Saturday Sectionals: Top-seeded Lady Golden Eagles survive smallball battle with No. 5 Avo/Pra, will host D2 Finals after narrow 3-2 victory; Wellsville, B-R softball also advance to Finals

The Lady Golden Eagles of Friendship come together to celebrate after defeating Avoca/Prattsburgh at home on Saturday to advance to the Class D2 Finals right back on their home field Monday night, where they will face No. 6 Elba. [Chris Brooks/WellsvilleSports.com]

Friendship pitcher Nevaeh Ross prepares to fire to the plate during Saturday afternoon’s Class D2 Semifinal contest against Avoca/Prattsburgh, in Friendship. [Chris Brooks/WellsvilleSports.com]

Friendship catcher Morghyn Ross, off-center, reaches out to provide a tag on the Avoca/Prattsburgh runner stealing home, recording the out at the plate during Saturday afternoon’s Class D2 Semifinal in Friendship. [Chris Brooks/WellsvilleSports.com]

Friendship third baseman Kendra Gleason (8) provides a throw to first from the ground during Saturday afternoon’s Class D2 Semifinal contest against Avoca/Prattsburgh, in Friendship. [Chris Brooks/WellsvilleSports.com]

Friendship baserunner Nevaeh Ross (13) hugs it out with Morghyn Ross (4) after she scored a run during Saturday afternoon’s Class D2 Semifinal contest against Avoca/Prattsburgh, in Friendship. [Chris Brooks/WellsvilleSports.com]

FRIENDSHIP — It was a page from within a storybook season that has not made the final cut for the Lady Golden Eagles of Friendship in a long time. The last story told was one authored by the late great Denny Amore back in 1993, when the softball program last navigated their way to the Finals and ultimately won it all.

That was 28 years ago.

Fast forward to now, and there was a new writer holding the pen to what could potentially be another tale to tell. It was Deb Kane’s turn to lead her Lady Golden Eagles squad back there. After seasons filled with plenty of ups and downs in the past, Allegany County has begun to witness a phenom in the making in freshman Nevaeh Ross, along with a tremendous defense behind her.

With it, the Lady Golden Eagles collected the League’s Division II championship and earned the top seed in the Class D2 Playoffs, meaning the road that would be traveled would wind up going through their house.

All that was needed was a win over No. 5 Avoca/Prattsburgh to ensure that.

Straight away on Saturday, the Lady Vikings and Lady Golden Eagles were caught in a defensive firefight. Numerous 1-2-3 quick innings off the field were recorded, and many strikeouts between both Ross and Avoca/Prattsburgh’s Annabelle Putnam were exchanged. With the offenses being relatively quiet at the plate, and the defenses locking down each other, it would come down to special teams.

Footprints would soon be left all over the dirt infield. The majority of them belonging to the Lady Golden Eagles.

After Avoca/Prattsburgh broke the ice in the top of third inning, Friendship found a way to break through by using their baserunning abilities, as they scored all three of their runs in the bottom of the fourth inning off miscues by the Lady Vikings defense, two of them on the same play to pull them ahead, ultimately for good, as Ross preserved the win with her arm in the end to send the team to the Class D2 Finals on Monday with a 3-2 edging of the five-seeds.

“This feels awesome. We haven’t been here in so long, and it was a great game today,” said Lady Golden Eagles coach Deb Kane. “I can’t complain about this at all. This is the best team ever, and our pitcher and catcher duo is what brought us here. They were absolutely phenomenal today. We’ve gotten a lot of help from my assistant, Darrell Ross. He’s come through helping the girls with their hitting, he’s been calling all of Nevaeh’s pitches. Without him, we probably would not have gotten this far, so I give all of my kudos to him for all his contributions.”

The first two innings between both foes went by in a flash, with Ross striking out the Avoca/Prattsburgh side to begin Friendship’s (12-2) stint of defense, while on the other side, the Lady Vikings, despite Ross reaching on a two-out walk, were able to get off the field themselves by leaving her stranded on an inning-ending groundout.

The first big hit of the game was credited to Riley Stowe, who plastered a big ground-rule double to deep left field to pose as the game’s first threat. After a swap to a courtesy runner and an attempted throw to third to catch the steal, the run began to come home on the errant throw, which was recovered and fired home by Kendra Gleason, who got the out in time to set up what came to be — another 1-2-3 of Avoca/Prattsburgh at the plate.

But Avoca/Prattsburgh would find their way onto the board in the top of the third with Putnam leading off with a bunt that registered as an infield hit, reaching base without a hitch. She would then make her way all around the bags until she was within a stone’s throw of home, finding her way there on a wild pitch to the back to come in untouched for a 1-0 Lady Vikings lead.

