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
Marathon baseball senior Zachary Birdsall pitched 11 strikeouts from the mound on senior night. (Photo provided by Timothy A. Bennett, Owner & Publisher of The Cortland Voice).
The Marathon Olympians celebrated their lone senior Zachary Birdsall on senior night Monday evening.
“He (Zachary Birdsall) has been here for four years,” said Marathon head coach Bryan Hoyt.
Hoyt continued, by saying that “he’s absolutely what every coach looks for in a player. He’s hardworking, he’s focused, he wants to make himself better at the craft, and he loves the game. He puts a lot of time and effort into it. He’s extremely coachable. He’s a great kid in the classroom, but he’s also a great kid on the field as well.”
Birdsall ended up having a great senior night game from the mound with a total of 11 strikeouts.
However, the Olympians lost the game with a score of 10-7.
Marathon baseball senior Zachary Birdsall with his parents on senior night. (Photo provided by Timothy A. Bennett, Owner & Publisher of The Cortland Voice).
“Both teams played good baseball today,” stated coach Hoyt. “I thought both pitchers were on their games, and defensively, guys were making plays. Offensively, both teams got it going late in the game.”
Here is a score breakdown of the game:
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | Final |
| Newfield | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 10 |
| Marathon | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 7 |
Marathon was led by Zachary Birdsall (2 runs, 3 hits & 11 strikeouts thrown), Blake Birdsall (3 runs, 3 hits, 2 RBI’s & 2 strikeouts thrown), Tucker Trabucco (1 run, 1 hit & 1 RBI), Camdyn Kashuba (1 run), Barrett Trabucco (1 RBI), Nash Coleman (1 hit & 1 RBI), Daniel Merihew (1 hit & 1 RBI).
Newfield was led by Austin Jenney (3 runs, 2 hits & 2 RBI’s), Carter Aidun (2 runs, 2 hits, 2 RBI’s & 11 strikeouts thrown), Noah Steinorth (1 run, 2 hits & 3 RBI’s), Andrew Brechner (3 runs & 1 hit), Christopher Kleist (1 run & 1 hit), Arthur Sheshabarov (1 hit & 3 RBI’s), and Nicholas Woodard (1 RBI).
With this loss, Marathon has fallen to an overall record of 2-11.
After reflecting over his last four years on the team, Birdsall said, “It’s been good. We haven’t had the best seasons, but we make the best of it. Our teammates have a lot of fun with each other. We have good times keeping each other up and positive. I’ve loved pitching the past four years. It’s been my biggest accomplishment.”
Birdsall's last message to the team as a senior and leader is “when things get hard in tough situations, never give up. Always stay positive and stay up beat. Always go into the next game like you want to win. Don’t go in with a losing mindset. You always want to go in with a winning attitude, and just keep growing and never give up.”
Marathon’s next game will be played on the road against Tioga Senior today (May 7th) at 5pm.
Here are some photos from Monday’s senior night game (Photos provided by Timothy A. Bennett, Owner & Publisher of The Cortland Voice):
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
