Gowanda Small Town Times

On May 25, the #1 seed Gowanda Varsity baseball team hosted #4 CSP for a Section 6 Class C Semi-Final game. The game got off to a turbulent start. After holding CSP off the scoreboard in the top of the 1st inning, Gowanda ran up a total of seven runs in the bottom of the inning. It was an inning that saw six Gowanda batters walked and two runs walked in. Gowanda’s leadoff batter, Blake Herman, was initially walked and later scored on a passed ball. John Ondus was put on 1st base after being grazed with an inside pitch. Alex Pachucinski had a pair of singles in the inning, the first led to him scoring himself and the second scored Madden Lay and Brayden Smith. Things reversed in the next inning with CSP pulling together four singles and two triples for five unanswered runs of their own. Things settled down past that point past that point and Gowanda’s 7-5 advantage held into the 4th inning. Despite getting several runners on base past that point, CSP only locked down a single 5th inning run the rest of the way. Gowanda added to their lead with a pair of runs in the 4th inning and three more in the 5th for a 12-6 final score.

Leading the way for Gowanda were John Ondus (3 runs, 1 RBI, 1 double), Blake Herman (2 runs, 1 RBI) and Cole Herman (2 runs). Also figuring prominently were Madden Lay (1 run, 3 RBIs), Alex Pachucinski (1 run, 2 RBIs) and Logan Ruff (1 run, 2 RBIs). Additional single runs were scored by Tyler Smith and Brayden Smith). Pitching duties were shared by Alex Pachucinski ( [3 innings] 5 hits, 1 walk, 3 strikeouts) and Carter Capozzi ( [4 innings] 4 hits, 4 strikeouts).

May 25 also found the #3 Gowanda Varsity girls lacrosse team in the Class D Semi-Final game at #2 Eden. The game was the reverse of the last meeting of the two teams where Gowanda played Eden to a halftime tie before falling apart in the 2nd half. In this game, Eden built a 7-0 shutout going to the halftime break with the 2nd half being a 3-3 tie. That still gave Eden a 10-3 win. Ke’ya Stevens scored two of the Gowanda goals. The other was scored by Cadence Luther. Gowanda goalie, Kiernan Quinn made 10 saves on 20 shots faced.

Gowanda has had an exceptional post-season so far. Now three days into the first full week of Sectionals playoff games, no Gowanda team has lost a game. Baseball, Softball and the boys and girls lacrosse teams have all posted wins.

The Gowanda Varsity softball team has been particularly motivated this season. After losing two close games to Silver Creek and one to Randolph that cost them a 1st Place finish in their division, the coach commented that they should have won all of their league games and would have, if not for critical errors. The team entered the playoff eager to prove that they were as good as anyone. Gowanda also had some extra incentive in the game as the championship round games were already scheduled to be played at Gowanda’s Lady Panther Park and they were determined to make it into that game.

Having taken down #2 Randolph in the Pre-Quarter round, #7 seeded Gowanda set its sights on a #6 Silver Creek team that had just rolled over #2 Wilson 22-2. The game started out very tight with no score through two innings. In the 3rd inning Silver Creek got on the board first with a single run. That 1-0 lead didn’t last long as Gowanda ran up
three runs in the next inning. Gowanda’s 3-1 lead held up into the 5th inning where they added a pair of runs to their total. Silver Creek countered those two runs in the 6th, but that is where they were stopped. Gowanda came away with a 5-3 win. Leading the Gowanda offense were Addison Kota (2 runs, 1 double) and Ella Luther (1 run, 2 RBIs).
Holland Browning and Corrina John each also scored single runs in the game. Additional support came from Kailyn Farner (2 RBIs) and Jada Geiger (1 RBI). Kota also pitched a 3-hitter for Gowanda with 5 walks and 4 strikeouts.

The Gowanda Varsity boys lacrosse was also in action in the 24th. Seeded 5th, they had a Quarter-Final game at #4 Medina. Gowanda came out strong building a 10-6 lead in the first half. That momentum carried into the second half with Gowanda adding 6 to their score against 3 for Medina. The 16-9 win sends them into a Semi-Final game against the #1 seed, East Aurora. Winter Rivera led Gowanda scorers with five goals and two assists. Adding three goals each were Ha’tsihgahdo:d Stevens, Nakotah Jackson and Cashis Montour. Rounding out the Gowanda scoring were Ethan Steep rock (1 goal, 2 assists) and Jessup Stevens (1 goal). In goal Faolan Quinn made 10 saves on 19 shots.

Despite a 0-14 regular season record, the Gowanda Varsity girls lacrosse team entered the Sectional playoffs as the #3 seed. On May 23 they hosted #6 Newfane at Gowanda’s Hillis Field. Gowanda got off to a fast start taking the opening draw down the field and scoring just 10 seconds into the game. Twenty-nine seconds later a missed pass to a player in front of the net continued on into the net. Two and a half minutes into the game, Gowanda had a 4-0 lead that grew to 6-0 with ten minutes left in the half. A 5-goal spurt by Newfane tightened things to 6-5 with 1:51 showing on the clock. Gowanda’s Ke’ya Stevens scored on a free shot with 57 seconds left in the half giving Gowanda a 7-5 advantage.

