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Thunderbirds beat Bulldogs in extras

Kyler Majka throws one-hitter to lead Chautauqua Lake to 2-1 win over Brocton

OBSERVER File Photo by Ron Szot Chautauqua Lake Thunderbirds starting pitcher Kyler Majka delivers a pitch during a baseball game earlier this season. Majka was on the mound for the Thunderbirds on Tuesday and he threw all eight innings in a complete game, extra inning win over the Brocton Bulldogs, 2-1, in Mayville.

MAYVILLE — Two of the top pitchers in Chautauqua County faced off on Tuesday at Chautauqua Lake High School in a non-league baseball game.

When it was all said and done, only one — Kyler Majka — was left standing as the winner.

Majka silenced the defending Section VI Class D champion Brocton Bulldogs on Tuesday, only allowing one hit over eight innings to give the Chautauqua Lake Thunderbirds a 2-1 victory over Brocton in eight innings of play.

“This was the definition of a pitchers’ duel — two of the best pitchers in Western New York going toe to toe,” said Chautauqua Lake head coach Bryan Bongiovanni. “Kyler (Majka) was fantastic. He worked efficiently and got ahead in the count. It was nice to see him get a win because he’s pitched lights out on several occasions and had no wins to show for it.”

Tuesday certainly wasn’t easy for Majka, either, though his statistics suggest it was. After three shutout innings from each side, Brocton (2-2) took a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth inning. Jordan Krystofiak led off the inning with a single, then Riley Rivera walked and Caleb Chelton hit a ground ball on the infield. An errant throw to first base on the back end of the double play attempt allowed the first run of the game to score.

There weren’t many mishaps defensively for Chautauqua Lake (2-3) on Tuesday, which follows a trend of late. The Thunderbirds have been much improved defensively, according to Bongiovanni.

“The past three games we’ve played much better defensively. We are executing the routine plays much better. We have had an opportunity to win each game this year. If we continue to do the small things properly, we can start stringing some wins together,” said Bongiovanni.

As dominant as Majka was on the mound, Brocton’s ace Bubba Brown matched him pitch for pitch through his time on the mound. Like Majka, Brown only allowed one hit on the day. In addition, both pitchers had double digit strikeouts — Majka with 11, Brown with 10.

The pitchers were even, and in the bottom of the sixth inning, the Thunderbirds made sure the score was, too. Tate Olson led off the bottom of the sixth inning by reaching base on an error. He advanced to second base on a fielder’s choice. Then, with two outs, Nate Engdahl came up with an RBI double to score Olson and even the score at one run apiece. Brown was forced to depart before finishing the inning, because of his pitch count.

The game advanced to extra innings, though Brown was no longer opposing Majka on the mound. The Thunderbirds were patient enough to see Brown leave the hill, and their patience paid off in the end. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Majka came to the plate to face Nick Putcher with two outs. He eventually walked after an eight pitch at-bat. Cody Triana followed by getting hit by a pitch, then Engdahl walked to load the bases. Finally, the third two-out walk of the inning, to Luke Waters, forced home Majka to score the winning run. After losing twice in walk-off fashion earlier in the year, Chautauqua Lake finally was able to celebrate on the other side of the drama.

“It feels really nice to get a win. Early this year we lost two hard-fought league games in walk-off fashion. Having gone through that and all the hard work the boys have put in it was nice to be on celebratory side of a walk-off,” said Bongiovanni.

Majka earned the win after throwing all eight innings, allowing one run, striking out 11 and allowing only the fourth inning single to Krystofiak as a hit against him. Brown did not factor into the decision, after allowing one unearned run on one hit, over 6 1/3 innings pitched with 10 strikeouts. Putcher took the loss after throwing one inning in relief, with three walks, a hit by pitch and two strikeouts.

“This was a nice team win. Kyler was dominant, but everyone chipped in. Nate Engdahl threw out a couple of runners and had a huge two-out double. Our infield and outfield made some nice plays to keep us in it until we finally broke through,” said Bongiovanni.

Chautauqua Lake is off for the rest of Spring Break, while Brocton will host Dunkirk at 11 a.m. on Thursday, weather permitting.

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