BY PATRICK WALSH
WOLCOTT, N.Y. — The clash of Wayne County titans did not disappoint.
In the matchup of the final two teams undefeated in Wayne County play, the North Rose-Wolcott Cougars defeated the Sodus Spartans 6-5 with a walk-off single in the eighth inning by AJ Anthony on Monday.
“I just wanted to advance, not try to be a hero, not trying to hit a home run, just trying to get that base hit,” said Anthony. “I saw Nick (Gilbert) stole third and all I had to do is touch the ball and that’s what I did.”
Nick Gilbert trotted home from third to score the winning run for North Rose-Wolcott.
Anthony also connected on a two-out single in the third to put the Cougars up 1-0.
Coach Brandon Kapcinski noted how important the “next man up” mentality is.
“That’s been our mentality all season. We’ve been down in many games playing good teams and our guys have come through, not trying to be a hero, just trying to pass it onto the next guy and everybody does their job.”
Logan Caves relieved junior right-hander Kaden Milliman after he went 5.1 innings, striking out 9 while allowing five runs on three hits. Caves pitched the final 2.2 innings and did not allow a single baserunner.
“I just wanted to come in and shut them down,” said Caves. “This game was really big for us and I just wanted to close the door.”
The Spartans started senior Jed Bodine on the mound. Braydn Orbaker and Jacob Laird relieved Bodine. North Rose-Wolcott scraped 10 hits together against the Spartan hurlers.
“Those guys come in and throw strikes,” said Kapcinski. “They have our guys off-balance, but we have a good approach at the plate. We want to put the ball in play.”
The Cougars made emphasis on focusing on the rematch Wednesday.
“We celebrated right there, but we have to go to work now because they’re going to come back and going to be hungrier and play hard,” said Kapcinski. They always do and hopefully, we put on a good one.”
“I think we have to realize this is just half the battle,” said Anthony. “They’re going to want that league championship, that door is not closed yet and we have to close it there Wednesday.”
After Milliman scored Anthony with a double in the fifth, the Spartans came charging back with a four-spot in the top of the sixth. Jed Bodine had a one-out single, followed by a walk to Jacob Laird, setting up a Logan Bulman RBI single, cutting the deficit to one. Laird came around to tie the game with a passed ball. Braeden Tuper then proceeded to rope a line drive to center that he came around to score on, putting Sodus up 5-3.
Austin Smith then proceeded to connect on a two-out, two-run single to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh for the Cougars and send the game to extras.
Milliman and Anthony both finished 3-for-4 with two RBI, with Anthony scoring on the game-tying single by Smith. Nick Gilbert went 2-for-5, scoring the game’s first run in addition to the winning tally. Smith went 2-for-4. Cody Crane worked two walks and also scored on Smith’s single in the seventh.
Bulman and Tuper both had RBI hits to lead the Spartans. Bodine and Evan Laird rounded out the hit column. Orbaker hurled 3.2 innings out of the bullpen for Sodus, allowing three runs on two hits.
Sodus and North Rose-Wolcott meet again in Sodus at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
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