Owego rallies to eliminate Norwich from playoffs

Baseball

Owego 5, Norwich 4

NORWICH – Owego combined three hits with two costly Norwich throwing errors to rally for three runs in the seventh to knock the Tornado out of the Section IV playoffs Tuesday.

Justin Bensley singled and stole second to start the seventh, and he scored when Zack Taylor reached on a throwing error. Dave Barton singled to center prompting Norwich coach John Martinson to lift starting pitcher Christian Hotaling for Tim Clark. After getting a popup, Phil Cross singled off Clark to score Taylor with the tying run. Norwich attempted to turn a double play on Jimmy Peacock’s grounder, but a bad throw to first got by Tornado first-sacker Josh Borfitz to score the winning run.

Norwich went down in order in its last at-bat. “They fought hard, were patient at the plate, and should be commended for their play,” said hoarse-voiced skipper, Martinson. “The big difference was they were able to hit the gaps in the infield and outfield steady throughout the game, and we did not play sound defensively throughout the game.”

Paddy Law scored one run and drove in another for the Tornado. Clark and Borfitz also had ribbies for Norwich (9-8).

Owe. 000 101 3 5 10 1

NHS 001 120 x 4 6 3

Dave Barton (W) and Jim Peacock. Christian Hotaling, Tim Clark (7, L) and Patrick Coates. Triples: (N) Mike Moon, (O) Jake Warner.