CORTLAND, N.Y. – Four home runs, including two by
Diane Cork (Wayland/Wayland-Cohocton), accounted for five of Cortland's eight runs as the Red Dragons swept visiting New Paltz, 3-2 and 5-1, in a SUNYAC doubleheader.
Cortland is in first place in the league with a 12-2 record (26-10 overall) with four games remaining. The Red Dragons are scheduled for doubleheaders Friday at Potsdam and Saturday at Plattsburgh. Geneseo is currently second at 11-3 and Oneonta is third at 10-4, each also with four games left. The regular-season champion will host the league's six-team, double-elimination postseason tournament April 30-May 3.
Cork hit a solo homer in each game.
Mikayla Shade (Bethlehem) hit a solo round-tripper to provide the go-ahead run in the sixth inning of the opener, and
Niki Barbato (East Meadow/Holy Trinity) ripped a two-run shot in the nightcap. Cork and Barbato share the team lead with five homers apiece this spring.
Game 1: Cortland 3, New Paltz 2 (Box Score)Jamie Lachall (Philadelphia, PA/Sun Valley) improved to 9-2 with the win as she allowed six hits and no walks in seven innings. She struck out three. She out-dueled New Paltz's Katie Rutcofsky, who allowed six hits and three runs, two earned, in six innings with two strikeouts and no walks.
New Paltz took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third on a homer by Danielle Bruno, who had entered the game defensively the previous half inning. Cortland tied the game in the bottom of the frame on a Cork solo homer to left center with two outs.
In the bottom of the fifth,
Rosie Phillips (Geneva) singled with two outs and went to third on a
Jamie Bucci (Tarrytown/Sleepy Hollow) single through the right side. Bucci then stole second, and Phillips scored when the throw to second went into center field.
The Hawks knotted the game in the sixth. Shayna Burgess led off with a single and went to third on a Fallon Spriggs single. Spriggs was then caught in a rundown and eventually tagged out during the next at-bat, but Burgess took off during the play and beat the throw home. Shade broke the tie with a one-out homer to straight-away center that hit off the top of the fence and continued over. Lachall finished off the victory by retiring the side in order in the seventh.
Bucci finished 2-for-3 for the Red Dragons, while Spriggs and Bruno each went 2-for-2 for New Paltz.
Game 2: Cortland 5, New Paltz 1 (Box Score)Cortland opened the scoring in the third on a Cork homer to center that hit off the top of the fence, then ricocheted off the flagpole beyond the wall. In the fourth,
Courtney Kadish (East Amherst/Williamsville North) singled with two outs, pinch hitter
Alicia Flanagan (Penfield) walked, and pinch hitter
Andrea Schoonmaker (Poughkeepsie/Marlboro) hit an RBI double to right that hit about halfway up the fence. Flanagan was thrown out trying to score on the play to end the inning and keep the score at 2-0.
In the fifth, Cork drew a one-out walk and Barbato blasted a two-run homer just inside the left field foul pole. New Paltz picked up a run in the sixth on a Burgess RBI single, but Cortland closed the scoring in the bottom of the inning on a Schoonmaker RBI single.
Sarah Salamone (Liverpool/Cicero-North Syracuse) gave up only two hits and no runs over five innings for the victory. She struck out one and walked one and is now 6-4.
Alexandrea Flint (Dalton/Keshequa) gave up one run over the final two frames. Erika Traina took the loss with seven hits, two walks and four runs allowed in four and a third innings.
Barbato finished the game 3-for-3 with two RBI. Schoonmaker was 2-for-2 with two RBI and Kadish went 2-for-3. Cork ended 1-for-2 with a walk, RBI and two runs scored. For New Paltz (16-13, 8-6 SUNYAC), Burgess was 1-for-3 with an RBI and Jordan Fiore was 1-for-2.
