One team is making its fifth regional appearance in program history and looking for its first victory since 1998 while the other is back in the Far West Regional for the third time in the last four years. It’s a rematch of 2024 as the Section V Class B champs Wellsville Lions (No. 2 NYSSWA) battle with the victors of Section VI Medina Mustangs (No. 3 NYSSWA) in the NYSPHSAA Class B Far West Regional Wednesday at Colburn Park. Here’s the breakdown:
Class B
No. 1 WELLSVILLE LIONS (16-3 / Independent)
vs.
NO. 1 MEDINA MUSTANGS (21-1 / Niagara-Orleans)
Wednesday June 4th, Colburn Park, 6:00 p.m.
How they arrived here: Top-seeded Wellsville started its postseason with 16-0 shutout against No. 16 Penn Yan in the second round and knocked off No. 8 Waterloo 4-2 in the quarterfinals. The Lions put away No. 4 Livonia 2-1 in the semifinals to earn their spot in the Class B title game and edged out LeRoy 4-3 to advance to the Far West Regional. After a first round bye, No. 1 Medina kicked off its playoffs with 3-2 victory over No. 8 Royalton-Hartland and followed that up with a 2-1 win in the semifinals against No. 4 Fredonia. The Mustangs kept that momentum rolling in the Section VI final with a 4-0 shutout to top No. 6 Southwestern and reach the regionals.
Tempo and trends: Wellsville scores 8.1 runs per game while allowing 3.74. The Lions enter regionals on an nine-game win streak while outscoring opponents 86-13 in that span. During this streak, Wellsville has scored 10-plus runs on five different occasions and have allowed more than two runs twice. Medina averages 8.5 runs a game on the season. The Mustangs roll into the Far West Regional on an eight-game winning streak with double-digit victories in four matchups along with four shutouts. In that span, Medina has outscored opponents 68-9 and have not allowed more than three runs in a game. On the season, the Mustangs are undefeated (4-0) in games decided by one run.
Players to watch for Wellsville: Anthony Button So. OF/P, 1-0, 1.83 ERA; Aiden Cowburn Sr. P/SS, 7-1, 73 Ks, 1.65 ERA, 12 BBs, .483 AVG; Trent Green Jr. CF/P, .438 AVG; Karson Grover Sr. 1B/P, Gavin Haggerty Sr. OF/P, .310 AVG; Andrew Ordiway Jr. 2B, .378 AVG; Matt Ritter Jr. C/OF, .457 AVG; Tyler Vogel Sr. P/SS, 6-1, 65 Ks, 1.78 ERA, 17 BBs, .442 AVG
Medina: Aidan Papaj So. INF/P, .406 AVG, 26 hits, 21 RBI, 36 runs, one HR; Hadrian Batista So. OF/INF/C/P, .186 AVG, eight hits, nine RBI, 12 runs, one HR; Kolton Fletcher Jr. OF, .286 AVG, 17 runs, four hits, one RBI; Brody Fry Sr. P/3B/SS, 9-0, .12 ERA, 56.2 IP, 100 Ks, 13 HA, 3 RA, 10 BB, .333 AVG, 23 RBI, 21 hits, 20 runs; Vinny Gray Jr. OF/P/SS, .320 AVG, 27 runs, 16 hits, nine RBI; Tyler Kroening Sr. OF/INF, .333 AVG, 17 hits, 16 runs, nine RBI; Carter Woodworth Sr. OF/3B/P, .356 AVG, 21 hits, 17 RBI, 17 runs; Preston Woodworth So. P/INF/OF, 9-0, .38 ERA, 55.2 IP, 89 Ks, 14 HA, 5 RA, 13 BB, .299 AVG, 33 RBI, 20 hits, 15 runs, one HR
Coaches: Tom Delahunt (Wellsville), Chris Goyette (Medina)
History 101: After tying Pittsford Sutherland for the most titles in Section V history with 16, Wellsville is looking for revenge against Medina in the Far West Regional after falling to the Mustangs 8-3 in 2024. Its Wellsville’s fifth regional appearance as the Lions look for their second title in school history to end a 27-year drought. Medina has chance to grab back-to-back victories in the Far West Regional for the first time in program history. The Mustangs have three regional titles overall and look to be the first team to go back-to-back in Class B since Livonia in 2014-2015.
What’s at stake: A spot in the Class B state quarterfinals against Oneonta (IV).
GO LIONS!!