Coleman, Booth Power Brockport Baseball to Win
BOXSCORE
Sophomore Jake Coleman (Hilton, NY/Hilton) and junior Corey Booth (Middletown, NY/Minisink Valley) each went 3-for-4 with a pair of runs batted in as The College at Brockport’s baseball team kept its season going with a 6-2 win over Farmingdale State in an NCAA Division III New York Regional contest Friday afternoon at Falcon Park in Auburn, NY.
Brockport (29-13) advances to face Eastern Connecticut State (34-12) at approximately 11 p.m. Friday night back at Falcon Park. Brockport fell to the Warriors 2-0 in the first round of the New York Regional.
Farmingdale, the second seed in the New York Regional, struck first, scoring on a one-out single in the top of the first. Sophomore starter James Bardenett (Syracuse, NY/Henninger) rebounded to get consecutive fly outs to end the inning.
The Rams appeared set to take a 2-0 lead when they got a leadoff double in the second, but the runner was thrown out trying to stretch the hit into a triple, and Bardenett (4-1) again settled down and got consecutive fly ball outs, including a nifty sliding catch by senior Zach Prentice (Auburn, NY/Auburn) to end the inning.
The third inning saw Brockport have its best chance to score in the early going. Senior Tom McCormick (Utica, NY/Utica Notre Dame) led off with a single and advanced to third on Coleman’s ground-rule double down the right field line. McCormick advanced to third on the play, and when senior Max Keado (Troy, NY/Catholic Central) hit a ball in the infield, McCormick broke for home, but was thrown out on the fielder’s choice.
McCormick knotted the game at 1-all on a sacrifice fly in the fourth. Sophomore Mike Weakley (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) walked and advanced to second on a single by Prentice. A sacrifice bunt from junior Mike DeGregory (Saratoga Springs, NY/Schuylerville) moved the runners to second and third for McCormick, who lofted a fly ball deep enough into left field to score Weakley.
Brockport took the lead in the fifth. Coleman led off with a single, which chased Farmingdale starter Mike Dolce and brought in reliever Chris Dragone. Coleman moved to second on a wild pitch and advanced to third on a fly out. Booth then gave the Golden Eagles a 2-1 lead on an RBI single into center field.
Bardenett was dialed in, retiring Farmingdale in order in the fourth and sixth innings, and only allowed a two-out walk in the fifth frame.
The Golden Eagles extended their lead in the sixth. Prentice was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and advanced to second on DeGregory’s sacrifice bunt. McCormick’s bunt single gave Brockport runners at first and third with only one out. After a fly out, McCormick stole second and Coleman plated both Prentice and McCormick with a two-run single up the middle for a 4-1 lead.
Coleman swiped second base and then scored on Keado’s double into the gap in right-center field. Keado moved up to third on a throwing error and scored Brockport’s fourth run of the inning when Booth singled up the middle. All four runs were scored with two outs.
“(Jake) Coleman and (Corey) Booth each had huge games for us, and again, we’re a resilient bunch that never gives up on an inning,” said Justin Beach, Brockport’s fourth-year head coach.
“We did a good job of executing our bunts and moving runners along, especially in that four-run sixth inning. … We’re on a bit of a roll here and hopefully we get the chance to play some more baseball in the morning.”
Farmingdale put runners at the corners with no outs in the eighth to end Bardenett’s day. The right-hander allowed the one run on five hits with two walks and four strikeouts over seven effective innings. It was Bardenett’s second-longest outing of the year, trailing only his complete-game, nine-inning, three-hit shutout of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on March 15.
“James has been a tough pitcher for us this year. He’s a battler, he got into some tough situations today, but with some help from the defense, he got out of those jams,” Beach said.
“James didn’t have the best stuff today, but he’s a competitor who found a way to get out of those tight spots, and we needed a good start like that to have a chance to win.”
Junior James Williamson (Mexico, NY/Mexico) relieved Bardenett and got a strikeout and a double-play ball to end the inning. Williamson threw a scoreless eighth and freshman Justin McCarthy (Mohegan Lake, NY/Lakeland) closed out the six-hitter.
This was the first-ever meeting between the two schools.
