BROCKWAY — The Bradford baseball team started its season with a bang, piecing together a late-game rally to defeat Brockway.
The Owls jumped ahead of the Rovers early, but after the hosts tied the game in the bottom of the sixth inning, Bradford needed to turn to its bats again. A five-run seventh provided the difference for the Owls in a 9-4 win, giving the team a thrilling opening-day victory.
“(Brockway) had a nice, left-handed pitcher and our guys stayed back and hit the ball to all fields,” Bradford coach Eric Haynoski said. “Everybody was into the game, the kids were fired up and they were seeing the ball well.”
Elijah Fitton sparked Bradford’s first-inning rally with a single to open the game. Cam Austin then drove Fitton in on a double before Nolan Ruolo brought Austin around with a sacrifice fly.
Gow drove Austin home with a sac fly in the third before Austin drove Fitton in on a single in the fifth. The top of the lineup sparked another rally in the seventh, as Fitton walked and stole second before an RBI single from Austin brought him around to score.
After Gow was hit by a pitch, the Owls added two more runs on a fielding error before Ryan Ward ripped an RBI double to break it open. Austin threw five-plus strong innings, allowing three runs on four hits and a walk, before Gow cleaned up the bottom of the sixth and closed the door on the Rovers in their half of the seventh.
“We asked them to throw strikes, and (Austin) went in there and executed,” Haynoski said.”It was great to then be able to look on the bench and see five arms waiting to get in.”
In all, Austin tallied three hits, three runs and three RBI at the plate, while Gow added two hits, a run and a walk. Fitton scored three times in addition to one hit and one walk, while Travis Barger drove in one run.
The Owls will travel to DuBois Wednesday, where they’ll meet a good Class 5A test.
“We played a young team (Monday),” Haynoski said. “I’ve got a lot of confidence in the boys, but Wednesday’s game against DuBois will tell us a lot.”
AT BROCKWAY R H EBradford 201 010 5 9 7 0Brockway 000 121 0 4 7 4Bradford: Cam Austin (3 SO, 1 BB), Mike Gow (6) (1 SO, 0 BB) and Liam McKayBrockway:JV: Bradford 6, Brockway 3
Port Allegany 10, Oswayo Valley 0,
5 innings
PORT ALLEGANY — Ty Guilds was dominant in Port Allegany’s season opener.
The senior threw five no-hit innings, surrendering just one walk while striking out six in a shutout victory over Oswayo Valley.
“(Guilds’) control was great,” Port coach Josh McNeil said. “He hit the target and took the signs that (catcher Blaine Moses) was giving him. He mixed in his fastball, changeup and whatnot, and just threw a really good game and hit the target where it was placed.”
Port’s offense was equally effective, scoring in each of its first four turns at-bat before Ian Dynda’s sacrifice fly forced an early ending in the fifth.
Drew Evens was perfect in four at-bats, tallying three hits and a walk while scoring two runs. Sawyer Prince was perfect, as well, as he notched two hits and drew two walks in four trips, also scoring two runs and driving in another.
Moses, Dynda and Guilds each drove in two runs, while Isaiah Wiley added a hit and a walk.
“We didn’t really know how well we were going to do in the beginning of the year after being in the gym the entire offseason, but the kids really rallied around each other,” McNeil said. “There are still a lot of things we need to work on, but I think it gave our kids a lot of confidence to go out there, see some good, live pitching and have success.”
AT PORT ALLEGANY R H E
Port Allegany 151 21X X 10 9 1OV:
Port: Ty Guilds (6 SO, 1 BB) and Blaine Moses
St. Marys 1,
Elk County Catholic 0
ST. MARYS — A leadoff walk, many coaches will tell you, can often spell trouble.
That was the case in St. Marys’ victory over Elk County Catholic, in which Conner Straub’s walk to lead off the Dutch half of the fourth proved to be the game’s only run. After Straub walked, Kaden Snelick reached base on a dropped third strike and Vinny Lenze walked, loading the bases.
Carter Price then delivered an RBI single, driving in the game’s only run. The Crusaders would use a fielder’s choice and a groundout to avoid further damage in the fourth, but were stymied by Christian Coudriet all evening, as the senior right-hander threw seven strong innings.
Coudriet struck out nine batters while allowing just one hit and one walk, tossing an 84-pitch gem. ECC’s pitching staff countered strongly, led by four quality innings from starter Ben Paul, but went quietly in the seventh after a two-out walk gave the team just its third base runner of the game.
St. Marys improved to 0-3 while ECC fell to 1-3.
AT ST. MARYS R H EElk Catholic 000 000 0 0 1 1St. Marys 000 010 0 1 5 1ECC: Ben Paul (4 SO, 3 BB), Tommy Slay (5) (4 SO, 0 BB) and Isaac DellaquillaSt. Marys: Christian Coudriet (9 SO, 1 BB) and Carter Price
Coudersport 15,
Galeton 3
COUDERSPORT — Dylan Howard and Garett Kellert each had two hits, leading Coudersport to a dominant victory over Galeton.
Howard drove in four runs, while Kellert and Owen Deutschlander each added two RBI for the Falcons (1-1). Kellert and Gavyn Ayers combined for six strikeouts on the mound for Coudy.
SOFTBALL
Oswayo Valley 14,
Port Allegany 2,
5 innings
PORT ALLEGANY — Makenzie Mesler struck out nine batters while scattering five hits, picking up a season-opening win for Oswayo Valley over Port Allegany.
Charlotte Austin-Keen went 2-for-4 at the plate for the Lady Green Wave, adding two stolen bases and two runs to her stat line. Trinity Lundy went 2-for-4, as well, while Shayden Mesler added a double.
Cayle Lloyd went 1-for-3 for Port, driving in the Lady Gators’ two runs with a double. Port was hurt by errors that caused 10 unearned OV runs to score.
Coudersport 5, Galeton 3
COUDERSPORT — Sierra Myers went 3-for-4, scoring two runs and driving in another along the way, to lead Coudersport to a season-opening victory over Galeton.
Mackenzie Gentzel was 2-for-3 at the plate for the Lady Falcons, driving in two runs while scoring one of her own, while Madyson DuBots-Angood was 1-for-2 with two walks.
Savannah Myers picked up the win in the circle for the Lady Falcons, tossing three innings in which she struck out two batters and walked one without allowing a hit. Emma Saulter followed with four innings, allowing four hits while striking out six.
Mikayla Schott struck out seven for Galeton while allowing four walks and eight hits.
Kane 8, Youngsville 6
KANE — Kane overcame a slow start, ralling back from a 5-0 deficit to defeat Youngsville in each side’s season opener.
The Lady Wolves scored three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to cut into Youngsville’s lead, and after back-and-forth scoring, added four more runs in their half of the sixth to go ahead for good. Jenny Crowley’s home run sparked Kane’s big inning, and the catcher added a single in the game, as well.
Kate Parana drove in two runs for the Lady Wolves, while Hailey Slater and Leah Tigani each had two singles and an RBI. Tigani was the winning pitcher in relief, tossing 3.1 innings of one-hit ball with three strikeouts and one unearned run allowed.
