Sister Alice delivers the first pitch as Wellsville Cuba-Rushford shutout on Senior Night

By CHRIS BROOKS, Editor-in-Chief, wellsvillesports.com, photo gallery by Chris Brooks and Makenna Dunbar

WELLSVILLE – After spending one of their last times together with their fellow classmates in Boston last weekend, Alex Green and Cooper Brockway came home and spent one of their very last times as teammates on the diamond at the Lion’s Den on Monday as Wellsville recognized their senior leaders and their contributions in the years leading up to their return to action against Cuba-Rushford.

Immediately after being recognized with their families, a special guest took to the field, Sister Alice Roach, who, at 93, gave Green a one-hop strike. Sister Alice was the longtime director of Immaculate Conception School. Former ICS students took to the mound for the pitch. “Miss Jan” Terteling, an ICS employee for many years, then threw the other pitch to Brockway.

Going into the game, Wellsville already had a road shutout against the Rebels in the car. The Lions repeated history once again, sending out their two seniors in grand style as they used a fast start in the early stages. along with a series of three pitchers on the rubber to hold Cuba-Rushford to two hits, set the tone for what was a 12-0 shutout after five full innings to stay red-hot ahead of Wednesday’s titanic showdown with Bolivar-Richburg .

“Tonight was a celebration for our two senior leaders,” Lions coach Tom Delahunt said. “I told the team before the game that we couldn’t get two finer young men than what we have with them now. They lead by example through their dedication to this sport and that is something the younger kids look up to. It’s nice to recognize them in their final season with us for what they do and what they bring to this program.”

After the beautiful twist of a 6-4-3 double play in the infield for the Lions (14-1), they would use the momentum to get off to another fast start against the Rebels with a 2-0 lead in the game. first they scored their runs on an infield error and the first of two RBI hit Matt Ritter’s bat to break the ice.

Wellsville continued to fire on all cylinders after another strong defensive play in the field, going 1-2-3 with the bats of the Rebels (6-7) to once again claim their spot at the plate, this time with another five runs, powered by a two-run single by Aiden Cowburn, a bases-loaded walk, a second RBI by Ritter on a sacrifice in deep center field and an infield error by the visitors in gray and blue, creating a 7-0 lead that they would never lose again.

The Lions would end the scoring with their final five runs in the bottom of the fourth, eclipsing double figures and forcing an early end to the game. In total, the Wellsville offense put up 12 runs on 10 total hits, with three different Lions all posting at least a pair of hits.

Leading the charge were Cowburn, Ty Vogel and Karson Grover, who each recorded two hits. Cooper Brockway chipped in with an RBI to score two runs.

On the mound, the win came from junior Gavin Haggerty, who improved to 4-0 on the season and topped the Lions’ list. He trailed three strikeouts and two walks in the first three innings.

Grover and Derek Coleman would come on in relief and combine for four more strikeouts to cap off a fantastic performance on the mound for the hosts in black and orange.

“Gavin (Haggerty) gave us three good innings and we had a tough schedule ahead of us with Bolivar-Richburg and Addison coming up. Monday also with Wayland-Cohocton,” said Delahunt. “Gavin gave us what we needed to prepare for those games, and Karson (Grover) and Derek (Coleman) also saw some pitching time to help us. Those three took the ball and did their job. Offensively, we spread out the hits and got contributions from several different kids. We don’t have to rely on just one or two kids, so it was really fun to see everyone filling out the stat sheet.”

For Cuba-Rushford, Finn Ricketts struckout two and walked during his time in relief on the mound. At the plate, Braeden Wight and Dean Frank each had a single. The Rebels will look to get back in the win column tonight at home for a 5:00 PM game against incoming Andover/Whitesville.

Wellsville is now off until their Diamond Wednesday re-emergence at the Lion’s Den, hosting the Bolivar-Richburg Wolverines for what will be the titanic showdown of the season starting at 5 p.m.

Cuba-Rushford 000 00 – 0 2 5

Wellsville 250 5X – 12 10 1

CR – Eli Sleggs (LP) (BB), Finn Ricketts (2) (2K, 2BB), Braeden Wight (3) (2BB), Lucas Haskins (4) (K) and Braxton Clark.

WLSV – Gavin Haggerty (WP) (3K, 2BB), Karson Grover (4) (2K), Derek Coleman (5) (2K) and Alex Green, Matt Ritter (5).