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Westfield erupts for 12 runs late to beat Falconer

By Matt Spielman 5 min read

FALCONER -- Westfield’s softball team has one of the deepest lineups around, so even when a game is scoreless through four innings, there is no panic in the Wolverines.

Especially when Haleigh Dellow is the leadoff hitter.

The George Mason commit broke open a close game with a three-run home run in the fifth inning and added a two-run double in the sixth inning as Westfield beat Falconer 12-1 in nonleague softball Saturday at Ernie Strickland Field.

“(Friday) they were pitching around her and she was chasing. … Today she was more patient and getting into hitting counts,” Westfield head coach Shawn Gnadzinski said of Dellow. “(The home run) just got out and it was just fair. We needed it because we were struggling.”

The Golden Falcons’ Hannah Melquist hung with Dellow out for out in the circle until the top of the fifth inning. No. 7 hitter Sydney Hotchkiss led off the Wolverines’ fifth inning with a double and went to third on Keara Kincaid’s sacrifice bunt. Drew Ernewein then bunted and Falconer allowed her to reach while keeping Hotchkiss at third.

“What I love about this team is that we have hitters all the way through. A lot of teams, you get through Nos. 1-4 it kind of drops off. I don’t feel that way about this team,” Gnadzinski said. “I feel like these girls can all hit and can all bunt. I’m just really proud of them.”

Dellow then broke the scoreless tie when she powered a ball over the fence down the left-field line, just inside the foul pole.

“I was worried it was going to go foul,” Dellow said. “It was an inside pitch, but I kept my focus on contacting the ball, not on hitting it over.”

Westfield put the game out of reach with a seven-run sixth inning during which 11 Wolverines came to the plate. With one out, Madyson Burgess was hit by a pitch and Brynn Ernewein followed with a ground-rule double that hopped over the fence in left-center field. Hotchkiss then reached on another bunt for a fielder’s choice and Kincaid hit a two-run double to make it 5-0.

“The pitch was throwing outside so we ended up crowding the plate and really went to work,” Gnadzinski said. “I’m proud of them that they came up with that, it was all on their own. They made the adjustment and we took off from there.”

After a lineout, Dellow hit her two-run double and Eva Gnadzinski hit an RBI single. Tanleigh Bestine then singled and after a stolen base, Mackenzie Schumaker drove in two more runs with a double to make it 10-0.

“I wish we would’ve kept the ball down a little bit more,” Falconer head coach Kayleigh Sieber said. “A couple of times I would’ve liked those curveballs to stay a little bit lower in the zone inducing some groundball outs, especially when they had some runners in scoring position.”

The Golden Falcons spoiled Dellow’s shutout bid in the bottom of the sixth inning. Angelina Fiasco walked with one out, went to second on a wild pitch and scored on pinch-hitter Emily Rhinehart’s RBI single through the infield.

Dellow continued to add to her sterling resume with a complete-game two-hitter. She hit two batters and walked one while striking out 15.

“Her curveball today looked beautiful. It had good movement and down action,” Gnadzinski said. “They struggled with it a lot and we called it a lot. She’s on right now. She’s locked in.”

Westfield closed the scoring in the top of the seventh inning when Brynn Ernewein reached on an error and Hotchkiss doubled before Drew Ernewein’s one-out, two-run single.

“We were hitting the ball, but just weren’t getting on base,” Dellow said. “I knew eventually we were going to break through.”

Melquist cruised through the first four innings, holding the Wolverines to just one hit while inducing 10 fly-ball outs and striking out two.

“This pitcher was tough. She had good movement. She kept our girls off balance and got them chasing things,” Gnadzinski said. “With the hitters we have in the lineup, I do feel like at some moment we are going to explode.”

Over the final three innings, Westfield pounded out 10 hits.

“It’s tough when you get all the way through when they’ve seen you a couple of times,” Sieber said, ” … to keep a good hitting team like this on their heels.”

Falconer, the defending Section VI Class C champion that is playing in Class B2 this spring, will return to action Monday at home against Fredonia.

“It was tough for us because we played Allegany-Limestone (Friday), which is a little bit different pitching style,” Sieber said. “You go from somebody who has a lot of movement and a little bit slower speeds to somebody who throws a little more gas and can turn it up with a good riseball and a good curveball.”

The Wolverines will visit Cassadaga Valley on Monday before the first of two Chautauqua-CAttaraugus Athletic Association Division 2 West showdowns with Chautauqua Lake on Tuesday in Mayville.

NOTES: Saturday’s game, promoted as “Light It Up Blue” for Autism Awareness, raised $1,337 for children on the autism spectrum and their siblings to have a one-of-a-kind camp experience at the Kids and Sibs Day Camp at Camp Onyahsa this summer. The camp is organized by Prevention Works to make summer recreation opportunities more available to kids on the spectrum and their families.

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