Brocton Bulldogs end West Valley varsity boys baseball’s undefeated streak

After starting the season 8-0, the West Valley varsity Wildcats’ undefeated streak came to an end as the Brocton Bulldogs defeated WVCS 21-9 on Friday, April 20.

The Wildcats had previously played against Brocton in the championship last year, but lost to the opposing team then, as well. “We wanted to make a good showing,” said Coach Bryan Hansen after the match, as he described the importance of the game to his team. “But it’s tough to win any game when you walk 14 players and have eight errors,” he noted.

The Wildcats began the game down 7-0 two innings into the match. Although West Valley added 3 points in the third inning and an additional three runs in the fourth to narrow the Bobcats’ lead to 13-6, the Wildcats were unable to make a comeback, as Brocton continued to compile runs in the later innings.

During the game, Cole Stanbro led the team with 2 RBIs and was followed by Dylan Westfall and Garrett Bailey, who each had 1 RBI. In addition, Stanbro and Westfall each had a triple and Bailey had a double.

Westfall and Stanbro also led the team with 2 runs each. They were followed by Marcus Enser, Bailey, Austin Kopp, Collin Proctor and Shawn Durrandetto, who each had 1 run.

Westfall also pitched against 22 batters, earning 2 strikeouts and an on-base percentage of .545. Stanbro faced 19 batters to strike out two and earn an on-base percentage of .526. Proctor went up against 14 batters and finished with 2 strikeouts and an on-base percentage of .429.

Hansen said, “It’s only one loss and we have a lot of season left. We’re 8-1, which is impressive. It takes a lot of pressure off trying to have an undefeated season.”

The Wildcats defeated the Ripley Eagles on Monday, April 16 by a score of 12-11. The match “put a little scare into us,” said Hansen, noting that the team failed to “finish strong” by the end of the game.

The Wildcats started the game up 3-1 in the second and were ahead 10-3 in the fourth. By the sixth inning, West Valley had a 12-6 lead.

In spite of this lead, the Eagles came within 1 point of making a comeback, as they added 5 points in the top of the seventh inning. However, the team fell short by 1 point to allow the Wildcats to secure their seventh straight victory.

Westfall and Bailey each had 3 RBIs in the game and Stanbro had 2. Westfall and Bailey also led the team with 3 runs and were followed by Stanbro and Kopp, who had 2. Durrandetto and Enser each had 1 run in the match.

Westfall pitched throughout the game, facing a total of 28 batters – eight of whom he struck out, earning an on-base percentage of .250.

After having nearly lost the game against Ripley in the last inning, the Wildcats came back to play with determination in their match against Panama on April 19, which they won by 13-3.

The Wildcats started the game up 3-0 in the third and added to their lead as they went ahead 7-1 in the fifth inning and up 12-2 in the sixth to close the game 13-3 in the seventh.



Overall, Enser and Durrandetto were the team’s leaders in this match, as each finished with 2 RBIs. Westfall, Bailey, Stanbro and Mike Grigsby also each had an RBI in the game; Bailey, who led the team with 3 runs, was followed by Westfall and Stanbro, who each had 2 runs. Steven Durrandetto, Grigsby, Kopp, Shawn Durrandetto, Derek Wells and Brandon Rockwood each had a run in the game.

Bailey finished the evening facing 30 batters. He struck out 13 hitters and had an on-base percentage of .267.

The Wildcats had two away matches scheduled on April 23 and April 24 against Sherman and Forestville.

The next game for the team will be on Saturday, April 28 at 10 a.m. against the Clymer Pirates at Jamestown Community College.