One squad has won 17 straight games and didn’t give up a run in sectionals. The other has won six of its past eight games and just won its third straight sectional title.
Haverling and Wellsville will meet Monday night to decide who will represent Section V in the state tournament. Here’s the breakdown:
HAVERLING RAMS (20-3/Livingston County I/No. 5 NYSSWA Class B)
vs.
WELLSVILLE LIONS (14-7/Independent/NYSSWA Class B Honorable Mention)
Monday, ESL Ballpark, 4:00 pm
How they arrived here: Haverling took down Waterloo 20-0 in the opening round of the B1 tournament before getting past Hornell 3-0 in the semifinals. In the championship, the Rams picked up a 1-0 win over Wayland-Cohocton. Wellsville beat Bishop Kearney/Chesterton/Archangel 7-5 and Bolivar-Richburg/Cuba-Rushford 11-1 to reach the B2 championship game. There, the Lions took down East Rochester 10-2.
Scoring offense: Haverling (10.5 RPG), Wellsville (7.7 RPG)
Scoring defense: Haverling (2.4 RPG), Wellsville (4.7 RPG)
Trends: Haverling is on a 17-game winning streak and has scored 206 runs while allowing 24 runs over that span. Wellsville has outscored its opponents 55-26 over its past six games.
Players to watch for Haverling: Gage Thomas Sr. P/INF (.500 BA, 34 H, nine XBH, 32 RBI, 32 R, 69.1 IP, 1.57 ERA, 8-1 record, 131 Ks), Mason Davis Sr. OF (.404 BA, 19 H, 21 RBI, 20 R), Parker Lafler Fr. INF (.442 BA, 23 H, four 2B, 13 RBI, 22 R), Dylan Wenban Sr. P/UTIL (.529 BA, 36 H, six XBH, 27 RBI, 40 R, 24.1 IP, 2.01 ERA, 4-1 record, 27 Ks), Dayton Orlowske Jr. (.400 BA, 26 H, five XBH, 23 RBI, 19 R), Eric Carney-Hendrix Jr. (.426 BA, 23 H, three 2B, 16 RBI, 23 R, 24.2 IP, 2.84 ERA, 5-1 record, 37 K)
Players to watch for Wellsville: Trenton Green Sr. P/SS (.423 BA, tied-school record five home runs, five doubles), Matt Ritter Sr. C (.417 BA, 10 2B, 3B), Ty Rahr Jr. C/INF (.444 BA, three 2B), Drew Cowburn Fr. (.393 BA, two 2B, 17 RBI), Paul Giovanniello So. (.357 BA, three 2B), Ben Helveston Fr. (.295 BA, six 2B)
Coaches: Sean Eighmey (Haverling), John Anderson (Wellsville)
History 101: The two squads met once in the regular season, with Haverling coming out with a 13-3 win. Haverling has a chance to clinch a spot in the state tournament for the first time since 2009, where it fell in the Far West Regional to Fredonia (VI). Wellsville has now won three straight sectional championships. The Lions reached the state tournament last season before falling to Medina (VI) in the subregionals.
What’s at stake: The winner advances to the subregionals to face Medina (VI) on Tuesday.
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