The Tompkins Cortland Community College baseball team had fast starts in both ends of their doubleheader at Jamestown Community College Saturday. Unfortunately for the Panthers, how they ended the game wasn't as strong as Jamestown rallied to sweep the Panthers, 7-4 and 8-7.
The Panthers are now 1-2 on the season; Jamestown is 3-4.
Game 1: Jamestown 7, Tompkins Cortland 4
The Panthers scored the first runs of the day in the second inning of the opener. Caleb Thompson (Cortland/Cortland H.S.) led off the inning with a single, moved to third on a two-out single by Logan Kaufman (Hobart/South Kortright H.S.), and then came in on a passed ball. Kaufman followed him home on a throwing error, giving the Panthers an early 2-0 lead. After Jamestown scored one in the bottom of the frame, Taj Muhammad (Franklin Township, N.J./Franklin H.S.) blasted a home run in the top of the third to put the Panthers up 3-1. The Jayhawks answered with a run of their own in the bottom of inning, making the score 3-2 after three innings.
Starting pitcher Ethan Buckley (Bath/Haverling H.S.) tried to make the lead stand, but his defense let him down. Jamestown scored two runs in the fourth inning to take the 4-3 lead, with all four of the runs unearned due to Panthers errors. The home team added a three-run sixth to build a cushion that even a mini-rally that produced a run in the seventh couldn't threaten.
As the plate, seven of the Tompkins Cortland starters recorded at least one hit, but seven of the nine also had at least on strike out. Thompson was the lone Panther with multiple hits in game one, going 2-for-3.
Buckley was collared with the loss, allowing 7 runs – 3 earned – over 5.1 innings of work.
Game 2: Jamestown 8, Tompkins Cortland 7
After seeing their lead fade away in game one, the Panthers came out even more aggressive in game two. In the top of the first, the Panthers worked their way to three runs, taking advantage of three walks, a pair of errors, and an RBI single by Seth Zurbruegg (Syracuse/Jamesville-DeWitt H.S.). Another run in the second made the lead 4-0 in the middle of the second. The margin was 5-2 by the middle of the fifth when things got shaky. In the bottom of the fifth, Jamestown started their rally with two runs on an error, a walk, and two batters hit by pitches. Tompkins Cortland responded with two runs in the top of the sixth, but missed out on more, failing to add on with the bases loaded and just one out.
The bottom of the sixth was another rough one for the Panthers defense, as Jamestown took advantage of four errors to score two runs and cut the Tompkins Cortland lead to 7-6 heading into the seventh. The Panther left two runner on without scoring in the top of the seventh, leaving the Panthers three outs from a win.
The bottom of the seventh started with Jamestown loading the bases with one out, taking advantage of a hit batter, a walk, and an intentional walk. After a strikeout for the second out, Jamestown rallied with back-to-back singles, the last one producing the walk-off win.
Zurbruegg finished the day 2-for-2 at the plate, the only Panther with multiple hits. Starting pitcher Hyeonho Cho (Daejeon, South Korea/Sekwang H.S.) had a solid day, going 4 innings and allowing 2 runs. Thompson came on in the fifth inning and ended up allowing 6 runs – 2 earned – over 2.2 innings.
Looking ahead
The Panthers are scheduled to host Mohawk Valley Community College on Saturday, April 10.