DAVENPORT, FL - The Oneonta baseball team opened its spring break trip at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational with an 8-1 win over No. 10 Rowan on Friday afternoon. The Red Dragons held the Profs to five hits and moved to 7-3 overall. Rowan suffers its first loss and falls to 4-1.
After both teams went three up, three down in the first inning, Oneonta led off with a home run from senior Brendan Duffy (Southold, NY/Southold Jr./Sr.) to take a 1-0 lead in the top of the second. The Red Dragons put runners on first and third following a sacrifice bunt from senior Matt Sandoval (West Islip, NY/West Islip Senior). Senior Anthony Loia (Hopewell Junction, NY/Arlington) hit a sacrifice fly to center field to bring in a run from sophomore Ryan Cronin (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) to make it 2-0.
Junio Jake Quigley (Harrison, NY/Harrison) struck out Brayden Davis to start the bottom of the frame. Kyle Lamanteer managed a single to right field, but two groundouts to Cronin at second base keep Rowan off the board.
Quigley struck out another Profs' batter to open the third inning, but a walk and a double by Evan McCoach put runners on second and third. Damon Suriani singled in a run from Mason Dorsey to cut the Oneonta lead to 2-1. Quigley struck out another batter and put out the third to close the inning.
Solid pitching on both sides moved the action along until the top of the sixth inning, when the Red Dragons brought in four runs. Oneonta got two runners on base after singles from freshman Alex Halwick (Selkirk, NY/Ravena Coeymans Selkirk) and senior Nick Jacoby (Yorktown Heights, NY/Yorktown). Duffy singled in a run to make it 3-1. Freshman Carlos Almanzar (Brooklyn, NY/John Jay Campus) knocked a three-RBI home run to push the Red Dragons ahead 6-1.
Oneonta took out Rowan 1-2-3 in the bottom of the sixth, and a double play in the seventh kept it a five-run game. Cronin scored on an error in the top of the eighth, and the Red Dragons added a score from sophomore Joseph Monserrat (Delmar, NY/Bethlehem Central) in the ninth to go up 8-1. Junior Lukas Jachens (Cornwall, NY/Cornwall Central) pitched the ninth inning and struck out one batter to help secure the win.
Duffy went 2-for-5 with three RBI and two runs. Almanzar was 2-for-5 with three RBI and one run. Jacoby added two hits and one run.
Suriani was 2-for-4 with one RBI. Kyle Lamanteer hit 2-for-3.
Quigley (3-0) went 8.0 innings with five hits, one run, and six strikeouts.
Jake Andrey (0-1) pitched 2.0 innings with two hits, two runs, and one strikeout. Collin Denton went 3.0 innings with three strikeouts.
Oneonta continues the Florida trip with a doubleheader against Southern Maine on Saturday, March 14, at 1 p.m. at Lake Myrtle Park (Field 8) in Auburndale.
