WAVERLY SLIPS PAST ITHACA, 12-1

By: Tim Birney | Waverly Athletics | June 2, 2021

ITHACA — Waverly overcame an early 4-0 deficit, then held on for a wild, 12-10, win over Ithaca here Wednesday afternoon in non-league baseball action.

The Little Bombers scored two runs in the bottom of the first inning, and two more in the second to take a 4-0 lead.

Waverly’s bats, which banged out 21 hits in the game, came alive in the third inning.

Junior Brady Blauvelt and senior Nick VanHouten stroked back-to-back singles to put runners on first and third, and junior Thomas Hand plated the first Waverly run in the game with a sacrifice fly.

With two outs, freshman Jay Pipher tripled and scored on an RBI single by freshman Joey Tomasso. Junior Caden Hollywood capped the rally with an RBI double to trim the deficit to 4-3.

In the top of the fifth, Pipher led off with a double and scored on a one-out RBI single by Hollywood to tie the game at 4-4.

With two outs, junior Brennan Traub and Blauvelt hit back-to-back RBI singles, sandwiched around an RBI double by sophomore Isiah Bretz to give the Wolverines a 7-4 lead.

In the sixth inning, Hollywood ripped a one-out, two-RBI triple to right field to make it 9-4. After sophomore’s RBI single to push the lead to 10-4, Traub and Bretz hit back-to-back singles to load the bases.

Blauvelt lined a two-run double to center field to extend the lead to 12-4, but a double play ended the rally.

Ithaca answered with four runs in the bottom of the inning, and saw its rally ended with an out on the base paths.

The Bombers scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh, and had a runner on first base, but Tomasso, in his first inning of relief, induced a fly ball to right fielder to VanHouten to end the game.

Pipher was 4-for-4 with a triple, a double, and two runs scored, and Blauvelt was 4-for-4 with a double, one run scored and three RBI to pace Waverly at the plate, while Hollywood, tripled, doubled, and singled, scored two runs, and had four RBI, and Traub had three hits, including a double, two runs scored and one RBI.

Tomasso stroked a pair of singles, scored two runs, and drove in one run in the win, while Bretz doubled and singled, scored one run, and knocked in one run, and VanHouten had a pair of singles.

Beeman singled, scored one run, and drove in one run in the win, and Hand scored one run.

VanHouten earned the win, allowing four runs — two earned — on five hits and one walk in four innings of work.

Waverly, now 12-4, returns to action Thursday against Union Springs in the opening round the of IAC baseball championships at Wells College.