WAVERLY DROPS WILD, 13-12, DECISION IN SEASON-OPENER AT TIOGA
By: Tim Birney | Waverly Athletics | April 4, 2022 | Photo courtesy Tim Birney
TIOGA CENTER — Senior Austyn Vance scored the go-ahead run in the bottom
of the fifth inning to give Tioga the lead for good in a wild, 13-12,
win over Waverly here Monday afternoon in IAC softball action.
Waverly
led 4-0 after one-half inning, and 7-3 after 1 1/2 innings, but Tioga
rallied to take an 8-7 lead after two innings. The next few innings were
a back-and-forth affair.
Senior Bella Romano ripped an RBI
triple to the right-field fence in the top of the first inning to give
the Lady Wolverines a quick 2-0 lead. With one out, Romano trotted home
on a line drive RBI single by freshman Olivia Robinson, who scored on a
wild pitch with two outs to make it 4-0.
Senior Abby Foley
slapped a single up the middle to lead off the home half of the first,
and ended u on third after a pair of wild pitches. With one out, junior
Mackenzie Thetga rocketed an RBI single up the middle that ricocheted
off the pitching arm of Waverly.
After a brief stoppage, Robinson
resumed pitching and retired the first batter she faced, but walked
senior Julia Bellis and gave up a single to junior Felicia Lantz to load
the bases.
A walk to Vance forced home one run, and senior
Alissa Hine capped the rally with a bloop single to left-center field to
close the gap to 4-3.
Romano ripped a two-run double down the
left-field line to make it 6-3 in the top of the second, and later
scored on a sacrifice fly by Robinson to extend the lead to 7-3.
Foley,
who walked to lead off the bottom of the second, scored on a sacrifice
fly into short right field by Thetga to trim the Waverly lead to 7-4.
With
two outs, freshman Erin Luther reached on an error, Bellis sliced a
line-drive RBI single to make it 7-5, then scored on an RBI single by
Lantz to close the gap to 7-6.
After a walk to Vance, and a
single by Hine loaded the bases, senior Molly Bombard grounded a two-RBI
double to left field to give Tioga an 8-7 lead.
Tioga hit three
straight singles — by 8th-grader Raeann Feeko, Thetga, and sophomore
Megan Shumway — to lead off the bottom of the fourth inning, but
Robinson escaped the inning without allowing a run.
Waverly
loaded the bases with one out in the top of the fourth inning, then tied
the game on a bases-loaded walk to freshman Bri Cooney. With two outs,
sophomore Lea VanAllen grounded an RBI single into left field to give
Waverly a 9-8 lead.
Tioga answered immediately with Foley
slapping a single to tie the game at 9-9, and Thetga delivering a
two-run single to give the Lady Tigers an 11-9 lead.
Waverly also
answered immediately, with Robinson helping her own cause with a
two-run double to plate sophomore Peyton Shaw and senior Aubrey Ennis,
who had both reached via base on balls, to tie the game at 11-11.
Vance
ripped a line-drive one-out triple in the home half of the fifth, and
scored moments later on an RBI groundout off the bat of Hine to make it
12-11.
Hine, in her first full inning of relief, pitched around a
pair of singles to keep Waverly off the board for just the second time
in the game.
In the bottom of the sixth, Thetga added an insurance run with a blast over the center field fence to make it 13-11.
Ennis
ripped a one-out RBI double in the top of the seventh to close the gap
to 13-12, but Hine retired the next two batters to preserve the win.
Thetga
had four hits, including a home run, scored one run, and had five RBI
to lead Tioga’s 17-hit attack, while Foley singled twice, scored three
runs, and knocked in one run, Hine singled twice and drove in two runs,
Lantz singled twice, scored one run, and knocked in one run, Shumway
singled twice and scored one run, and Feeko added a pair of singles.
Vance
tripled, scored three runs, and drove in one run for the Lady Tigers,
while Bombard doubled, scored one run, and knocked in two runs, Bellis
doubled, scored one run, and drove in two runs, and Luther scored one
run.
Hine earned the win for Tioga, allowing two runs on four hits, while striking out three and walking two in 2 2/3 innings.
Romano
tripled and doubled, scored three runs, and drove in three runs, and
Robinson doubled and singled, scored one run, and had four RBI to lead
Waverly’s 10-hit attack, while Ennis doubled and singled, scored two
runs, and knocked in one run, and VanAllen singled twice and drove in
one run.
Senior Michael Lauper singled and scored two runs for
the Lady Wolverines, while Cooney singled and drove in one run, and Shaw
scored four runs.
Tioga (1-0) returns to action Wednesday at Newfield, while Waverly (0-1) is at Newark Valley.

About the Author
Tim Birney is the founder / owner of River Road Media Group. He was born and raised in the Valley, graduating from Waverly High School in 1984.
Birney earned an Associate's Degree in Journalism from SUNY Morrisville in 1986 and a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism / Public Relations from Utica College of Syracuse University in 1988. He began his newspaper career at The Daily Review in Towanda in 1989, before moving on to The Evening Times in 1995. He spent more than 10 years at the Times, the last four as Managing Editor.
River Road Media Group includes Valley Sports Report (launched Aug. 10, 2009), Tioga County (NY) Sports Report (Aug. 13, 2018), and Northern Tier Sports Report (Aug. 31, 2020). Southern Tier Sports Report is set to launch in 2021.
