By KEVIN OKLOBZIJA
There was a time this season when playing for a Section V baseball championship was far more pipe dream than distinct possibility for Honeoye Falls-Lima.
Oh, the Cougars’ pitching was very good. So was their fielding. “Phenomenal,” junior third baseman Landon Hammond went so far as to say.
The hitting, however, was another story. And not a happy one. In losing nine of their first 17 games, the Cougars scored just 12 runs in those defeats and were shut out three times.
“We just weren’t hitting,” Hammond said.
But the HFL lineup is a testament to what hard work can lead to, assistant coach John Russ said.
Powered by Hammond’s three singles, another three from Carson Joint and two from both Robert Brown and Connor Finn, the Cougars unleashed a 13-hit attack and rolled to an 11-2 victory over Pittsford Sutherland in the Class A2 title game on Saturday afternoon at Innovative Field.
“It’s been a dream of everyone to be out here with the boys and win a brick,” Hammond said.
Ahead 2-1 after four innings, the fifth-seeded Cougars (14-9) erupted for nine runs on nine hits and two walks in the top of the fifth to open an 11-1 lead and they cruised to the victory.
“We just started stringing hits together,” Hammond said. “Everyone contributed, and I mean everyone.”
The championship is the third in HFL history, and first since 2015. And it was accomplished without head coach Dan Hoyt, who was attending his daughter’s wedding while his team was bringing home the hardware.
Hoyt was certainly with the Cougars in spirit, though.
“He’s told the kids all year long that we’re good enough to play for a sectional title,” Russ said. “They’ve come to work every day, they wanted it really bad and they proved hard work pays off.”
Hoyt texted his team before the game, not with a “win one for the Gipper wish, but that he believed wholeheartedly in their ability.
“He said good luck, and that we know what we’re capable of,” Finn said.
The game didn’t start so well, however. Second-seeded Sutherland (16-7) used a two-out single by Jack Armanini, a walk to Max Vorrasi and hit-and-run single Andrew Holvey to take a 1-0 lead against starting pitcher Nate Weber.
There was no feeling of, Oh, no, here we go again, however. HFL had lost both games to the Knights in the regular season, 3-2 and 4-1.
But this time, the Cougars retaliated immediately. Matt Meacham reached on an error with one out in the top of the second, stole second and scored on Finn’s single.
HFL then manufactured a run in the third to take a 2-1 lead. Hammond singled with out one, stole second, moved to third on a balk and scored on Joint’s flare to shallow center.
Then came the fifth-inning hit parade. After a leadoff walk to Ed Brown, Hammond dropped down a perfect bunt for a single. An out later, Joint, Aidan Neenan, Meacham, Robert Brown and Finn all delivered singles the runs crossed the plate one after another.
“Landon got the inning started and we kept going and going and got more and more,” said Finn, the sophomore second baseman who delivered a two-run single in the inning and finished with three RBI,, earning game MVP honors.
The hits came against three Sutherland pitchers.
“They put barrels on everything and you have to tip your hat to their hitters, they certainly earned it,” said Sutherland coach Brandon DeRosa, who was named A2 coach of the year the day before.
The fifth-inning outburst denied the Knights a chance to repeat as sectional champions, and also prevented them from winning an unprecedented 16th title. HFL pitchers Weber and Trent Wager combined on a four-hitter.
“As a program, we always expect to be in the finals,” DeRosa said. “But we were very young going into the season (just two seniors were in the starting lineup), so the way they improved from the beginning of the year to now is remarkable. I’m incredibly proud of them.”
With the victory, the Cougars advanced to the Class A regional qualifier, to be played at 5 p.m. Tuesday at Innovative Field. Tuesday’s winner will be the home team in the Far West Regional against the Section VI champ at 10 a.m. Saturday at Dwyer Stadium in Batavia.
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