It's not always pretty, but it's effective and wins championships. Fredonia continues to be the gold standard for local high school baseball, and on Wednesday, coach Vince Gullo and his Billies won a record seventh consecutive Section VI championship and 10th in the last 13 years, defeating Roy-Hart by a score of 4-2 in Gowanda. Senior Lucas Voss played the role of hero on this day for Fredonia. With the game tied 1-1 in the bottom of the 5th inning, Voss knocked a single into center field that drove home Reid Tarnowski, giving Fredonia a 2-1 lead. Voss drove in two more runs with a single in the 6th, capping a 3-for-4 day at the plate, and he also pitched the last two innings to get the save. Roy-Hart scored a run in the top of the 7th and had the tying runs on base, but Rams designated hitter Austin Walker flied out to center to end the game. Fredonia scored the game's first run on a sacrifice fly by Tyler Winchell in the 2nd inning before Roy-Hart tied it in the 5th on an RBI single by Al Xapsos. Tarnowski got the win on the hill for Fredonia, giving up one run on four hits while striking out six in five innings of work; his last pitch struck out Eric Fitch with the bases loaded, keeping the game tied at 1-1. Drew Coniglio added two hits for the Billies in the winning effort.
Fredonia will play against Alden on Saturday at 12:00 PM at Gowanda High School for the overall Section VI Class B championship.
Photo by Ron Szot
