Baseball

S-E 8, Mount Markham 4

WEST WINFIELD – Sherburne-Earlville won its eleventh straight game, and clinched its first Center State Conference division title since the 2003-2004 season with a road win Monday against Mount Markham.

S-E (9-0, 14-3) spotted the Mustangs a three-run lead over the first two innings, but controlled the game after a three-run third frame to tie the game. “We were down early, but the kids have a confidence about them,” said S-E coach Brian Hicks. “They think it’s just a matter of time before we’ll score enough runs, and (the other team) won’t score anymore.”

Winning pitcher Jake Sampson allowed four hits – just two after the first inning – to pick up the win. Sampson had three hits and four RBI as well, and Stephen Buddenhagen finished with three hits. Mike Doscher and Joe Moses contributed two hits apiece.

S-E can complete an unbeaten league schedule today when it hosts Waterville. “Once we got on a roll and beat everyone in the league the first time we played them, we realized we could run the table and win the division,” Hicks said. “We believed we could beat anyone in our league if we played well, but we also realized we needed to bring our ‘A game’ every game because any team can beat us if we don’t.”

S-E 0031310 8 12 3

MM 3000010 4 4 3