Sports Snippets: May 9, 2024
Cooperstown Tennis Remains Undefeated
COOPERSTOWN—Cooperstown’s varsity tennis team boasts an impressive 13-0 season record as of Monday, May 6. They defeated Herkimer 5-0 on the road on Wednesday, May 1. Singles players Isaiah George, Eero Aho and Henry Ayers, and the doubles teams of Alexis Wolfe and Bianca Adam and Alfred Hom and Owen Marling, each swept their opponents in straight sets.
The next day, the Hawkeyes secured the Center State Conference title by winning four out of five championships at Utica’s Parkway Tennis Center. George defeated Sauquoit Valley’s Quincy Stanton and Aho beat Canastota’s Donovan Schmidt in the finals. Ayers, an eighth-grader, toppled Mount Markham’s Robert Huntley. Junior Wolfe and sophomore Adam defeated a Morrisville-Eaton team at first doubles. The second doubles team of Marling and Hom were finalists and went down fighting in the last round, 10-8.
The same lineup swept LaFayette 5-0 at home on Saturday, May 4. George, Aho and Ayers each defeated their opponents without giving up a single game. The second doubles team of Marling and Trey Hassman won by forfeit.
Cooperstown remained undefeated with a narrow 3-2 win over Holland-Patent on Monday, May 6. George lost the first singles match 6-2, 7-5. Second singles team Hassman and seventh-grader Micha Raffo fell in five sets.
Cooperstown Softball Wins 2, Loses 2
COOPERSTOWN—Cooperstown softball slipped past Adirondack 4-3 on Wednesday, May 1 thanks to a single by sophomore Evie Baldo in the bottom of the seventh that drove home junior Grace Sperry. Sophomore Jensen Merwin earned the win in the circle, striking out four batters in seven innings and contributing two singles to the offense. Baldo scored a run of her own. Sperry finished the day with a single and a stolen base.
The Hawkeyes lost 10-8 to West Canada Valley on Thursday, May 2 despite a three-run comeback attempt in the final inning. Senior Tori France went 3-for-4 with two runs and two more batted in. Sophomore Katie Crippen hit a double and a triple, scored twice and had two RBI. Junior Emmy Lippitt took the loss after giving up 10 hits and striking out six batters.
Merwin had another fantastic outing on Saturday, May 4 as Cooperstown crushed Fort Plain 18-9. She went 3-for-3 with three runs and two RBI and earned the win in the circle by striking out three batters. France scored two runs, batted in two more and stole three bases. Sophomore Kayleigh Butler scored three times.
Crippen hit a two-run homer in Cooperstown’s 10-4 win against Frankfort-Schuyler on Monday, May 6. She batted in four runs in all, scored twice and stole three bases. Lippitt earned the win, striking out four and giving up nine hits in seven innings. France scored three times and stole four bases. The Hawkeyes stand at 9-5 for the season and 4-2 in their division. They will host Sauquoit Valley after press time on Tuesday, May 7.
Hawkeye Baseball on a Roller Coaster
COOPERSTOWN—Cooperstown baseball narrowly defeated Adirondack 12-11 at Doubleday Field on Wednesday, May 1. Junior Aaron Katz batted in four runs, powering a Hawkeye comeback from a 9-4 deficit after four innings. Seniors Emerson Toulson and Kalen Dempsey each hit a double and scored two runs. Freshman Brody Murdock earned the win in relief, striking out three batters and allowing two runs in three innings.
The Hawkeyes fell 15-4 to West Canada Valley on Thursday, May 2. Junior Adam Ubner hit a double, scored and had an RBI. Senior Ben Katz tripled and scored a run.
Murdock struck out 10 batters and gave up only one earned run in 5.1 innings, but Cooperstown lost 6-2 to Holland Patent as a result of four errors on Saturday, May 4. Senior Frank Panzarella stole four bases.
Dempsey returned to the mound to strike out 11 batters in Cooperstown’s 6-1 victory over Frankfort-Schuyler on Monday, May 6. He also went 3-for-4 with two RBI. Sophomore Brenin Dempsey hit a double and batted in two runs. The Hawkeyes moved to 7-6 for the season and 4-2 in their division, and will host Sauquoit Valley at Doubleday Field after press time on Tuesday, May 7.
Sentz Leads Cooperstown Golf
COOPERSTOWN —Cooperstown golf defeated Mount Markham 190-209 in a Center State Conference East Division match on Thursday, May 2. Freshman Brayden Sentz shot 42 to earn medalist honors, and was followed in the Cooperstown scoring by Charlie Lambert (44), Jackson Crisman (51) and Payton Whiteman (53).
Sentz led the Hawkeyes to a 176-180 victory over Adirondack on Friday, May 3 with a one-over 37. Crisman (44), Lambert (45) and Ben Lewis (50) completed the win.
The team took its second loss of the season (168-182) at Hamilton on Monday, May 6. Sentz shot a two-over 38 to tie for medalist honors. Crisman shot 44, Lambert shot 47 and Whiteman shot 53. The Hawkeyes moved to 5-2 for the season and 2-0 in their conference.
Coop Girls Win Don Howard Invitational
COOPERSTOWN—Cooperstown girls track and field took first place in the Don Howard Invitational on Saturday, May 4, winning nearly half of the events in a nine-team field. The Hawkeyes placed first in the 3,000m (Margaret Raffo), 1,500m (Nora Craig), 200m (Sophia Hotaling), 800m (Annelise Jensen), 400m (Jensen), 1,600m relay (Jensen, Olivia Murdock, Claire Baldo and Hotaling), and 3,200m relay (Eleanor Walker, Mia Stenzel, Craig and Raffo).
The boys finished third out of 10 teams, led by Cooper Bradley’s first-place finishes in 110m hurdles and the high jump. Carter Stevens, who ran with the Cooperstown cross-country team, won the 3,200m for Laurens-Milford.
Cooperstown celebrated its graduating seniors at the meet, including Charlotte Feury, Grace Fuller, Riley Green, Tanner Griffin, Cooper Hodgson, Hotaling, Elizabeth Hughes, Ava Lesko, Finn Morgan, Murdock and Raffo.