Baseball - Cornwall remains perfect, competes for AA state title

Cornwall has certainly learned how to win baseball games the dominating way this season.

Now, the Dragons are getting good at scratching out the close ones, too.

After a season full of blowout wins (14 by double-digit runs), state No. 1 ranked Cornwall has posted a pair of nail-biting playoff wins over the past two weeks. The latest, a 5-3 win over Suffolk County champ John F. Kennedy on Friday, June 12, in Binghamton, keeps alive a perfect season with a 24-0 mark.

The final step for a state Class AA championship is Saturday’s 4 p.m. showdown with Section 3 champ West Genesee at Mirabito Stadium. The WIldcats are 21-4 and winners of seven in a row following a 5-1 semifinal win over Horseheads earlier Friday.

Cornwall trailed 1-0 after one inning on leadoff doubles by JFK’s Ryan Yormack and Derek Yormack, and seized a 2-1 lead in the second only to have Kennedy pull into a tie twice more.

JFK starter Derek Yormack actually held Cornwall to just one base hit through five innings but the Cougars turned to left-hander Dylan Babek (moved over from first base) to start the bottom of the sixth, tied at 3.

Richie Roohan was mired in an 0-for-2 start to his game but he took an 0-1 offering off the wall in right field for a leadoff triple. Mason Lont drew a walk and stole second to put two men in scoring position. With two outs, Dan Twomey dribbled a ball up the third base line. Ryan Yormack was forced to charge in, unable to stop and apply a potential tag on Lont, and threw on the run just a bit wide of first base, though Twomey appeared to beat out the play. Roohan and Lont scored for a 5-3 lead and Twomey was tagged out in a rundown.

Charles Rourke came on to relieve starter Sage Caesar and retired all three batters he faced in the JFK seventh, punctuating the win with a strikeout. Limited to just 12 pitches, Rourke may very well start Saturday’s title game.

Derek Yormack struggled in the Cornwall second, walking Lont, Maus and Caesar. Lont scored on a passed ball and Maus on a wild pitch for a 2-1 Dragons lead.

Ryan Yormack was credited with an inside-the-park homer to open the JFK third. His high fly ball to the deep reaches had centerfielder Matt Finn twisting, turning and eventually slammed in the face by the ball, which caromed away toward right, allowing Yormack to score rather handily for a 2-2 tie.

Lont drove a ball past second baseman Frankie Stella and hustled the play into a double to open the fourth. He moved up on a Tyler Maus groundout and scored on a wild pitch – the Dragons scored three times on passed balls and wild pitches.

JFK tied the game in the sixth. Derek Yormack had a one-out single to left-center. Babek lined a drive to the gap that right fielder Twomey raced for but came up inches shy, resulting in an RBI double.

kmcmillan@th-record.com

X / Twitter: @KenMcMillanTHR

This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Cornwall baseball remains perfect, competes for AA state title