HAMBURG — In a sectional title game, the margins prove to be the difference many times. It separates a team’s season continuing from a team’s season ending.
The difference between Olean and Lewiston-Porter was one team’s ability to get a bunt down and the other’s inability to do so. It’s what cost Lewiston-Porter in a 7-6 loss to Olean on Thursday in the Section VI Class A2 title game at Frontier High School.
In the top of the seventh, Lewiston-Porter’s lead-off hitter Jayden Luchese hit a hustle double when a bloop dropped in between the first basemen, second basemen and right fielder. The next three Lancers hitters all struck out and failed to move Luchese past second base.
“Top of the seventh, I just knew we needed to score, get on top and put pressure on them,” Lewiston-Porter head coach Tom Penale said. “We had a runner on them and … we just didn’t execute the small details that we needed to, to move runners around.”
In the bottom of the seventh, the Huskies ‘ lead-off hitter, Landon Johnson, hit a single and was bunted over to second and eventually came around to score the winning run.
The game did not end without a bit of controversy, though, as Johnson scored on a ball that Lewiston-Porter thought was foul, but the umpires disagreed and the game ended on an RBI fielder’s choice. As the Olean celebrations were happening on the infield turf, Penale vociferously voiced his frustrations with the first base umpire.
“I thought it was a foul ball,” Penale said. “I thought our first baseman dove into the box area. I thought it was an easy foul ball and I thought the umpire was missing calls in the bottom of the seventh on the strike zone and that call there at the end.”
One of the biggest turning points of the game actually came in the first inning when Lewiston-Porter loaded the bases and were unable to score. But it was a delayed turning point as the Lancers took a 3-1 lead in the top of the second.
After the teams traded runs back and forth through the first four innings, the game went into the sixth inning with the Lancers up 6-4. That is when the game flipped though, after a lead-off walk brought up Olean’s Chase DeGolier, who hit a long home run down the left field line to knot the game up at six.
Despite giving up the game-tying home run, Penale left junior hurler Wyatt Calandrelli in for the seventh inning. In 3 1/3 innings of work, Calandrelli gave up three runs on three hits while walking five and striking out three hitters.
“His velo was good,” Penale said. “His off-speeds were really moving a lot. We really didn’t think about taking him out, no.”
In the postgame huddle, many of the Lancers were downtrodden after the loss but many of them are also returning next year to try to get over the hump in what would be their third consecutive Section VI title game appearance. In total, Lewiston-Porter is returning 13 players from this year’s team.
“We were here the year before and lost a similar game, 2-1,” Penale said. “So both games were close and I know they’ll be motivated. So I’m not worried about that.”