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Times Telegram
BINGHAMTON — Forced to play from behind again, the Oriskany Skyhawks needed an extra inning at Conlon Field to get through Saturday’s regional baseball playoff and earn a return to New York’s state Class D semifinals.
Oriskany (17-1), the runner-up in last spring’s tournament, scored five runs in the eighth inning and defeated Notre Dame of Elmira 8-3 for its 16th consecutive victory. The Skyhawks will be back in Binghamton for semifinal play Friday with the championship game to be contested the following day.
Oriskany’s baseball team had been one of three area bat-and-ball teams scheduled to play Saturday regionals. The Whitesboro softball team was rained out and had its Class AA game moved to Sunday, and Rome Free Academy was beaten in Class AAA softball.
Oriskany was also the lone winner among four Section III baseball champions in action Saturday; Class AAA Cicero-North Syracuse, Class B Solvay and Class C Bishop Grimes of Syracuse all saw their seasons reach conclusions.
In Binghamton, Oriskany saw Notre Dame score three runs in the first after scoring one of its own in the top of the inning. Eddie Wright relieved starting pitcher Dean Koening after the first inning and shut out the Crusaders (10-10) from there. The Skyhawks scored one run in the third game and tied the score in the sixth; they broke the game open in the top of the eighth.
Wright, who had pitched a complete game in Oriskany’s sectional title game Tuesday after throwing three innings of relief in the semifinals three days earlier, yielded two hits and one walk while striking out 10 batters in seven innings.
At the plate, Nick Hays and Matt Kernan each had two of the eight Oriskany hits; each scored a run, as did Wright, who tripled, and Chase Koenig, whose double was the other extra-base hit. Sean Graziano and Dawson Foss each had a hit and scored a run.
The Skyhawks had allowed Poland to score first in their sectional semifinal, and trailed McGraw 2-0 in the sectional final
Oriskany plays Section V Fillmore at 7 p.m. Friday in the last of four semifinals at SUNY-Binghamton. The Class AAA games will be played earlier in the day, and Oriskany and Fillmore will follow the first Class D semifinal.
Season over for RFA softball
Section III champion Rome Free Academy’s run in the Class AAA state playoffs ended with a 20-2 regional loss to Section VI Lancaster Saturday at Grad Island High School.
With one run in the top of the first inning, Rome Free Academy’s Black Knights (14-7) briefly held the game’s first lead. Lancaster went scoreless in the first but scored 10 runs in the second inning and nine in the third.
Makayla Howard had three of the six Rome Free Academy hits, including two doubles, scored one run and drove home the other for the team. Gianna Greer had two hits, and Haylee Bostwick doubled and scored a run. Barb Ciotti added an RBI.