Hornets survive Canton rally in 16-9 win
By: Ed Weaver | NTL Sports | April 5, 2019 | Photo courtesy Sarah Wagaman
The Wellsboro Varsity Baseball team survived a 6-run 3rd inning by the Canton Warriors to claim a 16-9 win on Thursday, April 4.
After trailing 2-0 early the Hornets put together a 4-run 2nd inning to give them the lead. Junior Lucas Citrino started off the inning with a walk and a run. Sophomore Zach Rowland singled and scored, senior Taynton Repard drew a walk and scored, and sophomore Kaeden Mann drew a walk and scored.
Wellsboro added 5 more runs in the top of the third. Rowland, Repard, junior Silas Wagaman, Mann, and senior Cam Tennis all scored to put Wellsboro comfortably ahead 9-2, or so they thought as they Warriors exploded for 6 runs in bottom half of the inning to close the gap to a run, 9-8. Luckily for Wellsboro, their bats stayed hot the rest of the game.
The Hornets went on to add 4 more runs in the top of the 4th to give them some cushion on the Warriors. Citrino, Rowland, Repard, and Wagaman all scored in the inning to put Wellsboro up 13-8. Canton got one run back in the bottom half of the inning to cut the lead to 13-9, but the Hornets added their final 3 runs in the 6th to lock up their second straight win to start the 2019 season.
Rowland finished the night a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate with 3 runs scored and 3 RBIs. Mann also finished 3-for-3 at the plate with 2 doubles and a run scored. Junior Billy Lechler was 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs, Wagaman was 2-for-5 with 2 runs scored, and Tennis, Citrino, Repard, and sophomore Brock Hamblin added in the remaining hits with Repard hitting a double.
Junior Carson Davis picked up his second win of the season from the mound, giving up 4 hits and 6 runs (3 earned) in two innings of work. Freshman Tyler Fletcher pitched 4 innings, allowing 3 runs (1 earned) on 4 hits to go along with 6 strikeouts.
The win improves the Hornets' record to 2-0 (2-0 NTL Large School Division). The team will be back in action on Tuesday, April 9 when they travel to Troy.
Ed Weaver is the owner of Circle W Sports in Wellsboro, PA, is the Sports Director for The Home Page Network and the creator of WellsboroAthletics.com and WellsboroFootball.com. You can follow him on Twitter or friend him on Facebook.
