Rams score narrow win to open B2 diamond sectionals; Mustangs, Purple Eagles bow

Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Roy-Hart’s Jake Gould turns a double play during the Rams sectional opening win over visiting Allegany/Limestone this afternoon.

Coming from behind three times, No. 6 seed Roy-Hart edged past visiting No. 11 Allegany-Limestone 6-5 this afternoon to open the Section VI Class B2 baseball playoffs.

The victory advances the Rams to a quarterfinal meeting with Niagara-Orleans League rival Akron at 5 p.m. Tuesday at Akron, Roy-Hart split a pair of regular season meetings with N-O champion Akron which is seeded No. 3.

Trailing 5-4, Roy-Hart scored the decisive two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning on an RBI single by Ethan Kuzma and a passed ball. Singles by Brayden Hy and Thomas Russo set up the threat.

The inning before the Rams rallied from a 3-1 deficit into a brief 4-3 lead on an RBI single by Rem Albee and a two-run single by Zach Walker. Again it was singles by Hy and Russo which set up the opportunity.

Setting the tone for the sea-saw battle, Roy-Hart rebounded from a 1-0 deficit by scoring once in the home half of the first on an RBI single by Kuzma.

Russo finished with 3 hits as Hy and Kuzma both had 2.

Southwestern 3, Medina 0
In another Class B2 opener, No. 9 Southwestern blanked visiting No. 8 Medina 3-0.

The Trojans scored once in the first on a passed ball and then twice in the second on an error and a double.

Contributed Photo – Aidan Paul delivers a pitch for Medina against Southwestern.

Senior Aidan Paul hurled a 3 hitter with 12 strikeouts for Medina. He finishes his career with school records for most strikeouts in a season (140) and a career (308).

The Mustangs offense was stymied by a total of 15 strikeouts.

Aidan Papaj had 2 hits for the Mustangs.

Southwestern advances to a quarterfinal meeting with top seeded Springville/West Valley on Tuesday.

In another B2 contest, No. 5 Eden defeated No. 12 Newfane 7-5.

Class B1
East Aurora 6, Albion 4

No. 7 East Aurora trimmed visiting No. 10 Albion 6-4 as the Purple Eagles left the bases loaded in the seventh inning.

Albion scored twice in the first inning on a single by Dallas Ecker and an error, once in the second on a single by Jacob Hughson and an error and once in the third on a triple by Javon Jones and a sacrifice fly by Jack Kinter.

Javon Jones and Amari Jones both had 2 hits on the day.

Section V Playoffs
Lyndonville and Kendall bow
No. 5 seed Campbell-Savona downed No. 4 Kendall 8-2 in a Section V Class C2 quarterfinal game and No. 2 Avoca/Prattsburg bested No. 10 Lyndonville 12-1 in a Class D1 contest.

Kendall was limited to only 3 hits.

Trenton Muck had 3 hits and Colton Smith 2 to account for Lyndonville’s 5 hits.