“It’s good for these guys. It’s nice to see that they can continue this on,” said Gowanda head coach Tim Smith.

After a 4-0 victory over Frewsburg on Tuesday where Smith said the Panthers never felt loose, the message coming into Thursday’s game was to play loose and relaxed. The Panthers took that message to heart.

No. 1 Gowanda (19-3) put the ball in play from the start of Thursday’s game. Kyan Austin led off with a single on the second pitch he saw. After an Aiden Geiger lineout to right field, Carter Capozzi’s rocket to third base was caught and thrown to first to double off the runner and get the Bulldogs out of trouble.

“The energy was high with the kids coming out with a little momentum builder off a nice double play on a screamer to third,” No. 5 Brocton/Cassadaga Valley head coach Rob Fetterick said.

Gowanda pitcher Aiden Geiger delivers a pitch during Thursday’s Section VI Class C semifinal against Brocton/Cassadaga Valley at Gowanda High School. P-J photo by Braden Carmen

Brocton-Cassadaga Valley (11-8) looked like it was about to capitalize on the momentum of the double play, as the Bulldogs worked a pair of full-count walks and reached on an error to load the bases with nobody out against Aiden Geiger. But even so, Gowanda stayed loose and did not let the pressure get to them. Each of the next three batters flew out to short to end the inning scoreless.

“That’s Aiden Geiger. He’s our guy. He got in that situation but we got to see him get out of it. He worked himself out, and then he was able to exhale after that point,” Smith said. “We’ve got a defense behind him that’s going to make plays, and they did. … There is a time where we will pitch to contact, and that was it.”

Gowanda took the momentum of escaping the bases-loaded jam and capitalized immediately. An infield single, a sacrifice bunt with a throwing error, and a walk loaded the bases with nobody out. Then, with one out, Tristin Luther drove the ball up the middle for a two-run single. The Panthers added another run on a groundout for a 3-0 lead after two innings of play.

“The momentum flipped right there,” Fetterick said. “With a team like Gowanda, you can’t let it flip that quick.”

After Aiden Geiger got Gowanda out of trouble in the second inning, he followed with back-to-back 1-2-3 innings. His offense helped him out with plenty of insurance, including a third inning that brought 10 batters to the plate and put four runs on the board.

Brocton/Cassadaga Valley pitcher Jackson Crowell delivers a pitch against the Gowanda Panthers in a Section VI Class C semifinal Thursday at Gowanda High School. P-J photo by Braden Carmen

Seth Geiger dropped a blooper just inside the first base line in right field to drive in the first run of the inning. Then, two batters later, Jayden Fish snuck a grounder past the shortstop into left field for a two-run single to put the Panthers up 6-0. Kyan Austin capped the scoring in the inning with an RBI single for Gowanda’s seventh run.

“After the first inning, we knew we were going to hit the ball. It was just a matter of finding the holes and taking advantage. I think everybody answered the call,” Smith said.

Brocton/Cassadaga Valley pulled Jackson Crowell after allowing seven runs in three innings. Gowanda added another run in the fourth inning, as Drew Kota reached base on a dropped pop-up to lead off the inning. Kota advanced to second on a fielder’s choice, stole third base and scored the game’s eighth run when the throw down sailed into left field.

After his team built up a sizable cushion, Aiden Geiger kept rolling with shutout innings in the fourth and fifth frames. He finished with five shutout innings with just two hits and two walks allowed. His older brother, Seth Geiger, threw a shutout sixth inning.

Ahead by eight runs entering the bottom of the sixth inning, Gowanda needed a pair to end the game early. The Panthers loaded the bases with one out after a pair of walks, then a run came in on a fielder’s choice that resulted in an error when the ball was dropped at the plate. Needing just one more run to score, Noah Lauer put the ball in play to second base. The throw home was late and the Panthers closed out the win via the mercy rule.

Fetterick, a Gowanda graduate himself, said that Smith’s Panthers are a “phenomenal” baseball team. He said they are clearly the best team that Brocton/Cassadaga Valley faced this season.

“They are the No. 1 seed for a reason. … I don’t think anything is going to scare them. They’ve seen it all,” Fetterick said. “Hands down, they are — by far — the best team that we have seen this year. … I hope this is their year.”

Gowanda challenged itself with its nonleague schedule this year, with losses against Nichols and Lancaster to start the season, then a pair of contests with Hamburg, plus games with Dunkirk and Silver Creek/Forestville. It was the nonleague schedule — which the Panthers split 3-3 — that prepared them for the postseason every bit as much as going 14-0 in CCAA Division 3 did.

“We don’t care about wins and losses. We want to test these guys and play some of the best competition we can,” Smith said. “I firmly believe that iron sharpens iron. In this situation, put these guys up against the best teams we can find and let them duke it out.”

A year ago, Brocton’s season came to an end in the sectional final, with a 6-1 loss to Franklinville in Class D on a cold Saturday afternoon in Hamburg. This year, playing up in Class C as the program combined with Cassadaga Valley, the Bulldogs fell a game shy of another sectional final appearance.

Six Brocton/Cassadaga Valley seniors played their final game for the Bulldogs on Thursday, including Allen Blattenberger and Tanner Olmstead, as well as four members from last year’s sectional runnerup: Anthony Gatto, Ray Santiago, Chris Furman and Drew Gustafson.

“This has been a great group. Some of these boys I’ve had since eighth grade. You can’t ask much more from kids,” Fetterick said. “Wins and losses don’t define you as a human. … We built those relationships, we shared moments with each other. I’m really proud of them. I wish them the best in life.”

Thursday’s victory gave Gowanda’s four seniors — Carter Capozzi, Seth Geiger, Noah Lauer and Colin Barnes — one last victory at home in their final game on the Gowanda turf. Now, they will play for a blue patch this weekend, and Capozzi will be rested and ready to go on the mound.

“That’s in our favor. That’s who we want there. This is a guy who has been in the sectional championship himself four years in a row. He’s been champing at the bit to get a start in the sectional championship, and now he’s going to get it. He’s been there, he’s won two, he’s been to states. It’s not going to faze him on Saturday,” Smith said of his senior ace. “That’s exactly what we want. Now we’ve just got to go execute.”

Gowanda will play Falconer for the Class C championship Saturday at 10 a.m. at Veterans Memorial Park in Salamanca. Falconer defeated Randolph 2-1 in Thursday’s other semifinal.