Thursday Roundup: Red Jacket too much for Fillmore, as big gap hits, sound defense keep Eagles at bay in 8-3 win at Houghton College; B-R outlasts C-S to wrap up brilliant regular season

HOUGHTON — Every team towards the end of their regular season slate will have a test in preparation to turn the corner going into Sectionals.

For the Eagles of Fillmore, their test came right at the very end of the season in the shape of Finger Lakes rep Red Jacket, a team also looking to make a run themselves when the second season approaches in the Class C3 Tournament.

In the beginning stages, the defensive efforts by both teams would hunker down right away, with Fillmore jumping on the board in between the scoreless innings to provide a crack into the ice. But as their response, the bats for Red Jacket would come to life.

They began to find the holes in the outfield.

At Houghton College on Thursday, the Indians brought everything together on offense, as they dropped as many base hits into the outfield gaps as they could, the majority of them resulting in some big RBIs while the special teams kicked into gear at the same time to power up a middle-inning stand to overtake the Eagles at the top with an eventual 8-3 victory.

Both teams would have their fair share of providing an early threat on base to one another, attempting to get their offenses jumpstarted in however way they could. In the bottom of the second though, Fillmore (13-3) was able to do that, as Brent Zubikowski was responsible for all three of the team's runs, scoring his first on some smart, heads-up baserunning off a pop-out to second which nearly caught Aiden Wagner off guard at first.

With a throw going to first, Zubikowski tagged up and then sped his way home, where was able to glide straight into home with ease to become the first run of the game.

But the lead would not last long.

The middle-inning dominance from the Indians would settle in starting in the top of the fourth, as they took a 3-1 lead powered by back-to-back RBIs from both Aiden Reed and Brendan Stephens into the outfield to give the visitors in red and white the lead. A third run would score off a Kyle DaMore blooper into shallow left center field.

The lead would grow to as large as five in the game for Red Jacket, adding two more to their lead in the visiting half of the fifth with Reed blasting another RBI single into the outfield gap before finishing the frame with a second run scoring off an error by the Eagles defense.

Despite the defensive hiccups, the Eagles were able to provide a big response to jump right back into the game, and within reach of the Indians, narrowing their deficit back down to a pair off a two-run single from Zubikowski into left field to make it a 5-3 ballgame.

Red Jacket would find a way to take back off again at the plate, with their final two runs of the game coming in to score on one of many errors, along with a deep RBI double from Mason Pollot into deep left center field at the bottom of the fence.

That would give the Indians all the room they would need to secure the victory for good over Fillmore, handing them a quick inning on defense in the bottom of the seventh to pull the plug.

Luke Colombo earned the start on the hill for Fillmore, going the first four innings behind three strikeouts and a walk before Zubikowski added five more strikeouts himself in his relief appearance in the last three innings.

In total, the Fillmore offense accounted for three runs off six total hits, with Zubikowski's two hits heading the front.

The regular season is over for the Eagles, as they now await Sectional seeding this weekend, where, despite the loss, they will lock up Class D's top seed heading in. Their quest for a championship will begin in the Quarterfinal round on Wednesday.

Red Jacket 000 323 0 – 8 10 3

Fillmore 010 020 0 – 3 6 6

RJ – Aiden Reed (WP) (CG, 7K, 2BB), and Kyle DaMore.

FIL – Luke Colombo (LP) (3K, BB), Brent Zubikowski (5) (5K), and Alex Ellsworth.

Bolivar-Richburg 5, Campbell-Savona 3

CAMPBELL — Bolivar-Richburg and host Campbell-Savona last met in the previous year's Semifinal Round in the Class C2, where the Wolverines would ultimately shut out the Panthers in a close, tightly-knit battle to advance towards what would be an eventual Class C2 Championship.

Nearly a full season removed from that game, the two foes met once again in a game that would pan out in a similar fashion in the next go-around. But thanks to a big inning from one team, that would prove to be the difference maker.

That inning belonged to Bolivar-Richburg after Campbell-Savona struck first with the game's first lead, as they used a four-run stand on offense in the top of the third inning to take a lead that, although was threatened at the very end by the Panthers, it would never dissipate, as they finished their regular season on a strong note with a 5-3 win over the road on Thursday.

“It was nice to see that our kids could endure the pressure in the end, and Trey (Buchholz) bucked down to throw some great strikes. Our defense made some plays behind him to help him out,” said Wolverines coach Dustin Allen. “Campbell-Savona had a very similar team as opposed to when we played them last year in Sectionals, and we got almost the same kind of game tonight. This was a great regular season, a good end to it, but now it's time to wipe the slate clean and get ready for Sectionals.”

After the Panthers broke the ice early on in the second inning, it would jumpstart a back-and-forth exchange for the next full inning and change between the two clubs. That would include Bolivar-Richburg's (19-1) game-turning four-run third inning, which was highlighted by some key baserunning, using their legs to work their way around the bags and towards home to score a three-run lead.

That was ultimately cut down to one for nearly the majority of the contest when the Panthers dug out of their deficit with two runs in the home half of the inning.

For the next three shutout innings, a pitcher's duel would form between the two hurlers that faced one another in last season's Semifinal battle – Trey Buchholz and Kade Cochran. With the Wolverines grabbing a big piece of insurance in the seventh, Campbell-Savona would respond with perhaps their biggest threat to do damage against Buchholz.

