BB: SUNYAC

[John McGraw]

Bottom 8

Cortland 15 St. John Fisher 6

Michael Mahay's been cruising along since he came in during the second inning. There's offense abound from the Dragons though both Jason Simone and Mike Avery left the game after only a few at-bats. Hopefully it's just to rest them up for the remainder of the season.

[Dave Bradley]

Oneonta beats Union 7-2, but the real news is Oneonta throws Juedes for 6 2/3 he gives up 1 in the 7th, ending a 22 inning scoreless streak for him but now I don't think they bring him back on 3 days rest to face Cortland, if so they shouldn't have thrown him that long today in a non league game.

[whitey16]

props to cortland and coach brown on todays win..... got everyone involved in a nice win..... keep it going 

[cstate19]

props to cortland and coach brown on todays win..... got everyone involved in a nice win..... keep it going 

Congrats to the boys on the win but it doesnt seem to be a huge win.  A lot of people on these boards with alleged ties to the program have been taking shots at Brown.  Not a great year for him.   

[sergispie]

Just a response to cstate's earlier post, I do think Brockport can sweep both weekends just based on having their 1 and 2 for both weekends. If they were playing back to back days it would be a different story. Also I went to the Cortland Fisher game and it wasn't the best game played by Cortland. In fact it was pretty sloppy for a while. This just emphasizes the point that Cortland is not as strong as it has been in past years. The staff isnt what it once was with shut down pitchers of past teams. They have one shut down guy, who CAN be beat with a patient hitting team. Tone can get very wild at times but bad hitting teams make him look untouchable. Oneonta doesnt look like they are planning to beat Cortland this weekend throwing Juedes today. Mistake in my opinion. If they throw Filak one game they still might have a shot at a split which will ruin any hosting shot. Again I think it is up for grabs this year, anything can happen once the tourney rolls around.

[Smithers]

I can't seem to understand the idea of saving pitchers for certain teams. I guess I am a little old school and come from the mentality that when "your horse" is ready you take him out of the barn and let him run. You can't play for the next day, you have play for today. I appluade Coach Ferchen for going with one of his top guys when he was ready and not holding him for the weekend. You really never know what is going to happen so IMO saving and holding guys is not such a smart idea.

[Ruby Red Dawg]

kind of a suspect move for Oneonta, why wouldn;t you pitch your top guys in conference games?

cortland has a nice win yesterday, maybe this will get them back on the right track, any word why brown would remove two of his better players after only 3 innings of work?

[Bob Maxwell]

Awesome to see so much activity with great comments!!!  take a couple days off and get three pages behind... wow, that is great.

I've only read to this point, but this is a great post... and sums up what I think may happen with the pitching questions this week.  If its me, I'm playing games looking to host, not just sneak in.

Just from seeing Oneonta for a few years now you can see patterns from the coach. I definetly think that he will pitch Juedes and Filak against Cortland. I think that he wants those games more than any other games. Oneonta still has a chance to host if they can take 2 from Cortland. I think that Cortland, Oneonta and Brockport have to play for hosting. I think they will have enough to get in like always so they should all be trying to host the tournament.

The games amongst the teams involved in the hunt will be interesting... anyone sweeps someone and it gives them a big upper hand.  And we should see some good pitching.

[Bob Maxwell]

John Plattsburgh has given Brockport fits but im not sold this Plattsburgh team is better than those in the past especially without Welch and Hughes.

I ws going to say that I was very surprised at how well Plattsburgh has played with out Welch and Hughes.  Good for them, that shows a quality program...  I don't think past history against a team has anything to do with this years games.  But if that is what we are going to look at, Borckport won 2 of three last year... so that is the most recent sample.

[Bob Maxwell]

Good post by smithers yesterday at 11:48... some good points.  I don't agree with all of them, but well said.

