Cortland baseball coach Joe Brown reaches 700-win mark

Joe Brown speaking at the New York State Baseball of Fame annual awards luncheon, Nov. 13, 2016, in Troy, N.Y. (Photo by Micheal Clock)

Box Score

ITHACA, N.Y. - Justin Teague (North Syracuse/Cicero-North Syracuse) drove in six runs on a pair of three-run doubles as nationally 10th-ranked Cortland defeated host Ithaca, 10-4, to give Red Dragon head coach Joe Brown his 700th career victory.

Brown, in his 19th season at Cortland, is now 700-179-3. He is the second-fastest Division III coach to reach the 700-win mark, accomplishing the feat in 882 games. Legendary Marietta College coach Don Schaly hit the 700-win plateau in his 876th game. In all, Brown is the 38th Division III coach to win 700 games.

Cortland (21-6) jumped out to a 5-0 lead after two innings versus the Bombers. The Red Dragons plated two in the first on a passed ball and a Matthew Personius(Binghamton/Chenango Valley) RBI single. In the second, Garrett Heaton (East Patchogue/Bellport) and Antonio Pragana (Hopewell Junction/John Jay) each singled with two outs, Colin BeVard (Syracuse/West Genesee) reached on an error, and Teague hit a three-run double to left center.

Ithaca put up single runs in the third and fourth innings after leaving the bases loaded in the second. Andrew Bailey doubled in the third and eventually scored on a wild pitch, and Garrett Snyder led off the fourth with a triple and scored on a Cam Fuoti sac fly.

The game remained 5-2 until the top of the seventh when Danny Coleman (Saratoga Springs) hit a pinch-hit RBI double to score Teague, who led off the inning with a single. Teague's three-run triple to right center in the eighth extended Cortland's lead to 10-2, and Ithaca closed the scoring in the bottom of the eighth with two unearned runs on a pair of passed balls.

Teague finished 3-for-5 with two doubles, six RBI and two runs scored and Heaton was 2-for-4 with two runs. Dan Schweitzer (Poughquag/Arlington) was 1-for-3 with two walks and BeVard walked twice and scored three times. Adam Gallagher went 2-for-3 with a walk, Snyder was 2-for-3, and Bailey went 2-for-4 for Ithaca (11-10).

Matt Valin (LaFargeville) was awarded the win as the second of Cortland's three relievers. He threw two and two thirds hitless and scoreless innings with six strikeouts and two walks for his first victory as a Red Dragon. Frank Vesuvio (Armonk/Byram Hills) pitched the final three innings for his second save. He allowed one hit, two walks and two unearned runs and struck out three. Andrew Barnes (Rochester, NH/Spaulding) started for the Red Dragons and gave up one run on four hits with a walk and two strikeouts in two and two thirds innings.

Ithaca starter Tyler Hill took the loss. All five runs that he allowed in two innings of work were unearned. He walked three and gave up four hits.