Baseball
South rallies for league win
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter

Trailing West Seneca East 5-0 after three innings, nobody on Williamsville South was bowing their heads in defeat.

"They always knew they had a shot at coming back," said South coach Dave Delisanti. "Alex Walkowski, Frank Pieri and Scott Steimer kept everyone's head in the game. They said if you keep working hard, you're going to win the game."

The Billies (3-0) scored three runs in the third, and runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh to earn a 6-5 come from behind home league win on Friday, April 20.

Leadoff hitter Alex Walkowski was huge in South's comeback. In the fifth, he walked and scored on a Greg Reed triple to make it 5-4. In the sixth, he singled home pinch runner Andy Esposito to tie the game at 5-5. Walkowski finished 1 for 2, scored twice and walked twice.

Derek McDermott scored the winning run in the seventh when, with one out, he doubled and advanced to home on an overthrow to second.

Pitcher Dan Lynch allowed five hits and struck out 11. Only one of West Seneca East's runs was earned. Steimer got the win in relief.

South also got great defensive plays from Greg Reed (threw out runner stealing in the fourth) and Nick Needham (made diving catch in second).

The Billies also played Hamburg, winning, 9-0 on Thursday, April 19.

Shane Hurley hit a bases loaded two-out double in the sixth that scored Walkowski, Steimer and McDermott. Hurley finished 2 for 4 with three RBIs.

Steimer (3 for 5, RBI) and Pieri (2 for 4, three RBIs) also hit well.

Pieri threw seven strikeouts and allowed four hits for his second win.

Steimer and Walkowski turned a double play in the first to stop a Hamburg rally.

South played at Amherst on Monday, April 23 and at Batavia on Tuesday, April 24 but results were unavailable before The Bee went to press. The Billies close out the week with home games at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 25 and Thursday, April 26 against Williamsville East and Lake Shore, respectively.

e-mail: pnagy@beenews.com