Cortland Baseball took care of business in the DIII Showcase down in North Carolina, winning three out of the four games against four different teams.
The Red Dragons started the extended weekend off by playing the Marietta Pioneers on Thursday, Feb 22, beating them 6-5. After a day off from games on Friday, Cortland faced Christopher Newport and defeated them 5-4 in an early morning game.
Later that day, they beat the Lynchburg Hornets in extra innings 5-4. The only blemish to this trip down south was the final game on the schedule for the Red Dragons, losing 9-2 against Denison University.
That brings the record of the team to 3-4 in nonconference play, a record that will improve presumably once conference games begin. Salisbury is ranked number 2 in the entire country, so playing them over the course of three days the previous week at their place was a challenge for this Red Dragon team.
Doing well in this showcase is promising for Cortland, as they took care of business against some of the best teams in the country, including defeating number #20 Christopher Newport.
“Our pitchers did well with the first pitch strikes in the three wins, but as a whole team, we fought to the end and never quit,” said Chris Bonacci, the starting center field senior for the squad.
Cortland baseball’s next test will be when they travel across the country to Thousand Oaks, California on March 8-9 to play two games against California Lutheran.
“The guys will be ready for this one…” said starting second base senior Nick Chemotti. “We have a lot of momentum right now and the energy going around the team is positive, for sure. We are confident we can take care of business.”