Wednesday Roundup: Lions provide Myrtle magic, walk-off with 6-5 win over Chattanooga behind wild pitches; Lady Lions sweep twinbill vs. Waynesboro, Fri/Scio ladies shutout Brookville behind Ross

[PHOTOS PROVIDED]

MYRTLE BEACH, SC — It wouldn’t be a Spring Break road trip without a little bit of Myrtle Beach magic.

For the Lions of Wellsville, they found themselves down by a single run heading into the last frame of play against Chattanooga Christian Academy from Tennessee. In a seventh inning that would witness the Lions being pushed to the edge on their final strike, a big moment on special teams would arise.

After scoring the game-tying run on a wild pitch to the back stop, history would repeat itself one more time during Andrew Ordway’s at-bat, as one more wild pitch found its way to the backstop to score the game-winning tally for Wellsville to pick up their second win at North Myrtle Beach High School, as they squeezed past Chattanooga Christian Academy with a 6-5 edge in walk-off fashion.

Through the first three innings, the Lions (2-1) battled right alongside Chattanooga Christian Academy, accounting for a run in each frame to trail by a 4-3 count. The back-and-forth exchange progressed forward until the seventh, where the Lions were presented with an opportunity to turn the tide at the very last moment.

With the final tenure at the plate beginning with a strikeout, a single launched by Cooper Brockway provided the game-tying run for Wellsville. Karson Grover would then add in the potential game-winning run himself by way of a double to the outfield. With both advancing towards second and third with two outs, two opportunities to score massive damage on special teams were taken at full force.

As a result, both Brockway and Grover found their way in to give the Lions a magnificent victory to keep the momentum in their favor heading into their final game of the trip, which will begin today at a time and opponent to be determined.

As for Brockway, he would help twirl a six-inning gem for the Lions on the rubber, fanning six and walking one while reaching base all four times, collecting two of the team’s seven hits while climbing aboard with two walks, and scoring two runs. Logan Dunbar added in a triple.

“We didn’t play a real clean game with five errors, but I give my starting pitcher all the credit. Cooper was a workhorse today, despite the errors behind him. He was doing a great job standing his ground, and he kept us in it with a chance to win,” said Lions coach Tom Delahunt. “He was on base all four times today, which is huge. If I had a chance to give out Player of the Game, he would get it with his beastly performance. I told the kids that even though it wasn’t our best game, we shut them down towards the end and we made the plays when it mattered the most.”

Chattanooga Christian 202 100 0 – 5 4 0

Wellsville 111 010 2 – 6 7 5

Lexington Christian (KY) 6, Bolivar-Richburg 2

MYRTLE BEACH, SC — The Bolivar-Richburg Wolverines gave a fierce and electric opponent in Kentucky’s Lexington Christian Academy a run for their money all the way to the end, taking a narrow lead down the homestretch. But a big finish in what would be their final at-bats on the night, propelled Lexington Christian over the top to take a 6-2 decision at the end of the night on Wednesday.

“It was night and day between yesterday and today. I was really happy with our performance, and of course, there’s room for improvement,” said Wolverines coach Dustin Allen. “Landon (Barkley) in his first Varsity start was outstanding. He kept a great team from Kentucky off-balance all game. Overall, we knew the trip was going to give us great baseball. That’s what we saw, and I think we’re leaving here knowing that we need to get better as the season goes on. It was a great team-bonding activity, and it was a great step forward.”

The Wolverines (0-2) totaled both runs off four hits, with the RBIs coming off the bats of Trey Buchholz and Caden Allen, with Buchholz tying the game at one with his RBI single into right field to score Evan Pinney. The game would remain tied all the way until the sixth inning when the team in black and red found a way to take the lead away from Lexington Christian.

That opportunity would come off a major special teams play from Allen, skying a sacrifice out to deep right field to bring in Buchholz. But the newly-garnered advantage was short-lived, as Lexington Christian rebounded with the game’s biggest response — a five-run bottom half of the frame in what was their final at-bats, propelling their way to the top and towards victory in the end.

Despite the defeat, Landon Barkley delivered a magnificent six-inning start for Bolivar-Richburg, striking out seven. Reiss Gaines would add a strikeout along the way in his relief appearance. Pinney was the leading hitter for the Wolverines, going 2-for-3 with a run scored. David Baldwin chipped in with the team’s final hit.

The Wolverines will journey their way back north and prepare for another road trip on Tuesday, visiting Genesee Valley/Belfast in a 5 p.m. first pitch at the Rich Sullivan Complex in Belfast.

Bolivar-Richburg 001 001 0 – 2 4 3

Lexington Christian 010 005 X – 6 6 2

SOFTBALL

Wellsville smacks 4 homers in twinbill sweep of Waynesboro, VA (Tuesday)

WAYNESBORO, VA — The Lady Lions of Wellsville were in the mood to swing the big bats at the plate on Tuesday. While holding Virginia’s Waynesboro to just one combined run across their doubleheader set, the back-to-back Class B2 Champions recorded 30 hits in all, including three home runs in game one to set the tone right away to take both games by 12-0 and 10-1 counts.

