After a handful of postponements, the Panthers baseball team finally played its home opener on Wednesday, hosting Jamestown Community College for a doubleheader. After a solid start to the day, things went downhill fast as the Panthers were swept by the Jayhawks, losing by scores of 16-4 and 21-3. Tompkins Cortland is now 2-8 overall and 0-8 in Region 3 West Division games. Jamestown is 8-7 overall and 7-3 in the West Division.

Game One: Jamestown 16, Tompkins Cortland 4   (5 innings)

The opener was tied at 2-2 after two innings, with the Panthers scoring two runs without a hit in the bottom of the second. Nick Cody (Cortland/Cortland H.S.) led off with a walk and then stole second. Brayden Ferris (Candor/Candor H.S.) was then hit by a pitch – the fourth Panther to be hit by a pitch in the first two innings of the opener. A sacrifice bunt that Jamestown failed to convert into an out loaded the bases. Jordan Shortsleeve (Cortland/Cortland H.S.) drove in Cody with the first run with a sacrifice fly, and then a double steal plated Ferris to tie the score.

In the third inning Jamestown scored four times. Then, after the Panthers responded with one run in the bottom of the frame, the Jayhawks blew things open with ten runs in the fourth. A single run in the bottom of the fourth for the Panthers made it 16-4, and after neither team scored in the fifth the game was ended due to the ten-run rule.

The Panthers collected just three hits in the opener, with Dylan Higgins (Trumansburg/Charles O. Dickerson H.S.) notching two of them. Isaiah Daniels (Atlanta, Ga./Hampton H.S.) had the other hit in game one.

Game Two: Jamestown 21, Tompkins Cortland 3   (5 innings)

Game two saw the Panthers in an early hole after giving up five runs in the first and nine in the second. Two runs came across for the Panthers in the third inning, but the Jayhawks continued to add on runs, eventually building a 21-2 lead in the fifth inning. The home team pushed across a single run in the bottom of the fifth, making the final 21-3 in another game stopped early due to the run rule.

Gabriel Fonseca (Miami, Fla./Mater Lakes Academy) had the best line in the nightcap, going 2-for-3. Jacob Bogacz (Morrisville/Morrisville-Eaton H.S.), Eli Gordon (Ithaca/Ithaca H.S.), and Shane Smith (Groton/Groton H.S.) all had singles to round out the five-hit attack in game two.

Looking ahead

The Panthers return to the road Thursday at Onondaga Community College.