(Photos courtesy Samuel Robinson)
Another sectional championship season for the Wellsville Lions baseball team came to a close on Monday with a 6-5 loss to the Haverling Rams of Bath at ESL Ballpark in Rochester.
While it was the 18th straight win for Bath, a team that beat Wellsville by 10 runs almost two weeks ago in five innings, this game was a complete opposite.
Wellsville out-hit Haverling 12-4 and Haverling did not earn a single run. The Lions had a 1-0 lead and 3-2 lead before Bath came back to lead, 6-3.
Wellsville had the tying run on first with no outs in the seventh and a bizarre play in the outfield with fielders colliding and a ball missing turned into a forceout. With the score 6-5, Bath made a final play in the field to hold on for the win.
Haverling, the Class B1 champions, will now face Medina on Tuesday night in Buffalo as in the pre-quarterfinals of the New York State championship.
“Winning sectionals was not an ‘icing on the cake’ moment, we talked on the bus about leaving it all out on the field and having no regrets when it was over,” said Wellsville coach John Anderson. “That’s exactly what happened. We followed a game plan to perfection, it’s just things did not turn out our way. This is a tremendous Bath team with great hitters and pitching that has a chance to make a run in the state tournament.”
Wellsville left seven runners on base and Bath took advantage of a few errors and walks.
“These things happen. We were not going to let them score 13 runs on 17 hits, if we had to work 3-2 counts, that was fine. And we put the ball in the hands of a freshman, Drew Cowburn, who was fantastic today on the biggest stage for high school baseball,” said Anderson. “Then Matt Ritter came in and did what he’s done all year. He’s going to be a catcher at Alfred State next season, but he throws 85-86 and puts the team on his back to close games.”
For Wellsville, the Class B2 champs and winners of three straight Section V titles, Ritter went 3-for-3 with a double, RBI and two runs scored. Senior Trenton Green went 2-for-3 with a RBI and two runs scored. Senior Brennen Geffers was 2-for-3 with a triple and scored a run. The other senior, Andrew Ordiway, had a single and turned a double play.
Cowburn was 2-for 3 with a stolen base and freshman Ben Helveston had a double. Sophomore Karter Grover had a single and drove in three runs while sophomore Paul Giovanniello had a single.
Cowburn struck out two over five innings with three hits without giving up an earned run and Ritter struck out three giving up two hits and no earned runs.
For Bath (21-3), Dylan Wenban got the win as he went six innings with one strikeout, no walks and gave up 11 hits and five runs. Lukas Wightman came in with runners on in the seventh and gave up one hit and no walks or runs for the save.
“Dylan did a great job mixing pitches and didn’t let us barrel up pitches, so we kept punching singles and doubles to the opposite field,” said Anderson. “However, he was also savvy enough to get ground balls and fly balls. That’s what made this postseason run so special, the time we put in preparing for all pitching and cutting down on strikeouts.”
Wellsville ends the season 14-8.
“Our four seniors are so grateful to the underclassmen and they made sure to let them know after the game,” said Anderson. “They knew we were not expected to be back here again, and they made sure to let the returners know what the expectations are and trust the process. For my first year as a head coach, there are so many memories and emotions to process, but as any coach knows, you never forget your first group, and they were special.”
