Tuesday Finals: Lions end 10-year drought, rout No. 5 Penn Yan to claim first Class B2 Championship since 2011 with 10-2 victory; B-R baseball, Friendship softball add titles of their own

Written By Chris Brooks

WELLSVILLE — To say that Wellsville has had an incredible final week of sports would be a massive understatement. In seven days time, the Lions have gathered a Class C1 Boys Tennis Championship for the first time in school history, and later, their first Class B2 Championship for the softball program in 18 years on Monday.

And a moment’s glance with the atmosphere surrounding Tullar Field, the Lions joined them by showcasing their support for the softball team from behind the fence in right field. Shouting at the top of their lungs, making noise, doing whatever they could to help the ladies complete the task at hand against Wayland-Cohocton.

24 hours later, it was their turn, and when it came down to it, head coach Marc Agnello admits at first that he was a little bit worried about his team getting their chance to complete the school’s Spring trifecta in front of a home crowd themselves.

“I'll be honest, I was worried for them, but not that much because tennis won, softball won, and now it was our turn,” he said. “And these guys are as cool as cucumbers as the old saying goes. I don't think they were fazed by seeing the softball team win last night to say that they needed to win this one. They saw how much fun that was, and they wanted to be a part of that fun.”

Through all of the trials and tribulations endured by not only the local scene, but by the entire world, it was a season that absolutely no one took for granted. Not even the Lions, who waited two years to mark their return back to the Class B2 Finals to search for a championship that the program has not caught sight of since the 2011 season.

10 long years.

The Lions have come close in recent seasons, including their first trip back to the Finals in Agnello’s first season with the team in 2019. Many opportunities have come and gone, and in some of those, it slipped right through the cracks of their fingers.

But on the final day, they made sure it didn’t happen again.

After a quick exchanging of barbs in the first inning, the offense began to take form for the Lions, as they used a four-run second inning to power up their lead of No. 5 Penn Yan. And it was one that they ultimately never lost from that point forward, as they continued to add insurance every step of the way, including another big inning coming down the homestretch to break open the floodgates permanently, sealing the deal on Wellsville’s first Class B2 Championship in Agnello’s career, and the first since 2011 with a 10-2 rout of the Mustangs to finish their season back on top as Section V royalty.

“It feels great, and for me, it really hasn’t sunk in quite yet,” Agnello said. “When I took over the team in 2019, we went to the Finals against LeRoy. It was a bitter pill to swallow, and it was tough taking over the team at that time. But since then, we put some of our stuff into our system, and our system started to pay off. The way we do our brand of baseball, it’s been great. Especially with the COVID year, our Seniors lost their Junior year of baseball, and that’s a big year for some of these guys going to college. To see them get this back after that lost year, and ending it with a title is huge.”

Wellsville could not have asked for a better start to begin the night.

The Lions (11-4) began the scoring with four big runs in the bottom of the second to break the ice against the Mustangs, led by an RBI off the bat of Dominic Sawyer, who recorded a picture-perfect bunt right down the first baseline to reach and score a run in the process. It was momentum that would remain in their favor heading forward after Jere Havens provided one of his strongest innings during his tenure, staving off some pressure provided by Penn Yan with a pair of two-out runners reaching, proceeding to strike out the next three batters at the plate to leave them stranded.

Although momentum was maintained, Wellsville could not find a way to put it to use after what was a scoreless third inning of play. But with Penn Yan closing the gap down to three in the top of the fourth, it would grow back out to four with an airlifting single into shallow right center field by Alex Green to score Liam McKinley, who reached on an infield hit of his own to take the 5-1 lead.

Penn Yan would come up empty-handed to start the fifth inning, but the Lions would not, as they put together one final blow to the Mustangs in the shape of a four-run fifth inning, recording four straight RBIs from Brayden Delahunt, Alex Ordiway and Liam McKinley, who delivered three RBI singles in the inning to fuel the fire.

“We came out a little tight to start out, and I could see it in the guys,” said Agnello. “I just told them to embrace the moment, to feel the grass in front of them with their feet and breathe everything in. It’s a big game, it’s a Sectional final, and we haven’t had a moment like this come together since 2011. You could see it, and I told them to relax and we found a way to break through with those four runs in the second. Before you know it, the floodgates opened and our guys got it.”

The Lions were able to shut down Penn Yan after the Mustangs connected on a one-out home run in the top of the seventh, as Logan Dunbar fielded a ground ball back to the mound, flipping the ball to Havens at first base to record the final out of their championship-clinching victory in front of a frenzied home crowd.

