St. Mary’s and St. Francis’ baseball teams on Monday advanced to the best-of-three semifinals in the Georgetown Cup after emerging victorious in the single-game elimination quarterfinals.
The Lancers defeated Bishop Timon, 6-2, and will face St. Joe’s, and the Red
Bishop Timon led 1-0 until the bottom of the fifth inning, when St. Mary’s scored four runs and then two in the sixth inning. Gavin Corbett scored two runs for the Lancers and Chayce Kolbert had a run and two RBIs. Kolbert pitched six innings and finished with 10 strikeouts.
St. Francis led wire-to-wire against Nichols. Tyler Kocher and Jake Suffoletto led the Red Raiders with two runs each. Suffoletto and Nick Bienko both had two RBIs. On the mound, Noah Albano had eight strikeouts.
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Francis makes national team
Lancaster junior Madison Francis was named to Team USA’s Under-18 national team. She was selected to the team from a pool of 26 players and will compete at the FIBA U-18 Women’s AmeriCup from June 17-23 in Bucaramanga, Colombia.
The team was selected by the USA Basketball Women’s Junior National Team Committee, and Francis will report to Colorado Springs for training camp June 8. Team’s USA’s U-18 team has won 11 of the 13 gold medals and 10 straight since 2000. The top four teams will advance to the 2025 FIBA U-19 Women’s World Cup.
Francis, a 6-foot-2 forward, is a five-star recruit and the No. 23-ranked player in the class of 2025, according to ESPN. She’s The News’ reigning Sister Maria Pares Player of the Year and has offers from Tennessee, Kentucky, Syracuse, Ohio State, Notre Dame and others.
Section VI girls golf
Clarence won the Section VI girls golf team competition with 368 points Monday at Gowanda Country Club. Orchard Park placed second with 383 points.
In the individual competition, Orchard Park’s Claire Brady was the medalist with a score of 77. Representing Section VI at the New York State Public High School Athletic Association’s girls golf championships June 1-3 at the Edison Club will be Brady, Kylie Dean (Clarence), Jocelyn Wintersteen (Cassadaga Valley/Maple Grove), Brianna Scozzofava (Niagara-Wheatfield), Julianna Spacciapolli (Fredonia), Junilana Enser (Clarence), Tatiana Tutko (Clarence), Autumn Bailey (Amherst) and Sydnee Hoffman (Fredonia). Orchard Park’s Charlotte Occhino is the alternate.
Section VI baseball
In the first game of the Class AAA final, No. 1 Niagara Falls beat No. 2 Lancaster, 4-1. Game two will be Wednesday at 5 p.m. at Lancaster, as the Wolverines look to win their first sectional championship since 1999.
In Class AA, No. 1 Orchard Park beat No. 9 Sweet Home in the quarterfinals, 12-1. The Quakers will face No. 4 Clarence, which beat No. 5 Williamsville East, 2-0, on Wednesday in the semifinals.
In Class B, No. 4 Roy-Hart shut out No. 5 Southwestern 10-0 in the quarterfinals. The Rams scored all 10 runs in the first inning. Gavin Heideman had two runs and three RBIs for Roy-Hart. Brayden Hy finished with two runs and three RBIs. Ethan Kuzma pitched four innings and had eight strikeouts.
Amherst’s Kai Faller, left, is congratulated on his goal by Peter Smith against Grand Island last week. Amherst upset No. 4 seed Williamsville South on Monday.
Boys lacrosse upsets
In Class C, No. 5 Amherst upset No. 4 Williamsville South, 9-7. The Tigers led 5-2 at the half and held off the Billies in the second half. Marc Vredenburg led Amherst with three goals and Josh Neeley added two goals. Amherst faces No. 1 seed Lake Shore/Silver Creek on Wednesday in the semifinals.
No. 5 Salamanca upset No. 4 Eden/North Collins, 14-8, in the Class D quarterfinals. Eden/North Collins led 3-1 at halftime but collapsed as the Warriors used a 13-5 second half to pull off the upset. Tayoni Galante scored a game-high eight goals.
