Mustangs edge Lakemen for key N-O win

Beginning a busy stretch of three games in four days, Medina nipped host Wilson 8-7 this afternoon to stay in the thick of the Niagara-Orleans League baseball title race.

Improving to 6-2, Medina stays within a game of front-running Akron (6-1) which visits Newfane this evening. The loss drops Wilson to 3-5.

Breaking away from a 7-7 deadlock, Medina scored the game winning run in the top of the seventh on an RBI single by Aidan Papaj.

Vinny Gray, who came on in relief in the fifth inning, then put a lock on the win by retiring the Lakemen in order in the bottom of the seventh on a strikeout and two groundouts.

Medina jumped out to a 2-0 lead at the outset by scoring once in the first as Aidan Paul stole home and once in the second on an RBI double by Julian Woodworth.

Wilson rallied to knot the contest at 2-2 by scoring once in the second on a double by Ryan Hough and once in the third on a single by Matt Stoltzenberg.

The Mustangs went back up 3-2 in the third on a groundout and then opened up a 7-2 lead by tallying four times in the top of the fifth. Ryleigh Culver had a two-run single and Aiden Pitts and Brody Fry RBI singles to highlight that uprising.

However, the Lakemen again battled back to knot the contest at 7-7 by scoring three times in the fifth on an RBI single by Hough and two bases loaded walks and then twice in the sixth on an error.

Wilson left two runners aboard as Gray registered a clutch strikeout to get out of further trouble.

That set the stage for the Mustangs winning run in the seventh as Pitts reached on an error, stole second, advanced to third on a wild pitch and came home on Papaj’s single. Papaj and Culver both had 2 hits on the day.

Medina next hosts Wilson at 4:45 p.m. Friday. The Mustangs then host Akron at 5 p.m. Saturday.