Sleepy Hollow Holds on to Win Against Cortlandt

Sleepy Hollow (9-2) didn't exactly hit the ball hard in its first three innings against host Cortlandt in its Westchester Putnam Baseball Association 16-and-under contest Friday evening.

However, it took advantage of the breaks that it received.

The Mustangs scored one run in the first and three runs in the third, two of them coming home on errors to go up 4-0. That quick start enabled Sleepy Hollow to hold off a furious Cortlandt rally and win 10-8.

"They are all big games down the stretch," Sleepy Hollow coach Mike King said. "There are six teams who are all around 10-1, 9-2. If you get a loss, you can drop down to sixth or seventh place and now you are fighting for a playoff spot. There are six or seven really good teams so you really have to win the games you are supposed to win."

Chris Lopez, who went 3 for 4 with four RBIs, started Sleepy Hollow's two-out rally in the top of the first with a single. Lopez then stole second base and was driven in on a single to left field by Ronnie Rodriguez.

"Chris's approach the last couple of games has been good," King said. "If you remember the Peekskill game he also had some good hits. He's hit pretty well the last couple of games."

Sleepy Hollow added to its lead in the third inning when Dionel Infante led off and reached second on a two-base error. Infante moved to third when Armando Cabrera reached base on an error.

Infante then scored on a double to left field by Lopez. Lopez and Rodriguez, who reached base on a fielder's choice, both eventually scored on errors which increased Sleepy Hollow's advantage to 4-0.

"I had two strikes on me," Lopez said. "I just knew I had to hit the ball so I could help my team out."

The Mustangs then busted out with five runs in the fourth. A walk by Jack Gandolfo and singles from Jason Martinez and Joe Martello loaded the bases.

Lopez then came through yet again when he knocked in all three Mustang runners on base with a double. On the play, Lopez scored himself on a two-base error.

"I was just trying to hit the ball, I had two strikes on me again," Lopez said. "I wanted to do whatever I could to help the team get a win."

Sleepy Hollow wasn't done as Rodriguez continued the rally with a single. He stole second and third before scoring on an error to increase the Mustangs' lead to 9-0.

Cortlandt started to get back in the game in the bottom of the inning when it scored two runs. With the bases loaded and two outs, Inmer Rosado induced a fly out to left field that was caught by Dorian Hamilton to end the inning.

Sleepy Hollow extended its lead to 10-2 in the fifth when Gandolfo led off with a walk, moved to third on an error and scored on Infante's ground-out to second.

Up by eight, Sleepy Hollow seemed to have the game well in hand but that was before Cortlandt exploded for six runs in its half of the fifth to cut the Mustangs lead to two. Sleepy Hollow though didn't allow a run after that to hold onto a much needed win.

"I personally think we just are a better team," Lopez said. "We just got a little too cocky when we had the lead."