Friday Roundup: Ayers twirls magnificent no-hit performance to help Lady Wolverines officially claim County D-I title; victories by Rebels, Eagles help clinch 3-way tie for D-I title with B-R
BELMONT — There have been multiple no-hit performances throughout the shortened softball season scattered across Allegany County. Nevaeh Ross, Makenzie Cowburn, Emma Sullivan, those are just some of the names that have come away with some of that magic to fuel their respective teams toward victory.
But Friday night, Malayna Ayers may have created a newer level of dominance from within the circle.
On the road as Genesee Valley’s opponent for their Senior Night, the Lady Wolverines felt right at home to close out their County League slate on the highest of notes, as Ayers conquered the Lady Jaguars with near-perfection, allowing just a single baserunner to reach the infield all game while handing out 15 chairs to lock down the 9-0 victory that saw Bolivar-Richburg officially claim the Allegany County Division I title all to themselves.
“Malayna did a great job hitting her spots, and keeping Genesee Valley and their batters off-balanced the whole game,” Lady Wolverines coach Brooke Lovell said. “Our defense really stepped up and made some great plays behind her. All around, it was a great defensive effort.”
The epic showing of defense would translate into some solid offense back the other way for the Lady Wolverines (12-2) after two scoreless innings were exchanged, as they got on the board in the top of the third behind Ayers and her bat, scoring a pair of doubles with her first driving in a run to break the ice. It would begin a strand of innings where the Lady Wolverines did not stop scoring, as their lead was extended each time.
In the fourth, the lead grew to a pair with a Trinidy Miller sacrifice to the outfield doing the honors before the game would find a way to break open in the fifth, scoring three massive runs led by Ayers’ two-run double to make it a 5-0 lead. It would all be put away with one last big hit coming from Jessica Majot, providing the dagger with a two-run double of her own in the sixth inning to lock up the victory for good.
Along with Ayers, McKinlee Harris, Madigan Harris, Jianna Nix and Kelsey Pacer all recorded two hits each for Bolivar-Richburg, who had 13 hits in all to fuel the triumph.
The Lady Wolverines will wrap up their regular season this morning back home with a massive 10 a.m. showdown against Portville, while Genesee Valley plays the waiting game for their place in the Class D1 Sectional Tournament, as they finish with a record of 5-6.
Bolivar-Richburg 001 132 2 – 9 13 0
Genesee Valley 000 000 0 – 0 0 3
B-R – Malayna Ayers (WP) (CG, 15K), and Madigan Harris.
GV – Sierra Burrows (LP) (CG, K, BB), and Savannah Werner.
BASEBALL
Cuba-Rushford 17, Hinsdale 6 (F-6)
HINSDALE — The offensive showing provided by the Rebels of Cuba-Rushford was flawless across the board, recording 17 runs off 17 total hits with a massive game from Benson McCumiskey leading the charge, as the Rebels scored seven first inning runs to set the tone almost immediately in their 17-6 six-inning victory over host Hinsdale on Friday, officially clinching a three-way tie for the Allegany County Division I title with Fillmore and Bolivar-Richburg.
“The win clinched a share of the County title for us, which is great,” Rebels coach Pat Wight said. “It was good to see us hit the ball hard tonight, and it was even better to see Benny mash his first home run of his career. He’s been hammering the ball lately, so it was nice to see him get rewarded for that. But on defense, we weren’t really locked in. Jon (White) and Austin (Pinney) did a good job pitching out of trouble all game, and credit to Hinsdale, they got base runners on and put the bat on the ball.”
McCumiskey led the Cuba-Rushford (10-4) bats with a 3-for-4 outing, belting a two-run double to help break the game open in the first inning, while adding his first career homer later on — a solo blast to help propel him toward a four RBI evening. Ethan Rix had the other hot bat for the visitors in blue and maroon, also going 3-for-4 with three RBI of his own and scoring three times.
On the mound, Jon White earned the victory with five strikeouts and six walks before Pinney provided a spectacular outing of relief when he arrived in the fourth, handing out seven more chairs to go with two walks to help the Rebels close up shop after the sixth inning.
Hinsdale (1-10) accounted for six runs off five total hits to help their offense, which was led by Cody Barton and his pair of hits, driving in two runs in the process. On the mound, Damion Brown fanned one and struck out two in his two-inning start.
Both teams will conclude their regular season slate this afternoon, as Cuba-Rushford readies for one last road trip with a 2 p.m. visit to Wellsville, while Hinsdale stays home to host a 10 a.m. first pitch with the Bulldogs of Belfast.
Cuba-Rushford 722 402 – 17 17 4
Hinsdale 030 030 – 6 5 2
C-R – Jon White (WP) (5K, 6BB), Austin Pinney (4) (7K, 2BB), and Logan Lewis, Ethan Rix (3).
