HOME AWAY FROM HOME: On top of Cowburn’s resilient pitching, gutsy steal of home by MVP Grover helps unlock 2nd straight Class B title for No. 1 Wellsville, cap off rally with 4-3 win over No. 2 LeRoy

HORNELL — One of the most exciting plays in baseball is the straight steal of home. But it's also one of the rarest plays in baseball, because of the distance between the pitcher's mound and home plate.

For two years, the Wellsville Lions have been at the top of Section V, Class B baseball as the No. 1 seed, and a Sectional title last year on the strength of hitting and pitching.

Late Sunday night, almost four hours after the first pitch of the Class B title game was scheduled at Hornell's Maple City Park, the Lions won their 16th title in school history with a 4-3 win over No. 2 LeRoy.

And the deciding run was on a straight steal of home.

With two outs in the bottom of the sixth and the game tied, 3-3, Wellsville's Karson Grover took off for the plate. The LeRoy pitcher, Alex Spezzano, threw home, the catcher had to leap up, attempt to catch the ball tag Grover at the same time as he was sliding head-first into the plate. There was a collision, a lot of dust and the umpire signalled "safe" as the ball was harmlessly rolling away from the plate and stopped at the edge of the dirt and the grass behind home plate.

Grover said it was something Wellsville coach Tom Delahunt saw earlier in the game, and remembered Grover stealing home in 2023 against Addison.

"When I was on third in the fourth inning, Coach Delahunt brought it up, he brought up Addison, but Gavin (Haggerty) fouled off a pitch, then got a hit and I scored," Grover said. "The next time, he said 'it's still there if you get a good jump.' (The pitcher) looked at me once, I slid home head-first, touched the base and we collided, I just remember the catcher jumping toward me and then I was in a lot of pain from the collision."

Haggerty helped Grover to his feet. Grover went 2-for-3, reaching all three times, had a double, RBI, two stolen bases and scored twice. He had the go-ahead sacrifice fly in the Semifinals and played at a high-level all season, and in four Sectional games at first base.

He was named the MVP of the game.

"I know the MVP award always goes to the pitcher so it's nice to be recognized for all the hard work I've put in the past few years. It's nice to have something to show for it as well as a title," said Grover. "It feels good to get a title our senior year and not to put it to waste. It's great to win with my group of friends. We worked hard, we deserved it."

The momentum of the game had shifted toward LeRoy since the Oatkan Knights took a 3-1 lead in the third inning. LeRoy scored in the first when Section V, Class B MVP Alex Spezzano scored after singles by Adam Woodworth and Jake Higgins. Peter Clark blasted a solo home run in the fourth followed by a Holden Smith double and Luke Latham RBI single.

And the momentum shift was real. Things looked bleak in the fifth. The dangerous top of the order had provided the first run of the game when Ty Vogel and Matt Ritter singled in the first. But in the top of the fifth, Spezzano needed seven pitches to dispatch the top of the order.

"That was a turning point, once we went 1-2-3 in the fifth I was like, "oh boy." I was praying Trenton would get on in the sixth so I wasn't up with one out," Grover said. Green singled. "That gave me the confidence to be more aggressive at the plate and then he got to third."

Grover drove him in, Ordiway and Brennen Geffers got Grover to third to set up the go-ahead run.

The momentum shifted for all of 10 minutes.

With the lead, senior Aiden Cowburn, a Section V, Class B all-star, stepped on the mound with the heart of the order up. He fielded two harmless ground balls back to the mound, worked a batter 3-0, then came back with three perfect pitches for a strikeout to end the game. The celebration was on.

Wellsville (16-3) will now face Section VI champion Medina (21-1) on Wednesday at 6 p.m. in Newark at Colburn Park in the Class B Sub-Regional game.

Delahunt said the Lions have battled from behind in big games the past two years and this was no different. He said the steal of home was another benefit of playing big games against tough teams.

