Gowanda Small Town Times

While all of the other sports teams have been in action for several weeks now, the Gowanda track teams finally saw some action.

On April 20, the Gowanda Varsity Softball team hosted Silver Creek. It was a game where Gowanda found it a lot easier to get on base than to turn that into runs. Silver Creek’s pitcher, Kaylee Hutchison, was the difference that allowed them to beat Gowanda 6-3 in a heavily defensive battle.

Silver Creek got on the board right away in the 1st inning with a pair of runs. While able to load the bases in the bottom of the inning, Gowanda came away empty. In the 2nd inning Gowanda pitcher, Addison Kota came up big retiring the first three Silver Creek batters in order. Once again Gowanda was denied any runs. After Silver Creek had upped their total to 3 in the 3rd inning, Gowanda finally caught a hot streak.

The Silver Creek run was scored by Hutchison on a wild pitch. Kota answered for Gowanda with an RBI triple that brought home Gowanda’s first run. In turn, Kota scored on an Ella Luther single. The Gowanda scoring was closed out with a Lily Bobseine RBI double that scored Luther knotting the score at 3. For the rest of the Gowanda runners would be stranded on base as they were unable to score again. Silver Creek was able to add a pair of runs in the 5th inning and one on the 7th for a 6-3 final total.

April 20 also saw the Gowanda Varsity girls lacrosse team at home. Facing West Seneca West, it was their closest game of the season, 11-15, in a losing effort. Gowanda had been down 9-7 at halftime. The brightest news for the team is that Gowanda has been getting goals from multiple players in the past few games. Against West Seneca West a total of four girls contributed to the scoring. They were Aurora Stevens (4 goals), Ke’ya Stevens (3 goals, 1 assist), Karice John (2 goals) and Cadence Luther (2 goals). Credited with single assists in the game were Cora Luther and Emma Schindler. In goal for Gowanda, Nina Coulon came up with 15 saves in the effort. That mark was a season high for Coulon.

The Gowanda track teams were at Allegany/Limestone on the 20th for their first meet of the season. The Gowanda boys took a 22-144 loss while the girls fell 28 to 112.

While gold eluded the Gowanda boys, two of them did grab double silver. They were Mason Wlson (110m hurdles & 400m hurdles) and Chase Bolen (400m & 800m). Two others came away with single 2nd Place finishes. They were Mathias Arbtier (1,600m) and Owen Farner (3,200m & Pole Vault). The Gowanda girls did slightly better. Crissa Scanlan picked up where she left off, last year with strong performances in the field events. She placed 1st in both the shot put (12-7) and discus (84-5) for the team. The Gowanda girls also had a 2nd & 3rd Place combo in the 100m with Alexa Harvey and Avery Wilson, respectively. Three other Gowanda girls with 2nd Place finishes were Elizabeth Malek (100m hurdles), Rhianna Woods (200m) and Lea Mohawk (pole vault).

The Gowanda sports week closed out on April 21 as the Gowanda Varsity baseball team hosted Eden. Gowanda continued their strong season with a 14-8 win. No other information was available at this writing.

Baseball 4-1, 3-1

Monday, April 17

Gowanda at Olean
- at St. Bonaventure -
Gowanda 22, Olean 5

Wednesday, April 19

Olean at Gowanda
Gowanda 14, Olean 4

Friday, April 21

Eden at Gowanda
Gowanda 14, Eden 8

Softball 5-3, 2-1

Wednesday, April 19

Brocton at Gowanda
Gowanda 14, Brockton 0

Thursday, April 20

Silver Creek at Gowanda
Gowanda 3, Silver Creek 6

Friday, April 21

Eden at Gowanda
- cancelled -

Boys Lacrosse 3-2, 3-1

Wednesday, April 19

Gowanda at Akron
Gowanda 5, Akron 17

Saturday, April 22

Gowanda at Palmyra
- at GCC -
- no result reported -

Girls Lacrosse 0-5, 0-2

Tuesday, April 18

Amherst at Gowanda
Gowanda 7, Amherst 12

Thursday, April 20

West Seneca West at Gowanda
Gowanda 11, West Seneca 15

Saturday, April 22

Gowanda at Williamsville North
Gowanda 7, Williamsville 19

Track

Thursday, April 20

Gowanda at Allegany/Limestone
Boys 0-1
Gowanda 22, Allegany-Limestone 144
Girls 0-1
Gowanda 28, Alegany-Limestone 112

Photo: Ella Luther (#3) beats the throw to 1st base in the 1st inning against Brocton. The Brocton player at 1st base mishandled the ball allowing Luther to go on to 2nd base.

