BROCKPORT, N.Y. – Junior Briana Barca's (Eastchester) bases-loaded, one-out single in the bottom of the seventh capped Cortland's rally from a 7-0 deficit over the final five innings as the Red Dragons defeated Geneseo, 8-7, to win the SUNYAC Softball title.

Cortland (28-14) finished 4-0 at the double-elimination tournament, including a 2-1 win in nine innings versus Plattsburgh earlier Saturday, to claim its 12th SUNYAC title overall and its fifth in the last seven years. The Red Dragons earn an automatic berth into the NCAA Div. III tournament – NCAA regional pairings will be announced Monday, May 6, at 10 a.m. on NCAA.com.


Cortland 2, Plattsburgh 1 (9 inn.) (Box Score)

One day after outlasting Plattsburgh in 13 innings, 2-1, the Red Dragons again went extra innings with the Cardinals before winning in dramatic fashion. Sophomore Erin Wolstenholme (Oneonta) led off the bottom of the ninth with a walk. Nicole Gallo (Mount Sinai) then put down a sacrifice bunt. The throw by the catcher was off the mark, deflected off the glove of the covering second baseman and rolled into shallow right field. Wolstenholme continued running on the play and scored the winning run.

Cortland took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Jamie Bucci (Tarrytown/Sleepy Hollow) singled, Diane Cork (Wayland/Wayland-Cohocton) doubled and Lucia Meola (Liverpool/Cicero-North Syracuse) hit a sacrifice fly to center.

Plattsburgh tied the game in the fourth. The first two batters reached on errors. Meola then made a diving catch on a liner to second and flipped to first for a double play, but a wild pitch allowed the run to score.

Cortland's Amber Corrigan (Montgomery/Valley Central) and Plattsburgh's Ashley Marshall dueled for the second straight day. Corrigan allowed only one hit – a leadoff single by Kristine Gay in the top of the first – and walked two batters in nine innings. The run she allowed was unearned. Marshall gave up six hits and two runs, one earned, with four strikeouts and two walks in eight-plus innings. Plattsburgh finishes the season 24-16.

Cassie Kardias (Shrub Oak/Lakeland) finished 2-for-3 and Bucci was 2-for-4 for Cortland.


Cortland 8, Geneseo 7 (Box Score)

Geneseo appeared on the verge of forcing a “winner-take-all” championship game on Sunday after jumping out to a 7-0 lead after two innings. The Knights scored three unearned runs in the first and added four runs in the second on a Samantha Trapasso two-run double, a Jessica Steubing RBI single and an error.

Cortland chipped away at the lead with two runs in the third on a Kardias RBI double, with an error on the play allowing a second run to score. In the fifth, Cork walked, took second on an error, went to third on a Meola double and scored on an Alicia Hibbard (Canastota) sacrifice fly to draw within 7-3.

The Red Dragons tied the game with a four-run bottom of the sixth. Nicole Gallo (Mount Sinai) led off with a double and pinch runner Jennifer Ranieri (West Islip) scored on a Wolstenholme RBI single, who took second on the throw. Corrin Spallone relieved Geneseo starter Katie Gallagher and retired the next two batters on a flyout and pop-up, with Wolstenholme tagging to third on the latter. With two outs, Beth Lamison (Liverpool) reached on an error and Wolstenholme scored to cut the lead to 7-5. Cork then ripped a two-run homer to left center to tie the game at 7-7.

Corrigan entered to pitch the seventh. She gave up a one-out single and a sacrifice bunt, but a strikeout ended the inning. In the bottom of the seventh, Kardias walked and was bunted to second by Gallo. Wolstenholme singled down the left field line, with Kardias reaching third and Wolstenholme taking second on Geneseo's attempt to throw out Kardias. The Knights then intentionally walked Courtney Kadish (Williamsville/Williamsville North) to load the bases and Barca hit a single between third and short to end the game and give Cortland the title.

Sarah Salamone (Liverpool/Cicero-North Syracuse) started for Cortland and was replace briefly by Tiffany Sampere (Liverpool) before re-entering in the second. She allowed three unearned runs on eight hits in five and a third innings with three strikeouts and three walks. Sampere was charged with four runs, three earned, in two thirds of an inning.

Corrigan earned the win in relief and is now 14-4. She finished the tournament with a 4-0 record and was named the tournament Most Valuable Player. She was joined on the all-tournament team by Wolstenholme, Cork and Meola. Wolstenholme finished 2-for-4 with an RBI in the title game. Cork was 1-for-2 with a homer, two walks, two RBI and three runs scored and Meola went 1-for-3 with a walk.

Geneseo (22-20) was led by Steubing's 3-for-4 performance. Mikayla Moore went 2-for-2, Ashley Fillmore went 2-for-3 with a walk and two runs and Samantha Brown finished 2-for-4. Gallagher allowed five hits and five runs, three earned, in five innings. She walked four batters.

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