Cortland Standard .net

HAMILTON — Pitcher Cady Walts kept both opponents off balance at the plate in stingy shutout fashion and her Cortland High teammates provided the offense and defense needed for the Purple Tigers to capture the Hamilton Tournament title Saturday.
Sophomore Walts tossed a 1-0 two-hit shutout over the host team in the championship game after fanning 14 Richfield Springs batters during a 9-0 victory in the first round.
Hamilton reached the final after a 26-2 rout of McGraw. Richfield Springs topped the Eagles 11-4 in the consolation game.
“We always talk to the team about the mental aspect of the game,” Cortland coach Zach Darrow said. “In the tournament, the girls went to that mental state of mind that you have to be in to be a great team. They were focused and super intense, which really helped them to come out on top.
“If we can play like that down the stretch, then the sky’s the limit,” he continued. “We’re now 8-4 with a shot at a league title this week with three more division games.”
Cortland 1, Hamilton 0: Cortland got the only run of the game in the top of the second inning. Abby Hess hit a lone drive into right field. The Hamilton player misplayed the ball which rolled to the fence. Darrow decided to force Hamilton to make a play at the plate as he sent Hess home. The catcher couldn’t hold the throw and Hess was safe.
The only other Cortland hit was by Hannah Whelan as Hamilton hurler Rebecca Rogers was equally tough to hit. Rogers struck out 12 and was the hard luck loser.
Walts struck out six and walked one while allowing two hits.
The big defensive play for the Purple Tigers came in the top of the second when Shelby Blake hit a line drive between first and second. Elizabeth Minnard dove for the ball and made a great catch.
With one runner on in the third, Talia Cruz snared a line drive off the bat of Caitlin Purdy and quickly fired the ball to first base for the double play.
Cortland 9, Richfield Springs 0: In addition to her 14 strikeouts, Walts allowed just one hit in the Purple Tigers opening round win.
Kacie Hubbard went 3-for-3 at the plate with a home run, two RBIs and two runs scored to lead the Cortland offense. Whelan added a 2-for-2 effort with a triple and two RBIs while Ally DeGraff was 2-for-3.
Cortland will host Homer this afternoon at 4:30 p.m.
Hamilton 26, McGraw 2: Rogers tossed a one-hitter with 11 strikeouts for Hamilton. She helped her own cause at the plate going 5-for-5 as she hit for the cycle with a single, a double, two triples and a home run. Rogers drove in 10 runs and score twice. Jess Welsh added a 3-for-4 bat with two doubles, three RBIs and four runs scored.
Marissa Milard recorded the only McGraw hit, a double.
Richfield Springs 11, McGraw 4: Milard went 2-for-2 in the second game for the Eagles as the team got just four hits.
Madisyn Butler was 3-for-4 as Richfield Springs broke open a 4-3 game with two runs in the top of the fourth inning and five more runs in the fifth. Charlie Lamb added a 2-for-3 effort to the winning attack with Heather Federow going 2-for-4.
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Rockets Hold On
CINCINNATUS — A bottom of the seventh rally fell short for Cincinnatus, as visiting DeRuyter was able to hang on for an 8-7 win in the Central Counties League weekend play.
The Red Lions scored four times in the bottom of the seventh to pull within a run before falling short. Winning pitcher Averi Hull helped herself out contributing a double to DeRuyter’s 12-hit attack, teammate Addison Randall also legging out a two-bagger.
Chelsea Gerrard and Sarah Clements had doubles for Cincy, the hosts finishing with nine hits.