Cortland — Day two of the SUNYAC Baseball Championships offered three more quality games. Oswego State eliminated SUNY Fredonia with a 3-2 win after Eric Hamilton gave the Lakers their first lead of the tournament in the eighth inning. It took extra innings, but SUNY Cortland was able to hold off The College at Brockport Golden Eagles by a score of 4-3 in the 1 p.m. game. The last game of the day saw Oswego State mounting another comeback, their second successful one of the tournament, to beat the Golden Eagles in a 9-8 thriller.
Workhorse
Seth Lamando of SUNY Cortland did everything he could to help advance his team to Championship Sunday. He went 10 full innings while throwing 124 pitches. Brockport’s Sam McCumiskey threw 141 pitches in his nine inning outing as well. Neither pitcher was awarded a decision in this contest. Lakers pitcher Mickey Putillo saw action in both games and recorded two saves. Nick Jerolimov of Brockport also appeared in both games for the Golden Eagles.
16 2/3
It took the Lakers 16 2/3 innings to gain their first lead of the tournament. Eric Hamilton’s 13th home run of the season gave the Lakers all they needed to top the No.4 seeded SUNY Fredonia Blue Devils. Mickey Putillo would then come on in the 9th to seal it and keep Oswego State alive. Their next longest SUNYAC streak without a lead came during the SUNY Cortland series earlier this year. Oswego State went two games, a 9 inning and 7 inning match up, without a lead before holding a 2-1 lead in the first inning of the final affair of the series.
Another Close Call
The Red Dragons were kept close in yet another game. They were held in check for most of the game yesterday against SUNY Fredonia, and today they were just able to edge out the Golden Eagles in e]11 innings. This shows, yet again, that anyone can beat anybody, especially in the game of the baseball. However, it would take a really special effort from any of these teams to knock off a team as deep as SUNY Cortland. Oswego State is the only team left standing and will have this shot tomorrow.
Making Them Notice
Eli Holton of the Oswego State Lakers made his first appearance in the second game of the day for the Lakers. He ended up going 4-4 on the day with four singles. Another Laker, who isn’t a regular starter, but made a difference today was Mike Dellicarri. He scored Oswego State’s first run of the ballgame against SUNY Fredonia, stole a base and hit a single. He also looked good at second after Zach Kollar’s two-error game the day prior.
Record Books
Eric Hamilton will enter the Oswego State baseball record books for the second time this year. His infield single in the bottom of the third against the Golden Eagles broke Mark Levine’s single-season record of 61 hits set back in 1985. Hamilton now sits at 63 hits on the year.