Friday Roundup: Wellsville welcomes in champions, as baseball team scores massive win over State Finalist Pal-Mac, softball outlasts Iroquois in Far West Rematch at Tullar

WELLSVILLE — What a night to play some games. And what a Friday night ubiquity it was for Wellsville to host a couple of champions in town, with the Lions occupying both fields of dreams for two marquee matchups of their campaign.

On one end of town, the baseball team looked to remain red hot at the top of Class B, being pitted in a titanic showdown against defending State Finalist Palmyra-Macedon. Then, a quick drive down and into the business district, the Lady Lions were back at it with the second of a three-game homestand, this one of monumental stature, as they collided with Section VI power Iroquois in a rematch of last season’s Far West Regional at Webster Schroeder.

Leading off were the Lions on the baseball diamond, as they used an unbelievable opening sequence on defense that needed just under 10 pitches from Aiden Cowburn to work their way off. In return for their first approach at the plate, the momentum came with it, as they went on to score six unanswered runs against the visiting Red Raiders — three of them right from the get-go, setting tone in the process, as they came away with a massive 10-2 home win over the Class B State Finalists from a year ago.

“It’s been our M.O. the last couple of weeks. We jump on teams early and it fuels the fire right away,” Lions coach Tom Delahunt said. “It makes it easier for our pitchers to pitch with the lead. Aiden was solid tonight, five shutout innings and he hadn’t pitched for over a week before this game. The way he started tonight, he breezed through it to gain some big confidence. It’s nice to beat a team like Pal-Mac, especially given the success they’ve had in the most recent of years. To get them on our schedule and win against them, an A school, to keep things going is huge.”

In a game of this caliber, the Lions (12-1) needed every big play possible to keep Palmyra-Macedon on their feet. Right out of the gate, they orchestrated a 1-2-3 of the Red Raiders that witnessed seven pitches being thrown by Cowburn, as well as a dynamic catch over the fence in foul territory by first baseman Karson Grover. The burst of energy that came with the strong tenure of defense would translate to the bats, where they struck while the iron was hot with three big runs — all scored by the first three hitters of the game: Cowburn, Ty Vogel and Alex Green.

Vogel would break the ice on a double down the left field line to plate Cowburn before working himself home off of Matt Ritter’s sacrifice into the right center field gap. Green would score the third and final run of the frame on a wild pitch behind the plate.

Cowburn would continue to deal despite Palmyra-Macedon recording a couple of hits along the way, setting up an early threat against the Lions in the second with a pair of runners on. But the defense would shine through once more on a brilliant catch by Vogel on the run in shallow left field from short to leave both men on.

After Trenton Green added some more fuel to Wellsville’s fire at the plate with a two-out RBI triple to deep center field, the scoring would come to a halt across a fourth inning that would serve as a potential turning point for the Lions on defense. With a shot being ripped over the head of Matt Ritter in deep right field, Vogel raced to serve as his cut-off with the Palmyra-Macedon running rounding the bags.

With the runner making a break for third base, Vogel turned around and fired an absolute rocket straight to Trenton Green with more than enough time to apply the tag, recording the out to keep the Red Raiders offense frozen for a fourth consecutive inning.

The play was something Delahunt had never seen before.

“Defensively, we had a couple of errors, but we had some web gems,” he said. “With Cooper (Brockway) away at the robotics competition, we moved Trenton to third and he looks like he’s been playing there all season with some phenomenal catches. One by the dugout in front of me and then a snare by the left field line. I’ve been around baseball a long time, but I don’t think I’ve seen a relay throw like Tyler’s. It was something you’d see straight out of the MLB and maybe even on ESPN. It was right on the bag, and it was a bang-bang play. It was unbelievable, and that’s the only word I could use to describe that. It turned the game in our favor for the rest of the game.”

In between Wellsville’s final six runs of the game, Palmyra-Macedon would ultimately snap the game-long shutout on the board, capitalizing on a throwing error into left field to go with an RBI double from JB Conklin to cut the deficit to four. But it would be as close as the Red Raiders would get, as the Lions put a bow on the victory with a four-run bottom of the sixth inning off five hits, with two bombs to the base of the outfield fence delivered by Vogel and Ritter leading the way.

