This season has been a successful one for the Red Dragons, as they completed their regular season with an overall record of 28-10-1 and an impressive 16-2 in conference play. The month of April brought Cortland a great deal of success, as they won 12 of their 14 games.
Pitching was a key part of the season, and while an abundance of pitchers were on the mound throughout the season, only two of them pitched over 45 total innings. Luis Misla pitched the most out of any Cortland player as he completed 64 total innings pitched, which is more than doubled for most of the pitching rotation. Devin Georgetti pitched a total of 47 innings and had 52 strikeouts during the season.
Not enough can be said about the season for Misla, as he had a scorching 96 total strikeouts on the year, once again almost doubling every pitcher on the rosters strikeouts on the season. With an overall record of 6-2 and an ERA of 2.25, which both statistics led the team for pitchers that qualified, the ace will more than likely be on the mound as the Red Dragons take on the Plattsburgh Cardinals on May 9 for the first round of SUNYAC’s at Robert H. Wallace field on the campus of SUNY Cortland.
Justin Patsey led the team in total saves with 3 on the season, while 5 pitchers on the roster went undefeated in the wins category (minimum of 1 qualified game). These five were Tommy Lynch, Matthew Nochowitz, (both went 4-0) Cam Darrow, (2-0) Nick Jessen, and Zach Zarrilli (both went 1-0).
Many of the leading statistics involving hitting for the team went to Mat Bruno, as he first on the roster in Slugging Percentage (.656), Hits (63), Runs Scored (45), and Home Runs (7). Chris Bonacci finished in the top 5 of numerous batting categories, including forth in Batting Average (.364), second in Total Hits (59), second in Stolen Bases (5), and fifth in Runs Batted In (22).
Three best wins of the season
- April 6: Walk Off winner at home against Brockport Golden Eagles
One of the more exciting games of the season for the Red Dragons happened early last month in the first game of a three-game series between the SUNYAC foe, the Golden Eagles. Cortland put the first run of the game on the board in the bottom of the second inning, but after that there wasn’t any more runs until the top of the fifth inning.
That’s when the Golden Eagles took the lead, scoring two runs after Brockport’s Nick Maher hit a solo home run in the first at bat of the inning. The homer was followed by a couple of hits before Josh Indek hit a single that led to Steven Cianc crossing the plate for the second run of the inning.
The lead was short lived, as the Red Dragons tied up the score in the bottom of the fifth after Nolan Smith hit a solo home run of his own. The seventh inning saw each team score two more runs a piece, bringing the game to a score of 4-4.
After an unsuccessful last few innings for the Golden Eagles, the Red Dragons had an opportunity to win the game as they were to bat in the bottom of the ninth. The inning started off in Cortlands favor, as Dylan Mackenzie was hit by a pitch to start the inning.
Luke Schartner came in to pinch run for Mackenzie, and Danny Jackson was up next to the plate after pinch hitting for Jon Munoz. After a wild pitch that brought Schartner to second base, the Golden Eagles elected to intentionally walk Munoz to try and force a double play.
This strategy did not work out for Brockport, as Adam Mieczkowski hit the walk off single into left field to lead into the celebration.
- April 10: High scoring win at Rochester against the Rochester Yellow Jackets
In another close game up until the very end, Cortland made the road trip over to Rochester against the Yellow Jackets for an evening game last month. The Red Dragons made the most with being the first ones to bat, as they got up to an early 3-0 lead. Things picked up for Rochester, as they scored 2 runs in the bottom of the third.
While this was a relatively close game throughout, Cortland never saw themselves trail in the entire game. The Red Dragons scored another 3 runs directly after the Yellow Jackets put up their first two runs, as Nick Marola singled to bring in the first run of that inning, while Mat Bruno and Dylan Mackenzie had an RBI each after Bruno was hit by a pitch and Mackenzie drew the walk as both situations had bases loaded.
After JJ DeLawder hit an RBI triple to send in 2 runs in the top of the fifth, the Cortland Red Dragons were now up 8-5 in the ballgame. The score kept up to be the same until the final two innings, where Cortland added another three runs to end off the night as they take the impressive road win by a final score of 11-7.
- High scoring extra innings victory against SUNYAC rival New Paltz
In what might been the most exciting win of the season for the Red Dragons, this game did not start out like Cortland would have hoped.
The New Paltz Hawks went on a scoring barrage in the very first inning of the game, scoring 5 total runs off of 5 hits and 2 unfortunate errors by Cortland in the field. The Red Dragons made up for it almost immediately, as they put 4 runs of their own in the very next inning.
