The College at Brockport's baseball team had its backs against the wall from the first day of the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) postseason tournament.
The Golden Eagles dropped their first tournament game to Oneonta on Friday, meaning another loss would send the defending SUNYAC champions home early, and without that coveted SUNYAC championship.
A resilient Brockport battled through adversity, rallying for a walk-off win in the bottom of the ninth inning against New Paltz on Friday before exploding for 12 runs during the semifinal win over Oneonta on Saturday, a victory that propelled the Golden Eagles into the SUNYAC championship for the fourth time in the last five years.
Facing the host Cortland Red Dragons, who had only suffered two SUNYAC losses in 18 games coming into the championships, Brockport received solid starting pitching from senior Steve Locke (Oxford, NY/Oxford) and scored four runs in the fifth inning to win the first game of Sunday's championship series 5-3.
However the nationally-ranked Red Dragons rallied for a 2-1 win in Game 2 Sunday at Cortland's Wallace Field to capture the SUNYAC Championship.
Brockport (27-12) must hope to receive an at-large bid into the NCAA Division III Baseball Tournament while the Red Dragons (33-8) earned the SUNYAC's automatic berth into the NCAA Regional.
"I am happy with the way we played today," said Brockport head coach Justin Beach. "We could have taken advantage of more opportunities but all in all we played well and I'm proud of the way the whole team performed today."
Locke and Brockport's defense baffled Cortland, ranked seventh in the latest National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association's Division III poll, in Game 1. The crafty senior worked out of a jam in three of his six innings, getting crucial double-play balls to end the Red Dragons' threats in the first and third innings. With the game still scoreless entering the fifth, Brockport mounted a two-out rally to take a 4-0 lead.
Sophomore Jake Coleman (Hilton, NY/Hilton) singled to shortstop, reaching when he beat out a long throw. Senior Max Keado (Troy, NY/Catholic Central) followed with a walk, and a wild pitch gave Brockport runners at second and third. Junior Corey Booth (Middletown, NY/Minisink Valley) put Brockport up 2-0 with a double into deep left-center field and senior Max Zimmerman (East Amherst, NY/Williamsville North) followed with a two-run home run over the left field fence. The blast was Zimmerman's 20th of his Brockport career, and moved him into a tie with Hall of Famer Jim Voutour, who blasted 20 career home runs from 1984-1988.
The Golden Eagles took a 5-0 lead in the seventh as Coleman reached on a bunt single and advanced to third on an errant throw on the play. After an infield groundout, Booth again delivered for Brockport, plating Coleman with an RBI double into left-center field.
Cortland made things interesting in the ninth, stringing together four hits to plate three runs and pull within 5-3, but junior Anthony Siracusa (Auburn, NY/Auburn) recorded a strikeout to end the game and force the second game of the championship series.
Locke was effective in blanking Cortland over six innings. Lock allowed four hits and struck out five batters. Cortland stranded 13 runners on base in Game 1.
Cortland seemed poised to score first in the decisive Game 2 of its series with Brockport, when the Red Dragons got a runner to third base with only one out in the bottom of the third. But junior starting pitcher Mark Ciccotti (Breesport, NY/Horseheads) induced a pop out and a groundout to end the inning.
"The starting pitchers did an outstanding job today," said Beach. "They made good pitches to get out of trouble all day and left us in a god position to win both games."
The Golden Eagles took a 1-0 lead in the fourth, using a two-out rally to strike for the game's first run. Junior Mike DeGregory (Saratoga Springs, NY/Schuylerville) singled up the middle and then stole second base before senior Tom McCormick (Utica, NY/Utica Notre Dame) plated DeGregory on an RBI single up the middle.
Cortland pushed across the tying run in the bottom of the fourth and took a 2-1 lead on a one-out, RBI double in the bottom of the seventh. With the championship hanging in the balance, Brockport's bats were unable to come through with the clutch hit, as the Golden Eagles were retired in order in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings.
Ciccotti (2-3) collared the loss, allowing two runs on eight hits over 6 1/3 innings. Junior Aaron Tilley (Troy, NY/Troy) pitched 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief to keep it a one-run game.
For the day, DeGregory led all Brockport players, going 5-for-8. DeGregory, Coleman and Booth each had two hits in Game 1 as Booth (three RBI) and Zimmerman (two RBI) accounted for all five Brockport RBI. DeGregory went 3-for-4 and McCormick was 2-for-3 in Game 2.
"I hope the win over Cortland will help us earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament," said Beach. "We showed today and all season that we can play with the best teams in the region and I'm hopeful that will be recognized by the selection committee next week."
Zimmerman, Coleman and DeGregory garnered All-Tournament honors for Brockport.