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Hawkins, Walters are Athletes of the Week

OBSERVER File Photo Derrick Walters of Fredonia pitches during a game earlier this season. On the strength a no-hitter he pitched Tuesday against Silver Creek, Walters is the OBSERVER Male Athlete of the Week.

baseball, softball, golf, tennis, lacrosse and track were all on the agenda. There was lots of it, too, as teams not only rushed to get in games ahead of playoffs and final exams, but squeezed in more contests that were rescheduled due to the bad weather this spring.

Male Athlete of the Week

Derrick Walters, Fredonia

Walters threw a no-hitter for the Hillbillies in an 11-0 win over Silver Creek on Tuesday. He had eight strikeouts in the five-inning win. He admitted the no-hitter was on his mind as the game progressed. “I tried to pretend like I didn’t know, but in the back of my mind I knew,” he said.

Female Athlete of the Week

Cameryn Hawkins, Chautauqua Lake

Hawkins made her last regular-season at-bat for the Lady Thunderbirds a memorable one. With the CCAA West 1 title on the line against Fredonia on Friday and her team down a run in the seventh inning, Hawkins smacked a two-run home run to deep center field. The runs gave Chautauqua Lake a 7-6 victory and the division championship.

“All that was going through my mind was that base hits win games,” Hawkins said. “It was amazing … it was something I will never forget.”

Teams of the Week

Brocton High School baseball

and Cassadaga Valley softball

While Fredonia’s baseball team finished up a perfect league season last week, they were already honored in this space a week ago. So this Sunday, we go down Route 20 a few miles to look at another team with a flawless league record (9-0 in CCAA West 2): the Brocton Bulldogs.

Led by hard-throwing and big-hitting Ronald “Bubba” Brown, and other veteran players such as Hunter Rizzo and Charlie Rexford, the Bulldogs have ended Westfield’s longtime dominance of CCAA West 2 baseball. Brocton clinched a division title Friday with a defeat of Sherman and stands at 11-0 overall going into a non-league game with Silver Creek on Monday.

What’s that we hear down Route 60? “Hey, we’ve got an undefeated team too!” Well, it’s time to take a bow, Lady Cougars. With Brittyn LeBaron mowing down opponents from the pitchers’ circle, Cassadaga Valley’s team is 13-0 as it tries to make longtime coach Ken Balling’s final season a truly special one.

Quote of the Week

“I saw a couple curveballs and once it got to 3-1, I knew he was probably going to come with a fastball. It was low and in, so I just tried to get the barrel there and it carried. I did not think it was out off the bat. I was running hard to second and then I saw it went over. … It’s a great feeling. I always wanted to hit a varsity home run and this was my first one.” — Seth Schrader of Fredonia, on the blast he hit during Fredonia’s 11-0 win in Silver Creek on Tuesday.

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