GENESEO, N.Y – Top-seeded Geneseo scored five runs over the first two innings and the Knights defeated second-seeded Cortland, 5-1, to win the 2018 State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) softball tournament title.

Cortland, which won the last three league titles, wraps up the season with a 23-19 record. The Red Dragons advanced to the championship round of the SUNYAC tournament for the 21st straight year dating back to 1998. During that stretch, Cortland has won 11 league titles and has finished second 10 times. The Knights (30-7) won their second league crown overall, and first since 2002, and earned an automatic berth into the NCAA Division III playoffs.

Tournament MVP Ashlyn Kersch scattered 11 hits with no walks over seven innings for the victory to improve to 13-2 on the season. She struck out four batters.

Geneseo scored twice in the bottom of first. With two outs, Danni Napoli singled and Anna Merante hit an RBI triple to right center. Claire VanNewkirk followed with an RBI single to right.

Cortland cut its deficit in half with a run in the top of the second. Ericka Sadowski (Liverpool) led off with a single and was bunted to second by Sabrina Caputo (Westbury/W.T. Clarke). A Cailey Cuttita (Clifton Park/Shenendehowa) single and steal put runners on second and third. Alissa DePadua (Milford, PA/Delaware Valley) singled to shallow left to score Sadowski, but Geneseo was able to throw out Cuttita on a tag play at third for the second out. Andrea Schoonmaker (Marlboro) bunted for a single to push DePadua to second before a pop-up ended the inning.

The hosts responded with three runs in the second to go ahead 5-1. Tori Fahie led off with a double and pinch runner Kate Luchowski took third on a wild pitch. An Abbey Whitney infield single put runners on first and third, and one out later Alyssa Persich hit a two-run triple to left center. After a Maddison Tucker walk, the Knights pulled off a double steal with Tucker taking second and Persich beating the return throw to the plate.

Cortland's best scoring opportunities after that came in the fifth and sixth innings. The Red Dragons had runners on second and third with one out in the fifth after hits by Schoonmaker and Skyler Hoyt (Endicott/Union-Endicott), but Kersch struck out the next two hitters. In the sixth, a Sadowski leadoff single and a one out error put runners on first and third. Kersch again responded by recording a strikeout, and the inning ended when Cortland was caught stealing while trying to get into a rundown between first and second in an attempt to bring in a run.

Geneseo also had other good scoring opportunities go by the board as the Knights stranded a runner on second with two outs in the third, runners on second and third with one out in the fourth, and a runner on third in the fifth.

Sam Van Dorn (Medford/Patchogue-Medford) started for the Red Dragons and allowed four runs on five hits in one inning, plus two batters faced in the second. Courtney Kane (Bellport) allowed five hits and one run in two and a third innings with three strikeouts and one walk. Cady Walts (Cortland) entered in the fourth with runners on second and third and recorded a strikeout and fly out to end the inning. Walts allowed only one walk and struck out three batters over the final two and two thirds innings.

Kelly O'Gorman (Clifton Park/Shenendehowa), Schoonmaker and Van Dorn represented Cortland on the all-tournament team. O'Gorman, who did not play in the championship game due to an injury suffered on Saturday, finished the tournament batting .556 (10-for-18) with five walks, three steals, five runs and three RBI in five games. Schoonmaker hit .458 (11-for-24) with two walks, six steals, six runs and three RBI. Van Dorn had a 3-2 record and 2.45 ERA in six appearances. In 25 and two thirds innings she allowed 25 hits and nine walks with nine strikeouts.

2018 SUNYAC Softball All-Tournament Team
Maddie Wrubel - Oswego
Jennifer Groat - Plattsburgh
Anna Fisher - Plattsburgh
Lauren Sabatino - Oneonta
Dana Del Genio - Oneonta
Kelly O'Gorman - Cortland
Sam Van Dorn - Cortland
Andrea Schoonmaker - Cortland
Alyssa Persich - Geneseo
Claire VanNewkirk - Geneseo
Ashlyn Kersch - Geneseo - MVP