HIN – Damion Brown (LP) (K, 2BB), Sam Cashimere (3) (K, BB), Zach Byrne (6) (K, 2BB), and Phil Cummins.
Fillmore 11, Genesee Valley 0
BELMONT — While the Lady Wolverines nearly came across a perfect game from across the way at the softball field, the Eagles of Fillmore nearly did the same thing in the opposite direction on the baseball diamond Friday night.
After fueling a fast start at the plate, the rest of the game was on the shoulders of Fillmore’s Connor Potter and Graham Cahill, who only allowed one baserunner to reach all game, as the two hurlers combined to strikeout 16 Genesee Valley batters while the offense provided the firepower to help the Eagles claim their stake in this year’s Allegany County Division I title with a share, with an 11-0 shutout over the road.
“Their pitching was on tonight, and Fillmore is going to be a tough team to beat for sure if they can keep that up,” Jaguars coach Kevin Scott said. “We hit the ball, but it was either small dribblers or right at them. Even though the score got away, we still did the best we could with what we have. It was clean both sides, but their bats came alive and ours didn’t. That was the difference.”
After establishing an early 3-0 lead on the Jaguars straight out of the gate, Fillmore (9-4) saw their defense begin to take over, as they held the Jaguars down without hesitation, as Potter provided 10 strikeouts in his four inning tenure to pick up the win while Cahill followed with six more strikeouts in relief to spark the defense.
The Eagles would find a way to catch fire at the plate in the top of the fifth, scoring five more runs with Luke Colombo’s three-run double to the outfield being the major contributor in extending the team’s now-insurmountable lead. Leading the way on offense was Aiden Wagner, who went 3-for-4 with a double and two RBI.
The perfect game bid for the Eagles was spoiled by Christian Tuttle, who recorded the team’s lone hit off a single for the Jaguars (2-8).
Both teams will end their regular seasons this afternoon, as Fillmore looks to grab their 10th win of the season with an 11 a.m. road trip to Whitesville, while Genesee Valley holds tight at home to host Andover to close their regular season book at 1 p.m.
Fillmore 300 050 3 – 11 9 0
Genesee Valley 000 000 0 – 0 1 0
FIL – Connor Potter (WP) (10K), Graham Cahill (5) (6K), and Brent Zubikowski, Alex Ellsworth (5).
GV – Christian Tuttle (LP) (8BB), Dylan Middaugh (7) (BB), and Thai Norasethaporn, Elden Aquila (6).
Friendship/Scio 14, Whitesville 1 (F-5)
WHITESVILLE — All the Golden Eagles of Friendship/Scio needed to do to claim their piece of this year’s Allegany County Division II title, was win out. Their chance to do that came in the final game of their regular season came on Friday, where they started with an early one-run lead of host Whitesville.
After a scoreless inning was exchanged, the runs would scratch across one after another, as they scored 11 of their 14 runs in the top of the third inning, ultimately forcing the 10-run rule against the Jays, to finish the season with wins in nine of their last 10 games and a piece of the Division II championship with a 14-1 road victory.
Friendship/Scio (9-3) saw their pitcher-catcher one-two punch fuel their success for much of the day, with Joey Bednez going the distance to hold Whitesville to just four hits while striking out and walking three respectively. As for his catcher, Cory Bolzan had the team’s big bat. Out of the team’s nine hits, he would collect a pair, including his first home run of the season and three runs scored. Bednez added in two hits of his own, and scored three runs.
Leading the Jays (0-9) was CJ Estep, who struck out four and walked three in his relief appearance on the mound.
The Golden Eagles are now done for their regular season, as they enter the Class D2 Sectional field red hot after finishing with a 9-3 record. Whitesville’s regular season will end back on their home field this morning with an 11 a.m. first pitch against incoming Fillmore.
Friendship/Scio 10 (11) 11 – 14 9 1
Whitesville 00 1 00 – 1 4 5
F/S – Joey Bednez (WP) (CG, 3K, 3BB), and Cory Bolzan.
WHI – Gavin Cutler (LP) (3K, 6BB), CJ Estep (4) (4K, 3BB), and Luke Erdmann.
GOLF
Bolivar-Richburg 212, Genesee Valley 259
BOLIVAR — All four top golfers for the Wolverines of Bolivar-Richburg recorded scores in the 50s with Garrett Shields leading the pack with the medalist round in their season finale on Friday, firing the match-low round of 50 to assist in propelling the team toward a 212-259 home win over visiting Genesee Valley at the Bolivar Golf Club.
Following behind Shields on the Wolverines scorecard was Parker Worth, who added in his round of 53. Maddox Day was not far behind with his round of 54, while Gauge Robinson rounded off with a 55.
Genesee Valley saw Addy Herring and Zach Davis both lead the way at the top with their team-low rounds of 63. Colton Cowburn provided a 66 to help the cause, while Dakota Hemphill had a 67 to round off.
Both teams have officially concluded their regular seasons.