And once you get to the tournament it is anybody's game to win it.  Yes, it HELPS to have pitching depth, but if some thing happens that is a surprise then anything can happen.  A top seed or pitcher loses a game and anyone has to scramble a little bit.  You throw your ace and lose a game and no matter who you are you have to wonder a little bit.  These things have happened in the past and could happen again.

It will be interesting to see what happens Saturday as the Oneonta-Cortland and Plattsburgh- Brockport games will go a long way to determine who will host.  It should be much clearer Saturday night...

[Cardinal Sin]

Good post by smithers yesterday at 11:48... some good points.  I don't agree with all of them, but well said.

And once you get to the tournament it is anybody's game to win it.  Yes, it HELPS to have pitching depth, but if some thing happens that is a surprise then anything can happen.  A top seed or pitcher loses a game and anyone has to scramble a little bit.  You throw your ace and lose a game and no matter who you are you have to wonder a little bit.  These things have happened in the past and could happen again.

It will be interesting to see what happens Saturday as the Oneonta-Cortland and Plattsburgh- Brockport games will go a long way to determine who will host.  It should be much clearer Saturday night...

Bob,

Reading this last post has left me utterly confused. You have basically just restated a post about pitching depth and put it into your own words. Of course if your ace goes out and loses in the first game your gonna be left scratching your head. But how do you overcome an early loss, with depth on your pitching staff. I do not care who you are, or how unhittable your number 1 is, your are not going anywhere in a tournament without pitching depth. Just look at the history of this tournmanet, why has there been a dominance by cortland? Pitching depth.

Just look at a couple instances within the last few years of the SUNYACS

200?-Present-Cortland throws one of there bottom tier starters (3,4,5,6) and is able to a)get a win with them or b) overcome an early loss because they are so deep in pitching. Example: Young Dougher in 2005, Bilyk in 2006, Rowlands in 2008

2005-Oneonta-Salamida and Schellinger win first two, lose 2 in the finals

2006-Brockport-Maxwell and Dennstedt win first two, lose 2 in the finals

200?-Plattsburgh- Hoffman, Dahlin or Kelley give them a quality start/innings...know one is there to take the torch

As down as Cortland has looked this year, i think yesterday with there game against STJF was a prime example of how scary they still might be. Blanco the MVP of the 2008 NY Regional is yanked early, with what looks to be a control issue, Mahay comes in and cleans up the mess for 5+ innings.

[Bob Maxwell]

Sorry to confuse you... let me clarify as I do agree with much of what he said and restated it but not all of it.

I do agree with him about the depth of pitching being important.  The pairings you detailed from previous years support his point.  As without a strong #3 & #4 you will have difficulty winning it all.

What I don't agree with is:
1) Brockport has as much chance to host as anyone does.  They just have to win games. 
2) Depth of piching doesn't necessarily guarantee you will get to the finals and win it all.

My point was that an early upset can change the matchups... and if someone unexpected has a good game (on the mound or pitching) things may not go to form. 


Game # 1 today:
Brockoprt wins it 6-4 with a walk off 3-run home run from Jason Michaels.   Jamie Rose and Todd Allen also hit solo homers in the 6th. 

[Bob Maxwell]

(on the mound or pitching)

LOL... what else to you do but pitch on the mound... LOL
I meant to say on the mound or hitting)...

[John McGraw]

Top 5

Ithaca 3 Cortland 0

Pitchers' duel so far between Brendan Rowlands and Ithaca's pitcher-by-committee.

Looking at the clock, it's about time for a brawl to break out or for it to get too dark to continue.

EDIT: Back-to-back doubles by T.J. Abone and Rob Zappia lead to an Ithaca run with no outs in the fourth. Rowlands gets the yank for Brandon DeRosa.

EDIT: Ithaca tacks on two more with RBI singles from Alan Kartholl and Matt Samela.

Good news for Ithaca fans, Dylan Perez is back in the line-up.

[John McGraw]

Bottom 7

Ithaca 8 cortland 0