Baseball player of the week: Trey Swartz, Fredonia Hillbillies

Wednesday featured classic a pitchers’ duel in every sense of the phrase. In the league opener for both Fredonia and Silver Creek, Hillbillies senior Trey Swartz and Black Knights junior Spencer Harford matched zeroes on the scoreboard through five innings of play. As masterful as Harford was for the Black Knights, he came off the mound after five innings with a pitch count hovering around 90 pitches, leaving it up to the Silver Creek bullpen to deal with the reigning league champions. Needless to say, that didn’t go according to plan for Silver Creek, as Fredonia put up eight runs in the final two innings for the 8-0 win.

Swartz proved to be slightly more efficient than Harford was on Wednesday, pitching 5 2/3 shutout innings with nine strikeouts and only two hits allowed to earn the first league win of the year for the Hillbillies. His performance on the mound was the key to Fredonia’s first win of the season.

Softball player of the week: Ashley Gotowka, Dunkirk

OBSERVER Photo by Ron Szot Dunkirk Lady Marauders starting pitcher Ashley Gotowka winds up to throw a pitch against Southwestern, Wednesday, at Dunkirk High School.

Lady Marauders

Just as the Fredonia Hillbillies ace did on Wednesday, Dunkirk’s Ashley Gotowka was not going to be outdone on Wednesday in her team’s league opener, as well. The Dunkirk sophomore starting pitcher stepped into the circle at Dunkirk High School on Wednesday ready to make a statement, and when it was all said and done, Dunkirk came away with a dominant 11-0 win over division foe Southwestern. Gotowka pitched all seven innings for Dunkirk, tallying 14 strikeouts, while allowing only two hits and two walks.

“Ashley (Gotowka) has worked extremely hard this offseason and I think it shows,” said Dunkirk head coach Michelle Gilmour after the game. “She pitched fantastic … I couldn’t have asked for a better game from her.”

As if her dominant performance in the circle wasn’t enough, Gotowka also drove in four runs on the day — talk about a season debut. Dunkirk came into the season hungry to prove that last year was not a fluke and that the Lady Marauders belong in the conversation with teams like Chautauqua Lake and Fredonia for a league title, and with a performance like the Lady Marauders had on Wednesday — led by Gotowka — Dunkirk certainly seemed like it can compete with just about anybody.

Team of the week: Gowanda Lady Panthers softball team

OBSERVER Photo by Braden Carmen Fredonia Hillbillies starting pitcher Trey Swartz follows through after a pitch during Wednesday’s league opening game against Silver Creek.

Through the first week of April, many teams may only have a game or two under their belts. Just the mere fact that Gowanda has managed to play four games already may be seen as a win in some coaches eyes — but the Lady Panthers have done more than just play. Gowanda has won all four non-league contests of the season so far, including an extra inning contest against North Collins on Tuesday and a 13-10 slugfest with Springville on Thursday. Just as impressive, however, is the way Gowanda has won its games.

In four contests this season, Gowanda has tallied a total of 51 runs, reaching double digits in every game on the year. Gowanda has also had a flair for the dramatic, walking off against Brocton 14-13 on March 28 in addition to winning in extra innings against North Collins. Gowanda has been led at the plate by Zoey Kota, who in her most recent game went 4-for-4 at the plate with a pair of RBI.

“She’s been swinging a very hot bat lately,” said Gowanda head coach Tyler Thompson of Kota, after Thursday’s win. “We’re in a groove right now, seeing the ball well.”

Gowanda looks to keep the impressive stretch going on Monday, when the Lady Panthers travel to North Collins for a rematch of Tuesday’s thrilling contest.

Quote of the week:

“We came in and we were playing decent ball,” said Silver Creek head coach Mike Janisch after Wednesday’s loss to Fredonia. “Then, obviously, things didn’t happen the way we wanted them to. That’s the way high school baseball is. The next time out, it may be totally different.”

Twitter: @bradencarmen