ELMIRA – Tripped up two weeks ago after back-to-back losses, Oxford is standing tall again as it advanced to the Section IV Class C baseball finals beating Elmira Notre Dame, 7-3 Tuesday.

Junior pitcher Nate Sortino pitched 6 1-3 innings striking out seven and walking just one. He had relief help in the seventh from Steve Locke, who registered the final two outs to earn the save. "This has been a long-time goal of ours, and after we lost the MAC title game (to Sidney), we talked about still having a chance at redemption," said Oxford coach Chris Palmer. "When I played, my team won a league title, but I would have traded that for a sectional championship. That's what these guys have a chance to do."

While Sortino was exhibiting good command and holding the Crusaders' bats in check, the Oxford batters found their stride with the team's best clutch hitting performance in several games. Number eight hitter, Nick Gates, hit an RBI triple in the second inning to tie the game at 1-1. In the fourth, the Blackhawks erupted for four more runs to unlock the tie and lead the rest of the way. Ian Grundner's grounder to shortstop with the bases loaded resulted in a throwing error to score Locke and Sortino. Gates followed that up with a two-run single on his way to a 3-for-4 day.

Sortino aided his own effort in the seventh plating two more runs with a single that upped the margin to six runs. The Blackhawks committed a pair of errors in the last inning, and with Sortino's total pitch count getting up in numbers, Palmer went to his ace. "Nate had good command all game, and him not getting through the seventh was just some jitters and uncharacteristic plays by our team in the field," Palmer said.

"We had timely hitting and good patience at the plate,” Palmer added. “We still have to shore up some things on defense, but we had contributions from our entire lineup today. All 16 kids played, and we were moving kids in and out as we needed them."