AUBURN, N.Y. – Cortland opened up an 8-2 lead after four innings and held off numerous Susquehanna comeback attempts as the Red Dragons defeated the Crusaders, 10-9, to win the NCAA Division III Baseball New York Regional title.
 
Susquehanna forced a winner-take-all regional title game with an 8-6 win in Saturday's opening game of the championship round. The Crusaders finished 4-2 at the regional and ended the season 33-16.

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Cortland (41-6), the defending national champion and ranked first in the nation this spring, advances to the NCAA Div. III World Series for the third straight year and the 14th time overall. The Red Dragons will face the winner of the South region, still to be determined, in the opening round of the World Series on Friday, May 27, at Fox Cities Stadium in Grand Chute, Wis., just outside of Appleton. For the second straight year, the Series features a format with two four-team, double-elimination pools, followed by a best-of-three series for the national title.
 
Cortland junior third baseman Steven Figueroa (Bronx/St. Raymond's) was named the regional tournament Most Valuable Player and was joined on the all-tournament team by teammates Nick Hart (Fredonia), Seth Lamando (Hopewell Junction/Roy C. Ketcham), Austin Clock (Niskayuna) and Conrad Ziemendorf (Penfield/Webster Schroeder). The other all-tournament team choices were: Susquehanna's Justin Cassinelli, Zach Leone and Matt Cassinelli; Union's Jake Fishman; Castleton's Devin Hayes; and Ramapo's Connor Walsh.
 
Susquehanna 8, Cortland 6
 
Susquehanna starter Nathan Madden, pitching on just two days rest, took a no-hitter into the eighth inning before Hart hit a leadoff double. He allowed a run in the first on three hit batters and a Ziemendorf bases-loaded walk, and Hart scored in the eighth on a Clock two-out RBI double.
 
The Crusaders appeared to be in control with an 8-2 lead before Cortland made things interesting in the bottom of the ninth. Paul Dondero (East Islip) led off with a double and, with one out, Connor Griffin (Cortland) singled to right. Lamando pinch hit and walked to load the bases, and Hart's sac fly lineout to center drove in Dondero but resulted in the second out. Figueroa followed with an RBI single, Fabio Ricci (Hawthorne/Westlake) beat out an infield single, and Clock's nubber stayed fair down the first base line for an RBI single to cut the deficit to 8-5. Ziemendorf forced in a run with a walk and put the potential tying run on second, but a force out ended the game.
 
Matt Cassinelli and Bryan Palsi singled home runs for Susquehanna in the first. Dylan Glassmire added an RBI single in the second, and the Crusaders put up two in the fourth on a Glassmire squeeze bunt and a Leone RBI single. They tacked on single runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings on a Leone RBI double, an error, and a Justin Cassinelli solo homer.
 
Susquehanna finished with 14 hits, led by Leone's 3-for-5 effort and two hits each by both Cassinellis, Glassmire and Palsi. Madden, despite eventually giving up six runs on five hits, earned the win to improve to 5-2, and Liam Conboy recorded the final out after two hits and a walk for his ninth save.
 
Clock went 2-for-4 with two RBI and Ziemendorf drove in two runs for Cortland.
 
Cortland 10, Susquehanna 9
 
The championship game featured 16 hits by each team. Hart finished 4-for-5 with a double, an RBI and three runs scored and Ziemendorf was 3-for-5 with a triple, double and four RBI. Figueroa hit a solo homer in the first to give Cortland an early 1-0 lead and finished 1-for-3 with a walk, RBI and two runs scored.
 
Also for the Red Dragons, Justin Teague (North Syracuse/Cicero-North Syracuse) went 3-for-4 with two doubles and a walk and Clock was 2-for-3 with two walks and an RBI. Ricci hit a two-run homer in the fourth.
 
Taylor Luckenbill went 4-for-5 with a double, RBI and two runs scored for Susquehanna in the title game. Leone finished 3-for-5 with two runs scored, Justin Cassinelli was 2-for-6 with two RBI, Palsi was 2-for-4 with a walk and three RBI, and Matt Cassinelli finished 2-for-4 with a walk and two runs scored.
 
Nick Di Benedetto (Nanuet) entered the game to start the bottom of the seventh with Cortland clinging to a 9-8 lead. He retired the first six batters he faced before allowing a Luckenbill infield single to lead off the ninth. After a balk, Di Benedetto struck out the next two batters before allowing a Justin Cassinelli RBI single. Di Benedetto finished the game by inducing a flyout to center.
 
Di Benedetto was determined to be Cortland's most effective reliever after starter Turner Parry (Syracuse/West Genesee), making his first start of the season, left in the third inning with a lead that Cortland never relinquished. Di Benedetto was awarded the win and is 2-0 on the season. He finished the game with two hits and one run allowed with two strikeouts and no walks in three innings.
 
Cortland led 2-0 in the first on Figueroa's homer and a Ziemendorf RBI single. Justin Cassinelli hit an RBI single in the second, but Ziemendorf's three-run  triple in the top of the third put Cortland up 5-1. The Crusaders answered with a Palsi RBI single in the third, but Cortland added three more in the fourth on Hart's RBI double and Ricci's two-run homer.
 
Susquehanna scored three runs in both the fifth and sixth innings, sandwiched around a Cortland run in the sixth, to draw within 9-8. Palsi hit a two-run single and Tom Giaimo added an RBI single in the fifth, while Dylan Jenkins hit an RBI double, Luckenbill had an RBI single, and Cole Luzins drove in a run with a fielder's choice in the sixth. Cortland's run in the sixth came on a Clock RBI single.
 
Cortland scored a key insurance run in the top of the ninth. Ziemendorf doubled with one out and scored on an RBI single by pinch hitter Patrick Schetter (Beacon). The Red Dragons had a chance for another run, but left fielder Matt Cassinelli threw out a runner at home trying to score on a Dondero single.