Valley Sports ReportOWEGO — Waverly closed the gap on Owego in the STAC Central Division race, routing the River Hawks, 20-2, in six innings here Monday.
Highlighted by back-to-back home runs from Taylin Gonzalez and Hannah Carpenter in the fourth inning, and another by Carpenter in the sixth, the Wolverines narrowed the gap to a half game.
“We had a full team effort tonight,” Waverly coach Brent Doane said. “It was very exciting to see our team play well in all facets of the game.
“Our offense was hitting on all cylinders tonight. We got a great pitching performance from Gonzalez, and the defense made two miscues but didn't let it affect the game.”
“(Lecksie) Douglas made a great over-the-shoulder catch running into the outfield from shortstop. (Maddie) Cron made an outstanding catch over the shoulder running to the fence in center field.”
With Waverly leading, 6-2,the game deadlocked at 1-1, the third inning brought six hits from the Wolverines, including four for extra bases. Kaiya Horton and Paige Bubniak started off with singles, then Maddie Cron followed with a two-run triple. Cron would be out at third, but Gonazlez and Carpenter would follow with dingers over the fence to make it 9-2. Lecksie Douglas added a double, but Joslynn Space retired the side to end the surge.
A hit batter and an error in the fifth led to a two-run double by Cron and Douglas brought Cron home with a single for a 13-2 advantage.
In the sixth, the Wolverines tacked on a trio of runs with two outs in the book. Horton reached on an error, Bubniak singled, and Cron and Gonzalez followed with RBI singles.
Next up was Carpenter, who belted her second homer of the game to make it 18-2. Douglas followed with a single, Delaney Wheeler walked, and the bases were loaded on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Ayla Wheeler. Anna Fassett brought in a run on an error and Delaney Wheeler made it 20-2, scoring on Horton’s fielder’s choice.
Waverly opened the scoring in its first at-bats as Cron blasted a one-out triple to right and scored on Carpenter’s double to left.
Pitching took over for a short time after that as Gonzalez and the River Hawks’ Space combined to retire the next eight batters, seven by strikeout, before Owego rallied to tie the score in the home half of the second. Emily Sipe was hit by a pitch with one away, and Braelea McLaren and Jules Serfass followed with singles.
Gonzalez retired the next two batters, then the Wolverines’ offense and defense took control of the game. Waverly outhit the host, 18-3, the rest of the way and the River Hawks managed just seven baserunners during that span.
Owego’s other run came in the third. Elise Silvanic reached on a two-out error, then Eva Crawford and Miley Laubach followed with singles to make it 6-2.
Waverly pounded out 20 hits with Cron going 5-for-5 with four runs and five RBI; Carpenter was 4-for-5 with three runs and eight RBI; and Douglas was 4-for-5 with two runs and two RBI.
Gonzalez contributed two hits, three runs and two RBI; Bubniak had two hits and four runs; Horton recorded two hits, three runs and one RBI; Ayla Wheeler added a hit and an RBI; and Delaney Wheeler scored one run.
Gonzalez struck out seven from the circle, scattering six hits while surrendering one walk and one earned run.
Laubach and Serfass both went 2-for-3 with one RBI; Silvanic and Sipe scored one run apiece; and Crawford and McLaren tacked on one hit each.
With the win, Waverly (7-3) moves closer to Owego (7-2) in the division standings with the teams splitting the season series, 1-1.
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PHOTOS BY TIM TAYLOR.