When it was all said and done, Wellsville recorded 10 runs off 15 total hits at the plate, with multiple Lions recording at least a pair of hits. An array of numbers that helped the team put together one of their best performances of the season.

“Our forte has been pitching and defense since day one,” Agnello said. “Our hitting has been slow to come around, slow in terms of embracing the process, embracing our approaches at the plate. It seems like in the second half when we started to peak, we peaked at the right time. It's been great, and they've really come through. The hitting has come through in the last two weeks, which has been absolutely huge for us.”

McKinley, Dunbar and Cody Costello all led Wellsville at the plate with three hits each, with McKinley driving in a pair of runs and Costello collecting a double in the midst of his three-hit night. Green finished with two hits and two RBI, while Dominic Sawyer added in three RBI of his own. Brayden Delahunt chipped in with a double.

On the mound, it was a victorious game that belonged to Havens, who nearly went the distance for the hosts in orange and black, going into the seventh inning and wrapping up with nine strikeouts and two walks before Dunbar came on to preserve the win with his arm with one out to put a bow on the triumph.

For Havens, he rode into his final start of the season on a hot streak, having picked up wins over both Cuba-Rushford and Arkport/Canaseraga on the final day of the regular season to fuel his journey through the Sectional tournament, which ended with his last win coming in the Finals.

“Jeremiah has been shoving the ball as of late,” said Agnello. “He won our last game with Cuba, and he finished our suspended game with Arkport. He’s won five games in the last seven days, and we’ve developed his arm over time to withstand that kind of stress that could potentially come to his arm. I wanted to get Logan an inning or two to give him that feeling of pitching in a game like this to help him build experience for this kind of situation down the road.”

The season is officially history for the Lions, who wrap up with a Spring season Triple Crown with titles in Boys Tennis, Softball and now Baseball, as the team finished with a record of 11-4 to claim this year’s Class B2 crown. In just two week’s time, Wellsville will graduate five seniors — Ordiway, McKinley, Sawyer, Delahunt and Tim Jones.

It was a game that Agnello could not have imagined falling into place more perfectly for his Seniors after missing out on a season last year.

“For the Seniors, to have won a Sectional title after missing out on possibly winning one last year in the year we lost due to COVID, they’ve been an absolute pleasure to coach over the years,” he said. “It’s been great, and I loved every minute of it. They love the game of baseball, they’re a bunch of grinders, but more importantly, they never gave up. They’ve never given up since day one, and we’ve been through a number of battles, some ups and downs and over some hills. But they hung tough, and it’s been awesome.”

As for what stands out about this year’s triumphant group, the second-year coach says that he has formed a brotherhood with his team not only on the field, but off, especially during some of the more brutal times during the pandemic.

“This group has been so fun to coach, and ever since the season stopped and COVID hit, we stayed in touch in every way possible. Through texts, I would send them baseball videos to help them improve their hitting from home. We had a couple of Junior/Senior League teams, a Fall Ball team. We stayed in touch this entire time, and we’ve developed a great bond through that off the field. It’s almost like we played last year, but we didn’t.”

Penn Yan 000 100 1 – 2 9 4

Wellsville 040 141 X – 10 15 2

PY – Brady Bouchard (LP) (3K, 2BB), Mason MacKerchar (6), and Tyler Bouchard.

WLSV – Jere Havens (WP) (9K, 2BB), Logan Dunbar (7), and Alex Green.

THREE-PEAT FOR B-R

Class C2 Finals

No. 4 Bolivar-Richburg 9, No. 3 York 2

RETSOF — No words can describe the amount of accolades that the Bolivar-Richburg baseball program has accumulated for their trophy showcase over the course of a decade or so. So much in a sense that baseball has become a way of life Spring in and Spring out.

Across almost every season on the diamond, it’s virtually expected that the Wolverines, given their highly-regarded pedigree as one of the area’s top programs, and the experience and the baseball IQ that came with it, they would make a deep run through the Sectional tournament almost every year with the end result being crowned champions.

Even though last year was lost due to COVID-19, the Wolverines have done just that in back-to-back seasons and a myriad of occasions leading up to this season. Entering their return trip back into the Class C2 Finals again this season, Bolivar-Richburg has put together some of their best baseball of the season, recording a pair of shutouts against both Byron-Bergen in the opening round and Campbell-Savona in the Semifinals to go with an 8-1 win over Letchworth in between.

The offense has been hitting all strides. The defense? They have kept the opposition dead silent at the plate.

