PANAMA CITY BEACH, FLA. – The Cortland softball team, ranked sixth in the latest National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Div. III poll, opened the season with two losses during the first day of the NFCA Leadoff Classic. The Red Dragons lost to second-ranked University of Texas Tyler, 11-3, and were edged by Willamette University of Oregon, 6-5.
Texas Tyler (7-0) – a Div. III World Series team along with Cortland last spring – was led by Whitney Wyly, who finished 3-for-4 with a homer, walk and three RBI. Joey Cronin went 2-for-3 with a triple, two walks and three RBI. Kimber Bossom allowed three hits, seven walks and two unearned runs while striking out three over five innings for the victory.
Juniors Donnalyn Cross (Binghamton/Chenango Valley) and Brooke Weidman (Perkinsville/Wayland-Cohocton) each went 2-for-3 to account for four of Cortland’s five hits. Cross also drew a walk and scored twice. Senior Katie Finch (Amsterdam/Broadalbin-Perth) suffered the loss after allowing nine hits, three walks and nine runs, seven earned, in six and one-third innings.
The Patriots scored twice in the top of the first when Wyly, the NCAA Div. III leader last season with 18 home runs, hit a two-run round-tripper to right field. Finch hit the first three batters in the second, and a wild pitch plated a run. She escaped with only one run scoring after the Red Dragons used a fielder’s choice and a double play to end the inning.
Wyly walked to lead off the third and eventually scored to extend the lead to 4-0 in the third. Cortland got two runs back in the bottom of the fifth. Weidman singled and Cross walked. Following a strikeout and a fielder’s choice, Emily Ringen (Pompton Plains, NJ/Pequannock) hit a ball to left that was misplayed to allow two runs to score.
The Patriots picked up a run in the sixth on a Wyly RBI single and broke the game open with six runs in the top of the seventh. The big hits in the inning were Cronin’s three-run triple and a Brittanni Hanna RBI double. Cortland’s final run came on a Kayla Lynch (Albany/Colonie) sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh.
In Cortland’s game versus Willamette, the Red Dragons scored three times in the top of the fifth inning on a Lynch two-run homer and an RBI triple by freshman Danielle Groneman (East Islip) to tie the game at 4-4. Groneman finished 2-for-3 with a walk and Weidman and sophomore Jessica Harman (Penfield) were each 2-for-4.
Weidman’s RBI single in the second gave Cortland a 1-0 lead, but the Bearcats (2-0) tied the game in the third on a Mica Romero RBI double and scored three in the fourth on a hit batsman with the bases loaded and a two-run error.
After Cortland tied the game at 4-4, Willamette took the lead for good with two runs in the fifth. Nichole Robertson’s RBI single plated one run, with another run scoring on the play when Robertson intentionally got into a rundown between first and second long enough for the runner from third to score.
Cortland plated a run in the top of the seventh but left the bases loaded. Ringen, Harman and Groneman all singled with one out and Katie Fusco (Lake Ronkonkoma/Sachem North) drew a two-out walk to force in a run. A groundout, however, ended the game.
Sophomore Lyndsay Rowell (Sandy Creek) pitched a complete game for Cortland and allowed six runs, four earned. She gave up eight hits and six walks and struck out two. Talissa Huntsman earned the win for Willamette with two and a third innings of four-hit, one-run relief.
Cortland will play La Verne University of California Saturday at 1 p.m., with another opponent to be determined. The tournament will conclude with two more games on Sunday.
Box Score vs. Texas Tyler
Box Score vs. Willamette