Seneca Baldwin threw a two-hitter and Erin Mushtare hit a go-ahead two-run double in the sixth inning as Oneonta High clinched at least a tie for the Southern Tier Athletic Conference East Division title with a 3-1 softball victory over visiting Seton Catholic Central on Wednesday.
The Yellowjackets (13-4, 9-2) have won seven straight games. They're one game ahead of defending Class B state champion Windsor in the loss column. The Black Knights beat Chenango Forks, 17-2, on Wednesday and face Seton CC today before hosting Oneonta on Friday. If Windsor loses either game, Oneonta will win the division.
"We control our own destiny," said OHS coach Randy Brockway, whose team lost, 8-1, to Windsor on April 18. "With a win Friday, we'll be playing Monday in the STAC playoffs."
Should Windsor win out, it would play Oneonta in a STAC tiebreaker Saturday at a site and time to be determined. Brockway said the location of the tiebreaker would be decided on a coin flip.
Of Oneonta's winning streak, Brockway said: "We keep pushing the girls to play good fundamental softball and not worry about individual stats. We're really working like a team. It's a good time for us this late in the season to put a nice string together."
Trailing, 1-0, in the sixth, Oneonta's Brieanna Baker reached on an error to start the inning. Brianna Haines and Baldwin followed with singles. On Baldwin's single to left, Baker was thrown out at the plate. Haines and Baldwin advanced to third and second on the play. Mushtare followed with her double to right-center field gap to give Oneonta a 2-1 lead.
With two outs, Baldwin scored when Minnie Webster's popup to the left side of the infield was dropped when Seton's third baseman and shortstop collided.
Baldwin finished with eight strikeouts and no walks. She had seven strikeouts and no walks in Oneonta's last game _ a 7-1 win over Owego on Friday.
Haines, Mushtare and Shelby Cleaveland had two hits apiece for the Yellowjackets.
Oneonta 3, Seton CC 1
Seton CC     001 000 0 _ 1 2 2
Oneonta     000 003 x _ 3 8 1
Loughlin (L) and Samantha Stento. Seneca Baldwin (W) and Brianna Georgia. 2B _ Erin Mushtare (O).
Cooperstown 8, Herkimer 3
Nicole Cring pitched a three-hitter and Holli Erkson hit a two-run single during Cooperstown's seven-run fifth inning that allowed the host Redskins to knock off previously unbeaten Herkimer in a non-league game.
Herkimer, which beat Cooperstown, 7-2, in the Redskins' second game of the season, brought an 18-0 record into the game.
Cring struck out five and walked one, and added to her single-season school record for wins in a season with 14. Anna Sams, a 2011 Cooperstown grad, twice won 12 games in a season for the Redskins.
Maggie Hall hit an RBI triple in the first inning for Cooperstown, but Herkimer answered with two runs in the third to take a 2-1 lead.
In the fifth inning, Natalie Reich hit an RBI single, Lexi Duda had a bases-loaded walk and Erkson had a two-run single as Cooperstown took an 8-2 lead.
"We only had one strikeout," Cooperstown coach Dave Bliss said. "Everyone was putting the ball in play."
Hall finished 4-for-4 and broke Cooperstown's single-season record for hits in a season. Hall has 31 hits on the season. Lisa Covert had held Cooperstown's hits record with 27, set in the mid-2000s. Alannah Haggerty has 28 hits on the season after getting one hit Wednesday.
The Redskins (14-4) will play in Mudville on Saturday. They'll face Ithaca at noon and Cazenovia at 2 p.m.
Cooperstown 8, Herkimer 3
Herkimer     002 001 0 _ 3 3 2
Cooperstown     100 070 x _ 8 9 3
McKenzie Pine (L), Shannon Cool (5), McKenzie Pine (6) and Lindsey Parese. Nicole Cring (W) and Catherine Borgstrom. 2B _ Rachel Wasellski (H). 3B _ Lindsey Parese (H), Maggie Hall (C).
Milford 7, Worcester 0
Kaitlin VanWinkler pitched a two-hitter and worked her way out of early trouble as Milford stayed in contention for the Tri-Valley East title with a win on the road.
Worcester loaded the bases in the first inning, but VanWinkler struck out three batters to get out of trouble.
In the second inning, Worcester had runners at second and third, but VanWinkler got another strikeout to end the inning.
VanWinkler finished with six strikouts.
Kaley Chase, Peggy Paffenroth and Natasha Skillen all had doubles for Milford, which opened the scoring with two runs in the second inning.
Worcester ends the season at 6-7.
Milford (10-4, 8-4) and Schenevus (9-6, 8-4) are tied atop the Tri-Valley East Division.
Both teams complete their regular seasons at home today, with Milford playing Cherry Valley-Springfield and Schenevus opposing Richfield Springs. If the teams finished tied, they'll play a tiebreaker Friday and the T-V final against West Division champion Franklin will be moved to Monday.
Milford 7, Worcester 0
Milford     021 102 1 _ 7 8 0
Worcester     000 000 0 _ 0 2 2
Kaitlin VanWinkler (W) and Natasha Skillen. Monica Ridgeway (L) and Summer Rutty. 2B -- Kaley Chase (M), Peggy Paffenroth (M), Natasha Skillen (M).
Edmeston 7, Franklin 4
Winning pitcher Cassie Plows hit an RBI double and Sydney Smith hit a two-run single in a five-run sixth inning as host Edmeston dealt Franklin its first loss of the season in the Tri-Valley League.
"My pitcher hit her spots, we had very good defense _ I think it's the first time we've had fewer than four errors all season _ and we finally had some timely hitting," Edmeston coach Jamie Llewellyn said.
Trailing, 3-2, in the sixth, Rachel Slentz singled and Dayna Vibbard was hit by a pitch to begin the inning. Plows followed with an RBI double to center to tie the score. After Sam Harrington was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Vibbard scored the go-ahead run on a groundout to second by Bri Dunham. Becky Bennett's infield single re-loaded the bases before Katlin Talbot walked to make it 5-3. Smith followed with her two-run single to right-center.
Bennett, Smith and Jessie Terrano all had two hits for the Panthers (8-6), who travel to Franklin today. Plows struck out seven and walked one in an eight-hitter.
Haley Downin and Jessie Terrano had two hits apiece for the Purple Devils (12-1, 11-1), who clinched the West Division title Monday with a 4-0 win over Richfield Springs as Willert threw a no-hitter.
Edmeston 7, Franklin 4
Franklin      000 003 1 _ 4 8 0
Edmeston     002 005 x _ 7 7 1
Angie Willert (L) and Haley Downin. Cassie Plows (W) and Rachel Slentz. 2B _ Rachel Slentz (E), Cassie Plows (E).
Morris 7, Laurens 2
Kelsea Webster went 2-for-3 to lead host Morris in the Tri-Valley League.
The Mustangs' season finished at 6-9.
Morris 7, Laurens 2
Laurens     000 020 0 _ 2 6 1
Morris     211 030 x _ 7 6 2
Katie Piscitello (L), Jazmine Maidens (3) and Rachel Perry. Tessa Hitchcock (W) and Kelsea Webster. 2B _ Jazmine Maidens (L), McKenna Hungerford (M).
