ONEONTA, N.Y. - The Oneonta baseball team swept the three-game series against Plymouth State, with two wins on Saturday. The Red Dragons took the first game 4-1 and then won the second game 8-6. Oneonta moves to 5-3 overall, while Plymouth State falls to 0-3.
The Red Dragons brought in two runs in the bottom of the third to take a 2-0 lead. Sophomore Joseph Monserrat (Delmar, NY/Bethlehem Central) hit a sacrifice fly to center field to bring home a run from junior Sean Clinton (New City, NY/Clarkstown South). Senior Edem Okpattah (Baltimore, MD/Georgia Premier Academy) scored on an error from the Plymouth State catcher to add the second run.
Oneonta kept Plymouth State off the board with junior pitcher Caleb Nelson (Granville, NY/Granville Jr./Sr.) striking out a batter in the top of the fifth. The Red Dragons scored two more runs in the bottom of the fifth. Okpattah advanced Clinton to second on a sacrifice bunt, and then Clinton reached third when junior Ryan Donovan (North Tonawanda, NY/North Tonawanda) flew out to center field. Monserrat singled home Clinton, and Oneonta added another run with freshman Alex Halwick (Selkirk, NY/Ravena Coeymans Selkirk) hitting an RBI single to left field to take a 4-0 lead.
The Panthers got on the board in the sixth inning when Brayden Michaelson doubled down the left field line to bring Sam Salvi home. Oneonta closed out the game in the seventh with Connor Dobson grounding into a double play from Ryan Cronin (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa), Monserrat, and Halwick. A final lineout to freshman Carlos Almanzar (Brooklyn, NY/John Jay Campus) ended the game.
Halwick went 2-for-3 with one RBI, and Monserrat added one run, one RBI, and a hit. Clinton had two runs.
Josh Worthington, Login Desrochers, and Michaelson each had two hits.
Nelson (1-0) earned the win, going 5.2 innings with six hits, one run, and two strikeouts. Senior Martin Thorsland (Maryland, NY/Milford Central) had the save.
Jack Gintof went 5.0 innings with four hits, four runs, and two strikeouts.
Walks from Monserrat and Halwick put runners on first and second in the bottom of the first of game two. Senior Nick Jacoby (Yorktown Heights, NY/Yorktown) hit a bunt single to load the bases, and Monserrat reached home on a shortstop error. Almanzar singled home a pair of runs to take a 3-0 lead, and another Panthers' error allowed Cronin to score.
Plymouth State cut the lead to two runs in the second inning when Andrew Faherty singled in a run from Ryan Morgado to make it 4-1. The Panthers loaded the bases and walked in a run before sophomore Matt Callaghan (Kings Park, NY/Kings Park) struck out Brendan Flynn to end the inning.
Callaghan struck out two Panthers in the top of the third to complete a 1-2-3 inning.
Plymouth State added three more runs in the fourth inning with Salvi hitting a two-RBI single down the left field line. Connor Dobson scored on a wild pitch to cut the lead to 6-5.
Doubles from Almanzar and senior Brendan Duffy (Southold, NY/Southold Jr./Sr.) tacked on two more runs to extend the Red Dragons' lead to 8-5 in the fourth inning. Plymouth State answered with an RBI-double from Andrew Faherty to make it 8-6. Senior Dominic Colarusso (Stony Point, NY/Albertus Magnus) sealed the win by striking out the final Panther in the seventh inning.
Almanzar went 2-for-4 with three RBI, while Duffy added a hit, run, and two RBI.
Freshman Aiden Chartrand (Harrisville, NY/Harrisville) (1-0) went 2.1 innings with four hits, one run, and one strikeout.
Oneonta next hosts Union on Tuesday, March 10, at 3 p.m.
