“I’m super proud of the guys,” Ellicottville head coach Chris Mendell said after the loss. “We’re a resilient group as you saw tonight, we didn’t give up, we battled right to the end. This game could have gone south early on and we dug our heels in and made a game of it.”

Fillmore came out ready to play in the first two innings as its offense cashed in with runners in scoring position and some miscues by Ellicottville allowed the game to get out of hand. Sophomore Jared Boon got things started with a double in the first inning and Isaac Wilcox drove him home then was promptly knocked in with another single by Liam McCumiskey.

“They’re very solid,” Coach Mendell said of Fillmore. “They do everything well, they throw, they run, they hit the ball, they’ve got everything going for them. We had to play a near perfect game to beat them, obviously we made some mistakes early on that cost us a bit.”

Boon and Blake Washburn were the only Fillmore players with multiple hits., Washburn finished with a pair of RBIs and Avery Potter also had two RBIs.

OBSERVER Photo by Christian Storms Ellicottville pitcher Carson Mendell delivers to the plate during the NYSPHSAA Class D Far West Subregional baseball game at Hamburg High School on Tuesday night.

Ellicottville could have easily rolled over with the big deficit, but instead the Eagles got right to work in the bottom of the second.

“That’s kind of been our M.O. all year,” Coach Mendell said. “We’ve just been a group that’s been together, we’ve got each other’s back and you saw it today, we just didn’t give in.”

Ellicottville showed more patience at the plate in the second inning and Fillmore starter Malcom Nusbickel struggled to find the zone. Despite just getting four hits and five walks in the game, Ellicottville was able to scratch across runs against a strong Fillmore squad.

“I thought we had good at-bats all game long,” Coach Mendell said. “We were putting balls in play and they made some great plays. Their shortstop made several highlight-reel plays. Sometimes you’ve just got to tip your cap to the other team.”

The Ellicottville offense scattered four singles by AJ Myers, Sawyer Miller, Blake Smith and Carson Mendell, while Myers, Mendell and Dominic Tirado drove in runs.

“It was a spark we needed for sure,” Coach Mendell said about the impact of the pitching change. “When it’s 7-0 you’ve got to make a change, you have to do something. He came in and gave us that uplift, we put some balls in play but you have got to say that’s a very good Fillmore team.”

Ellicottville stymied the Fillmore offense after the second inning when Cameron Mendell handed the ball over to Carson Mendell. He finished the final five innings allowing just two hits and two walks with two earned runs.

“Carson Mendell came in and gave us a chance,” Coach Mendell said about the pitching change. “His offspeed stuff was electric tonight, most people don’t see a knuckleball like that and he was on point with it all night. For a sophomore to come in during that situation, the future is bright for him for sure.”

Ellicottville was unable to provide enough offense to claw all the way back, but the group was able to finish a successful season with a 13-7 record and as the Section VI Class D champions.

Fillmore advances to the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class D quarterfinals against Section IV’s Schenevus Central on Saturday night at Frontier High School.