In game one, an early 2-0 lead garnered by the Lady Lions (6-0) was extended upon in the last three innings of play in an insurmountable fashion, as they posted their final 10 runs across the stretch, including a five-run sixth inning to finish off the shutout victory. The Lady Lions would come together to produce all 12 runs off 16 hits at the plate to fuel the offensive explosion.

Six different Wellsville hitters all recorded at least a pair of hits, with Makenna Dunbar leading the way with a pair of home runs, totaling four RBI all together. Makenzie Cowburn chipped in with two hits of her own, including a solo bomb, accounting for two RBI along the way. Emma Dunaway recorded three hits, and posted four RBI, while Natalie Adams, Averee Palmatier and Hailey Lanphier each tallied a pair of hits.

While the offense was providing massive damage, the defense led by a stellar outing by Dunbar in the circle was superb, holding Waynesboro to three hits across a seven-strikeout complete game.

“The common theme for this trip is that we have excellent pitching, excellent catching and solid hitting. Makenzie and Makenna continue to do massive damage at the plate,” said Lady Lions coach Matt Burke. “Defensively, we made some outstanding plays. In the first game, Marissa (Ordway) made some excellent picks at first base, and Natalie Adams and Ayla Faulkner made some excellent defensive plays as well.”

In the second game to close out the night under the lights, the Lady Lions would fight their way through a competitive battle in the first three innings of play. But the momentum would soon change into the hands of the team in black and orange completely, as they posted a big seven-run fourth inning ignited by a base-hit bunt laid down by Lindsay Stuck.

As the engine continued to churn, the damage was done by Hailey Lanphier later on in the frame, as she blasted a humongous two-run blast to break the floodgates wide open with a 7-0 lead they would ultimately build upon, and never look back from.

In all, the Lady Lions posted 10 runs off 14 hits at the plate, with four different hitters recording a pair of hits. Among them, Cowburn, Dunbar, Adams and Palmatier all had two hits, while Ayla Faulkner recorded her first career Varsity hit along the way. In the circle, Marissa Ordway helped set up shop with another dynamic pitching performance with seven strikeouts and two walks before Makenzie Cowburn picked up where she left off in her relief appearance with five more strikeouts to go with one walk.

“We had two outstanding pitching performances today from Marissa and Makenna. Makenna really pounded the strike zone, and Marissa had excellent movement on the ball,” said Burke. “We swung the bats well from the top to the bottom of the order with big hits coming from Dunbar, Cowburn and Lanphier.”

The Lady Lions will finish off their southern road trip with a stop in Dubois, PA with a 1 p.m. first pitch at Heindl Stadium.

Game 1

Wellsville 0 1 1 415 0 – 12 16 1

Waynesboro 000 000 0 – 0 3 3

WLSV – Makenna Dunbar (WP) (CG, 7K) and Lindsay Stuck.

WAY – Kaitlyn Frenger (LP) (CG, K, 3BB), and Sloat.

Game 2

Waynesboro 000 010 0 – 1 4 1

Wellsville 000 721 X – 10 14 0

WAY – Sakiah Tucker (LP) (3K), Kylie Stanton (4) (K, 2BB) and Sloat.

WLSV – Marissa Ordway (WP) (7K, 2BB), Makenzie Cowburn (6) (5K, BB) and Brazen Beckwith, Lindsay Stuck (7).

Friendship/Scio 9, Brookville (OH) 0

MYRTLE BEACH, SC — Nevaeh Ross was simply unstoppable for the Friendship/Scio ladies on Wednesday. While going back-and-forth in a pitcher’s duel with Ohio’s Brookville High School, the Friendship/Scio junior provided a lights-out performance to propel the team back into the win column, handing out 15 chairs in her twirled three-hit gem to complete a 9-0 shutout.

After both sides exchanged a stand where the first four batters went down in consecutive fashion via strikeout, the wheels began to twist and turn for Friendship/Scio (2-1), as they started the top of the second with three straight walks to load the bases with one out. The damage was done soon after, as Emily Lamberson (single) and Avery Lamberson (double) each grabbed massive RBI swings to open the doors.

The lead would grow to six in the third inning, capitalizing on key baserunning to branch out their lead even further away from Brookville. It would remain pat for the next three scoreless innings until Friendship/Scio put away the game with a three-run seventh.

In all, Friendship/Scio posted nine runs off seven hits at the plate, with seven different hitters each posting a hit.

The road trip to Myrtle Beach will wrap up for Friendship/Scio today in a 12 p.m. first pitch against Winfield of West Virginia.

Friendship/Scio 042 000 3 – 9 7 1

Brookville 000 000 0 – 0 3 1