LOCKPORT — Outwater Park is the place for LHS baseball fans to be this afternoon, where the young, but talented Lockport Lions will host West Seneca West at 5 p.m. in a Section VI Class AA pre-quarterfinal playoff contest.



The streaking No. 5-seeded Lions (11-3 NFL, 13-5 overall) enter the game on a four-game winning streak, finishing runner-up to AA's top-seeded Niagara Falls (13-1) in the NFL standings.



“We're all ready to go,” said Lions skipper Steve Styrzo, who added he'll make a game-time decision on his starting pitcher today.



Among the many Lions on hot streaks as of late is LHS senior Rob Arlington, who's gone 7-for-9 at the plate in the last two Lockport games.



“(Sophomore Kyle) Covell's hot too. he's putting up some good numbers the last couple of games for us,” Styrzo said.



“The whole team, really, has been on a hot streak. We had 12-plus hits in each of our last two games, so we're peaking at the right time.”



Styrzo said he knows little about No. 12-seeded West Seneca West (1-13), but said his team will be ready. The winner advances to 5 p.m. Thursday's AA quarterfinal at No. 4 Orchard Park.



In other sectional baseball pre-quarterfinal games scheduled today (all 5 p.m. starts), in Class AA, No. 11 North Tonawanda plays at No. 6-Niagara-Wheatfield; and in Class C, head coach Rob Mucha's No. 11 Barker Raiders play at No. 6 Maple Grove.



In sectional quarterfinal baseball games today, in Class B-1, No. 9 Newfane is at No. 1 Tonawanda; and No. 7 Medina is at  No. 2-Depew. In Class B-2, No. 6  Wilson is at No. 3 JFK and No. 7  Akron is  at No. 2 Royalton-Hartland.



Meanwhile, head coach Julie Kwoka said she knows little about her two possible opponents in Friday's home sectional Class AA softball quarterfinal.



The No. 2-seeded Lockport Lady Lions (16-2) will host the winner of today's AA pre-quarterfinal contest between No. 10-Jamestown and No. 7  Williamsville North at 4:45  p.m. Friday.



Senior Kassidy McFall will get the start in the circle for LHS, who've been led at the plate by a host of hitters, including Emily Belfield, Kelly McKeever, Ashley Krywcun, Danielle Donorovich and Nora Passuite, with strong defensive play from, among others, Patti Burdick, Kelsey Stamates, Allie Cavagnaro, Shannon Krywcun, Kelly Anderson,  Maddy Steen,  Megan Schneider and Jordyn Kwoka.



Among other sectional pre-quarterfinal softball contests today (all 4:45 p.m. starts), in Class AA, No. 12  North Tonawanda plays at No. 5 Niagara-Wheatfield and No. 9 Frontier is at No. 8 Kenmore West. In Class A-1, No. 8 Kenmore East is at top-seeded Hamburg and No. 5 Williamsville South is at No. 4 Grand Island. In Class A-2, No. 7  Pioneer is at No. 2 Albion and No. 5 Lewiston-Porter is at No. 4 East Aurora.



VI BASEBALL



Class A-1 Pre-Quarterfinal



9-Sweet Home 11, 8-Starpoint 0



PENDLETON — Matt Miller was 2-for-3 with a double for the losing Spartans (10-11).



Corey Regnet added a double, Austin Speaker singled and Alex O'Donnell had a stolen base.



Steve Stapleton had five hits for the Panthers, including a three-run homer.



Class B-1 Pre-Quarterfinal



9-Newfane 8, 8-Springville 3



SPRINGVILLE —Josh Kneeland tossed a complete-game victory, giving up just six hits with seven strikeouts and three walks for the Panthers (6-10).



With the win, No. 9-seeded Newfane advances to play at top-seeded, undefeated Tonawanda at 5 p.m. today in a Class B-1 quarterfinal. Scott Kneeland gets the start on the hill for Newfane.



“They beat us last year at our place, so, hopefully, we can beat them at their place,” coach Kneeland said.



Justin Thering yielded a big bat for the Panthers in the nine spot, with two hits and an RBI .



Thering and Josh Kneeland each scored  two runs.



Class B-2 Pre-Quarterfinal



6-Wilson 6, 11-All-Lime 4



WILSON — Winning pitcher Tayler Thilk led the way at Booster Field on  Monday, hurling five nearly spotless innings of relief and added a key RBI single.



With the win, head coach Mark Kurtz's No. 6-seeded Lakemen advance to today's 5 p.m. Class B-2 quarterfinal at No. 3 JFK.



“He came up big-time,” Kurtz said. “It’s his third year. He’s always been a smart pitcher and he showed it today. He has what it takes and doesn’t let things get him down mentally.”



After a state-mandated 30-minute thunder delay, Wilson came to bat in the first, drew three straight walks and Cam Sidote unloaded the bases with a triple to the left field fence. Two more walks followed, loading the bases, no out, before Gator pitcher Kevin Wentworth, “usually a strike machine” by his coach’s description, struck out the side.



Thilk entered in the third, gave up a quick double leading to an unearned run, then threw 13 consecutive outs. Tyler Strassberg’s two-strike, two-RBI single gave Wilson a 5-3 lead in the fourth and Thilk treated himself to a little insurance with an RBI single in the fifth.



— Doug Smith