The second straight dominating pitching performance by Caleb Thompson (Cortland/Cortland H.S.) helped the Tompkins Cortland baseball team complete a much-needed doubleheader sweep of Jefferson Community College Sunday. The Panthers won 10-3 and 5-0 to move into fourth place in the NJCAA Region 3 East Division standings with a record of 7-9 in division and 8-11 overall. With four games left on the regular season schedule, the Panthers are back in control of their own destiny, with the top four teams in the division advancing to the Region 3 playoffs. Jefferson is in last place at 1-17 in division and 1-21 overall.
Game One: Tompkins Cortland 10, Jefferson 3
The Panthers got quality pitching in both games, starting with Hyeonho Cho (Daejeon, South Korea/Sekwang H.S.) in game one. The sophomore went 5.2 innings to earn the win, allowing two runs on five hits while striking out eight. Ryan Rivera (San Juan, P.R./Greece Acadia H.S.) came in for the final four outs, allowing a run on two hits. The offense provided more than enough support to back Cho and Rivera, starting with a big second inning.
After going down in order in the first inning, Taj Muhammad (Franklin Township, N.J./Franklin H.S.) opened the second with a long drive to the left-center gap for a triple that turned into a run when the outfielder misplayed the ball and Muhammad hustled all the way around to score. The play sparked a rally that produced six runs, with Seth Zurbruegg (Syracuse/Jamesville-DeWitt H.S.) and Nick Scanlon (Pompey/Fabius-Pompey H.S.) each knocking doubles along the way. An Ethan Buckley (Bath/Haverling H.S.) triple in the fourth inning led to a two more runs, and single runs in the fifth and sixth made the final 10-3.
Zurbruegg finished the game 3-for-4 to lead the 12-hit attack. Buckley, Scanlon, Logan Kaufman (Hobart/South Kortright H.S.), and Luke Ough (Edmeston/Edmeston H.S.) each had two hits in the opener.
Game Two: Tompkins Cortland 5, Jefferson 0
One week after tossing a one-hit shutout, Thompson once again dominated. After issuing a walk to the lead-off batter – who was erased on a caught stealing – Thompson retired the next 12 in a row, including 7 by strikeout. Taking a no-hitter into the fifth inning for the second straight outing, Thompson lost the bid with one-out double. Two groundball outs ended the threat without a run scored in the fifth. The Cannoneers managed a single in the sixth, but a groundout and fly out kept the scoreboard blank. A 1-2-3 seventh inning completed the second-straight shutout for Thompson.
While Thompson was in groove, striking out seven and walking just one batter, the offense got one the board early. With one out in the bottom of the first, Buckley reached on a walk, moved around to third on a wild pitch and stolen base, and came in to score on single by Jaden Nelomes (Rochester/Churchville-Chili H.S.). Two more runs came across in the second inning on RBI singles from Garrett Fox (Tully/Tully H.S.) and Vinny Perrotta (New Hartford/New Hartford H.S.), giving Thompson all the cushion he would need Insurance runs in the fifth and sixth innings made the final 5-0, the second shutout win for the Panthers this season.
Fox and Nelomes were the only Panthers with multiple hits in game two, with Fox going 2-for-3 with two runs scored and one RBI and Nelomes going 2-for-4 with one RBI.
Looking ahead
The Panthers hope to get another doubleheader in with the Cannoneers Monday in Watertown.