WELLSVILLE — It had everything that one could have hoped for in a first-of-its-kind all-star game.
It was a one-run contest that was close and competitive throughout. It was a game that was decided in the ninth and final frame. It featured top-notch pitching, a home run and a spectacular defensive play in the later stages.
For Matt Burke, the Wellsville coach who established this all-star contest in 2020 and had waited over two years for it to come to fruition, and the spirited audience that flocked to the Lions’ home field, on a picture-perfect 70-plus degree evening, this was almost certainly perfection.
And the players, representing three counties (Cattaraugus, Allegany and Steuben), did their part to make it so … particularly those from the hometown Olean Huskies.
JoJo Gibbons and Kiley Anastasia were named the Offensive and Defensive MVPs, Makenna Pancio, her coach said, could have been named an “Overall MVP” and the trio lifted Team Stock to a 7-6 triumph over Team Shea in the first Exceptional Senior Softball Game on Wednesday night.
GIBBONS smacked an RBI triple to help stake Team Stock to a 2-0 first-inning lead. Anastasia tossed the first five innings, racking up 11 strikeouts while allowing three runs (2 earned) on five hits. But the game-changing play might have come from Pancio.
After having just tied it at 6 in the bottom of the eighth — and still with one out and the bases loaded — Team Shea hit a long fly ball. But Pancio, the centerfielder, made the catch and fired home, getting the force at the plate in plenty of time and the inning-ending double play.
“That was a big, big play,” acknowledged coach Justin Stock, of Hammondsport, for whom his team was named.
Team Stock tallied the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth on a wild sequence in which Meghan O’Keefe (Cuba-Rushford) reached on an error, got to second on a wild pitch, to third on an infield-fly that rolled away after no one made a play on it and scored on a sacrifice fly by Salamanca’s Emma Brown. It then held on in the bottom half when Saige Friedl (Fillmore), who threw the final three innings, retired Team Shea 1-2-3, coaxing an easy pop-up and a fly ball to end it.
STOCK highlighted his group’s fast start and strong pitching — TS had three 1-2-3 innings and a fourth with just four batters — as the difference in a clean, nine-inning contest that was wrapped up in just over two hours. His team led 3-0 through two, found itself tied at 3 in the fifth, but responded with a three-run sixth to re-take control and set the stage for the game’s final third.
More noteworthy than that, though, he said, was the high level of play among some of the area’s top players … and the fun they had.
“It was a good experience for the kids,” he said. “When you have some good pitching and fielding, the innings went by pretty quickly. Even if a ball got put in play, three in a row, people were making the plays, so that was nice to have a good core of athletes.”
Team Shea coach Kelsey Shea, of Allegany-Limestone, echoed that sentiment, saying: “Overall, it was a great experience. It was a fun game. You just got to watch the best of the best play; that’s what was exciting. It was good to see different schools from all over the place that we normally don’t get to see.”
KAYLEE Marek (Cattaraugus-Little Valley) went 2-for-3 with three RBI to earn Offensive MVP honors for Team Shea. Bolivar-Richburg’s Jessica Majot, who tossed two innings, was named Defensive MVP for her strong pitching and defensive play. Wellsville’s Marley Adams also had one of the highlights, crushing a third-inning solo home run to make it 3-1.
Stock was initially set to coach two of his own players, but just before game-time, they switched over to Team Shea to help balance out the teams and give the latter an extra catching option. But that, coaching against your own players after having them all year, was the kind of dynamic that made this game fun.
“And the whole way, (we said), whoever loses, fine, dinner tonight (either way),” Stock said with a laugh. “I think the kids got along pretty well, it was nice to see. We had some kids in our league that we see a lot, some kids from schools they’d never even heard of, so it was neat to see outside the box a little bit.”
Pancio singled, stole a base and scored in the second and Catrice Taft (Campbell-Savona) and Zoey Lee (Andover/Whitesville) both singled for Team Stock. Majot and Kourtney Magara (Allegany-Limestone) each added two hits for Team Shea.
Team Shea plated runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth to tie it at 6 and ensure that this was as entertaining as everyone involved hoped it would be. But just when it appeared that it might take the lead or perhaps even break the game open, Pancio ended the threat.
“Pancio making the big play was huge,” Stock reiterated. “She kind of got robbed tonight; she hit the ball hard all three times. She hit two deep to the fence in left field and got nothing for it, and then the big throw. She really had a good game.”
But the bigger takeaway on Wednesday night?
“It was the perfect night for softball,” Shea said. “All around.”