Cortland then was able to tie the game up at 5 a piece as Chris Bonacci records his second RBI of the game as he doubled to center field in the top of the fourth inning. The sixth inning brought two more runs in for the Red Dragons, but the Hawks added 3 runs of their own to make this intense game 8-7 in favor of the SUNYAC rival New Paltz.
After Bonacci was walked in his at bat, the team leader in batting average delivered what might have been the hit of the night up to that point, as Mat Bruno hits a two-run home run to put the Red Dragons back on top 9-8 in the top of the eighth. New Paltz did manage to get a run after smart base running to advance a runner to third and ultimately getting him across the plate, making the game all tied up at 9 going into the ninth.
After both teams were unable to put up any runs in the ninth and tenth inning, the eleventh inning took the Red Dragons over the hump. JJ Delawder went up to the plate with two outs in the inning, and hits the go ahead solo home run to put Cortland up 10-9, ultimately winning what was one of the best overall games for the conference. Both teams had double digits hits in the extra inning thriller, one that many will not forget when looking back at the season.
The West Genesee Connection at SUNY Cortland
With the vast majority of the campus coming from the lower part of New York, three prominent players on this years Cortland baseball team hail from central New York in the Syracuse area. More specifically, these three key contributors have known each other for 10 plus years through little league and the West Genesee School District. Nick Chemotti, Chris Bonacci, and Nick Jessen all sat down to further discuss their upbringings, the season as a whole, and what they need to do in the upcoming SUNYACs to be successful.
Question: What has made you guys successful over the course of the season?
Nick Jessen, Pitcher – I think it has been our consistent hitting and consistent pitching. Everybody is on the same page, and everyone is doing their job. Our infield and outfield have been locked down for us pitchers, so that’s a huge help.
Nick Chemotti, Infielder – As a team, we’ve been successful because of the progression of team chemistry and the ability to pick one another up. If one guy doesn’t do the job, the next guy will. I also believe we found a will to never quit during a game. Games are long and there’s always time to make a comeback.
Chris Bonacci, Outfielder – What has made us successful over the course of the season is getting our repetition in each and every day. Practices don’t need to be long, but as long as we’re getting good reps in, we’ll be just fine.
Q: All three of you guys went to West Genesee High School, what is it like transitioning from High School Baseball to College Baseball?
Chemotti – It was a tough transition for myself, especially because of Covid. I graduated in 2020 and didn’t really get a chance to play my freshmen year. The games in college are also two innings longer, so the amount of focus is also different and important to adapt to.
Bonacci – Transitioning from high school to college is a big step. It goes from 20 games plus postseason to 40 games plus postseason. It takes a little bit to get used to, but after my freshman year it feels like the norm by now.
Jessen – I would say baseball wise is the skill. Everyone that is on the team from my experience with Cortland and Albany is that everyone was the man in high school. So you have to adapt and produce. The competition is good, but so are your teammates so you gain a sense of trust with the team.
Q: Talk about some of the other teams such as local CSBA and Geddes Leagues that you’ve been apart of together or competed against one another, what do you remember about those times?
Bonacci – We have all known each other for years. We played little league together whether it was on the same team or against one another. We’ve been in the same school since basically middle school, so it’s a longtime friendship.
Jessen – Little league was a blast, miss those days. What I remember the most is us going to super regionals, where Tyler Kensey (former pitcher for SUNY Cortland and a West Genesee graduate) hit the ball the furthest I have ever seen.
Chemotti – I remember going to states for the all stars when I was playing in Geddes Little League. The team seemed to get along great with each other. Those friendships still last today and are still being shared at the college level.
Q: What does the team need to do or to focus on to be successful in the upcoming SUNYACs?
Chemotti – Our team must remain confident and healthy. The upcoming SUNYAC games are going to be a bit more intensified, so I think the best thing for us to do as a team is to stay relaxed and just focus on individual jobs to achieve success as a group.
Jessen – To be successful is to just keep playing the way we have been. If we do so, nobody will be able to beat us.
Bonacci – The team just needs to focus on ourselves and control what we can control. If we play our game, we will be just fine in the upcoming SUNYACs.
The Red Dragons have been a roll this season, and if the regular season is any indication for how they will fare in the upcoming tournament, Cortland will have a big chance to capture glory for the college.
The first game for the Cortland Red Dragons baseball team in the first round of the SUNYACs will take place on Thursday, May 9 against the Plattsburgh Cardinals (regular season record of 10-8 in conference play and an overall record of 24-14) at Robert H. Wallace field at 12pm.