By SPENCER BATES
OLEAN — For the first time since 2021, the Olean baseball team has reached the semifinals of the Section 6 playoffs.
In 2022, the Huskies were held scoreless in a 3-0 second round loss to Lewiston-Porter. In 2023 it was a 14-4 defeat to Iroquois. In 2024, they lost 15-7 to Depew. And in 2025, they fell 8-0 to Maryvale.
The current senior class for Olean has seen just one first-round playoff win since they were freshmen.
That barren run came to an end this season as the Huskies, who finished with just one loss in the regular season, rolled past Depew 9-0 to book their spot in the Class A2 Semifinal.
Olean got things going early, scoring two runs in the first inning via a balk and an RBI double from Alex Jones (2-for-3, run, RBI, walk). Grady Smucinski came across for his second of three runs on the day — pinch running for starting pitcher and DH Austin Miles — in the third frame, scoring on a sacrifice fly after stealing third.
Manufactured runs have been a pivotal piece of the Huskies’ offense this season and against the Wildcats they showed how much damage they can truly do on the basepaths, stealing 10 bags as a team. Ethan Woodring (0-for-1, 2 runs, 3 walks) stole three, Smucinski and Gehrig Perry (1-for-2, run) each stole two and Jones, Joe Mest (1-for-3, run, RBI) and Tyler Sullivan (RBI) nabbed one apiece.
“Anytime you can take bags, … especially in the playoffs, we’re gonna take it,” Olean head coach Les DeGolier said. “Whenever guys are running, pitchers always have a tough time with that. It gets in their head and puts pressure on them. That’s one thing that we can do with our speed. We can take advantage and put pressure on opposing pitchers and opposing defenses, and it helps open up the game for us.”
But the best of the bats was yet to come.
In the bottom of the fifth, Olean erupted for six runs, pushing the contest far out of reach and flirting with the mercy rule.
Miles was the epicenter of the offense, going 4-for-4 with an RBI while Smucinski pinch-ran in three runs for him.
And for the leader of the pack, who could not recall the last playoff game he had won with the team, getting the postseason started with the performance he had was a special moment.
“It feels great, I haven’t actually won a playoff game in my high school career, so this feels great,” Miles said. “And it was against a team that got our number a couple years ago, so it feels great to get them back.”
It was a long road back to health for Olean’s ace, who suffered an injury on the very first offensive play of the season for the school’s football team this past fall. But it was an exhaustive journey that paid dividends as he has starred as a two-way player this spring.
“It was a lot of work,” Miles said. “About two months out from the season, I was a little behind. And so I really bared down, started going to Buffalo (for training), and I made it happen.”
Miles had the Wildcats guessing at the plate, striking out six and allowing just one hit and one walk apiece in 5.2 innings.
Miles is part of a trio of seniors that Les DeGolier highlighted following the win. He noted that Miles, alongside Caine DeGolier, who finished 1-for-4 with a two-run rocket of a home run that kickstarted the big fifth inning, and Mest have been cornerstones of the Huskies program for the last number of years and the way they led, through the good times and the bad, has all culminated in the well-rounded unit of a team they now have.
“Those three seniors in particular have now played four years of varsity baseball,” Les DeGolier said. “It’s been something we’ve worked toward and we’ve kind of coached them to this and they’ve learned, they’ve grown in tough games. We talked about Southwestern this year and the challenge that they were, and we said, ‘hey, the playoffs are gonna be like those games, boys.’ And they just kept rising to the challenge. Those seniors lead and everybody else brings their contribution.”
Olean’s Caine DeGolier (5) swings at a pitch against Depew. DeGolier mashed a two-run home run for the Huskies in their win over the Wildcats. (Spencer Bates)
The win streak for Olean stretched to 13 with the win. But for as much as a significant blemish-free run can come with momentum, Les DeGolier noted ahead of the playoffs that it comes with its dangers too, i.e. a drop in mentality.
Fortunately, he pointed out that in the days between the end of the regular season and the start of the postseason, the team showed an impressive level of maturity that contributed to the win.
“We challenged the boys to ratchet up the focus and the intensity and the concentration the last few days,” Les DeGolier said. “We got an extra day of practice with the rain date, and they stayed on that level. They stayed there, they were hitting line drives in BP and off the machines, and playing solid (defense). The communication and the energy was all up. They didn’t let down, and they came out today, and definitely showed that they stayed at that high level.”
Next up for No. 3 seed Olean is a trip to No. 2 seed Maryvale on May 26 at 5 p.m.
There, the Huskies will have the chance to avenge the QF loss they suffered to the Flyers last season.
AT OLEAN
Depew 000 000 0 R:0 H:1 E:1
Olean 201 060 X R:9 H:9 E:0
DP: Lorefice (3 SO, 5 BB), Pyc (0 SO, 0 BB) and Fryling
OL: Miles (6 SO, 1 BB), Johnson (3 SO, 1 BB) and DeGolier