It’s been a wail of a week for Bolivar-Richburg athletics when it comes to the Sectional tournament, with a couple of championships returning back home from the final meet of the season in Dundee for track and field, and just 24 hours prior to Tuesday night’s game at York, the Lady Wolverines found their way back on top for the first time in six years with a 9-7 win at Lyndonville to give first-year head coach Brooke Lovell her first Section V title in her first season with the team.

How would the Wolverines follow it all up? — With one of their own of course.

After taking an early 2-1 lead over No. 3 York after the first inning of play, the bats began to pound away. With a scoreless inning being exchanged prior to, the Wolverines would go on to score six unanswered runs to branch their lead out to as large as seven runs, using it to keep themselves fastened in the driver’s seat while the defense held the Golden Knights down and out for the count by only allowing two hits in the process.

That would give Bolivar-Richburg the three-peat in championships, going back-to-back in Class C2 with a 9-2 rolling of the three-seeds over the road in Retsof to cement head coach Dustin Allen’s legacy with the Wolverines even further with the program’s eighth Section V championship overall under his guidance since the team made their State Final Four run near the turn of the decade, back when it all first began in 2008.

Allen says after today’s performance, he was at a loss for words.

“Every year is a new one, and it’s just as special,” he said. “It’s a different group of kids to spend it with, and the support we had at the game today and the parade we had back in town when we came back, I hope it’s something the kids never forget. It’s a testament to the work they’re putting in from modified right up to this level. I’m the lucky one when they get here. I’m at a loss for words at what we’ve been able to accomplish over the years. We’ve had some many amazing players come through our program, and we’ve had so many of those from all over come back to tiny Bolivar to support our athletes. It’s incredible.”

The Bolivar-Richburg (15-4) offense recorded a hot start against York almost emphatically, as they went on to score eight of the first nine runs across just over three innings played, with six of them coming right in a row to push what was a 2-1 lead out to game’s largest lead of seven with help from both Logan Bess and Caden Allen at the plate, both garnering multiple RBI hits to propel the bats, with Bess getting it all started by branching the lead in the third with a two-run single.

It was the first of two such hits the Wolverines senior would provide, with his last coming just an inning later inside another three-run stanza that saw them give the team an 8-1 lead over the Golden Knights. Allen dished in his second RBI single within the inning as well to help the cause, after helping ignite the offense with his first back in the opening frame to break the ice.

From that point on, the remainder of the game hindered on the shoulders of the Wolverines defense commanded by both Landon Danaher and Trey Buchholz, who both provided yeoman’s service by combining to hold York to just two hits at the plate, with Danaher getting the team’s final win of the season in his three-inning start with a strikeout and five walks before Buchholz added in two strikeouts of his own.

“The goal for the guys was to bring back the trophy where it belongs, and it’s back,” Allen said. “I told them that there’s not a lot of schools that can say that they have had this kind of experience before, so it was one that should be enjoyed. Our guys got those few runs early on, and there was no slowing us down at that point. The way we’ve been playing defense, and our pitching, we were in a great position to win this game. And we did.”

Bolivar-Richburg collected nine runs off 12 total hits while provided immaculate defense along the way to collect this year’s Class C2 Championship once again, with Bess and Allen leading the way with five of those hits combined. Bess went 3-for-4 with four RBI while Allen had his two RBI singles. Furthering the cause was Buchholz, who added in two hits of his own and scored three runs, while Matt Mitchell had a hit to add.

When it was all said and done, the Wolverines finish up yet another remarkable season on the diamond with a 15-4 record, a share of this year’s Allegany County Division I title and their third straight Section V Championship. The team will graduate just three seniors — Bess, Wayne Karnuth and Alex MacDonell.

The longtime Wolverines coach said that it was the perfect of endings to conclude what was a difficult school year.

“It’s an incredible feeling, and after losing last season, the kids took it to a whole different level when it came to Sectionals,” said Allen. “They stepped up, and they all wanted it. It wasn’t just one kid, everyone contributed and the energy that came from the bench, it was a special night to say the least. It’s a great way for my three seniors to end their high school careers. Not many teams have players that can end their careers with a win like this, and that’s how they wound up getting it.”

Allen added, “This past week, we had some champions in the track Sectionals, the softball team won yesterday and now this. It’s a great way to wrap up a difficult school year for all of us. The kids never got down on each other, they picked each other up. They’re a great group to coach, and we have a lot of kids putting the time in and it’s beginning to show. On the bright side, I’m already looking forward to next year. I will miss our Seniors, but it’s going to be an awesome group coming back and even more so from a talented JV squad.”

