STAC BASEBALL: OWEGO NIPS FORKS IN 9 (2024-04-22)

Tioga County Sports Report
OWEGO — It wasn’t pretty but it was a “W” for the Owego baseball team as the River Hawks edged upset-minded Chenango Forks, 2-1, in nine innings Monday.

Joseph Palladino doubled to right field with one down in the bottom of the ninth inning and scored the winning run on an error on Ben Rollison’s ground ball.

The hit was just the third of the game for the struggling Owego bats, which managed a pair of singles by Talan Schumacher in the second and fourth.

His second base hit, a towering fly into no man’s land behind first base, plated Matt Higgins to knot the score at one apiece in the fourth. Higgins reached on a fielder’s choice which produced an out at home plate, then he stole second just before the Schumacher hit.

Schumacher's first hit came after Zach Beyer reached on an error and a fly out to the second baseman. Palladino would walk to load the bases, but Forks turned an impressive double play to avoid any damage.

That sparked the Blue Devils in the third. Following an out, they put runners at the corner on an error off the bat of Jack Curtis and a single to left by Finn Stark. Chris Boyle bunted back to pitcher Conlan Taylor, who flipped the ball to catcher Rollison with his glove for an apparent out at the plate. The umpire ruled Rollison bobbled the ball and called Curtis safe for a 1-0 lead.

Forks outhit Owego, 7-3, but the River Hawks got solid pitching from Taylor and Kam Wicklund.

Taylor struck out seven and walked one over seven innings, surrendering one unearned run. Wicklund picked up the win, striking out two in two innings of no-hit ball.

The CF pitchers walked eight and struck out four.

Owego (9-1) heads to Chenango Forks (5-6) Wednesday at 5 p.m.

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IN PHOTO 1: Owego’s Matt Higgins. ... PHOTOS BY TIM TAYLOR.