By HUNTER O. LYLE
OLEAN, NY – Stepping onto their home diamond for the first time this season, the Olean baseball team opened up hot, dominating Frewsburg 10-2 with power hitting, crisp pitching and just a little bit of luck.
The Huskies wasted no time getting to work. Kick starting the day was Austin Miles, who fanned the first two Frewsburg batters with ease. After giving up what would be one of his two total walks on the day, Olean cinched the third out with a play at first. Taking to the plate, the Huskies quickly built a lead.
Leading off was Miles, who earned a stay at first with a walk before making it to third on a dropped pitch two batters later. Chase Vogtli would also reach on a walk, before Ethan Woodring sent a shot deep into center field for what should have been a routine fly out. However, the ball slipped through the outfielder’s glove, allowing Miles to score. Another dropped pitch immediately after brought in Vogtli before Dom Myers, staring down two outs, smacked an RBI single that put Olean up 3-0. With equal parts skill and good fortune, the Huskies had quickly pulled ahead.
“Yesterday we had a scrimmage and we struck out I think eleven times, so that was one of the messages to the boys. We can’t strike out like that, we need to put the ball in play and force their hand,” said Olean head coach Les DeGolier. “It actually came to fruition where (Frewsburg) botched it a couple times.”
Despite letting up a double on the initial at bat of the second inning, Olean fended off the Bears, dispatching them in five batters with a caught bunt and play at first. However, they could only keep them scoreless for so long. Returning to the top of the order in the third, Chas Haglund rocketed a triple on a full count before a deep hit into center field from Mason Eckman brought in the Bears’ first run of the day.
Olean would stop the bleeding with a fly out and double play at first and third, but would retaliate once they stepped into the batters’ box.
With one out in the bottom of the third, Woodring would reached first with the help of a Frewsburg error. The Huskies would get another man on base with a walk before the Bears once again would suffer a costly mistake. What should have been a Myers single, if not an out, turned into an RBI double thanks to two Frewsburg overthrows – one from third to first and then from first back to third – allowing both Woodring and Caine DeGolier to tally runs. Having two outs and a man on second, Landon Johnson would put the Huskies up 6-1 with a RBI single, scoring Myers.
“We’re learning. We’re young but I think the message was strong in that when it’s your time, just focus on the moment, be in the moment and put the ball in play and good things can happen,” said Les DeGolier. “I was really pleased with some of the guys that contributed tonight.”
Over the final few frames, Olean continued to punish the Bears. In the top of the fourth, Frewsburg didn’t stand a chance as Miles dealt three strikeouts in just as many batters. When at bat, the Huskies would load the bases before Myers smacked a two-run RBI single to put his team up 8-1. The Bears would go three-and-out again in the fifth while Olean added another two runs to their lead – with two men on, Sully Hoffman hit a triple that scored both.
Frewsburg would finally find some relief late, however, not enough to change the tide. Reaching first with a walk, the Bears pushed their baserunner to third with a dropped pitch and sacrifice grounder before Riley Lacross hit a sacrifice RBI. That would be the lone bit of action as Olean readied the first postgame celebration of the year, getting the final out one batter later.
At the plate, Myers stuffed the stat sheet, tallying a game-high three hits in four appearances while driving in three runs and scoring one more himself. Five other Huskies would notch hits during the win while Woodring and Vogtli recorded two runs each. Miles scored three times, ending 1-for-2 in the batters’ box, but finished with seven strikeouts and just three hits on the mound.
“We have a lot of guys that can contribute and I feel that was the way the game was tonight. A lot of younger players contributed in key moments and that was obviously big,” said Les DeGolier. “I thought Austin came out in his first start of the year and had a dominant start. Five strong innings and even when we had a couple of down plays in the outfield, he didn’t let that rattle him. He just put his head down and worked through the inning and I thought that was a big part of today’s success as well.”
AT OLEAN
        R H E
Frewsburg   001 000 1  2 3 6
Olean       303 220 X 10 8 0
Frewsburg: Sheesley (6 SO, 3 BB), Beckstrom (4) (2 SO, 3 BB), Lacross (6) (0 SO, 0 BB) and Eckman
Olean: Miles (7 SO, 2 BB), Johnson (6) (0 SO, 2 BB) and DeGolier