After a lead-off hit, the Panthers would manage to load the bases up against the Wolverines defense with one out on the board – enough damage to perhaps end the game. But Buchholz would remain vigilant on the rubber, and come through in the end by retiring the next two batters in a row to leave them all loaded, ending the game in the process.

Bolivar-Richburg's offense produced five runs off six total hits, with a big day from Landon Danaher leading the charge, as he went 3-for-4 with a double and run scored. Evan Pinney, Wyatt Karnuth and Reiss Gaines all had the last three hits, recording one each.

Buchholz was awarded the winning complete game performance for the visitors in black and red, as he held Campbell-Savona to six hits, fanning eight and walking three in his start to outlast Cochran.

The regular season for the Wolverines is now over, as they wrap up with a record of 19-1 to lock down the No. 1 seed in the Class C3 Tournament, which for them, will begin on Wednesday.

Bolivar-Richburg 004 000 1 – 5 6 5

Campbell-Savona 012 000 0 – 3 6 3

B-R – Trey Buchholz (WP) (CG, 8K, 3BB), and Aydin Sisson.

C-S – Kade Cochran (LP) (CG, 6K, 3BB), and Lucas Feldman.

Avoca/Prattsburgh 7, Bradford/Dundee 2

AVOCA — Haden Abbott threw a complete game 4-hitter with seven strikeouts to earn the win as Avoca-Prattsburgh downed Dundee-Bradford, 7-2.

At the plate for A-P (13-6), senior catcher Ashton McMahon had his second straight three-hit game going 3-for-4 with two RBI's, Pacey Hopkins had two doubles while Macoy Putnam (two runs), Sawyer Devoe (RBI), Sam Patterson (2 RBI's), James Forte (RBI) and Tucker Gerych had hits.

Tyler Spina was 2-for-3 for Dundee-Bradford (5-9) while Logan Ayers and Jeremy Stiles (RBI) had hits. Matt Mason, up from the JV team, tossed a complete game with three strikeouts.

"Mason threw well for them and after getting behind 7-0 in the third, they played tough baseball the rest of the way," said Avoca-Prattsburgh coach Dennie Miles. "Their field was not playable, they have games through Saturday but their athletic director and coach Steve Spina agreed to move the game to Avoca and the umpires from that board came over and did the game. It was a class move by their program and the umps to get this game in for the kids."

BOYS TENNIS

Fillmore’s Sisson, Schilke partake in Individual State Qualifiers

BROCKPORT — The hunt for Individual Sectional patches began for a pair of the Eagles making the trip to Brockport to do battle amongst the best of the best in Section V on Thursday.

Carter Sisson and Eben Schilke worked their way past the opening round behind strong matches, but would ultimately meet their end in the quarterfinal round to end their individual careers for Fillmore.

“Only a handful of Fillmore tennis players have won matches at State Qualifiers. As one of the smallest tennis schools playing there, I thought we really represented really well,” said Eagles coach Randy Crouch. “It's always fun to have the guys see what the next level of tennis looks like. Now we move on to the ultimate goal which is winning Team Sectionals, next week.”

In the upper bracket of the tournament, Sisson fought tooth and nail against Oakfield-Alabama's Preston Tobolsky, going back and forth before finding an opening to climb towards a 10-6 decision to advance into the Quarterfinal round. Sisson was then defeated by Nathan Hart of Naples by a 10-0 count to end his Individual career.

As for the lower half of the Qualifier, Schilke defeated Livonia's Nathan Woolson in a close match of his own, picking up the 10-6 win to advance into the Quarterfinals, where his Individual season came to a close in a 10-0 defeat to the hands of Geneva's Drew Fishback.

Up next for the Eagles of Fillmore – the Team Sectional Tournament, which will begin next week.

Houghton Academy, Scio end regular season in tie

SCIO — In what was the final regular season tennis match of the season on Thursday, a first would happen in Scio.

Visiting Houghton Academy and the host Tigers took the court for four matches, three in the singles department. By the end of the night, both teams would come to a 2-2 draw – the first of its kind, as both teams came up with a pair of victories to close it out.

Houghton Academy (8-5-1) saw both of their wins come from the singles department at the top of the scorecard, with Alex Fraile and Caleb Hilshire scoring the wins in straight sets, with Fraile topping Scio's Jude Marion in a tight 6-3, 6-2 battle at first singles while Hilshire followed up with a tone-setting 6-0 first set sweep over Corey Field at second singles to set up his win.

The last two matches would belong to the Tigers (8-5-1), with Liam Carouge outlasting Sam Winkens at third singles through a first set tiebreak, moving towards a 7-5, 6-2 win. In the doubles match, the team of Austin Gowdy and Ben Weimer also survived a first set tiebreak to record a 7-5, 6-3 win over Houghton Academy's Hugo Huang and Lucas Matias Rocha.

Both teams have concluded their regular seasons, and will now prepare for Team Sectionals next week.

Singles

1. Alex Fraile (HA) def. Jude Marion (SCIO), 6-3, 6-2.

2. Caleb Hilshire (HA) def. Corey Field (SCIO), 6-0, 6-2.

3. Liam Carouge (SCIO) def. Sam Winkens (HA), 7-5, 6-2.

Doubles

1. Austin Gowdy/Ben Weimer (SCIO) def. Hugo Huang/Lucas Matias Rocha (HA), 7-5, 6-3.