CARY, N.C. – The nationally second-ranked Cortland baseball team built an 8-0 lead midway through the game and held on down the stretch to defeat host William Peace University, 9-7, in a non-league game.
Cortland improved to 11-3 with the victory while the Pacers fell to 10-7. Cortland's game at Roanoke on Wednesday has been moved up to a 3 p.m. start.
Cortland grabbed a 4-0 lead in the first on a
Nick Chemotti (Warners/West Genesee) RBI triple, a
Danny Coleman (Saratoga Springs) two-run single and a
Mat Bruno (Rye) sacrifice fly. The lead grew to 6-0 in the second. Chemotti doubled in a run and the second run scored on a throwing error after a grounder to third. The Red Dragons tacked on a run in the third on
Matthew Krafft's (Cornwall) RBI single and another in the fifth on an
Antonio Pragana (Hopewell Junction/John Jay) sacrifice fly to take an 8-0 lead.
William Peace got on the board in the fifth on a Nick Tyler two-run double, but Cortland pushed across a run in the top of the sixth on
Paul Franzese's (Somers) sac fly to take a 9-2 lead.
The hosts made things interesting over the final third of the contest. The Pacers put up three runs in the seventh on a Hunter Ward two-run double and a Brett Kemp RBI single, and they drew within 9-7 in the eighth on a Kevin Gonzalez two-run homer. William Peace started the ninth with a Tyler walk, but the Red Dragons escaped with a double play and groundout to end the game.
Ryan Flansburg (Queensbury) earned the win for the Red Dragons. He allowed five hits, two walks and two runs in five and a third innings. He struck out five batters.
Patrick Dalton (Bethpage), Cortland's fourth reliever, pitched the ninth for the save. Krafft was 3-for-4 with and RBI and Chemotti finished 2-for-5 with a triple, double, walk, two RBI and two runs.
Andrew Michalski (Buffalo/St. Francis) went 2-for-4.
For William Peace, Logan Barbour and Tyler each went 2-for-4 and Kemp was 2-for-5. Gonzalez was 1-for-3 with a homer, walk, two RBI and three runs. Starter Brendan Shea suffered the loss after giving up seven runs, six earned, in two and two thirds innings. Justin Hamilton, the Pacers' first reliever, gave up one unearned run in two and a third innings and Nathaniel Varnier, the team's fifth and final reliever, didn't allow a hit or walk and struck out two strikeouts over the last inning and two thirds.