The momentum was kept in the Lady Vikings favor with another 1-2-3 on defense in the field once again, but was soon harbored with Friendship’s game-turning inning in the fourth. With both Gleason and Ross providing some pressure as the two lead runners, Morghyn Ross attempted to laid down a bunt to move them over, but was instead popped up and caught by Putnam outside the circle for the out.

She would then turn around and catch Gleason off guard and off base from second, delivering a throw in hopes of recording a double play, but the ball went to the outfield, which allowed not only Gleason, but Ross to score right behind her on the play to give Friendship the upper hand for the first time in the game.

They would add onto it with their third run off baserunning, this time from Logan Roberts. After a Katherine Lamberson hit sank in between second and third, Roberts was caught in a pickle on the third baseline with the Avoca/Prattsburgh catcher, Riley Stowe, giving chase back toward third. She provided a throw back to Putnam at the bag when Roberts made her way back around to the plate with no one covering, scoring the team’s final run unscathed for a two-run lead.

“It was very aggressive, the way their ran the bases, and the girls that were on the bases, they were the ones to do it. They had the baserunning smarts to pull that off, and they did it.” said Kane.

From that point forward, the defenses locked horns again with numerous 1-2-3 innings off the field, with Ross continuing to hand out chairs one after another to the Avoca/Prattsburgh offense, while the Lady Vikings saw their last stint of defense highlighted by a diving catch from Jordan Swift in center field on a deep Claire Calhoun drive.

Swift carried the momentum into Avoca/Prattsburgh’s final at-bats of their season, where she was able to cut their deficit back down to one on her sacrifice bunt to score Emma Hausauer. With two outs on the board, the Lady Golden Eagles would remain unfazed, as Ross delivered her 15th and final strikeout to win the game, and clinch a chance for the Lady Golden Eagles to rewrite the history books after the weekend.

“Nevaeh is a team leader, and you put her on the mound with the pitches that she throws, any coach would love to have her on the team. She's a rare specimen, and although she didn't provide the bat, her arm got us through today. As long as she did that for us, that's all that really matters.” said Kane of her ace.

Friendship tallied just three hits at the plate with Ross, Roberts and Lamberson all recording them. In the circle, Ross held the Lady Vikings to just a single hit — the ground-rule double by Stowe in the second inning, while striking out 15 and walking two to complete another magnificent performance.

Now, the Lady Golden Eagles will have a chance to win it all in front of their home crowd for the first time since 1993 on Monday, as they get set to host No. 6 Elba in the Class D2 Finals.

“There’s no excitement quite like this,” Kane said. “The school was practically on fire Friday. Having home field advantage is an honor, and to have everyone that came and showed up today to support us, even the boys baseball team was here showing their support, all of that was amazing to see. I’m excited for Monday and what it will bring. We have a chance to host the Finals, and that in itself is also an amazing opportunity.”

First pitch is tentatively set for a 4:30 p.m. start in Friendship.

Avoca/Prattsburgh 001 000 1 – 2 1 3

Friendship 000 300 X – 3 3 2

A/P – Annabelle Putnam (LP) (CG, 8K, 2BB), and Riley Stowe.

FRI – Nevaeh Ross (WP) (CG, 15K, BB), and Morghyn Ross.

Class B2 Semifinals

No. 3 Wellsville 6, No. 2 Williamson 2

WILLIAMSON —It was by far and away one of the most challenging games of the year for the Lady Lions of Wellsville. The number three seeds had their hands full all through Saturday afternoon with New York State’s fourth ranked team in Class B — Unbeaten No. 2 Williamson, who has not lost a single game this season.

Wellsville’s Makenzie Cowburn and Williamson’s Olivia Flynn were red hot in the circle for their respective teams, both collecting double digit strikeouts to fuel the defensive battle. But in the midst of said battle, a crack appeared in the fourth inning. Soon after, it would grow larger and larger across the next two innings.

That was provided by the offense of the Lady Lions.

With both teams scouring only two his in the first three shutout innings, the bats woke up for the Lady Lions. After a run broke the ice on special teams, the visitors in orange delivered a big punch with five straight runs on four hits — numbers that gave them enough of a cushion from the Lady Marauders to hand them their first loss of the season, ending the campaign in the process, as Wellsville navigated their way back to the Class B2 Finals with a 6-2 victory over Williamson.

“Williamson has an excellent pitcher, and we had some clutch hits with runners in scoring position,” Lady Lions coach Matt Burke said. “As a coach, it’s nice to see our kids compete in pressure situations. Makenzie threw a great game, and we had many kids contribute offensively. Mallory Sibble and Emma Dunaway both had big hits. That’s the best thing about our lineup, you never know who will have our big hits. Emma also had two big catches in the outfield that saved runs, and Lauren (Cicirello) made some great plays at first base.”

