Throwback Thursday: A glimpse into baseball's past, Cortland takes SUNYAC title
CORTLAND, N.Y. - As the spring season begins the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) is taking a look into its baseball's past. Ten years ago the Cortland Red Dragons made their way into the SUNYAC tournament with a perfect conference record and as the top seed they hosted the 2008 SUNYAC championship.
CHAMPIONSHIP RECAP:
|
GAME 1: |
(#2) ONEONTA -3 |
(#3) BROCKPORT -2 |
|
GAME 2: |
(#1) CORTLAND -15 |
(#4) PLATTSBURGH -7 |
|
GAME 3: |
PLATTSBURGH -8 |
FREDONIA -6 |
|
GAME 4: |
CORTLAND -13 |
ONEONTA -4 |
|
GAME 5: |
BROCKPORT -10 |
ONEONTA -7 |
|
CHAMPIONSHIP |
CORTLAND -12 |
BROCKPORT -5 |
The championship game started out with a sacrifice fly from senior at the time Matt Vitalone in the first inning, followed by a RBI groundout from, junior Khyle Dimino in the second. The third inning came as a surprise for the Red Dragons as Brockport put up four runs, giving them a 4-2 lead, putting Cortland behind for the first time during tournament play.
The Red Dragons came back strong in the bottom of the third inning to put up three runs, putting them on top with a 5-4 lead. The fourth inning came with four runs for the Red Dragons coming from a single from Vitalone to move two teammates home, followed by a two-run homer from senior Nick DeVito. Later on in the game Cortland added a run in the fifth on a RBI single and then two in the seventh on a two-run single. Brockport tried to come back with a final run in the ninth, but ultimately was not able to take down the Red Dragons.
Some of the key players from this game include Matt Vitalone who went 4-for-4 with three RBI's and two runs scored, as well as senior at the time Mike Zaccardo who went 3-for-5 with a double, two RBI's, and two runs scored. The Red Dragons finished the game with 16 total hits, and finished the weekend with 40 combined runs on 53 hits throughout their three games.
The Red Dragons currently hold 34 SUNYAC titles, which is the most of any schools within the conference.
As the team starts their 2018 season under the direction of Joe Brown they look to capture their 35 SUNYAC title. The Red Dragons will travel to Baltimore this weekend to compete in the Baltimore Invitational.
