SECTION IV BASEBALL: McCARTHY LIFTS WAVERLY TO 4-2 GAME 1 WIN OVER CHENANGO VALLEY (24 PHOTOS) (May 18, 2026)

By TIM BIRNEY
Valley Sports Report
WAVERLY — Seldom-used junior Ahren McCarthy got his first varsity start and delivered the biggest hit of Waverly's season here Monday afternoon in the Wolverines' 4-2 win over Chenango Valley in the first game of a best-of-three series in the Section IV, Class A baseball playoffs.

McCarthy entered the game with seven plate appearances on the season, with one hit in four-at bats. He stroked a key two-RBI single to give the Wolverines the lead for good in the bottom of the fourth inning.

"During the first week of practice, coach (Taylor) Skerpon talked about at any given moment all 13 kids will get a shot to contribute," said longtime Waverly coach Kyle McDuffee.
  
"Today, the first game of sectional play, Ahren (McCarthy) gets his first start and comes up big for the team," noted McDuffee.  

"Ahren approaches every practice, and every game with the same mindset — how can I help the team today?" he added. "I am very proud of Ahren, he owned that at-bat."

McCarthy's two-run single and sophomore Sammy Cheresnosky's ground-rule RBI double staked senior Porter Daddona to a 4-2 lead after four innings, and he made it stand up, until needing help from senior Ronin Ault, who recorded the final out with the bases loaded.

"Porter (Daddona) and I talked about expectation of this game," said McDuffee.

"Porter said he would fight for the complete game, which he missed by one out.  

"As the game went on, Porter became more and more of a competitor," noted McDuffee. "Porter went to the mound with an 'I own this field mentality,'

"Then Ronin (Ault) closed it with the bases loaded in a high-stress situation and did his job," added McDuffee.

The Warriors took the lead with an unearned run on a two-out outfield miscue in the top of the first inning, but the Wolverines tied the game in the home half of the inning.

Ault sparked the rally with a two-out single to center field, moved to second on a wild pitch, then stole third base, before scoring on an infield RBI single by junior Matthias Welles to tie the game at 1-1.

CV opened the top of the fourth inning with back-to-back singles, with a stolen base mixed in, to take a 2-1 lead.

In the home half of the fourth, Welles lined a 3-2 pitch into center field, and took second base on a groundball to first base by junior Ben Shaw.

Freshman Axel Murray hit a hard grounder for a single into left field, and took second on the throw home, which kept Welles at third base, setting the stage for McCarthy, who stroked his go-ahead single to right field to make it 3-2.

Two pitches later, senior Daltton Davis lined a single into center field to move McCarthy to third base, and Cheresnowsky drove the next pitch over the left-fielder's head to score McCarthy to extend the lead to 4-2.

Cheresnowsky's drive bounced over the left-field fence, which forced the speedy Davis back to third base on the ground-rule double.

Daddona pitched around a walk in the top of the fifth inning, and retired the Warriors in order in the sixth, before running into two-out trouble in the seventh.

Daddona retired the first two CV batters in the seventh inning, but an error kept the inning alive, and two base on balls loaded the bases.

McDuffee called on Ault to get the last out, and the senior ace answered the call with a strikeout to end the game, and register the save.

Dadonna allowed two runs — one earned — on five hits, while striking out seven and walking three in 6 2/3 innings or work.

Welles stroked two singles, scored one run, and drove in one run to pace Waverly's seven-hit attack, while McCarthy singled, scored one run, and had two RBI, and Cheresnowsky doubled and knocked in one run.

Murray and Ault each singled and scored one run in the win, and Davis added a single.

Chenango Valley will host Game 2 of the best-of-three Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.

"Chenango Valley has a very scrappy team that doesn’t give up," said McDuffee.  "We need to play solid baseball in this best-of-3  series."

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IN PHOTO 1: Waverly's Porter Daddona. IN TOP PHOTO: Waverly's Anne McCarthy. ... PHOTOS BY TIM BIRNEY.

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