The Springville-GI varsity baseball team is rebounding from a rough start

Attempting to dig itself out of a hole caused by a five-game losing streak early in the season, the boys varsity baseball team from Springville-Griffith Institute set its sights on a three-game winning streak when it hosted East Aurora on Monday, April 16. This game was a low-scoring battle that saw the home team lose an early run in the second inning, a tally that gave East Aurora the lead into the bottom of the seventh.

Will Lawton, Springville’s pitcher, drove in the tying run, represented by Sam Misiti, who had doubled earlier. With the score tied after seven, it was time for extra innings for the third time this year for Springville. Going into this contest, the Griffins were 2-0 in extra frames.

However, along with giving up their two-game winning streak, the Griffins also lost the edge in this game. East Aurora scored in the top of the eighth and Springville was unable to counter in the bottom of the frame. The Griffins lost 2-1 and fell to 3-6 on the season.

Along with his RBI, Lawton had a single and a double in his pitching loss, his first decision this season.

The boys traveled to Eden High School the next day for a scrimmage against Eden, which they won 8-2, pushing their overall record to 4-6. Sporting a 0-3 record in league play, Springville was hosted by league rival Cheektowaga on Wednesday, April 18.

Unlike the game versus East Aurora, the match between Springville and Cheektowaga was a high-scoring affair. Springville led off with 2 runs in the top of the first and held a 6-2 advantage after four, scoring at least once in each inning up to that point, while shutting out the opposition in the third and fourth.

During the fifth inning, the boys from S-GI sent in 2 runs to boost their lead to 11-2 before it was time for Cheektowaga to bat again.

Springville failed to score in the remaining two innings, while Cheektowaga notched 2 in the fifth and 1 in both the sixth and seventh. Its four unanswered runs, however, were not enough to draw the team even with Springville, which won for the fourth time in five outings, this time by a score of 11-6.

This game represented Springville’s highest offensive output of the season and pulled the team’s overall record to 5-6, which had been 1-5 after six games. This match was also Springville’s first league win, improving the boys’ record to 1-3.

Matt Wolcott got the win, despite losing the only other game he had decided this year and improved his record to 1-1. Lawton had 2 singles and 3 RBIs, while Jon Dygert had numbers identical to Lawton’s. Topher McCauley batted in one run on one of his two singles and Drew Scharra got on base twice, once on a double and another time on a single. He had 1 RBI, as well.

The varsity baseball team’s next outing was scheduled for Tuesday, April 24. That game was hosted by S-GI at the Concord Community Park on Buffalo Road against Maryvale. After that, the boys will play at the town park again on Monday, April 30 against Amherst at 5 p.m.