By Mike Zummo
The Newburgh Nuclears were short on pitching heading into the championship, but the offense more than made up for it, cranking out 10 hits in a 12-5 win over the Oneonta Green Wave to win the Gil Wood Hall of Fame Tournament on Sunday at Conlon Field in Binghamton.
Darren Russo pitched the first two innings, walked three times, and drove in a run with a sacrifice fly for the Nuclears, who built a five-run lead through three innings and held off a fourth-inning rally by Oneonta.
The Nuclears got on the board in the second inning when Dylan Demaro singled home a run before Russo’s sacrifice fly to make it 2-0. They extended their advantage in the third as Colby Stoehr lifted a sacrifice fly and an Oneonta error allowed two more runs to score.
The Green Wave’s biggest offensive threat came in the fourth inning when Jameson Brown blasted a three-run home run to right field off D.J. Aviles, trimming the deficit. Brown finished 3-for-3 with three RBIs to lead the Green Wave.
Russo tossed two scoreless innings while allowing two hits, striking out three and walking two Aviles earned the win in relief, striking out four.
Alex Sanchez, Mason McDonald, and Robert Lawrence each collected two hits for the Nuclears. Sanchez, Stoehr and Russo drove in two runs apiece as Newburgh capitalized on its patience at the plate.
The Nuclears reached the championship game earlier in the day with a 4-3 walk-off victory over the Watson Elite when Chase Rounds singled home the winning run in the bottom of the seventh, capping a three-run comeback.
The Nuclears opened the tournament on Thursday with a 6-5 win over the Green Wave and beat Watson, 9-7, on Friday.
They suffered their only loss in the tournament on Saturday, suffering a 15-0 loss to the Clinton County Mariners, who have beaten the Nuclears twice in three games. Newburgh’s only victory over them was a 6-3 win on June 20.
The Nuclears will host Saugerties-Kingston on Wednesday at Marlboro High School before heading to Cantine Field this weekend for the District 9 tournament.