Bolivar-Richburg 203 300 1 – 9 12 1

York 100 100 0 – 2 2 5


B-R – Landon Danaher (WP) (K, 5BB), Trey Buchholz (4) (2K), and Brayden Ellis.

YORK – Clayton Harris (LP) (4K, BB), David Cuozzo (5) (3K), and James Kennedy.

PARTYING LIKE IT’S 1993

SOFTBALL

Class D2 Finals

No. 1 Friendship 10, No. 6 Elba 0

FRIENDSHIP — It’s been nearly 30 years since the Lady Golden Eagles of Friendship have last tasted victory in the Class D2 Finals. After outlasting Avoca/Prattsburgh in the smallball battle of the season over the weekend, they ended their long wait by punching their golden ticket with a 3-2 victory over the Lady Vikings.

Now, with No. 6 Elba as the only obstacle in their way, the Lady Golden Eagles had a chance to win it all in front of their home crowd to end their spectacular 2021 season on Tuesday.

After dominant performance after dominant performance, Nevaeh Ross has become an elite force to be reckoned with in the circle for the top seeds, garnering multiple no-hit performances, shutouts and every else of the like.

In her final game of her freshman season, the championship game was no different.

The Lady Golden Eagles phenom was absolutely spectacular all night long, as she held the Lady Lancers at bay with a start unlike any other to her game, shelling out a big 16-strikeout day while holding the six-seeds hitless at the plate to record her final no-hit performance of the season in style to deliver Friendship the program’s first Section V, Class D2 Championship since 1993, as the offense fired on all cylinders on the other side of the spectrum to deliver a 10-0 rout to end their 2021 campaign on the brightest of notes at home.

“It felt absolutely incredible, and it seemed like the whole town was there,” Lady Golden Eagles coach Deb Kane said. “Nevaeh had another stellar game shutting out Elba. Our game plan for offense came together with having the idea of winning each inning. We scored one in the first, and from that point forward, we did. The girls were so pumped and focused up for this game. It’s been a long time coming for a day like this.”

If shutting down Elba on one side wasn’t enough, Ross’ efforts carried over into her performance at the plate for Friendship (13-2), as she provided three of the team’s five hits, starting the game off with a lead-off single that saw her score the opening run off a Kendra Gleason fielder’s choice.

After a quick 1-2-3 provided by the Lady Lancers in the second, Friendship went right back to work by loading the bases on Elba in their first three at-bats, quickly scoring multiple runs off fielder’s choices in the field to extend their lead to four. In the process of branching their advantage, Ross continued to hold the fort down on defense with her cannon of an arm, discharging 11 strikeouts against the first 12 batters that reached the plate with the only play turned by the infield being a ground ball to Logan Roberts, who touched the bag to end the fourth.

In the bottom half, Friendship put their biggest inning together consisting of five big runs, most of which were scored off multiple errors committed by the Elba defense to push their advantage insurmountably to lockdown the Class D2 Championship all to themselves.

Helping the cause behind Ross in the Lady Golden Eagles lineup were Claire Calhoun and Jaedyn Shields, who each added a hit of their own.

Friendship’s incredible 2021 season has officially come to a close, as they wrap up their first Class D2 Championship winning campaign in 28 years with a record of 13-2, and an outright Allegany County Division II Championship.

The Lady Golden Eagles will graduate just four seniors — Caitlin Stewart, Maddie Lerro, Tahni Thorpe and Emily Burdick.

“This was special. It seemed like all of Friendship was there. That is the best feeling ever winning it in front of your home crowd,” Kane said. “The spectators were right there with us on every pitch, every hit and every run scored cheering us on. I am so proud of this team and how they put it together in the post season. It’s like a dream come true, and I can say that I am still reliving each play each time at bat and each pitch. Nevaeh Ross, and her father Darrell Ros made this dream come true.”

Elba 000 000 0 – 0 0 3

Friendship 103 501 X – 10 5 1

ELB – Kallie Totten (LP) (CG, 3K, 5BB), and Kelsea Augello.

FRI – Nevaeh Ross (WP) (CG, 16K), and Morghyn Ross.

Chris Brooks
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PHOTO: Bolivar-Richburg baseball program awarded 2021 Allegany County Sportsmanship Award
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Monday Finals: Lady Lions tally nine-run 6th to capture 1st Class B2 title since 2003 with 12-2 win over No. 4 Way-Co; B-R survives shootout with No. 1 Lyndonville to seize Class C2 title