The first three innings between both teams went by in a flash, with each pitcher garnering back-to-back 1-2-3 innings behind a fanning of the side, with Cowburn earning hers in the bottom of the second, while Flynn returned the favor to Wellsville with one of her own immediately after, in the top of the third.

The offense belonging to the Lady Lions (20-1) would soon come into play after they broke the ice in the top of the fourth with Mallory Sibble finding her way around on special teams. Sibble, along with Lauren Cicirello and Marley Adams each recorded an RBI-single in the fifth inning in the team’s three-run fifth to extend their lead to four over Williamson.

Emma Dunaway would provide the hit that became a sixth-inning dagger for the Lady Lions, as she belted a two-run single to extend their lead to six. The shutout would find its way toward the end, as Williamson provided a pair of runs off a single to break it up. But it would not become enough to complete the comeback, as Cowburn forced the last Lady Marauders batter to fly out to end the game, punching Wellsville’s ticket back to the B2 Finals for the third time in the last five seasons.

Cowburn won the pitcher’s duel over Flynn in the end, as she twirled a five-hit performance consisting of 11 strikeouts and two walks to lead the Lady Lions defense. Helping the cause on offense, was Maddie Spicer and Matti Burke, who both had a double. Sibble was the leading Wellsville hitter with two hits, including her fifth inning RBI single.

The 2021 season will end for the Lady Lions in the Class B2 Finals on Monday, and they won’t have to go very far to settle the score either, as they will take on No. 4 Wayland-Cohocton, who upset top-seeded LeRoy by a 3-2 count later in the day, for the championship brick right back home at Tullar Field.

First pitch in Wellsville is to be determined.

Wellsville 000 132 0 – 6 8 0

Williamson 000 000 2 – 2 5 2

WLSV – Makenzie Cowburn (WP) (CG, 11K, 2BB), and Matti Burke.

WILL – Olivia Flynn (LP) (CG, 13K, 2BB), and Reagan Mangos.

Class C2 Semifinals

No. 3 Bolivar-Richburg 12, No. 2 Dundee/Bradford 3

BRADFORD — Third-seeded Bolivar-Richburg and their sticks at the plate have been stifling hot.

For a third straight game in their Sectional conquest back toward the Class C2 Finals, the Lady Wolverines eclipsed double digit figures. With Jessica Majot and Malayna Ayers taking complete command of the circle, it fueled another fiery day at the plate, starting the game with a 5-0 lead and never looking back on their 12-3 win over No. 2 Dundee/Bradford to make their way to the Class C2 Finals for the first time since the 2015 season.

“Our team has worked really hard this season,” said Lady Wolverines coach Brooke Lovell. “We are taking this journey one game at a time. The girls are playing like they want to win it all, and we are looking to show up on Monday with our best effort of the season. I am really hoping it all pays off for us.”

The bottom of the order for the Lady Wolverines (15-3) caught fire all game long starting in the top of the first, and re-igniting again later to end the game in the top of the seventh, as Jianna Nix, Trinidy Miller and Gracie Zilker all provided a strand of RBI-doubles to fuel the team’s two biggest innings of the game.

The 6-7-8 hitters of Bolivar-Richburg’s lineup would connect with three consecutive RBI-doubles to record an early 5-0 lead of Dundee/Bradford right from the start in the first, with Jessica Majot helping getting it all started with a two-run double of her own. That would come before the Lady Braves found a way to cut it down to three with two of their three total runs at the plate.

Since the 5-2 score, the visitors in gray and red went on to score three more runs across the next several innings to branch their lead to six, and then ultimately to nine when the bottom of the Bolivar-Richburg order reconvened one last time, along with Kelsey Pacer and her RBI-double, to insurmountably hold their lead to clinch a spot in Monday’s Class C2 Finals.

Nix led all Lady Wolverines with three hits, including her pair of RBI-doubles, and three runs scored. Miller also had three hits, including her pair of RBI-doubles and scored twice, while Zilker chipped in with the last pair of RBI-doubles. Furthering the cause on offense was Malayna Ayers, who had two hits of her own to chip in.

In the circle, Majot picked up the victory in just over an inning pitched, striking out two and walking four before Ayers stepped on and dominated the remainder of the way behind 12 additional strikeouts and three walks.

On Monday, the Lady Wolverines will go for their first Class C2 championship in six years when they hit the road to take on the top-seeded Lady Tigers of Lyndonville for it all to end the 2021 season.

First pitch is tentatively set for a 4:30 p.m. start in Lyndonville.

Bolivar-Richburg 511 001 4 – 12 15 1

Dundee/Bradford 200 000 1 – 3 3 3

B-R – Jessica Majot (WP) (2K, 4BB), Malayna Ayers (2) (12K, 3BB), and Madigan Harris.

D/B – Cambri Harrian (LP) (CG, 9K, 6BB), and Madison Sutryk.