On Wednesday, April 19, the Gowanda Varsity Softball team hosted Brocton. The team was in top form stealing 12 bases four innings. Gowanda pitcher, Lily Bobseine, threw 10 strikeouts in a shutout.

After an initial Brocton base hit to start out the 1st inning, Gowanda took out the next three batters in order. In the bottom of the inning, Gowanda’s Gao:Wisa:s “Wassy” Stevens and Addison Kota both scored putting the early score to 2-0. Bobseine recorded three straight strikeouts in the 2nd inning to put Gowanda back on offense. After the first two batters had recorded outs, Gowanda went on a major run. Lilly Bobseine was walked to start thingsout. Then, Emily Pound smashed a triple to score Bobseine. Stevens followed with a single to bring Pound home. After managing to steal both 2nd and 3rd base, Stevens scored on a Holland Browning single. The rally continued as Addison Kota, Jada Geiger and Ella Luther (pictured above) all singled. An Aubrie Heron double scored Luther taking the Gowanda lead to 9-0. After a scoreless 3rd inning, Gowanda was back at it again, adding another five runs to their total. Brocton came to bat in the 5th inning needing five runs to avoid having the game called by the 10-run rule. Only one Brocton batter of four managed to get as far as 1st base on a Gowanda err. The final tally was 14-0 without Gowanda needing to bat in the 5th inning.

Leading the Gowanda offense were Addison Kota (3 hits [including a double and a triple], 3 runs and 2 stolen bases), “Wassy” Stevens (2 hits, 2 runs, 4 RBIs and 4 stolen bases) and Holland Browning (3 hits, 2 runs, 1 RBI ans 2 stolen bases). Six other players scored single runs for Gowanda. They were Jada Geiger, Aubrie Heron, Ella Luther, Kailyn Farner, Hailey Christopher, Lily Bobseine and Emily Pound.
Christopher and Pound both had triples in the game.

The Gowanda Varsity baseball team hosted Olean to complete the home/away series. They had just drubbed Olean 22-5 two days earlier and were looking to keep that going. Just as the softball team had done just across the way, it was an easy win, 14-4. Gowanda pitcher, Alex Pachucinski, put in four innings tossing 8 strikeouts. He also had two hits and two RBIs. Also noteworthy in the Gowanda attack were John Ondus (3 hits, including a double, and 2 RBIs), Tyler Smith (2 two hits, 4 RBIs), Blake Herman (2 hits) and Cole Herman (2 RBIs).

Out of town on April 19, the Gowanda Varsity boys lacrosse team was at Akron. With a 1st half blitz, Akron built up a 14-2 lead by halftime. From there Akron coasted to a 17-5 win. No individual stats were available from the game.

On April 17, the Gowanda Varsity baseball team traveled to St. Bonaventure University to face Olean. The game was only close through one inning. Gowanda scored in each of the first five inning with a 9-run 2nd inning and a 6-run 6th inning proving to be decisive. They held Olean to only a single 2nd inning run and four runs in the 4th inning while running up a 22-5 total score. Cole Herman gathered 8 strikeouts in 4-1/3 innings pitching for Gowanda.

The Gowanda girls lacrosse team hosted Amherst on April 18. Improving with each game, this would be the team’s closest contest yet. As in previous games, Gowanda fell behind in the opening half, but, this time, only by a 3-6 margin. Gowanda played Amherst nearly even in the 2nd half scoring four times while giving up another six. That made the final 12-7 in a losing effort.

Nina Coulon was in goal for Gowanda. She made 7 saves on 19 shots. Gowanda’s offense only got 10 shots on goal in the game, but scored on 7 of them. Leading the Gowanda scoring were Aurora Stevens (2 goals, 1 assist) and Ke’ya Stevens (2 goals). Three other Gowanda players scored single goals for Gowanda including Cadence Luther (1 goal, 1 assist), Alaina Kaczmarczyk (1 goal) and Cora Luther (1 goal). As the Luther girls are in 8th grade and 7th grade, respectively, the future for girls lacrosse in Gowanda looks bright.

