CORTLAND, N.Y. – Cortland's offense combined for 28 runs on 27 hits as the nationally sixth-ranked Red Dragons (27-7, 15-2 SUNYAC) swept Fredonia, 18-0 and 10-1, in a league doubleheader.
The teams will play the final game of their three-game series Saturday at Wallace Field. The game was originally scheduled for noon, but has been moved up to 11 a.m. to help avoid predicted bad weather.
GAME 1: Cortland 18, Fredonia 0
Cortland led 1-0 and did not have a hit after three innings in the nine-inning opener, but the Red Dragons exploded for 17 runs and 16 hits over their final five trips to the plate. Vinny Bomasuto (Dunkirk) went 3-for-4 with two doubles, three RBI and three runs scored. Anthony Simon (Suffern/Don Bosco Prep (NJ)) was 2-for-3 with four RBI and Chris Jackson (Wappingers Falls/Roy C. Ketcham) hit a three-run homer and scored twice.
Also for the Red Dragons, Michael Fillers (Binghamton/Chenango Valley) was 1-for-1 with a walk and two RBI and Pat Farina (Mahopac) finished 1-for-3 with a walk and two RBI. Tim Panetta (Mount Kisco/Fox Lane) scored four times after reaching on a single, two walks and a hit-by-pitch. Senior pitcher Steve Komanecky (Auburn), batting for the first time since high school, doubled in the eighth inning.
Mark Palumbo (Morristown, NJ) improved to 5-0 after combining with Zach Ferris (Stephentown/LaSalle Institute) and Jake Shelley (Owego/Owego Free Academy) for the shutout. Palumbo allowed four runs and struck out four in six innings. Ferris gave up a hit in two innings and Shelley allowed one hit in the ninth. None of Cortland's pitchers issued a walk.
Farina's sac fly in the third gave Cortland a 1-0 lead in the third after Jackson was hit by a pitch, stole second and went to third on a Simon sac bunt. A five-run fourth featured a Bomasuto RBI single, a Simon two-run single and back-to-back RBI doubles by Donny Castaldo (Mount Kisco/Fox Lane) and Conrad Ziemendorf (Penfield/Webster Schroeder).
Bomasuto hit an RBI double and Jackson blasted a three-run homer to right in the fifth. The Red Dragons added four in the sixth on a Max Rosing (Rockville Centre/South Side) sac fly, a Bomasuto RBI double and a Simon two-run single. Cortland's final three runs came in the seventh on RBI singles by Connor Griffin (Cortland), Farina and Fillers.
Conner Lorenzo went 2-for-3 and Ciro Frontale was 2-for-4 to lead Fredonia. Starter Steve Sturm gave up eight hits and 10 runs, nine earned, in five innings.
GAME 2: Cortland 10, Fredonia 1
Brandon McClain (Coram/Longwood) allowed one run on five hits and a walk and struck out four over six innings in the seven-inning contest. He is now 8-1 on the season. Rosing went 2-for-3 with a homer, walk and five RBI, P.J. Rinaldi (Bethel, CT) finished 2-for-2 with two RBI and Ziemendorf went 2-for-4 with two runs scored.
Joe Korszun started for Fredonia (10-20, 5-12 SUNYAC) and gave up six hits over four innings. He struck out one and walked three while allowing six runs, five earned.
Rinaldi gave Cortland a 1-0 lead with a sac fly in the first. In the third, Bomasuto reached on an error to start the inning and hustled to take second on the play. He then stole third, and when a wild pitch occurred while he was stealing, Bomasuto kept running and beat the throw home. Rosing's RBI groundout later in the inning made it a 3-0 game.
Cortland added three runs in the fifth on a Rinaldi RBI double and Rosing's two-run homer to left center. The Red Dragons broke the game open in the sixth on a Bomasuto sac fly, an Austin Clock (Niskayuna) RBI single and a two-run single by Rosing.
Fredonia scored its run in the fifth when Dan Cecilia led off with a double, moved to third on a groundout and scored on an RBI groundout by Liam Kelly. Fredonia scored its run in the fifth when Dan Cecilia led off with a double, moved to third on a groundout and scored on an RBI groundout by Liam Kelly. The Blue Devils threatened in the top of the sixth while trailing 6-1 as they loaded the bases before McClain got a fielder's choice forceout to end the inning.