MOUNT BERRY, GA. – Cortland scored eight straight runs over a four-inning stretch to take a 9-5 lead, but Berry College responded with three runs in the bottom of the eighth and two in the ninth as the Vikings defeated the Red Dragons, 10-9, to close action at Berry's three-day tournament.
Cortland (7-6-1) will continue its Georgia spring break trip with a game at Piedmont College Tuesday at 7 p.m.
Berry (14-6) began its winning rally in the ninth with a Dalton Smith leadoff walk. Zack Walch bunted Smith to second, but Cortland pitcher Isiah Hudson (Hyde Park/FDR) struck out the next batter for the second out. Spence Johns, however, singled up the middle to drive in Smith and tie the game at 9-9. Dan Hobbs (Saratoga Springs) entered in relief and allowed a Casey Whitaker double down the right field line to put runners on second and third. Quinn Smith won the game by beating out an infield single deep behind second base to drive in Johns.
Cortland led 1-0 on a Dan Schweitzer (Poughquag/Arlington) RBI single in the first, but Berry scored on an error in the second and a Devin Post RBI single in the third to take a 2-1 lead. The Vikings plated three runs in the fourth on a two-run error and a Whitaker sacrifice fly to go ahead 5-1.
The Red Dragons chipped away at their deficit starting with a Colin BeVard (Syracuse/West Genesee) two-run double in the top of the fifth. In the sixth, Sam Kippen (Lyncourt/Solvay) doubled and eventually scored on a Brian Corporan (Bronx/H.S. for Environmental Studies) sac fly, and Cortland tied the game in the seventh without a hit on a Danny Coleman (Saratoga Springs) walk, a steal by pinch runner Andrew Michalski (Buffalo/St. Francis), a groundout and a Scott Giordano (Croton-on-Hudson/Croton-Harmon) sac fly.
Cortland took a 9-5 lead with four runs in the top of the eighth with a rally that mostly occurred with two outs. Kippen singled with one out and pinch runner Steven Salisbury (Cranston, RI/Moses Brown) stole second with two outs. Joseph Dwy (Hillsdale/Taconic Hills) reached on an error to keep the inning alive and, following an intentional walk to Marcos Perivolaris (Mattituck), Michalski lined a two-run single to right, with a third run scoring on a wild throw from the outfield. BeVard followed with an RBI double to deep left center.
Berry's three-run response in the bottom of the eighth started with a hit batter and a walk. Whitaker doubled in a run with one out and, with two outs, Zach Huie walked and Post hit a two-run single through the left side.
BeVard finished 2-for-5 with two doubles and three RBI, Kippen went 2-for-4 and Schweitzer was 2-for-5 with an RBI for the Red Dragons. Nick Morena (Holbrook/Sachem North) allowed four runs, three earned, over three-plus innings and Jake Casey (Homer) gave up three runs, two earned, over four frames before giving way to Hudson after allowing two baserunners to start the eighth. Hudson took the loss as he was charged with three runs, including Berry's two tallies in the ninth.
Whitaker went 4-for-5 with two RBI, including the game-winning hit, while Post, Quinn Smith and Dalton Smith each had two hits for the Vikings. William Gibbons earned the win after pitching a scoreless top of the ninth. Starter Garrett West gave up seven hits and four runs over five and a third innings.