CORTLAND, N.Y. - After dropping the SUNYAC Tournament opener, the fourth-seeded Oneonta baseball team avoided elimination with wins over second-seed New Paltz and third-seed Oswego to reach Sunday's finals. Oneonta downed the Hawks (27-15) 8-2, then won 3-1 over the Lakers (27-13). The Red Dragons (25-16-1) will face Cortland on Sunday, May 11 at 10 a.m. The teams will play a second game to determine a champion if Oneonta wins the first.
After four scoreless innings, the Red Dragons struck in the top of the frame. Oneonta put runners on first and second before junior Nick Jacoby (Yorktown Heights, NY/Yorktown) knocked a home run to left field to take a 3-0 lead. New Paltz responded with an RBI double from Michael Ascanio to cut the lead to two runs.
The Red Dragons extended their lead in the fifth with senior Anthony Foglia (Somers, NY/North Salem) leading off with a single. Freshman Ryan Cronin (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) doubled to bring runners on second and third. Junior Brendan Duffy (Southold, NY/Southold Jr./Sr.) followed with a double to left field to bring in two more runs.
Ascanio singled in another run in the sixth to make it 5-2. The Hawks loaded the bases, but junior relief pitcher Martin Thorsland (Maryland, NY/Milford Central) struck out the final batter.
Duffy doubled in a run in the seventh to make it 6-2, and Oneonta kept New Paltz off the board in the bottom of the frame.
In the ninth, the Red Dragons used back-to-back home runs from seniors Joey Dwyer (Shoreham, NY/Shoreham Wading River) and Logan Hutter (Smithtown, NY/Smithtown West/Smithtown) to push the lead to 8-2. Thorsland capped off the game with two strikeouts to earn the save.
Senior Kyler Roper pitched 5.2 innings with six hits, two runs, and two strikeouts to move to 5-1. Thorsland went 3.1 innings with two hits, no runs, and four strikeouts.
New Paltz's Kiran Paingankar (4-2) went 4.0 innings with five hits, four runs, and four strikeouts. Matt Sarni went 4.1 innings with six hits, four runs, and three strikeouts.
In the second game, freshman Zachary Rowe (Hudson, NY/Taconic Hills) struck out two Oswego batters in the second inning to keep the game scoreless. Oneonta could not find its offense, and the Lakers scored first in the bottom of the fourth off a lead-off home run from Tishawn Featherstone to lead 1-0.
The Red Dragons scored in the sixth, with Foglia walking to first. Cronin followed with a home run to left-center field to give Oneonta a 2-1 lead. The Red Dragons scored again in the seventh with senior Josh Gilkey (Syracuse, NY/East Syracuse Minor) singling in a run from senior Alex Wurster (Central Square, NY/Paul V. Moore). Sophomore Jake Quigley (Harrison, NY/Harrison) pitched the final five innings and only allowed two hits with no runs. He struck out five Lakers to give the Red Dragons the win.
Oneonta plays top-seeded Cortland in the SUNYAC Finals on Sunday, May 11, at 10 a.m.
