ONEONTA _ Third baseman Zac Johnson made his first hit for the Oneonta Outlaws count.
The Illinois State junior broke up a no-hitter Friday with an RBI single in the sixth inning that led Oneonta to a 4-2 Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League victory over the Cooperstown Hawkeyes in the Outlaws' home opener at Damaschke Field.
Hawkeyes right-handed starter James Norwood held the Outlaws hitless through 5 2/3 innings before Johnson stepped to the plate.
"He was a little heavy on us early," said Johnson, who went 2-for-4 with a triple after starting the season 0-for-4 on Thursday at Newark. "He was faster than we thought, but we stuck with our approach and it paid off for us.
"It felt good to get that first hit," he continued. "(Thursday) was a bit slow, but once you get going, you start to feel it."
Oneonta erased a 1-0 deficit with two runs in the sixth inning.
Forrest Johnson reached base when Cooperstown shortstop Bradley Vanderglass bobbled his grounder, moved to second on a two-strike sacrifice bunt by Cory Hunt and took third on a wild pitch. Norwood then walked Omar Garcia, who stole second. Clay Holcomb followed with a tying sacrifice fly to right field, and Zac Johnson singled to center to bring home Garcia for a 2-1 lead.
"Zac's a good hitter; that's why he's in the three-spot," Outlaws head coach Greg Zackrison said. "Those are our first two-out RBIs of the year. That's a good sign for us."
The Outlaws made it 3-1 in the seventh inning as Connor Jones led off with a double, took third on a wild pitch and scored on Orlando Rivera's sacrifice fly to left field.
Zac Johnson gave Oneonta a 4-1 cushion in the eighth, following a two-out double by Holcomb with a triple to left-center. Both extra-base hits came against Hayden Elrod, who threw the eighth inning in relief of Norwood.
Both of the Hawkeyes' runs were unearned.
Matt Carr led off the game with a grounder to Zac Johnson, who misplayed it. Carr moved to second on a fielder's choice as Matt Urakami grounded out to shortstop Hunt. After Chris Robinson walked, Chris Blanton grounded to first baseman Heath Holder, who attempted to throw out Carr at third. The ball sailed over Zac Johnson, allowing Carr to score the first run.
The Hawkeyes (0-1), whose first two games of the season were suspended, also scored in the ninth. Coleman Barron doubled down the left-field line with one out, took third when Carr grounded out to Zac Johnson and scored on a wild pitch for the final margin.
Outlaws reliever Matt Schmitt got Urakami on a comebacker to end it. Schmitt earned the pitching victory after throwing 3 1/3 innings of relief. Schmitt took over for starter Taylor Hicks with two out and runners at first and second in the sixth. He got Vanderglass to ground out to third to end the threat.
Hicks and Schmitt combined on a two-hitter but walked 10.
"To have (10) walks and two errors and still get the win, that's unusual," Zackrison said.
Hicks struck out six, walked seven and allowed a fifth-inning single to Urakami. Schmitt struck out two.
Norwood walked two and struck out two. He gave up three runs _ one earned _ on two hits.
Oneonta (2-0) hosts a non-league game against the Albany Athletics at 7 p.m. Saturday at Damaschke Field.
Cooperstown hosts Newark at 5 p.m. Saturday at Doubleday Field.
Oneonta 4, Cooperstown 2
Cooperstown ..... 100 000 001 _ 2 2 2
Oneonta ..... 000 002 11x _ 4 4 2
James Norwood (L,0-1), Hayden Elrod (8) and Patrick Hyde. Taylor Hicks, Matt Schmitt (6,W,1-0) and Forrest Johnson. 2B _ Connor Jones (O), Clay Holcomb (O), Coleman Barron (C). 3B _ Zac Johnson (O).
