after they defeated York in the Class C2 Finals to complete the three-peat, winning their eighth Sectional title in the last 15 years. Their defense began on their home turf Thursday night with Canisteo-Greenwood/Jasper-Troupsburg in town for a visit.

Throughout the evening, both teams delivered punches in the opening innings. One after another, multiple ties were broken after a pair of innings, but when it came down to the last say, the Wolverines had it.

In the bottom of the second, after three straight innings saw a pair of runs, Caden Allen came up with a massive strike to give Bolivar-Richburg the lead back, and ultimately for good, while Wyatt Karnuth cemented it with a big blast of his own later on to keep what was a 6-4 victory in tact to pick up their first win of the season.

“It was your typical first game out,” said Wolverines coach Dustin Allen. “Both teams had some jitters to start. We were able to answer them both in the first and the second, and I was proud of our lineup, up and down, with how everyone contributed. There was a ton of positive energy, even though were were some mistakes. There’s definitely a lot of positives to take from this, and carry forward. C-G’s a very solid team, so this was a nice way to start things.”

Both teams would trade a pair of two-run innings in the first to open things up. After Canisteo-Greenwood/Jasper-Troupsburg took the lead back with two more runs coming in the second, Bolivar-Richburg (1-0) responded by delivering one more run — a three-run bottom half in all, led by the bat of Caden Allen, who drove in a pair of runs off his single to give the Wolverines the eventual 5-4 lead to hold.

With a scoreless third inning being dealt across the board, insurance would come into play early on. In the bottom of the fourth, it would come for Wyatt Karnuth, as he tattooed a solo home run, the team’s first, to cushion their lead to a pair while laying the rest of the game on the defense in the field, with Allen scoring five shutout innings the rest of the way to pick up the win.

Allen recorded a strikeout and walked two for the Wolverines to earn his first win on the rubber in relief of Trey Buchholz, who fanned one and walked five in his start.

Karnuth’s home run was one of three hits he led Bolivar-Richburg with, as he went 3-for-4 with two runs scored. Cam MacDonell added in two hits of his own, including a triple, driving in two runs and scoring twice himself to help the cause.

Up next, the Wolverines hit the road to visit the Cuba-Rushford Rebels in a 5 p.m. first pitch on Monday. As for the season’s outlook, it’s quite straightforward — get back to the Finals again, which for the defending Class C2 Champions, is automatic.

“That’s the big goal, to get back there to the FInals. That’s the tradition that we hold here at Bolivar-Richburg,” said Allen. “We talk about it more than anything, and we know that we have the biggest of bullseyes on our backs, every time we go out and play. We just have to go out and continue taking everything for granted.”

C-G/J-T 220 000 0 – 4 5 2

Bolivar-Richburg 230 100 X – 6 8 1

C-G/J-T – Noah Warriner (2K, 3BB), Colby Cornish (LP, 2) (6K, 4BB), and Jared Ainsworth.

B-R – Trey Buchholz (K, 5BB), Caden Allen (WP, 2) (K, 2BB), Landon Danaher (6) (5K, 3BB), and Aydin Sisson.