CORTLAND, N.Y. – Junior Ray Angelucci (Commack) pitched a four-hitter and did not allow a run until the ninth inning as nationally fifth-ranked Cortland defeated Brockport, 5-2, in a winner's bracket game of the SUNYAC baseball tournament.
Cortland (34-7-1) will face Brockport again on Sunday at noon in the championship round and needs only one victory in two tries to win the SUNYAC title. Brockport defeated Oneonta in an elimination game, 8-5, in Saturday's final game.
Angelucci improved to 10-1 on the season and is only the third pitcher in school history to reach the 10-win mark in a season. Mike Howell won a school-record 11 games in 2001 and Phil Tyskewicz won 10 games in 1994.
Senior Matt June (Colonie) and sophomore P.J. Rinaldi (Bethel, CT) each finished 2-for-4 with a double. June, sophomore Max Rosing (Rockville Centre/South Side) and junior Zack Graczyk (Carmel) each drove in a run.
Aaron Tilley threw a complete game for Brockport, which will bring a 26-16 record into Sunday's championship round. He allowed seven hits and five runs, three earned, in eight innings with four strikeouts and two walks.
Angelucci allowed only one hit through eight innings – a leadoff single by Mike Weakley in the fifth. Brockport eventually scored twice in the ninth on a Corey Booth RBI single and on a "first-and-third" play where Booth was picked off but stayed in a rundown long enough for a runner to score from third.
Cortland led 1-0 in the first when June led off with a double, went to third on an Andrew Pezzuto (Hastings) single and scored on a wild pitch. An error allowed a run to score in the third to make the score 2-0, and in the fourth Michael LaTempa (LaGrangeville/Arlington) led off with a single, was bunted to second by Brian Barry (Smithtown/Smithtown East), took third on a groundout and scored on a Rosing RBI single.
The Red Dragons finished their scoring with two runs in the seventh. Rinaldi doubled, went to third on an error and scored on a Graczyk sacrifice fly. June singled in a run two batters later.
In the first game of the day Saturday, Oneonta defeated Plattsburgh, 5-1, to eliminate the Cardinals.