SECTION IV BASEBALL: WAVERLY SURGES LATE TO ROUT CV IN CLASS A SEMIS (24 PHOTOS) (May 22, 2026)
By TIM TAYLOR
Valley Sports Report
WAVERLY — The Waverly baseball team had to regroup, not only from Wednesday’s loss to Chenango Valley, but on Friday as well. After watching a 3-0 lead slip away in the fifth inning of the decisive game of the best-of-three Section IV Class A semifinals, the Wolverines erupted for 10 sixth-inning runs to clinch the series, 14-3.
The team’s ability to regroup when it needed to was a display in perseverance.
Coach Kyle McDuffee reflected on the series.
“Our bats went silent in game one and two,” he said. “We won game one, but they did go silent. Today, they woke up.
“We've been doing some different things and the team responded to it, and this is what this team is all about. We get together, we rally around it, we figure out ways to win, and today we just had some timely hitting when we needed it.”
With a 4-3 lead in hand, the hosts took advantage of a triple, double, three singles, four walks, two hit batters and a fielder’s choice in the bottom of the sixth to put the game away.
Ben Shaw walked to start things off and moved to second on a line out, and Waverly would send seven more batters to the plate before another out could be recorded.
Daltton Davis walked and Sam Cheresnowsky singled to load the bases, then Hogan Shaw belted a two-run double to left to make it 6-3.
Jack Pipher and Matthias Welles were hit by pitches, and in between Ronin Ault smacked a two-run single, pushing the lead to 8-3.
Justin Koenig grounded into a fielder’s choice, plating a run, then Ben Shaw walked for the second time in the inning, again loading up the bags. Axel Murray tagged CV for a three-run triple to center, giving the Wolverines a 12-3 cushion.
Davis drew his second base on balls of the inning, then Cheresnowsky smacked his second single of the frame to push a pair of runs across and end the game via the mercy rule.
Each team put a runner on base in the first inning, but came away empty. The Warriors did likewise in the second, but Waverly would pick up a run.
Welles and Ben Shaw drew walks, then Murray scored Welles with a ground out to the shortstop.
Murray and CV’s T Whitman would combine to retire the next 10 batters (six by Murray) before Ault singled in the bottom of the fourth.
Welles took one for the team and he and Ault were both moved into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt by Koenig. Ben Shaw followed that up with a two-run single, making it a 3-0 game.
Chenango Valley would rally in its half of the fifth with a walk and steal by Whitman, then three straight singles from J Fitzgerald, who drove in a run, L Townley and N Adams. C Trebilcock followed with an RBI ground out and D Steen added an RBI fly out to knot the contest at three apiece.
CV brought in a new pitcher in the bottom of the fifth and he was greeted by singles from Hogan Shaw and Pipher. Following n out, Waverly went back on top to stay, 4-3, on Welles’ RBI fly out.
The Wolverines’ bats cranked out nine hits and they were issued eight walks. They also had thievery on their side as they stole 10 bases, including four by Ben Shaw, and two apiece by Davis and Ault.
Murray picked up the win, scattering five hits and one walk over five innings while striking out five. Porter Daddona was given the save, facing the minimum three batters.
“Axel did an outstanding job,” McDuffee said. “Axel did a great job coming in in a heated situation. It's game three. Game three, and he came in in a heated situation, got going, and did his job.
“Kind of got tired there at the end, so I brought in Daddona, and Porter came in and did his job, and that's something Porter doesn't do. He doesn't come in in relief. He doesn't do that, so it's kind of like the days when Randy Johnson would come in in the World Series with Arizona. That was kind of what we needed. We needed to bring him in, so we were really impressed.”
This was just the second time in six games against CV this season that the Wolverines scored more than three runs in a single inning.
“This team is a scrappy team and they don't give up,” McDuffee said of the Warriors, which lost seven games by two or fewer runs. “They do not give up, so it was a good thing. Hats off to their coaching staff. They've done an outstanding job with that team, and honestly, if it wasn't for those couple of innings, who knows how this game could've ended.”
Waverly’s bats played a key role in the victory.
“All the way down, top to bottom, I thought we did a nice job,” said McDuffee. “I liked our approaches at the plate today. I thought that we were hunting the right pitches, and were swinging at the right pitches, and we got the job done. We weren't out.”
Six Wolverines recorded hits in the win while the three players who didn’t, accounted for five runs and four RBI.
Leading the charge at the plate were Ault (2-for-3, 2 runs, 2 RBI), Hogan Shaw (2-for-4, 2 runs, 2 RBI) and Cheresnowsky (2-for-4, 1 run 2 RBI). Murray chipped in with one hit, one run and four RBI; Ben Shaw had one hit, two runs and two RBI; and Pipher tacked on a hit and a run;
Also contributing to the scoring were Welles with two runs and one RBI; Koenig with a run and an RBI; and Davis with a pair of runs.
Waverly (19-3) will face top-seeded Maine-Endwell (13-9) in the finals on Tuesday and Thursday next week, and Friday if needed.
The Spartans, Class A champs in 2024 and runners-up in 2025, went three games with Owego, taking the decisive contest by an 11-1 score.
“I know they're really good,” said McDuffee of M-E. “They're returning champions, so you know it's going to be a ball game, I hope. Let's give them a ball game. Let's play some ball.”
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IN PHOTO 1: Sam Cheresnowsky. IN TOP PHOTO: Ben Shaw. … PHOTOS BY TIM TAYLOR.
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