In all, the Lions accumulated 10 runs off 10 hits, with Vogel, Trenton and Alex Green each recording a pair, with Alex Green scoring three runs in the process. On the mound, Cowburn was awarded the win with five strikeouts and two walks. Coming up on Monday, Wellsville will host their Senior Night celebration with the Hornell Red Raiders in town for a 5 p.m. visit to the Lion’s Den.

As for the softball team downtown, they had another challenge of epic proportions in store after a 1-0 victory over Bloomfield the previous night, using the full head of steam to carry into their battle against the Iroquois Lady Chiefs — their opposition from last season’s Far West Regional.

It was another game that the Lady Lions had to navigate the high seas in, going back-and-forth with Iroquois through the night. But the difference maker came right in the first inning of play following the Lady Chiefs and their icebreaking run, as they multiplied it by five to lay claim on the lead going forward.

Even though they remained out in front, Iroquois showed no signs of backing down one bit, as they crawled back bit by bit to keep the pressure on, ultimately trimming the deficit down to a pair of runs in the sixth inning. In their final at-bats of the game, the Lady Lions made sure to save their best firework show for last with Makenna Dunbar’s solo home run to gain all the traction they needed to keep the Lady Chiefs behind them, securing the 7-4 win.

“We were fortunate to jump out the way we did tonight,” Lady Lions co-coach Shelley Chaffee said. “Iroquois certainly made us field the ball with some quality at-bats. Makenna had some good control when she pitched and we wanted to give them a different speed and approach at first, then we stuck Makenzie (Cowburn) in later to hold them off. Iroquois is a very well-coached team and they knew when to be aggressive behind our defense. They knew when to field bunts, make plays and there were a couple of times where we didn’t and they took advantage of it. We’ve been fortunate to have our pitchers stay in control and limit what they could do at the plate. That’s been the story the last couple of games.”

The number one was the most frequently used number that displayed on the Saputo scoreboard for much of the evening, with Iroquois and Wellsville racing side-by-side through the heat of battle. Following the first run from the Lady Chiefs to go on top early, the Lady Lions (9-1) responded by multiplying their outing by five, capitalizing on a hit by Makenzie Cowburn to center to plate two on the play. Their last three runs of the inning came on Iroquois’ lone error.

It was a 5-1 lead that the Lady Lions would continue to hang onto after a series of ones were exchanged between the two foes, with the last being hung onto the board in the top of the fourth inning to cut their lead to a pair. After a change from Makenna Dunbar to Makenzie Cowburn on the mound in the fifth, it was smooth sailing from that point on, as the senior phenom allowed just two more Iroquois hits across three shutout innings to freeze the Lady Chiefs bats.

In the same swing, it also allowed the hosts in gray and orange to add to their lead with a humongous piece of insurance in the bottom of the sixth, as Dunbar blasted a solo homer deep into the Tullar Field night sky to put away the game for good.

The Lady Lions junior would finish as the team’s leading hitter, going 2-for-2 with a double to go with her home run. Marissa Ordway chipped in a ground-rule double along the way. On the mound, both Dunbar and Cowburn came together to hand out 12 chairs to Iroquois, each recording six, with Dunbar collecting the win.

“We knew these three games this week would serve as a tough stretch, probably the toughest we’ve had this season,” said Chaffee. “But this will give us a good indication of how we can continue on this road going into Sectionals. Last night’s game was an excellent pitching performance, and now tonight, it was aggressiveness on base and having the pitchers being stellar was the key.”

The Lady Lions closed out their three-game, three-day homestand this afternoon in the midst of a rainy Saturday afternoon, hosting DuBois Central Catholic. More on this game will be available online on Sunday.

Baseball

Pal-Mac 000 002 0 – 2 7 1

Wellsville 301 024 X – 10 10 2

P-M – Camron Quick (LP) (4K, BB), Anthony Porpora (4) (K, 3BB), Shane Meier (6), Brayden Leo (7) (K, 2BB) and Porpora, Ryan Caffyn (4).

WLSV – Aiden Cowburn (WP) (5K, 2BB), Trenton Green (6) (3K, 2BB) and Alex Green.

Softball

Iroquois 111 100 0 – 4 6 1

Wellsville 501 001 X – 7 6 4

IRO – Alexa Chiaramonte (LP) (CG, 3K, 3BB) and Brooklyn Bukaczeski.

WLSV – Makenna Dunbar (WP) (6K, BB), Makenzie Cowburn (5) (6K) and Lindsay Stuck.

