Wellsville’s cardiac 6th inning rally denied by SC’s Lewisville, handed 1st loss of season after hot opening sequences aid 13-9 victory to wrap up Myrtle Beach trip

MURRELLS INLET, SC — Before they provide a valedictory wave to their Spring Break trip in South Carolina, their second and rearmost battle took center stage at St. James High School in Murrells Inlet on an absolutely gorgeous Friday afternoon for the Lions of Wellsville to break out their orange vests for the first time this year.

Their final opponent before they journey their way back north was another pride of Lions, hailing from Lewisville. Right off the hop, the team in blue and yellow made their presence known against the black and orange Lions with a megaton of their runs scratching across the plate in the opening sequences.

Despite falling into a deficit that grew as large as seven runs, the Lions, like they have across the season so far, showcased a tremendous amount of brilliance to navigate their way back into the game once more down the homestretch, doing everything they can to climb back to within reach of Lewisville.

The once-large deficit was then knocked down to a pair of runs after posting what was their largest frame of offense in the contest. But when the seventh inning came around, the visitors on the scoreboard helped dispatch a knockout punch to Wellsville with two incredibly clutch runs to pair with one final shutout stand on defense to close the game on a high note, handing the Lions their first loss of the season with a 13-9 victory.

“It’s starting to become a theme. We get down early and we have to claw back and get back into games. We’re used to that, and I kind of wish we jumped out on teams instead,” said Lions coach Tom Delahunt. “But we’ve been hitting the ball really well to start the season. We’ve got to be more consistent on defense and we have to get some faster innings from our pitchers. Unfortunately, we came out on the losing end today. We had a great trip. We’re coming back 4-1 and I’m really happy with how things have gone. I’m looking forward to coming back home and getting back to work.”

The offense was clicking for Lewisville to start their afternoon off with a strong 4-0 lead through the first two innings of play. But after leaving the bases loaded on a strong defensive finish, the Lions (4-1) would carry the momentum into their second at-bats to trim the deficit directly in half with a two-run frame stemming off a big two-run single off the bat of Aiden Cowburn.

But just as the tide slightly turned to Wellsville’s favor, Lewisville shifted it right back in the top of the third with their largest offensive stand in the shape of a five-run frame to go up by a 9-2 count. The seven-run deficit now faced by the team in black and orange was one they nearly overcame in the next three frames of play, outscoring their opposition with seven of the next nine runs to close the gap to just two runs, beginning with a three-run bottom of the fourth off three hits, including the first of two Alex Green doubles.

After Lewisville responded with two consecutive runs across back-to-back appearances at the plate, Wellsville punched the gas down one more time for a four-run sixth inning, propelled by a two-run double blasted to the outfield by Green to keep the pressure at a rolling boil going into the last inning of play.

Within it, Lewisville was able to secure their lead once and for all with two clutch runs to branch their lead to four, while the defense in turn held the Lions bats at a standstill to close the game out.

Wellsville concluded their South Carolina road trip with nine runs off 12 total hits at the plate, with four different Lions recording at least a pair of hits. Leading the way at the plate, as well as the mound, was Cooper Brockway, who went 3-for-4 with a pair of RBI to couple alongside a six-strikeout, three-walk outing of relief on the rubber.

”Cooper was huge for us today,” Delahunt said. “He really did a nice job of mixing his pitches, hitting his spots and he had a great bat as well. He was super. Unfortunately, we made some mistakes behind him that you don’t really see go into the box scores. You can’t do those kinds of things, especially in games of this magnitude.”

Adding more assistance on the attack was Aiden Cowburn, who also went 3-for-4 with his pair of RBI and a run scored. Along with Green’s two-hit performance, Brennen Geffers also posted a two-hit day, including a double, and scored two more runs.

The Lions are back home after the weekend to resume play at St. Bonaventure University on Tuesday, where they will meet with the Olean Huskies at Fred Handler Park for a 5 p.m. first pitch before returning home to host Allegany-Limestone the very next night.

Lewisville 315 011 2 – 13 15 2

Wellsville 020 304 0 – 9 12 0

LEW – Tanner Good (WP) (5K, 4BB), Jon Seegars (6) (2BB) and Zack Rogers.

WLSV – Ty Vogel (LP) (2K, 2BB), Cooper Brockway (3) (6K, 3BB), Trenton Green (7) (K) and Alex Green.