Coming off an emotional, extra innings win over Depew the previous day, Fredonia High School's baseball team had a quick turnaround on Thursday and faced Olean in a bid to extend their record run of seven consecutive Section VI championships. On a very warm afternoon in Gowanda, the Hillbillies finally met their match, as the Huskies won 12-8 to win the Class B-1 title.
Fredonia (16-2) grabbed the early momentum after getting out of two early jams. Derrick Walters turned a double play to end the 1st inning, and Olean (16-2) stranded a runner on third base in the 2nd inning. In the bottom of the 2nd, Walters got hit by a pitch, then the Billies rattled off four straight hits, including an RBI double by Tyler Winchell and an RBI single by Anthony Gullo. A sacrifice fly by Seth Schrader then made it 3-0 Fredonia by the end of the inning. But then Olean turned the game on its head in the 3rd inning, as their bats came alive. The Huskies got five hits off Fredonia starting pitcher Reid Tarnowski in the frame; a two-run single by Zach Parr got the Huskies on the board, then an RBI single by August Brainard-Brunelle tied the game, with Parr scoring on an error to give the Huskies a 4-3 lead. The hits continued in the top of the 4th, and Tarnowski's day on the mound was done after just two batters in the inning. After Jared Kowalski walked the next two batters, Trey Swartz was called upon to keep it a close game. But the Huskies took advantage of their opportunity, scoring five runs in the inning to make it a 9-3 lead. Fredonia kept battling, as a two-run double by Ryan Mroczka in the bottom of the 5th made it a 9-5 game. After Olean scored on a sacrifice fly in the 6th, the Billies threatened to make it a close game again. Two hits and three errors made it a 10-8 game and brought Walters to the plate with the tying runs on base. But Dylan Vincent, who came on in relief of Josh Miles, struck out Walters to get out of any further trouble. The Huskies then tacked on two insurance runs in the 7th to seal the win.
For Fredonia, Anthony Gullo went 2-for-4 at the plate with one RBI, while Ryan Mroczka went 1-for-3 with a double and two RBI. Reid Tarnowski gave up four earned runs on eight hits and one walk and struck our four batters in 3 1/3 innings. For Olean, Zach Parr and August Brainard-Brunelle each had two hits and four RBI, while Luke Chapman went 3-for-4 with an RBI. Josh Miles got the win, pitching 5 2/3 innings and allowing five earned runs on eight hits and three walks to go with four strikeouts. Dylan Vincent earned the save, recording the final four outs.
Photo by Ron Szot
