Evening Sun Report
Baseball
Unadilla Valley 5, Hancock 3
HANCOCK – Unadilla Valley defeated Hancock for the second time this season Thursday, and advanced to its first Midstate Athletic Conference title game.
UV (10-3) took the lead for good with three runs in the top of the fifth. Brett Smith hit a solo homer, one of his two solo round-trippers, Brandon Miles belted a solo four-bagger two batters later, and Brandon Kuhn’s RBI double scored Zach Montgomery.
“Everything came together well in that inning,” said UV assistant coach Tom Locke. “We had some timely hitting. Four of our seven hits went for extra bases.”
Smith went the distance for the victory, and consistently worked out of harm’s way. “He worked into trouble and worked out of it,” Locke said. “I think Hancock left seven runners on base the first three innings. At one point - in the first and second innings – Brett struck out five in a row. He beared down when he needed to.”
In addition to Smith’s two solo homers, Justin Hofer had two hits and one RBI. The Storm will play Unatego or Sidney in the league title game next Thursday.
UVall 001 031 0 5 7 0
Hanc. 010 110 0 3 10 2
Brett Smith (W) and Zach Montgomery. Cole Duston (L), Tyler Phillips (6) and Chris Wadeson. Doubles: (UV) Brandon Kuhn, (H) Phillips, Eli Holton, Wadeson, Rocco Christian. HR: (UV) Brett Smith (2), Brandon Miles, (H) Warren Drake.
Bainbridge-Guilford 7 Afton 1
BAINBRIDGE – B-G won its fourth straight game and fifth in six games defeating Afton for the second time this season.
Austin Bauerle and Mark Cordner had RBI singles in B-G’s four-run first, and two runs scored on an error.
Bauerle went the distance for the victory outdueling Afton’s Cameron Oswald. “Austin pitched a great game and it was a quick game,” said B-G coach Tim Mattingly. “He threw strikes, and so did Cameron other than the first inning.”
Lucas Butcher was 2-for-2 to lead B-G (6-7) with two runs scored. Josh Akshar was also 2-for-2 to top Afton’s batters.
B-G plays either Walton or Greene on Monday.
Aft. 000 001 0 1 6 2
B-G 410 011 x 7 7 2
Austin Bauerle (W) and Tyler Ouimet. Cameron Oswald (L) and Josh Austin. Doubles: (A) Matt Olin.
Greene 8, Oxford 7
GREENE - Greene rebounded from a 3-0 deficit in the opening inning with five runs of its own in the bottom of the first in Thursday’s MAC victory over the Blackhawks.
Cole Browning had a two-run double in the first inning to vault the Trojans in front, and Korbin Neudel followed with the first of his two RBI singles.
“It was nice to get a couple of clutch hits early in the game,” said Greene coach Steve Burghardt.
Oxford rallied with a two-run double from Adam Pierson in the fourth, and Pierson’s RBI single in the sixth drew his club to within one run. Oxford threatened in the last inning putting runners on second and third before Greene pitcher Josh Hurlburt polished off the win with a strikeout to end the game.
Hurlburt allowed just three hits and struck out six to offset eight base on balls. “Oxford didn’t make a whole lot of solid contact against him,” Burghardt said of Hurlburt. “He had his good stuff today, he just needs to trust it.”
Greene hosts Walton today with the winner facing Bainbridge-Guilford on Monday.
Oxf. 300 301 0 7 3 4
Gre. 502 010 0 8 8 3
Josh Hurlburt (W) and Kurt Bartholomew. Andrew Golden (L), Head (4) and Ryan Moore. Doubles: (O) Adam Pierson, (G) Cole Browning.
Softball
Unadilla Valley 7, Unatego 1
NEW BERLIN – In the MAC mini tournament, Unadilla Valley, the 10th seed, received one-hit pitching from Maggie Avolio to upend 11th-seeded Unatego Thursday.
Unadilla Valley broke the game open with four runs in the bottom of the third. Brittany Fairchild hit a two-run triple to score Jordan Anderson and Meg Smith. Jackie Smith drove in Fairchild, and Smith came home on Avolio’s single.
Jackie Smith finished 3-for-4, whiel Anderson and Fairchild had two hits apiece. UV plays Sidney Saturday at 11 a.m. in the Sidney Federal Credit Union Tournament hosted by Bainbridge-Guilford.
Unat. 000 001 0 1 1 5
UVa. 014 200 x 7 8 2
Maggie Avolio (W) and Jordan Anderson. Mikaela Kinsella (L), Kate Benedict (4), and Samantha Saunders. Doubles: (UV) Sienna Romero, Triples: (UV) Jordan Anderson, Brittany Fairchild.
