Cortland County High School Sports Recaps (April 3rd)

A special thank you goes to Visions Federal Credit Union for partnering with us to provide the greater Cortland County community with additional sports coverage

The Cortland baseball team wins the Lumber Yard Classic. (Photo provided by Cortland Head Coach Benjamin Albright).

Here are some local high school varsity sports recaps from Monday’s events:

Varsity Baseball: Cortland vs. Chenango Forks (PBR Lumber Yard Classic)

The Cortland Purple Tigers won the PBR Lumber Yard Classic Monday evening after defeating Chenango Forks with a final score of 6-5. 

The Tigers trailed 4-5 in the bottom of the final inning. 

Christopher Yang walked to let Tyler Gilbert score to tie the game 5-5. Then Andrew Partigianoni stayed patient at the plate and walked to let Danny Jackson score the game-winning walk-off. 

Cortland was led by Christopher Yang (1 run & 1 RBI), Danny Jackson (1 run & 1 hit), Cal Albright (1 RBI), Caden Albright (1 hit & 1 RBI), Andrew Partigianoni (1 run & 1 RBI), Ethan Johnson (2 runs & 1 hit), Tyler Gilbert (1 RBI), Zach Muir (3 strikeouts thrown), and Owen Johnson (2 strikeouts thrown).

Chenango Forks was led by TY Bender (2 hits & 3 strikeouts thrown), Keegan Watson (1 run, 3 hits & 1 RBI), Finnegan Stark (1 run, 1 hit & 1 RBI), Jack Curtis (1 run, 2 hits, 1 RBI & 1 strikeout thrown), Grady Stark (1 hit, 1 RBI & 3 strikeouts thrown), A. Sergi (1 run), Chris Boyle (1 run). 

Note: Homer and Dryden were supposed to take part in the tournament, but were not able to play because of schedule changes. 

Cortland will now play in the Partigianoni tournament this upcoming Thursday (April 6th). The first game is scheduled to begin at noon. 

Varsity Baseball: Marathon vs. Moravia

The Marathon Olympians lost a tough game against Moravia with a final score of 1-14 on the road. 

With this loss, Marathon now holds a 1-2 overall record. 

Marathon was mainly led by Jon Forrest (1 hit & 1 RBI), Tristin Byron (1 run), and Blake Birdsall (2 strikeouts thrown). 

Moravia was mainly led by Luke Landis (3 runs, 1 Home-Run, 2 hits & 4 RBI’s), Eli Landis (3 runs, 3 hits & 1 RBI), and Kaiden Sharpteen (6 strikeouts thrown).

“Moravia played a great game,” said Marathon Head Coach Bryan Hoyt. “They played solid defense and they can really hit the ball. I think my boys competed well. We played tough defense. We made a couple of mistakes they took advantage of, and that made the score worse than it really was. We made good contact with the ball, we just couldn’t seem to get the ball to drop in. Credit to Moravia, they covered the ground well and made some nice plays.”

Up next, Marathon will host Newfield at Marathon High School on Thursday (April 6th) at 4pm. 

Varsity Softball: Homer vs. Phoenix

The Homer Lady Trojans won their first game of the regular season against Phoenix with a final score of 21-6 after a mercy rule was called. 

“I thought the girls did well for our first game,” said Homer Head Coach Cris Colasurdo. “It was nice to see them move to the ball to make some defensive plays. I was especially happy to see everyone get on base offensively, which helped us score every inning.”

Homer was led by Khloe Young (2 runs, 1 hit & 1 RBI), Melina Hage (3 runs, 2 hits & 2 RBI’s), Sam Sovocool (1 run), Allyson Verfuss (1 Home-Run, 2 total runs, 4 hits & 4 RBI’s), Brooke Casterline (2 runs & 1 hit), Karigan Quaile (2 runs & 2 hits), Cecelia Rappleyea (1 run & 1 hit), Catherine Apker (1 Home-Run, 5 total runs, 4 hits & 5 RBI’s), Jenna Henderson (1 run & 1 RBI), and Lyla Read (2 runs, 1 hit & 2 RBI’s).

