Just as they did in their semifinal win over Remsen, the Poland hitters put the bat on the ball.
Unlike that game, those hits didn’t find holes in the opponent’s defense in Wednesday’s Section III Class D-1 final.
Oriskany played flawless defense and used a couple of productive innings offensively to beat the Tornadoes 6-3 and defend the Section III Class D-1 title it won a year ago.
“That’s what we try to do. Kayla (Dunning) throws strikes and we make the plays behind her,” Oriskany coach Eric Enos said after the win.
That strategy worked to perfection as Dunning was far from overpowering by striking out just two batters, but had pinpoint control and her defense rewarded her for that.
Oriskany made just one error on the day, which resulted in Poland’s second run in the fourth inning and made some key defensive plays when it mattered most.
A couple of those key defensive plays came in the fifth inning when Poland looked primed to make a comeback.
The Tornadoes had runners at first and third with one out after an Erin Batson walk and Bri Rathbun infield single were sandwiched around a ground out.
Mandy Weakley then hit a sharp ground ball between first and second base that looked like it could end up in right field.
Brittany Decker made a nice stop, though, going to her left to throw out Weakley. Batson scored on the play to make it a 6-3 game, but the Redskins got the second out of the inning.
Lexi Schreppel then hit a soft liner destined for short center field, but Megan Surley made a nice running catch to end the inning.
Dunning then retired the final six Poland batters to seal the win for the Redskins (19-4), who will next take on D-2 champion Stockbridge Valley in the overall Class D title game at Cicero-North Syracuse Saturday.
“They didn’t make any mistakes defensively and that wasn’t definitely the key to the game,” Poland coach Greg Haver said. “We had some opportunities, but couldn’t get the key hit when we needed it.”
A couple of those instances came in the first couple of innings.
In the first, Poland already had a run in on Courtney Tabor’s RBI fielder’s choice. Weakley then doubled with two outs but was left stranded when Lexi Schreppel popped out to third.
In the second, Poland had a chance to build on its 1-0 lead, but left runners at second and third as Dunning got two ground ball outs to end the inning.
For the game, Dunning got 14 of the 21 outs by ground balls with Decker getting six assists of her own. That included the final out of the game as Dunning fielded a dribbler and threw to first as the Redskins erupted in celebration.
On the other side, the Redskins were able to get key hits when they needed them.
After thoroughly being shut down by the sophomore Batson, who struck out five of the first seven batters over the first two innings, Oriskany made headway in the third.
Kyle Washnis got things going with a seeing-eye single up the middle with one out. After Surley walked, Dunning delivered a double down the left-field line to score Washnis and tie the game. Mallory Ingalls then delivered an RBI infield single and Dunning scored on a wild pitch to make it 3-1.
Poland (13-6) cut into the lead in the fourth on Danielle Greiner’s fielder’s choice RBI to score Schreppel, who had led off by reaching on the Redskins only error. While the Torndadoes made it a 3-2 game, that also proved to be a missed opportunity as Mickella Hampel was left stranded at third when Dunning got Lindsay Huckabone on a grounder to third.
Oriskany then answered right back with three more runs in the fifth.
Surley singled to center with one out and moved to second on a sharp single by Dunning. Ingalls then delivered a two-run triple off the base of the fence in left-center.
“She has been one of the girls we count on to come up for us in big situations and deliver,” Enos said of his No. 3 hitter, Ingalls. “That was a big hit for us because it gave us a little cushion.”
Ingalls would then score when she scooted home on a throw to first as Jen Arcuri struck out.
That was all the damage Batson would allow as she was overpowering at times striking out 14 batters on the day. Other than the two scoring innings, Batson did not allow a hit in any of the other five frames finishing with a six-hitter. Batson walked six batters on the day.
Dunning allowed five Poland hits with the two strikeouts and three walks.
“We tend to struggle against girls that don’t throw as hard and have trouble staying back,” Haver said. “She did a nice job keeping us off balance and their defense was spectacular.”
Haver, who loses just two starters Hampel and Sarah Graulich to graduation, thinks Oriskany’s sectional experience paid off, but also thinks his team will be better because of the experience.
“This was all kind of new to us, but it should do the program good.” he said.