SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Oswego third baseman Eric Hamilton finished 5-for-5 with two RBI to lead the Lakers past Southern Maine, 9-4, to win the 2017 NCAA Division III Baseball New York Regional, Sunday.
Hamilton was named Tournament Most Outstanding Player and joined junior designated hitter Mike Dellicarri and sophomore pitcher Robert Donnelly on the All-Tournament Team along with Southern Maine relief pitcher Matt Correale and shortstop Andrew Olszak.
Oswego plated two runs in the first and two more in the second to take the early 4-0 lead. Center fielder Wes Randall led off the game with a single to center field. Hamilton then walked before Dellicarri punched a base hit through the right field to bring in Randall. Hamilton was forced out at third on a grounder by right fielder John Barnes before Dellicarri stole third. Second baseman Zach Kollar dropped a perfect bunt down to third base line that brought home Dellicarri.
In the second, shortstop Zach Whelan led off second with a single to left before catcher Alex Brown drilled the first pitch he saw down the left field line for an RBI double. Randall advanced Brown with a sacrifice bunt before Hamilton brought him home with a double that landed on the left field warning track.
Southern Maine got one back in the bottom of the second and another in the third. Center fielder Devin Warren hit a one-out double down the left field line before second baseman Jake Dexter brought him home with a long single of the left field wall. In the third, right fielder Zach Quintal led off with a walk and advanced to second on a ground out by Olszak before reaching third after designated hitter Dylan Hapworth dropped a short single to right field. Catcher Kip Richard hit a hard RBI ground-out to first to bring him home.
Oswego score four runs with two outs in the fifth. Left fielder Eli Holton earned a two-out walk and stole second before first-baseman Kyle Dinges brought him around with a two-out double to left field. Whelan drew another walk, including a wild pitch on ball four that advanced Dinges to third. Whelan then stole second, before Brown was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Randall liner through the right side to plate Whelan and Dinges before Hamilton singled to left to bring in Brown.
Southern Maine got one back in the bottom of the fifth. Quintal lead-off with a walk, before Olszak singled to right and Hapworth was hit by a pitch to load the bases with no outs. Richard brought Quintal home with a sacrifice fly to right. However, the Lakers avoided any further damage after Holton made a nice catch in front of the left field wall on a hard hit ball by Bender before Warren grounded out to second base to end the inning.
In the top of the sixth, Kollar hit a one-out double to right before Holton was intentionally walked. After a balk advanced both runners, Dinges was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Whelan scored Kollar with a sacrifice fly to center for the 9-3 lead.
Southern Maine scored a run after loading the bases with one out in the bottom of the sixth after walks to Dexter, left fielder Paul McDonough and Quintal. A sacrifice fly to right by Olszak brought home Dexter before Hapworth struck out to end the inning.
Hamilton hit a lead-off double to the left-field gap for the fourth of his five hits of the game before Dellicarri and Barnes walked to load the bases. However, Kollar lined out to short and Dellicarri was doubled off at second before an infield pop-out by Holton ended the threat.
Brad Wroblewski (1-0) earned the victory after 1.1 innings of relief work, replacing starter Bobby Zywicki, who allowed six hits and three runs in four innings. Reston Pettit picked up the save, only allowing two hits over the final 3.2 innings.
