Oxford keeps division title hopes alive

Baseball

Oxford 3, Deposit 1

OXFORD – Oxford’s Nate Sortino outdueled the Lumberjacks’ Brett Hauber helping the Blackhawks maintain division title hopes.

Sortino fanned 10 and allowed just three hits to give Oxford its fourth division win and fifth overall victory in six games. “This win keeps us in the division hunt,” said Oxford coach Chris Palmer. “We need a little help, but we need to keep taking care of business.”

The Blackhawks (4-3, 9-5) had few scoring opportunities against Hauber, who fanned 12 and allowed just two hits. To Oxford’s credit, it took advantage of Hauber’s spell of sixth-inning wildness to grab the lead.

After Nick Gates was hit by a pitch to start the inning, he moved to second on a stolen base and scored on Alex Champlin’s bloop single over first base. Champlin came around to score the go-ahead run after a Deposit error and Hauber wild pitch. “There weren’t a lot of balls put in play and we did not have one hard-hit ball all day,” Palmer said. “Both pitchers hit their spots until Hauber got a little wild.”

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Nate Sortino (W) and Robert Amor. Brett Hauber (L) and Ben Winans. Doubles: (D) Hauber.

Norwich 6, Sus Valley 3

CONKLIN – Norwich bounced back from consecutive losses last week getting a solid pitching performance from sophomore Christian Hotaling.

Hotaling logged six innings striking out three, walking none, and allowing just five hits. Tim Clark pitched a scoreless seventh to preserve the victory.

“We needed this win, and we were aggressive at the plate,” said Norwich coach John Martinson. “We knew we were better than what we had shown the previous two games, and we finally put it all together. We hope it carries over against Seton Catholic Central.”

Clark led with three hits, two runs, and two RBI, Mike Moon went 2-for-2 including a solo homer in the first, and Josh Borfitz finished 2-for-5 with an RBI.

Norwich plays the Saints at NYSEG Stadium today.

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Ch. Hotaling (W), T. Clark (7, sv) and Patrick Coates. Roy Graham (L), Jordan Godbout (4) and James McKeague. Doubles: (N) C. Hotaling, M. Hotaling, Josh Borfitz. (S) Pat McKeague. HR: (N) Mike Moon.

Milford 11, G-MU 10 (9 innings)

MILFORD – Milford scored five runs in the bottom of the seventh to force extra innings, and Scott Seeley played the role of hero twice in three innings driving in the winning run for the Wildcats’ win.