B-R cruises, C-R downed by Otto-Eldred in Tourney twinbill

BOLIVAR — It was that time again for Tournament action in Bolivar, Friday night. Both Cuba-Rushford and the host Wolverines of Bolivar-Richburg would have their shot at taking on their visiting opposition from below the border not far from town — the Otto-Eldred Terrors.

When it was all said and done, the book closed on a split of both games between the two local prospects, as Otto-Eldred delivered a phenomenal performance out of the gate to defeat the Rebels, while the Wolverines countered with a six-inning victory to hold the Terrors in check across the board under the lights.

In game one, Cuba-Rushford’s Finn Ricketts and Otto-Eldred’s Zach Schuessler came together in an early pitcher’s duel that saw them exchange four shutout innings out of the seven in action, including the first two, allowing just one combined hit along the way. The wheels turned in motion on special teams for the Rebels (4-4) with their only run of the game in the top of the third from Landen Schappacher, who used some key baserunning to break the ice.

Otto-Eldred multiplied their response to the Rebels however, as they jumped ahead and set the tone for the rest of the game with a four-run bottom half of their own, led by an RBI single for the next three runs that accounted for some key baserunning of their own. After two more scoreless innings were exchanged between the defenses, the Terrors would cement their victory for good with two more runs in the sixth inning.

“All the credit goes to Otto-Eldred’s pitcher and their defense. They were great tonight,” said Rebels coach Pat Wight. “We had some decent at-bats and we hit the ball hard, but we just couldn’t find an open space in the field. Finn pitched well and we had some pretty solid defense behind him. We just couldn’t find a rhythm with our bats.”

The Rebels were held hitless by the Terrors, as Schuessler outdueled Ricketts with an eight-strikeout, two-walk gem on the hill. Ricketts would finish with six strikeouts and three walks of his own in his complete game twirl.

To finish off the night, it was the Wolverines of Bolivar-Richburg’s turn. With it, they made the most out of it behind a solid start from Caden Allen and a 15-hit display of offense that propelled their ninth win of the campaign, rolling towards an 11-1 win over the Terrors after six complete innings.

The number three served as Bolivar-Richburg’s (9-1) go-to number in three of their six innings of scoring, as they started red hot against Otto-Eldred with a pair of three-run frames to collect a 6-1 lead in between Otto-Eldred’s first marker in the second. The lead remained glued together by the defense, as they used the momentum to shift gears back on offense to score the last five runs of the game down the stretch, further cementing their victory.

Out of the 15 hits they would compile, five different hitters all recorded at least a pair, with Reiss Gaines and Kingston Loucks each garnering three hits and an RBI to lead the charge. Aydin Sisson had two hits and drove in three runs, while Brayden Zilker and Trey Buchholz each had a pair of hits to chip in.

On the rubber, Allen recorded the win behind six strikeouts and a walk, while Loucks had two strikeouts and two walks of his own in relief, as the two Wolverines hurlers combined to hold Otto-Eldred to four hits.

Coming up on Monday, both Cuba-Rushford and Bolivar-Richburg will come together for a pair of battles, beginning with the final game of the tournament at 5 p.m, followed by another battle in League play starting at 7 p.m.

Game 1

Cuba-Rushford 001 000 0 – 1 0 2

Otto-Eldred 004 002 X – 6 7 1

C-R – Finn Ricketts (LP) (CG, 6K, 3BB) and Adam Shaffer.

O-E – Zach Schuessler (WP) (CG, 8K, 2BB) and Andrew Schenfield.

Game 2

Otto-Eldred 010 000 – 1 4 4

Bolivar-Richburg 330 113 – 11 15 0

O-E – Jared Obenrader (LP), Manning Splain (4) (2K, 3BB), Landon Francis (6) and Andrew Schenfield.

B-R – Caden Allen (WP) (6K, BB), Kingston Loucks (6) (2K, 2BB) and Aydin Sisson.

SOFTBALL

Cuba-Rushford 4, Fillmore 0

FILLMORE — Sydney Howard was lights out for the Lady Rebels of Cuba-Rushford, Friday night. The senior hurler allowed the visitors in gray and blue to capture their third straight victory behind her four-hit shutout, as she froze Fillmore with nine strikeouts while the offense fed off the momentum to deliver a 4-0 victory over the road.

