By HUNTER O. LYE
lyleoleanstar@gmail.com
ALLEGANY, NY – Despite a massive fourth frame, the Bradford baseball team’s comeback hopes were dashed with a late-game error, allowing Portville to sneak out a 7-6 win in the first round of the Allegany-Limestone tournament.
While Bradford had gotten a few reps into their campaign before meeting the Panthers, entering Thursday’s contest at 2-2, Portville’s season had just begun. On Monday, they traveled to Gowanda for their season opener, ultimately losing 9-0.
“That was a tough first game, a tough way to start the season,” said Portville head coach Joe Plekias. “We just wanted to play our game (against Bradford.) I think it was important for our guys not to get rattled and not think something was wrong.”
Coming in against Bradford, the Panthers were eager to get out in front early. After suffering a strikeout on their initial batter, Portville put two men on base with consecutive walks, then moved both to second and third off a dropped pitch before a third man loaded the bases off yet another walk. From there, the Panthers began to cycle men around home.
Kicking things off was Dylan Chudy who drove in the first run of the day off a sacrifice grounder. Then, with a man on second and third, Braedon Carter hit an RBI single before a steal and subsequent scramble around the diamond allowed Ty Kosinski to tack on Portville’s third run. Going down early, Bradford failed to retaliate, instead being dispatched in four batters or less through the next two innings.
Aidan DeFazio scores during the Panthers’ win over Bradford. DeFazio ended 1-for-1 at the plate with three runs scored. | Photo by Hunter O. Lyle
Portville would further the lead in the top of the third. Although they faced a new man on the mound – Tarren Reese replaced Brody Haviland at the top of the third – the Panthers were unfazed. Getting two men on with two more walks, Chudy would drive in another run off a deep single to center field. One batter later, Carter would do the same for his second RBI single of the day before Bradford would suffer another self-inflicted wound, allowing Portville to go up 6-0 on an overthrown pass to second.
Limping out of the frame, Bradford would finally find some production at their next appearance at the plate. Ben Woodhouse and Braylon Austin would make it to second and third from a walk and subsequent Austin double, reaching the furthest the Owls had up to that point. AJ Lama would then put his team on the scoreboard with a sac-grounder that drove in Woodhouse. Although that would be the lone score of the inning, the Owls were beginning to pick up steam, which first manifested on defense.
The beginning of the top of the fourth looked bleak for the Owls. With one out, Bradford consecutively hit the next two batters before walking the next, loading the bases. However, they were able to fend off the Panthers with a routine pop fly and a made play at first. Then, it would be Bradford’s turn to get hot at the plate.
Talan Reese started the inning with a single before being immediately brought home off a Tarren Reese double. Haviland would repeat the feat, also tallying a double before Evan Whitmore did the same exact thing to bring the Owls to within two. While the Owls would suffer their first out right after, a Panthers overthrow to third brought in one final fourth-frame run. Heading into the fifth, Bradford had narrowed the gap to just one run.
Brody Haviland slides across home plate during the Owls’ loss to Portville on Thursday. | Photo by Hunter O. Lyle
Holding the newly acquired momentum, Bradford once again found themselves in a hole. After a Portville double and back-to-back full-count walks, the Owls were looking at loaded bases and no outs. Yet once again, they would stave off the Panthers. A pop out and double play at third eased the tension before a play at first ended the scare. Bradford would ride the wave into the fifth, where they tied the game off a Talan Reese sac-fly, driving in Maksim Demic to even the score at 6-6.
For the moment, it seemed as if Bradford was surging. However, it would all be for nought in the top of the sixth.
After striking out the Panthers’ lead-off batter, Aidan DeFazio reached first on a single before making his way to third by way of steal and Bradford overthrow. Then, catastrophe struck for the Owls. On a routine throw back to the pitcher, Bradford’s pass came up short, resulting in a high bounce over the mound. In a mental lapse, the shortstop and second basemen were out of position, leaving just enough time for DeFazio to streak down the sideline for the go-ahead run. Although the Owls ended the inning quickly after, it was evident they had lost the momentum.
“Not being lazy is something that we preach and we just had a little brain fart and our team fell asleep,,” said Bradford head coach Eric Haynoski. “We just didn’t execute a simple play in baseball that should be made 100 percent of the time.”
Bradford managed to escape the top of the seventh without harm, getting three outs in four batters. However, stepping to the plate in need of some clutch hits, the Owls’ failed to muster any production, going three-and-out as the game fell just out of reach.
For Portville, Carter went a game-high 3-for-4, recording two RBIs in the win. DeFazio scored three times alongside a perfect 1-for-1 at the plate while Chudy scored one and batted two more runs in. The Owls were led by Tarren Reeses’ two hits in three appearances, tallying one run and one RBI, while Talan Reese and Haviland both went 1-for-3 with one run and one RBI.
The Owls now focus towards the future where they have seven games slated for the next 11 days. With such a jam packed schedule in front of them, moving past a disappointing loss is the first step towards progress.
“We have to keep our arms healthy. I think we’ve done a good job of that the last two days and we’re ready to go tomorrow,” said Haynoski, whose team hosts Elk County Catholic on Friday. “We’re excited to get back out there and turn the page. I think the kids are going to learn a lot from what happened tonight and I think they’ll be ready once the first pitch gets thrown.”
AT ALLEGANY
R H E
Portville 303 001 0 7 5 1
Bradford 001 410 0 6 7 2
Portville: B. German (3 SO, 2 BB), DeFazio (6) (2 SO, 0 BB) and Chudy
Bradford: Haviland (3 SO, 6 BB), Reese (3) (6 SO, 3 BB) and Demic
