Valley Sports ReportHORSEHEADS — On the back of a strong defensive effort behind her, freshman Taylin Gonzalez tossed a three-hitter to lead Waverly in a 5-1 win over Horseheads in its season finale here Thursday afternoon in STAC softball action.
"Taylin (Gonzalez) pitched a gem of game, and we played outstanding defense behind her," said Waverly coach Brent Doane.
"Delaney Wheeler was nothing shy of spectacular at first base," he noted. "She made several stretch plays for outs, had a diving catch of a foul ball on a bases loaded pop-up and then ended the game with with a double play.
"She caught the second out, a dying liner, in the seventh (inning), then stepped on the bag to double off the runner," added Doane. "It was just outstanding."
The Blue Raiders put their first two batters on base in the home half of the first inning, but 8th-grader Paige Bubniak fielded a groundball at third base, stepped on the bag and fired to senior Delaney Wheeler at first base for a double play. Gonzalez struck out the next batter to end the inning.
In the top of the second, Bubniak worked a 12-pitch walk, then took second on a sacrifice bunt by Delaney Wheeler.
After a walk to freshman Ayla Wheeler, a groundout moved the runners to second and third, and an error plated both runners to give the Wolverines a 2-0 lead.
"Delaney (Wheeler) laid down a beautiful sacrifice bunt in the second to move (Paige) Bubniak into scoring position, and help us score our first run," said Doane. "It was just a great night for that kid."
Junior Kaiya Horton was hit by a pitch to lead off the top of the fifth inning, and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by junior Lecksie Douglas.
With two outs, Gonzalez ripped an RBI single into right field to make it 3-0. After a walk to junior Hannah Carpenter, Bubniak laced an RBI single to left field to extend the lead to 4-0.
The Blue Raiders plated their only run on a two-out outfield error in the home half of the fifth inning to close the gap to 4-1.
The Wolverines got the run back in the top of the sixth inning on singles by Ayla Wheeler and sophomore Mel Skovira to start the inning, and an RBI single by Douglas.
Horseheads loaded the bases in the bottom of the sixth inning with one out on a catcher's inference call and back-to-back base on balls, but a pop fly and a groundball to Delaney Wheeler in a three-pitch span ended the threat.
Gonzalez walked the lead-off batter in the home half of the seventh, but with one out Delaney Wheeler snared a line drive and stepped on first for a double play to end the game.
Bubniak and Gonzalez singled, scored one run, and drove in one run, and Ayla Wheeler singled and scored two runs to pace Waverly's five-hit attack, while Douglas singled and drove in one run, Skovira added a single, and Horton crossed the plate once.
Gonzalez allowed one run on four hits, with five strikeouts and five walks in seven innings to earn the win.
Riding a 10-game win streak, the Wolverines wrap up the regular season at 14-4. They will square off with Corning Saturday at 11 a.m. in the STAC semifinals at