“Cuba-Rushford deserves all the credit. Sydney pitched well and their defense played sound. The offense generated just enough to score a few runs to make the difference. We had a couple of errors, but I thought overall, we improved defensively and Mylee (Miller) continues to grow on the mound.” said Lady Eagles coach Jon Beardsley.

Howard would engage with Fillmore’s Mylee Miller in an early duel across the first two innings of play, each handing out a pair of shutout frames to keep the bats silent at the plate. But following her second shutout frame handed out, Howard would give the Lady Rebels (4-4) a burst at the plate with a pair of third inning runs to break the ice.

The offense would continue to scale upwards with two more big cracks into the ice, creating just enough of a fissure to keep their lead intact from the Lady Eagles (5-7), posting a run in each of the fourth and fifth innings to pull away towards their third straight victory.

Following up her nine-strikeout performance, Howard would also post two of the team’s seven total hits at the plate. Aubrey Williams had two hits of her own, including a double, driving in a run in the process.

For Fillmore, Mylee Miller struck out eight and walked two in her complete game inside the circle. Miller also recorded a double to aid the offense. The Lady Eagles will look to turn it back around Tuesday night with a 5 p.m. visit from Arkport-Canaseraga.

Cuba-Rushford will now take aim at four straight wins on Monday, visiting Bolivar-Richburg for a 7 p.m. battle under the lights.

Cuba-Rushford 002 110 0 – 4 7 2

Fillmore 000 000 0 – 0 4 3

C-R – Sydney Howard (WP) (CG, 9K) and Arlah Shaffer.

FIL – Mylee Miller (LP) (CG, 8K, 2BB) and Oakley Frazier.

Genesee Valley/Belfast 10, Bolivar-Richburg 9

BELFAST — A wild thrill ride on the softball rollercoaster graced the stage under the bright lights at the Rich Sullivan Complex on Friday in Belfast. In a game where four lead changes were traded between both Bolivar-Richburg and host Genesee Valley/Belfast from the first pitch until its last.

The largest of the game between either side was six runs, with the hosts in gray and black carrying it all the way down to the wire. The Lady Wolverines were able to fight all the way back in their last at-bats to steal the lead away, but in the bottom half, Genesee Valley/Belfast responded with the last unbuckling of the driver’s seat.

Jenna Hill was responsible for that, as she blasted a massive double to the outfield fence. As a result, two go-ahead runs worked their way home and ultimately across to aid in finishing off a wild affair with a 10-9 victory to split their season series with the Lady Wolverines.

Combined between both teams, 25 total hits were mustered at the plate, with the Lady Wolverines claiming a narrow 13-12 advantage, as they started off the night with the first two runs to claim the lead. From the bottom half of the frame, Genesee Valley/Belfast (6-3) took control by scoring the next eight unanswered runs, including a four-run third inning to take their first lead of the game.

After adding to the advantage an inning later, both defenses came together to deal a scoreless inning of action before the Lady Wolverines (3-6) provided a comeback of their own magnitude behind seven unanswered runs. Of the runs, five of them came in the top of the seventh inning to take their first lead since the opening frame, capitalizing on a series of errors in the field by the hosts.

But their final forcing of the lead away from Genesee Valley/Belfast was short-lived, as the team in gray and black played one final card with a pair of runners in scoring position, as Jenna Hill’s piercing of a walk-off double to the outfield scored both of them to win the game in thrilling fashion.

Out of the 12 hits they would collect at the plate, Hill’s walk-off was one of three she would have. In addition, Morgan Yackeren also collected three hits, while Hannah Southwick-Powers and Sondra Guilford each had two. In the circle, the win belonged to Southwick-Powers, who struck out 12 and walked six in her complete game.

Bolivar-Richburg was led by both Jayna Thomas (triple) and Kylee Whiting, each posting three hits. Sydney Faulkner and Alexa Fisk both scored two hits. On the mound, Whiting struck out three and walked two in her three-inning start.

Both teams returned to action Saturday morning for tournament action, with Genesee Valley/Belfast taking on Friendship/Scio in a first round battle in Friendship, while Bolivar-Richburg traveled to Waterloo to partake in their annual Strike-Out Cancer Tournament.

Bolivar-Richburg 200 002 5 – 9 13

Genesee Valley/Belfast 104 300 2 – 10 12

B-R – Kylee Whiting (3K, 2BB), Rylee Whiting (LP, 4) (2K, BB) and Sydney Faulkner.