Gowanda got another fast start in the second half. Cadence Luther scored for Gowanda 1:09 into the final half. Newfane had only one player on their bench and running with Gowanda without being able rest players started to show as the game wore on. Newfane wasn’t able to get a shot on the Gowanda goal for the first ten minutes of the period. By that time the Gowanda lead had grown to 13-5. Newfane managed two 2nd half goals, both on free shots. Luther scored Gowanda’s final goal with 25 seconds left leaving the final score at 19-7.

Ke’ya Stevens led the Gowanda season-high 7 goals. Aurora Stevens contributed 5 goals and Karice John had 3 goals and an assist. 8th grader, Cadence Luther collected 8 points in the game with 3 goals and 5 assists.

While the girls lacrosse team was beating Newfane, the Gowanda Varsity baseball team was shutting out Chautauqua Lake at home in a Quarter-Final Sectional game. Cole Herman tossed a 3-hitter with 8 strikeouts in the effort. The Gowanda offense started out slow with a single run in the 1st inning and three more in the 2nd. That was followed by a pair of scoreless innings. Going into the 5th inning at 4-0, Gowanda went on a 6-run surge taking their total to 10-0 for the win. Logan Ruff and Carter Capizzi each had a pair of runs and 2 RBIs for Gowanda. Blake Herman also scored twice for Gowanda. Alex Pachucinski had 4 Gowanda RBIs in the game.

One day earlier, on May 22, the Gowanda Varsity softball team was at Randolph for a Quarter-Final Sectional game. Gowanda started out fast. A 3-run Addison Kota homer gave Gowanda a sudden 3-run lead and they never looked back. Gowanda’s lead was 5-0 after two inning. Randolph had their best inning of the game in the 3rd inning closing the score to 5-3. Gowanda picked up single runs in the 4th and 5th innings which Randolph countered with a 2-run 5th inning. The 7-5 score held into the 7th inning where Gowanda added an unanswered run to their tally. The left the final at 8-5. Noteworthy for the Gowanda offense were Gao:Wisa:S “Wassy” Stevens (2 runs, 2 RBIs), Holland Browning (2 runs) and Corina John 2 runs. Addison Kota had 4 RBIs along with the previously mentioned home run. She also pitched the entire game for Gowanda with 2 walks and 2 strikeouts in a 4-hitter.

Gowanda Scoreboard - w/e 5/21

Baseball 16-2, 12-2

Monday, May 15

Bishop Timon at Gowanda
Gowanda 12, Timon 3

Tuesday, May 16

Gowanda at Dunkirk
Gowanda 4, Dunkirk 5

Thursday, May 18

Dunkirk at Gowanda
Gowanda 7, Dunkirk 4

Friday, May 19

Hamburg at Gowanda
- Senior Night -
Gowanda 7, Hamburg 6

Softball 12-6, 8-3

Monday, May 15

Gowanda at Falconer
Gowanda 8, Falconer 7

Wednesday, May 17

Frewsburg at Gowanda
- Sectional Quarter-Final
Gowanda 15, Frewsburg 1

Boys Lacrosse 6-8, 6-4

Tuesday, May 16
Gowanda at Newfane
Gowanda 24, Newfane 0

Girls Lacrosse 0-14, 0-7

Tuesday, May 16

Gowanda at East Aurora
Gowanda 5, East Aurora 15

Thursday, May 18

Gowanda at Frontier
Gowanda 1, Frontier 20

Track

Tuesday, May 16

Portville at Gowanda
- Senior Night -

Friday/Saturday, May 19/20

CCAA Championships
In Division 2
Boys
1st Allegany-Limestone 187
6th West Valley 38
Gowanda 15
Girls
1st Allegany-Limestone 153
5th Gowanda 34
7th Cattaraugus-Little Valley 11

Trap Conference 1A-11

Week 5 score & Season total
1st Gowanda 891.00 4,605.00
2nd Hammond 685.00 4,015.50
7th Potsdam 397.00 1,874.00

1st Daniel Stang 23.80 12th in State
2nd Zayne Laskey 23.60 15th in State
6th Daniel Humphrey 21.90
7th David Dirienzo 21.80

1st Maddison Smith 22.00

As the regular season for Spring sports end, the Gowanda trap team has finished their Spring season in 1st Place in Conference. This is the team’s 7th time winning their conference. Gowanda finished strong outscoring 2nd Place Hammond 891-685 in the 5th and final week. That gave Gowanda a season total of 4.605 points compared to 4,015.5 for Hammond.

Four Gowanda shooters finished in the Top 10 in Conference 1A-11. They are Daniel Stang (1st, 23.80 point average [12th in State]), Zayne Laskey (2nd, 23.60 [15th in State]), Daniel Humphrey (6th, 21.90) and David Dirienzo (7th, 21.80). The female member of the team, Maddison Smith, finished 1st in conference with an average score of 22.00.

On Friday and Saturday, May 19 & 20, the Gowanda track teams were at Falconer for the CCAA Track and Field Championships in a field of 20 schools. The Gowanda boys placed 7th in Division 2 with a score of 15 while the girls team was 5th with a score of 34. Standing out for the boys was Mason Wilson who finished 17th overall in the 400m hurdles with a time of 1:07.77. Highlight girls were Rhianna Woods (15th 100m dash, 14.47; 11th 200m dash, 29.69 and 11th long jump, 14-04.75) and Elizabeth Malek 13th 100m hurdles, 19.54 and 12th 400m hurdles, 1:22.14).