State Champ Lady Lions go all-in on big 2nd inning, cash out strong regular season finish behind Dunbar’s dominant game to score 8-0 blank of Pittsford-Mendon; claim Class B2’s top seed for Sectionals

WELLSVILLE — In due time, the time for teams to go big or go home will officially make its presence known. For the Lady Lions of Wellsville, they will enter the Class B2 tournament with the biggest targets on their back as reigning New York State Champion. Entering this stage in just a few short days from now, that credo is something they have ultimately continued to live by since that very day last Spring.

Before they begin their most anticipated title defense in their program’s pre-recorded history this weekend, the opportunity to cash in on a boatload of Sectional points against the Pittsford-Mendon Lady Vikings came first at historic Tullar Field on Tuesday to close out the final day of the regular season.

The two foes provided two absolutely flawless outings of defense from start to finish. With each team locking horns throughout the chilly night on the field, it was just a matter of who was going to loosen the gate door first.

After a scoreless inning and change zoomed by in a flash, the answer came shortly after.

In a second inning highlighted by multiple reloadings of the bases behind the Pittsford-Mendon defense, the Lady Lions made the most of the chance that they held in their possession, as they witnessed the unloading of an inning featuring all eight of the game’s runs scratching across the plate, setting up the 8-0 home victory through a back-and-forth scoreless defensive battle down to the finish line to cap off their regular season at 16-2 overall.

With both teams being held at an absolute standstill across the first inning and a half, the Lady Lions received their next chance to break through the stalemate. After Brynn Hallock originally granted Wellsville the 1-0 lead off her RBI single to right field, the hosts jammed the bases full five straight times against the Lady Vikings, scoring four runs in the process — two off walks and one each off a single from both Makenna Dunbar and Lindsay Stuck to branch the early advantage to five.

The Lady Lions kept batting through their entire lineup back down to the heart of it, with Averee Palmatier posting a two-run single up the middle to help finish off an eight-run bundle heading into the third inning.

For each side, the zero was the most used number beginning in the fourth inning, as Pittsford-Mendon and Wellsville both did not give way for the remainder of the game. Because of it, it resulted in the Lady Lions and their eight-run second inning serving as the difference maker to close out their regular season on top.

The Lady Lions posted their eight runs off eight hits, with eight different hitters all posting one each. On the mound, the win belonged to Makenna Dunbar, who surrendered six hits to Pittsford-Mendon across a nine-strikeout complete game.

Wellsville will now sit idle likely until the end of the week for their first battle in Sectional play, as they now await the turnout of the Class B2 bracket with a record of 16-2 overall.

Pittsford-Mendon 000 000 0 – 0 6 0

Wellsville 080 000 X – 8 8 0

P-M – Felicity Knapp (LP) (CG, 5BB) and Maddy Fallows.

WLSV – Makenna Dunbar (WP) (CG, 9K) and Lindsay Stuck.