Phoenix was led by Kendall Barnes (1 run & 1 hit), Beth Landers (1 run & 1 hit), Mariah Sutliffe (1 run & 2 hits), Bailey Hager (2 runs & 1 RBI), Mia Graham (2 hits), and Maddie DiGiovanni (1 run).

Homer is now scheduled to play Cortland at the Gutchess Lumber Sports Complex on Wednesday (April 5th) at 1pm. 

Varsity Softball: Marathon vs. Dryden

The Marathon Lady Olympians lost their first game of the season with a score of 5-21 against Dryden after a mercy rule was called. 

“Dryden's senior pitcher Kahlen Cornell did a nice job tonight,” said Marathon Head Coach Jamie Bush. “We were doing our best to get the ball in play and had a couple of good at bats. I felt like we actually hit better this year as a team, but Cornell did what she needed to keep us from any big inning. Our defense struggled as I knew it would with only one returning starter in the infield” 

“I told the team that it was a rough one, but we will get better now that we are outside playing and practicing, as gym play is not like playing outside,” added Coach Bush. “It felt great to get this game in and just see what we need to work on. The score shows a lot, but they have a good attitude and will get better. We have a very tough IAC schedule, and Dryden should be the team to beat in the IAC Large School North.”

Note: Individual stats of the game were not available by the time this article was written.

Marathon is now scheduled to take on Groton at Marathon’s Appleby Elementary School on Wednesday (April 6th) at 4:30pm. 

Varsity Boys Lacrosse: Cortland vs. Dryden

The Cortland Tigers improved to a 1-1 overall record after defeating Dryden 16-10 at home Monday night. 

Cortland was led by Benjamin McGrath (7 goals & 3 assists), Bodey McGrath (1 assist), Mark Darling (1 assist), Aidan Farron (2 goals & 1 assist), Jon Henry (2 goals), Joseph Banewicz (1 assist), Finn Thomas (1 goal & 3 assists), Ryan Kline (4 goals), and Declan Vail (5 saves).

Note: Individual stats for Dryden were not made available by the time this article was written. 

Cortland is scheduled to play Binghamton on the road this Friday (April 7th) at noon.  

Varsity Track & Field: Homer vs. Multiple Teams

The Homer Trojans competed in their first meet of the spring season at Tully High School Monday evening.

The boys’ team finished 8th overall out of 12 teams; while the girls’ team finished 11th overall out of 15 teams. 

Here are some highlights from both Homer boys’ and girls’ teams:

Homer Boys

• Jonah Campos, Dylan Pittsley, Anderson Lowell, and Riley Ferris won 1st place in the Weight 4x100 relay with an official time of 55.06. According to Homer Head Coach George Schneider, the team must consist of athletes that competed in the throws during the meet.
• Jonah Campos placed 2nd in the shot put event (Result - 38’4”). Note: Campos’ throw qualifies him for Sectionals.
• Anderson Lowell came in 6th place in the shot put event (Result - 35’1”). Note: Lowell’s throw qualifies him for Sectionals.
• Caleb Ficchi placed 6th in the pole vault event (Result - 7’0”).

Homer Girls

• Ingrid Aagaard finished 2nd in the 200 meter run (Time - 27.47). Note: Her time qualifies her for Sectionals.
• Ingrid Aagaard (62.2), Caleb Ficchi (29.5), Cammy Cole (29.5), and Orion Bennett (2:48.2) came in 2nd in the Mixed Gender Sprint Medley Relay. The team’s official time was 4:49.42.
• Brynn Loomis, Cece Berkey, Taylor Chisholm, and Remy Jensen placed 3rd in the Weight 4x100 relay with an official time of 66.69. According to Homer Head Coach George Schneider, all members of the relay were required to compete in the throws during the meet.
• Cammy Cole placed 4th in the triple jump event (Result - 31’7.5”). Note: Her jump qualifies her for Sectionals.
• Mia Knight (2:59.4), Haley Tucker (3:05.7), Lydia Andre (3:21.2), and Ingrid Aagaard (2:39.5) placed 6th in the 4x800 relay with an official time of 12:05.76.

(Note: If a team’s game recap was not shown in this article, it’s because scores and stats of their game were not made available to us by the time this article was published)

A special thank you goes to Visions Federal Credit Union for partnering with us to provide the greater Cortland County community with additional sports coverage