YOUNGSVILLE — Alyssa Gentz singled home Vanessa Romanosky in the bottom of the seventh inning and the Youngsville Eagles earned their first win of the season with an 8-7 win over Oswayo Valley on Wednesday at Youngsville High School.

“It was a really exciting game and a hard-fought win,” said Youngsville coach Scott Ishman. “Myself and the rest of the staff are very pleased with the girls. Tonight, they played like we know they are capable of playing.”

Youngsville got an excellent pitching performance from Kamden Swearingen, who struck out eight and walked none. The win was also highlighted by an extremely balanced offensive attack, including three hits from Swearingen, Molly Helman and Raechel Lucks, two each from Gentz and Romanosky, and one apiece from Hailie Gray, Ireland Abraham and Madison Carnahan.

The Eagles took a 1-0 lead after their first at-bat with Gray leading things off with a double. Two batters later, Helman singled home Gray and the hosts were on the board.

Oswayo Valley managed to tie the game in the second, but it wasn’t long before Youngsville went back on top with a run in the third and four more in the fourth to build a 6-1 lead. In the third, Helman scored Swearingen with an RBI single and the big fourth inning was highlighted by two-run hits from both Swearingen and Gentz.

With a five-run lead entering the top of the sixth inning, Youngsville appeared to be cruising to the finish line.

Then, Oswayo Valley’s bats came alive with a seven-hit inning that plated five runs and tied the game at 6-6 with an inning and a half left to play.

On this day, Youngsville would not be denied.

“We always seem to have that one bad inning, but tonight the girls just battled their way through that,” said Ishman. “They kept their heads and stood tall and I’m extremely proud of the fortitude they showed in that moment.”

The Eagles were able to retake a one-run lead in the bottom of the sixth. Swearingen, Helman and Abraham all singled and Carnahan delivered the RBI hit that made it 7-6. The Wave would not go away, however, and tied things in the top of the seventh setting up the walk-off heroics by Gentz.

After Romanosky singled and Swearingen drew a walk, Gentz drilled a ball to the outfield grass that allowed Romanosky to score from second and give the Eagles their first victory of 2023.

Youngsville will look to keep the momentum going Friday when they welcome county rival Eisenhower.

OSWAYO VALLEY (7): Dailey, c, 4-0-1-1, Mesler, p, 4-0-2-0, George, cf, 4-1-3-0, Enty, 1b, 4-2-2-0, West, 3b, 0-0-0-0, Carpenter, dp, 4-1-1-0, Lundy, ss, 4-1-2-1, Fleishman, rf, 4-1-2-2, Komenda, 2b, 4-1-1-2, Hedges, lf, 3-0-1-0, Totals: 35-7-14-6

YOUNGSVILLE (8): Hailey Gray, lf, 4-2-1-0, Kamden Swearingen, p, 4-3-3-2, Alyssa Gentz, c, 5-0-2-3, Molly Helman, 3b, 4-0-3-2, Ireland Abraham, ss, 3-0-1-0, Madison Carnahan, 2b, 4-0-1-1, Madison VanGuilder, rf, 4-0-0-0, Raechel Lucks, cf, 4-1-3-0, Vanessa Romanosky, dp, 3-2-2-0, Corinthia Edwards, 1b, 0-0-0-0, Totals: 35-8-15-8

Oswayo Valley 010 005 1 — 7 14 N/A

Youngsville 101 401 1 — 8 15 N/A

2B–Komenda (OV), Hailey Gray (Y), Alyssa Gentz (Y), Molly Helman (Y)