Cortland Crush win first playoff game in dramatic fashion

The following is a republished press release…to submit a community announcement, email Peter Blanchard at [email protected].


CORTLAND, N.Y. – The Crush won their first ever playoff game Monday night with a walk off hit in the ninth for game two of the New York Collegiate Baseball League Eastern Divisional Series played at Beaudry Park.

Cortland took an early lead in the first with an RBI single by Zephan Kash (Mansfield) to score Luke Gilbert (Brockport). That would be the first of three runs that Gilbert would score on the night.

Wesley Burghardt, also of Brockport, hit an RBI single in the third inning that would allow Gilbert to add to the Crush’s lead.

But the runs did not end there. Cortland extended their lead over the Outlaws when Gilbert scored yet again on a suicide squeeze by Sean Getman (SUNY Cortland) in the fifth inning.

Oneonta was not ready to let Cortland’s 3-0 lead go unanswered. The sixth inning began a streak of runs for the Outlaws, which eventually lead to a tie game in the eighth inning.

Tyler Martis (Siena) scored Oneonta’s first on an RBI by Jordan Bradley (Wofford) in the sixth. Trevor Putzig (Tennessee Tech) scored on a fielder’s choice in the seventh, helping Oneonta close the gap against the Crush.

The tying run came in the eighth when Martis scored for a second time on an RBI double by Zachary Krider (South Carolina Upstate).

Cortland’s bats came alive once again in the bottom of the ninth when Burghardt hit a lead off double, which was just a few feet shy of being a game-winning homerun.

After a single by George Haaland (Trinity), a stolen base and a walk, Crush bases were loaded with no outs on the scoreboard. Designated hitter YB Hughes (West Liberty) came up to the plate and hit a walkoff broken bat single to win game 2 of the Eastern Division Semifinals for the Crush.

Crush pitcher Shae Edmonds (East Central) went a strong six innings striking out four and allowing only two runs.

Oneonta’s Michael Adams (Albany) pitched a seven-inning game, striking out seven while allowing three runs. Nate Williams (Western Carolina) was credited with the loss. Williams struck out two, but allowed two hits and one run in his two innings on the mound.

Brockport boys Gilbert and Burghardt each finished the day 3-4, and together combined to score all the runs Cortland needed to win the game.

Matt Alberino (Northland) went 2-for-3, and George Haaland (Trinity) went 2-for-4 for the Crush.

Putzig and Ryan Nelson (Quinnipiac) each went 2-4 for the Outlaws.

Cortland will travel back to Oneonta on Tuesday to finish out game 1 of the semifinals at 3pm, which was postponed on Sunday due to rain. The game was suspended in the third with Oneonta leading 5-0. If necessary, the teams will play game 3 of the series with a scheduled 7pm start time.

In other semifinals action, the Syracuse Jr. Chiefs won game 2 of their series against the Salt Cats and will proceed to play game 3 on Tuesday. Niagara and Hornell have now split the series and will also be competing for a winner on Tuesday. Olean’s sweep of the Geneva Twins has earned them a day off before playing for the Western Division championship.

Box Score: http://nycbleague.bbstats.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=303755

 


 

Follow The Cortland Voice on Facebook | Twitter