"That was pretty much something that I saw that we could have had earlier in the game. We didn't take advantage of it then, but it presented itself again and Karson's got some speed. He's got some wheels. I said to him that there were two outs, and I asked him if he remembered what we talked about. He did, and I told him if it was there, to get the jump and go — boy did he ever," Delahunt said. "That's a move that takes guts, but in a situation like that, you have to try and do that. We did it against Addison and scored a run that way last year. You're never out of a game, and even down 3-1, we battled back. We got a run in the fourth and then we had to be clutch when we needed to be." 

Cowburn finished with 12 strikeouts and no walks in the complete game victory. He also had a win over Waterloo in the Quarterfinals.

However, Cowburn had a tough start after warming up and having to wait out a 12-inning game between Fillmore and Arkport-Canaseraga. The 5 p.m. start time was pushed until almost 7 p.m.

"I felt like we sat for an hour and a half when we got there and it messed up my whole routine," said Cowburn. "The turning point was after the home run. I realized I have to lock in, buckle down and hit my spots the next three or four innings ... I don't know how, but my arm felt stronger at the end of the game."

Especially the final inning.

"Going into the top of the seventh, I just wanted them to get weak at bats and trust the defense behind me," Cowburn said "It was relieving to see the entire team contribute. This was one of those days Ty and I didn't have our best day at the plate, but everyone else produced and I was able to focus on one thing."

Delahunt was impressed with the righty who improved to 7-1 on the season.

"Aiden pitched a tremendous game. He got hit around a little bit, and he's not used to getting hit around much either," said Delahunt. "He didn't give up despite that, he stayed in there. That really tests your mental fortitude. He was able to make huge pitches and keep us in the game to allow us to score runs in the end there. That's the way he's been all season, he's our number one for a reason. He's really stepped up this year and gives everything, and he plays with a lot of heart, especially if things aren't happening for him at the plate."

Wellsville won four games in Hornell this season, one against Hornell, the others against Canisteo-Greenwood, Waterloo and LeRoy.

That stat did not matter to Spezzano, who gave up six hits while striking out four and walking one. He kept the Oatkan Knights in a position to win.

"That kid is a gamer. He's had a tremendous season, and we had to fight for everything against him," Delahunt said. "You could tell that he knows the game really well too. In a game like this, it's one play that made the difference tonight. I'm just happy that we were able to come out on top when we did."

Brennen Geffers played another stellar game at third base for the Lions, eating up several hard choppers and catching a laser of a line drive off the bat of Clark after his home run. Karter Grover, Haggerty, Grover (two), catcher Matt Ritter, Trent Green and Vogel all had hits for the Lions.

The Lions had a small window to celebrate with the softball team after practice on Monday. First was the firetruck ride, then a tradition started in 2005 by Wellsville assistant coach John Anderson who asked then-Wellsville Little League president Dean Arnold if the team could interrupt the Little League game after a Section V title and take a victory lap like they did when they won a District II title as 12-year-olds.

It continued in other years with Little League President C.J. Rahr, and happened again Monday with the blessing of new Wellsville Little League President Ryan Clark. A large number of kids who did not have a game Monday night were at the park to take part in the lap around the field, one of the largest numbers of kids to run since the tradition started.

The team is now focused on Medina. The winner plays Section IV champion Oneonta, who downed Lansing, 2-1 on Monday night.

That game will be played on Saturday at 3 p.m. at McDonough Field in Geneva. At noon on Saturday, the Section V vs. Section VI Class D Far West Regional game will be played between Section VI champion Franklinville and Fillmore.

This season, one class for Section VI or Section V's winner was designated to play an extra game in states against Section IV. Class B was selected.

Delahunt said the Lions and the Mustangs know each other well.

"Aiden pitched tremendously against them already this year. We know Medina really well, they know us really well now. It should be a great battle," Delahunt said. "I'm looking forward to that again, and we had the idea that we might see them again down the line after the first time we played. Now it's a reality."

LeRoy 102 000 0 — 3 7 1

Wellsville 100 102 X — 4 6 1

ROY – Alex Spezzano (LP) (CG, 4K, BB) and Peter Clark.

WLSV – Aiden Cowburn (WP) (CG, 12K) and Matt Ritter.