OBSERVER File Photo by Scott Kindberg
North Collins senior Derek Ebersole was named a Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division 3 First-Team All-Star pitcher.
It was a three-team race for first in Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division 3 with each squad being led by an ace on the mound.
It was Portville finishing atop the league and the Panthers were led by senior Luke Petryszak taking home the Player of the Year honors and making First Team as a pitcher with a 6-1 record and 0.64 earned run average. Three more Panthers made the First Team with outfielder Ethan Obergfell hitting .340, and infielders Cole Keesler and Hayden Emley hitting .425 and .264, respectively.
Portville’s only loss of the year came to league runner-up Gowanda, which received three First-Team selections in pitcher Blake Herman, infielder Carter Capozzi and outfielder Brayden Smith.
Herman was dominant on the mound with a 5-1 record and 1.07 ERA with 101 strikeouts on the season. At the plate, he hit .358 with four doubles, a triple, two home runs, 18 RBIs and an OPS of 1.178.
Capozzi hit .394 for the Panthers, and knocked six doubles, a triple and a home run to go along with 26 RBIs and an OPS of 1.044. Smith earned his selection hitting .327 with nine RBIs and an OPS of .902.
OBSERVER File Photo by Scott Kindberg
Gowanda junior Blake Herman was named a Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division 3 First-Team All-Star pitcher.
Third-place North Collins spoiled Gowanda’s chance of winning a share of the league title and the Eagles were led by First-Team selections in Derek Ebersole, Matthew Warsaw and Zander Miller.
Ebersole, a senior pitcher, went 5-1 for the Eagles with an ERA of 0.67 and limited opposing batters to an average of .155, while hitting .298 with an OPS of .960 and stole 20 bases. Warsaw also finished his senior year going 6-0 on the mound with an ERA of 1.26 and limited opponents to a .180 average, all while hitting .321 with a .776 OPS and 14 stolen bases. Miller’s bat highlighted the lineup with a .367 average.
Adding to the success of North Collins’ season was a Coach of the Year honor for Scott Gill.
Franklinville finished fourth in league. Matthew Spittler hit .441 and Noah Shenk was .309 at the plate to make First Team.
Ellicottville won the team Sportsmanship Award with Ryan Norton as the individual winner along with taking fifth in the league. Cameron Mendell was a First-Team pitcher with a 4-2 record and 4.32 ERA, and senior infielder Hunter Smith hit .273 to make First Team.
OBSERVER File Photo by Scott Kindberg
Gowanda’s Carter Capozzi was named a CCAA Division 3 First-Team all-star.
Silver Creek/Forestville shared fifth and senior Aiden Piccolo rounded out the First-Team rotation after posting a 1.53 ERA with a 3-1 record in league, while striking out 76 batters over the course of the entire season. Piccolo also hit .264 with three doubles and scored 12 runs.
Randolph was represented on the First Team by outfielder Mikey Bohall hitting .405, while Cattaraugus-Little Valley’s Nate Wolfe hit .421 to round out the First Team.
Each team had an individual sportsmanship award recipient and they are: Cattaraugus-Little Valley’s Derek Howland, Ellicottville’s Ryan Norton, Franklinville’s Trevin Lane, North Collins’ Matthew Warsaw, Portville’s Hayden Emley, Randolph’s Elial Bryan, Gowanda’s Madden Lay and Silver Creek/Forestville’s Hunter Parks.
FIRST TEAM
Cameron Mendell Soph. Pitcher Ellicottville
OBSERVER File Photo by Scott Kindberg
Gowanda’s Brayden Smith was named a CCAA Division 3 First-Team all stars.
Luke Petryszak Sr. Pitcher Portville
Aiden Piccolo Sr. Pitcher Silver Creek/Forestville
Derek Ebersole Sr. Pitcher North Collins
Blake Herman Jr. Pitcher Gowanda
Hunter Smith Sr. Infield Ellicottville
Cole Keesler Jr. Infield Portville
Hayden Emley Sr. Infield Portville
Matt Warsaw Sr. Infield North Collins
Zander Miller Jr. Infield North Collins
Matthew Spittler Jr. Infield North Collins
Carter Capozzi Soph. Infield Gowanda
Nate Wolfe Sr. Outfield Catt.-Little Valley
Mikey Bohall Sr. Outfield Randolph
Ethan Obergfell Sr. Outfield Portville
Noah Shenk Sr. Outfield Franklinville
Brayden Smith Jr. Outfield Gowanda
SECOND TEAM
Aidan DeFazio Soph. Pitcher Portville
Rylan Benjamin Fresh. Pitcher Ellicottville
Brady Tatlow Fresh. Catcher Franklinville
Vincent Montaldi Soph. Catcher North Collins
Karsen Padlo Sr. Catcher Portville
Bryson Pitts Soph. Catcher Randolph
Madden Lay Jr. Infield Gowanda
Colin Mooney Jr. Infield Franklinville
John Steinwachs Sr. Infield Silver Creek/Forestville
Cameron Young Sr. Infield Catt.-Little Valley
Brayden Young Sr. Infield Catt.-Little Valley
Scott Armbruster Jr. Infield North Collins
Emmett Jacobson-Coolidge Sr. Infield Ellicottville
Seth Geiger Soph. Outfield Gowanda
Connor Braley Jr. Outfield Randolph
Alex Galfo Sr. Outfield Silver Creek/Forestville
HONORABLE MENTION
Cattaraugus-Little Valley: DJ Szata, Matt Benzel
Ellicottville: Parker John, Shawn Crowley
Franklinville: Bretton Blecha, Isaac Towne
Gowanda: Logan Ruff
North Collins: Carson Teijeira, Daniel Downes
Portville: Nik Manroe, Brady German
Randolph: David Root, Tristan Farnham
Silver Creek/Forestville: Manny Sanchez, Dom Anders