Albion surges past Dunkirk in B1 opener

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Albion’s Jason Downs slides safety into home after belting a home run during the host Purple Eagles sectional opening win over Dunkirk this afternoon.

Rallying from an early deficit, No. 7 seed Albion rallied to romp past visiting No. 10 Dunkirk 14-4 this afternoon in the opening round of the Section VI Class B1 baseball playoffs.

Trailing 3-1, Albion rallied into the lead for good by scoring four runs in the third inning on an RBI double by Randy Eblacker, an RBI single by Vincent Zona and a pair of wild pitches. Hits by Evan Pappalardo and Bryce Pritchard also helped to key the rally.

Keeping the momentum, the Purple Eagles then broke the contest open by exploding for seven runs in the fourth frame to make it 12-3.

A leadoff home run and a two-run triple by Jason Downs highlighted that decisive uprising which also featured run producing doubles by Eblacker and Jared Fearby. The RBI hit was the third in a row for Eblacker who also singled in Albion’s first run in the opening inning.

Eblacker, Downs and Pritchard each finished with 3 hits and Pappalardo 2.

Brady Meakin picked up the win on the mound striking out 10 in six innings of work.

Albion next visits No. 2 East Aurora in the quarterfinals at 5 p.m. Friday.

Albion’s Kyle Smith dives back into first base as Dunkirk’s Jeyden Schrant takes the throw.

Springville 6, Medina 3
Trailing 3-2, No.6 Springville rallied for 4 runs on 6 hits in the fifth inning to earn a 6-3 victory over visiting No. 11 Medina in another B1 opener.

Medina had grabbed an early lead by scoring three times in the third inning on an RBI single by Alex Allis and two errors. Hits by Justin Morgan and Jared Zinkievich also helped key the uprising.

Allis, Morgan and Luke Porter each had a pair of hits on the day for the Mustangs which stranding a runner at third base in the first, second, fourth and fifth innings.

In other Class B1 games, No. 8 CSAT nipped No. 9 Tonawanda 7-6 and No. 4 Alden downed No. 13 Newfane 10-3.

Wilson 8, Cattaraugus/Little Valley 3
No. 6 Wilson used a five run fourth inning uprising to key an 8-3 victory over No. 11 Cattaraugus/Little Valley in a Class B2 contest.

Holden Howland had two hits, including a double, and Connor Seeley and Jonah Miller both added a pair of hits and two RBIs to lead the Wilson offense.

Akron 3, Falconer 0
No. 9 Akron blanked No. 8 Falconer 3-0 as Brennan Murty hurled a 6 hit shutout.