GVB – Hannah Southwick-Powers (WP) (CG, 12K, 6BB) and Jenna Hill.

BOYS TENNIS

Wellsville 4, Bolivar-Richburg 1

BOLIVAR — A hard-fought, three-set war across second singles action between Wellsville’s Jeremiah Pensyl and Bolivar-Richburg’s Dustin Murray developed, with the final set of action between the two players crossing into tiebreak territory. After a marathon of back-and-forth points being exchanged, Pensyl was able to grab the two-point cushion with a 9-7 win to capture the win, aiding the Lions 4-1 road win over the Wolverines.

Pensyl would exchange wins with Murray across the first two sets of action, leading up to a thrilling conclusion in the final set, as he came away victorious with a 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (9-7) win to headline Wellsville’s (6-3) team win. Following up was Wheeler Dahlgren at third singles, as he collected a 6-0, 6-1 win over Bolivar-Richburg’s Trevor Whitsell to finish off the singles matches.

The Lions would also lay claim on both doubles matches, with the first doubles team of Jonah Mac and Keenen O’Connor finding the win column with a 6-0, 6-1 win of their own over Alex Parker and Nebula Wilson-Smith. At second doubles, the duo of Brayden Taggart and Liam Smith rounded off the wins with a 6-1, 6-2 decision over Starlyn Kisel and Jamie Werner.

Bolivar-Richburg (3-3) collected just one win from Anthony Densmore at first singles, as he survived a back-and-forth duel with Wellsville’s Adam Iantorno leading up to a third-set tiebreak himself, ultimately claiming the victory in its entirety by a 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5) decision. The Wolverines are back on the court next Friday night with a 5 p.m. road trip to Cuba-Rushford.

Wellsville is back on the road Monday night, traveling to visit the Allegany-Limestone Gators in a 5 p.m. first serve.

Singles

1. Anthony Densmore (B-R) def. Adam Iantorno (WLSV), 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5).

2. Jeremiah Pensyl (WLSV) def. Dustin Murray (B-R), 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (9-7).

3. Wheeler Dahlgren (WLSV) def. Trevor Whitsell (B-R), 6-0, 6-1.

Doubles

1. Jonah Mac/Keenen O'Connor (WLSV) def. Alex Parker/Nebula Wilson-Smith (B-R), 6-0, 6-1.

2. Brayden Taggart/Liam Smith (WLSV) def. Starlyn Kisel/Jamie Werner (B-R), 6-1, 6-2.

Fillmore 4, Warsaw 1

WARSAW — The Eagles of Fillmore keep on finding the win column in every way, shape and form they can, as it continued on Friday to close out the week behind another dominant display of tennis across all three singles matches from Eben Schilke, Isaiah Sisson and Marcus Wolfer, setting up what was a 4-1 road win over the host Warsaw Tigers.

Leading the way for the Eagles (8-0) was another powerful performance from Schilke at first singles, as he came away with a dynamic 6-0, 6-0 shutout. Sisson and Wolfer followed behind to help complete the sweep of the matches, each garnering wins by a 6-0, 6-1 count.

Adding more fuel to the fire was the first doubles duo of Ezra Knapp and Carson Sanasith, as they took care of business with a 6-1, 6-0 win of their own to round off the victories. At second doubles, Fillmore’s Brayden Walton and Kallan Sanasith fought tooth and nail from start to finish, but ultimately fell in a 6-4, 6-2 decision.

“I am really proud of my first doubles team. Warsaw dropped their top two singles into first doubles and their first doubles up to second. Ezra and Carson bounced back from a shaky outing last night and they really dominated tonight. Marcus also had a much better outing tonight as well.” Eagles coach Randy Crouch said.

Fillmore will hit the road again on Tuesday with a 5 p.m. visit to Alfred-Almond.

Singles

1. Eben Schilke (FIL) def. Heaven Proefract (WAR), 6-0, 6-0.

2. Isaiah Sisson (FIL) def. Patrick Langdon (WAR), 6-0, 6-1.

3. Marcus Wolfer (FIL) def. Baylee Hoffmeister (WAR), 6-0, 6-1.

Doubles

1. Ezra Knapp/Carson Sanasith (FIL) def. Jack Fraser/Greg Treatlein (WAR), 6-1, 6-0.

2. Drake Davis/Addison Gay (WAR) def. Brayden Walton/Kallan Sanasith (FIL), 6-4, 6-2.