CLINTON, N.Y. -- The Oneonta softball team split a pair of one-run games in a non-conference twin bill at Hamilton, Tuesday afternoon. Hamilton trailed in the seventh inning of both games, but they took game one, 6-5, before Oneonta won game two, 7-6. The Red Dragons improved to 15-13 this season while the Continentals moved to 14-8 overall.
Junior
Jaime Cardello (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y./Walter Panas) and sophomore
Ava Thys (Fairfax, Va./James W. Robinson Secondary (Va.)) both finished the doubleheader 5-for-8 with an RBI. Senior
Sophia Mangone (Ardsley, N.Y./Ardsley) went 1-for-3 each game and recorded the team-high three RBI including the game-winning RBI in game two. Senior
Julia Serena (White Plains, N.Y./Valhalla) had two RBI in the Red Dragons game two victory.
Game One: Oneonta 5, Hamilton 6
Both teams scored three runs in the first inning of game one. Sophomore
Emily Brown (Westbury, N.Y./Clarke) crushed a two-run triple to right center to score Cardello and Serena, then she crossed home on Mangone's grounder. Hamilton scored two on an error and tied the game on a single.
The Continentals went up one off a wild pitch in the bottom of the third, but the Red Dragons tied it at four in the top of the fourth after sophomore
Maya Nelsen (South Salem, N.Y./John Jay Cross River) scored on a fielding error. Oneonta went ahead 5-4 in the top of the sixth when freshman
Kayla Kean (Ballston Lake, N.Y./Shenendehowa) worked a walk and scored on an RBI single by Thys.
Hamilton tied the game in the bottom of the seventh with an RBI single through the left side, then they loaded the bases with one out and scored the winning run on a grounder.
Thys finished game one 3-for-4 with an RBI, while Brown went 1-for-4 with two RBI and Cardello was 2-for-4.
Senior
Angelina Scalere (Ardsley, N.Y./Ardsley) (0-2) was tagged with the loss after pitching 3.1 innings, striking out three, and allowing two runs on five hits. Brown started the game and pitched 3.0 innings, struck out four and allowed four runs, three earned, on three hits.
Game Two: Oneonta 7, Hamilton 6
The Red Dragons recorded four runs in the first inning of game two, then another three in the second for a 7-1 lead after two innings. Cardello lined an RBI double down the left field line to score Thys, and later crossed home when Mangone drilled an RBI double to right field. Freshman
Tatum Passonno (Latham, N.Y./Shaker) hit an RBI single past the Continentals first baseman, and freshman
Anna Spicciatie (Oakdale, N.Y.) scored Mangone with a sacrifice bunt.
Freshman
Sophia Camacho (Newburgh, N.Y./Our Lady of Lourdes), Thys and Cardello loaded the bases in the top of the second inning with three straight singles, then Serena swung at the first pitch for a two-run single that went between the first and second basemen. Mangone hit a sacrifice fly to center field to give Oneonta the six-run lead.
Hamilton cut the lead in half, 7-4, with an RBI single in the fourth and a two-run double in the fifth inning. In the bottom of the sixth, the Continentals hit two RBI singles to make it a one run game, however junior
Anna Torgersen (Chester, NJ/Mendham) and the Red Dragons closed it out in the seventh. Hamilton got the tying run on base with a leadoff walk in the final inning, but Oneonta ended the game with three straight outs.
Cardello finished game two 3-for-4 with an RBI, while Serena and Mangone each had a hit and two RBI.
Freshman
Tanner Smith (White Plains, N.Y./Vahalla) (6-3) earned the win after pitching 6.0 innings, striking out two and allowing six runs on 11 hits. Torgersen (1) pitched the final inning and picked up her first save of the season.
Oneonta is back in SUNYAC action on Friday, April 25, for the Battle of the Red Dragons against Cortland starting at 3 pm at the Red Dragon Softball Stadium.
