ONEONTA, N.Y. -- The Oneonta softball team swept Plattsburgh in a SUNYAC doubleheader with a pair of mercy-ruled six inning games, Saturday afternoon at the Red Dragon Softball Stadium. The Red Dragons upended the Cardinals in game one, 14-5, then cruised to an 11-3 game two victory. Oneonta has won six straight, eight of the past 10, and improved to 14-12 this season, 8-2 in the SUNYAC, while the Cardinals dropped to 5-18 overall and 2-8 in conference play.
Eight Red Dragons recorded at least two RBI in the doubleheader sweep. Freshman
Kayla Kean (Ballston Lake, N.Y./Shenendehowa) finished the day 3-for-6 with a team-high six RBI. Junior
Emily Brown (Westbury, N.Y./Clarke) and senior
Julia Serena (White Plains, N.Y./Valhalla) both recorded five hits and three RBI. Senior
Sophia Mangone (Ardsley, N.Y./Ardsley) went 4-for-6 on the day and had two RBI, freshman
Tatum Passonno (Latham, N.Y./Shaker) was 4-for-7 with a pair of RBI, and freshman
Sophia Camacho (Newburgh, N.Y./Our Lady of Lourdes) ended the twin bill 3-for-5 with two RBI.
Game One: Oneonta 14, Plattsburgh 5 (6 Innings)
Oneonta put together a six-run rally in the second inning to go up 6-0. Mangone led off the inning with a walk then scored from second when junior
Abigail Silliman (Rensselaer, N.Y./Columbia) hit a single to left center. Following a walk from Camacho, sophomore
Ava Thys (Fairfax, Va./James W. Robinson Secondary (Va.)) lasered a single to left field and scored Silliman. Junior
Jaime Cardello (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y./Walter Panas) brought Camacho home with a hard hit single up the middle, then she and Thys scored off a single by Serena. Serena crossed home for the final run in the inning when Brown smacked a double to the left field wall.
The Cardinals scored a run in the third and fourth innings before the Red Dragons recorded three runs in the bottom half of the fourth to go ahead 9-2. Passonno and Kean each hit an RBI single with the bases loaded, then Silliman scored Mangone on a grounder.
The lead was cut to 9-5 after Plattsburgh tallied three runs in the top of the fifth, but Oneonta answered with one run in the fifth, when Brown smoked a single out to right field, and four more in the sixth to put the game away. Freshman pinch runner
Anna Spicciatie (Oakdale, N.Y.) scored the first run in the sixth when the left fielder dropped a fly ball. Camacho laid down a bunt to reach first and scored Passonno, then Thys connected for a two-run double to left center for the mercy-rule win.
Thys finished game one 3-for-4 with three RBI, while Silliman was 1-for-3 with two RBI and Cardello went 1-for-3 with an RBI.
Freshman
Tanner Smith (White Plains, N.Y./Vahalla) (5-3) earned the win for the Red Dragons after she piched three innings and allowed one unearned run on three hits. Junior
Anna Torgersen (Chester, NJ/Mendham) pitched the final 2.0 innings without allowing a hit.
Game Two: Oneonta 11, Plattsburgh 3
The first run of game two was recorded by Plattsburgh, but Oneonta ended the first inning with a 2-1 lead. Serena tied the game with an RBI double to left center, then Brown lasered a single to center to score Serena.
The Red Dragons added two more runs in the third to go up 4-1 when Kean and Silliman worked back-to-back bases loaded walks.
Plattsburgh scored a run in the fourth and fifth inning, however Oneonta scored two in the bottom of the fourth to maintain a three-run advantage, 6-3. Mangone connected on a 3-1 pitch for an RBI single to center, then Kean roped a single to center and brought Mangone home.
Oneonta closed out the game in the sixth inning with five runs for the eight-run mercy rule. Mangone crushed an RBI double to the center field wall, then Passonno poked an RBI single to shallow center. Both Mangone and Passonno crossed home when Kean blasted a two-run double over the Cardinals centerfielder, and Camacho ended the game with a hard-hit RBI double that bounced past the shortstop and scored Kean.
Kean finished 2-for-2 with four RBI in game two, while Serena went 3-for-4 with an RBI and Mangone was 2-for-3 with two RBI. Both Brown and Passonno were 2-for-3 and had an RBI.
Brown (8-5) pitched the complete game for the Red Dragons win. She struck out 11 and allowed three runs, two earned, on six hits.
The Red Dragons are back in action Tuesday, April 22, for a non-conference doubleheader at Hamilton starting at 3:30 pm.
