ONEONTA, N.Y. - Winter is coming, or has not quite let left Upstate New York for the Oneonta baseball season. Despite the late March snow, the Red Dragons defeated the Cobleskill Fighting Tigers 13-9 in six innings on Wednesday afternoon. Oneonta has won seven straight and moves to 11-5 overall, while Cobleskill falls to 5-9.
After a three-up and three-down at the top of the first, Oneonta scored three runs in the bottom of the frame. Junior Nick Jacoby (Yorktown Heights, NY/Yorktown) led off with a double to left center and reached third on a first-baseman error. Jacoby came home on a sacrifice fly from senior Anthony Foglia (Somers, NY/North Salem), and then freshman Ryan Cronin (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) doubled home a run from senior Josh Gilkey (Syracuse, NY/East Syracuse Minor). Another sacrifice fly from senior Logan Hutter (Smithtown, NY/Smithtown West/Smithtown) pushed the Oneonta lead to 3-0.
Freshman pitcher Zachary Rowe (Hudson, NY/Taconic Hills) struck out two Fighting Tigers in the second to complete the 1-2-3 inning. Oneonta added three runs in the second, with Gilkey doubling in runs from Jacoby and freshman Joseph Monserrat (Delmar, N.Y./Bethlehem Central) to make it 5-0. A Cronin RBI single gave Oneonta a six-run lead.
Rowe struck out another two batters in the third before Chris Tedford reached home on a throwing error. The Red Dragons tacked on one more run in the third to take a 7-1 lead.
The snow and wind picked up in the sixth inning, and Cobleskill scored eight runs. Ryan Lansing singled in a run from David Flora, and the Fighting Tigers added three more runs with the bases loaded. An Oneonta error pushed the Cobleskill lead to 9-7.
The Red Dragons tied in the bottom of the sixth when senior Alex Wurster (Central Square, NY/Paul V. Moore) hit a two-RBI single to right field. The Red Dragons loaded the bases and walked in a Wurster run. Foglia capped the inning off with a three-RBI double for his 100th career hit before the game was called.
Gilkey went 2-for-4 with four RBI and three runs, while Cronine was 2-for-4 with two RBI and one run. Jacoby had two hits and three runs. Senior Joey Dwyer (Shoreham, NY/Shoreham Wading River) had three hits, a run, and two stolen bases.
Oneonta next hosts Brockport on Fri. Mar. 28 at 3 p.m.
