By PATRICK WALSH
BATAVIA, N.Y. — Noah Hoffman unloaded a bases-clearing double in the third, part of a 10-run frame for Williamsville East as the Flames defeated Honeoye Falls-Lima 13-0 in NYS Class A Far West Regional action at Dwyer Stadium on Saturday.
In the inning, the Flames sent 15 batters to the plate and strung together six hits and worked four walks. Gavin Steinacher followed Hoffman’s double with a run-scoring two-bagger of his own. Eric Osterstrom and Cooper Rossano had the other two run-producing hits.
“That was just the grittiness of our guys,” Williamsville East head coach Chris Guarin said when asked about the frame. “The at-bats they put together were just outstanding. That’s the type of stuff you work on all year, the two-out RBIs and just moving it onto the next guy.”
Rossano, a University of Albany commit, went 3-for-3 roping two doubles off the fence, driving in two and scoring three runs.
“He’s (Rossano) a special player,” said Guarin. “He’s a dude, he puts in so much hard work and he’s our senior leader and you put those players in those spots to fire the guys up. He’s one of the most special players I’ve ever coached.”
The Flames started right-hander Carmen Panaro who went four innings, allowing one hit and striking out one. The only blemish was a leadoff bunt single from Landon Hammond. Panaro allowed just four balls to leave the infield afterward and rolled four ground outs.
“Today we ran into a buzzsaw, that’s a good team and we didn’t play our best but I am so proud of our kids,” Honeoye Falls-Lima head coach Dan Hoyt said.
The loss ends the Honeoye Falls-Lima season, who were at .500 halfway through the year.
“As I said to the guys, halfway through the season we were a .500 team,” said Hoyt. “Our seniors just put us on their back and carried us to this spot.”
Hoyt believes that this experience can help the younger Cougars learn and return stronger next season.
“My juniors, as they were walking off the field, looked at me and said, ‘Coach we are going to come back next year and win this thing.’ I’m pretty confident in those guys. We’ve got a couple, Matt Meacham and Aidan Neenan, they’re going to be back next year and they’ll be those seniors that will pull the team along just like this year.”
For Williamsville East, Rossano and Sean Sansone led the Flames in hits by going 3-for-3. Sansone opened the scoring with an RBI single in the first. Hoffman went 2-for-3 with three runs driven in. Ryan Fryling singled, soaked up two hit by pitches and scored twice. Eric Osterstrom had an RBI single. Carmen Panaro scored twice.
Williamsville East advances to face Walter Panas (I) in the NYS Class A semifinal on Friday.
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