Photo: Gowanda’s Ke’ya Stevens scores on a free shot midway through the 2nd half of the April 14 home game against Grand Island. This was her second goal in the game.

The Gowanda Varsity girls lacrosse team saw their first home action of the season on April 14 hosting Grand Island. The game was dedicated to Morgan’s Message (https://www.morgansmessage.org/), an organization dedicated to helping athletes who have battles with mental issues. Morgan’s Message was founded in memory of Morgan Roger’s. Morgan played on the Duke University Women’s Lacrosse Team. Just prior to her Sophomore season, she suffered a major knee injury in January 2017. After battling with the injury for over a year, Morgan fell into a battle with depression. On July 11, 2019, that resulted in her taking her own life at the age of 22.

Before the Gowanda game, there was a moment of silence in Morgan’s memory. That was followed with the recognition of Alaina Kaczmarczyk and Layla Gamble, the Gowanda girls lacrosse team’s Morgan’s Message Ambassadors.

The Gowanda girls had a lot of trouble with ball control and would play 80% of the game in their own end of the field. That resulted in minimal opportunities for shots on goal. By the middle of the 1st half, they were down 6-0. With 9:57 left in the half. Gowanda finally got a shot on goal as 8th grader, Cadence Luther, scored the first goal of her Varsity career. Grand Island went on to build a 9-1 lead. With 1:10 showing on the clock, Gowanda’s Ke’ya Stevens charged in on goal. She took a stick to the head as she released a shot that found the back of the net. Unfortunately, the goal was disallowed as the play was called prior to the shot due to the penalty. Stevens was replaced for the Gowanda penalty shot, which proved to be unsuccessful.

Stevens was back in the game for the 2nd half. Grand Island padded their advantage to 12-1 before Gowanda scored again. After a missed Gowanda shot, it was Ke’ya Stevens who got a ground ball in front of the net and tossed it into the net with 16:41 left to play. A minute and a half Stevens scored again, this time on a free shot, making the score 3-12. Gowanda would not score again and the game ended in a 15-3 Grand Island win.

The Gowanda Varsity boys lacrosse team was at Depew on the 14th. They had an easy win piling up a 12-3 advantage by halftime. Gowanda cruised on to a 20-8 victory. In goal for Gowanda, Faolan Quinn had 3 saves and Alanson Stafford stopped 5 shots on goal. Leading the scoring for Gowanda were Ha’tsihgahdo:d “Bubbie” Stevens (7 goals) and Winter Rivera (6 goals and 8 assists). Also with multiple goals for Gowanda were Ethan Steep rock (3 goals and 3 assists) and Nakotah Jackson (2 goals). Three other Gowanda players scored single goals in the game. They were Cashis Montour, Nate Warrior and Seneca Mohawk.

The Gowanda Varsity baseball team was at Fredonia completing that home and away series. Gowanda came away with a 9-5 win to split the series. Pitching for Gowanda were Alex Pachucinski (3 Innings, 3 strikeouts and 6 walks) and Carter Capozzi (4 Innings, 5 strikeouts). Leading the Gowanda offense were Blake Herman (3 runs, a double, a triple and 2 RBIs), John Ondus ( 2 runs, a double and an RBI), Cole Herman (2 RBIs) and Tyler Smith (1 RBI).

Saturday, April 15, saw the Gowanda Varsity softball team host Westfield for a pair of 5-inning non-league evening games. Gowanda pulled out to an early 1-0 1st inning lead in the first game. With the exception of a 2-2 3rd inning, the rest of the game was scoreless. Gowanda pitcher threw all five innings giving up 4 hits while striking out 4. She also went 2-for-2 at bat with a home run, her second at this early point of the season. Jada Geiger and Emily Pound each had a single and an RBI for Gowanda and Aubrie Heron singled and scored a run.

Following the 3-2 win, game two followed a similar pattern, but with a different result. This time it was Westfield taking a 1st inning least, this time by a 2-0 margin. All the rest of the scoring came in a 4th inning where both teams accumulated four runs. That resulted in a 6-4 Westfield win. Lily Bobseine was on the mound for Gowanda in game 2. She gave up 7 hits while striking out 3. With singles for Gowanda were Kailyn Farner, Addison Kota, Jada Geiger, Aubrie Heron and Alhanna Gabel.