Congratulations to the Oxford Blackhawks PONY League team for finishing second in the Otsenango ‘A’ division. (Photo from Oxford Pony League Baseball)

SCHENEVUS – After finishing second in the Otsenango PONY League ‘A’ division, the Oxford Blackhawks faced Schenevus in the quarterfinals. Oxford fought throughout the contest, but fell short 7-5. Schenevus advances to the semifinals and will play Unatego.

Schenevus took a 2-0 lead into the third inning. Oxford tied it up with two outs in the top of the inning. Caden Rifanburg reached on a walk and advanced to second off a balk by the opposing pitcher. He scored on a RBI single by Landen Olinski, who’s been solid at the plate all summer. Nic Dodzweit followed with a single, moving Olinski to second base, and Olinski came in to score on Kyle Benjamin’s RBI single. Olinski finished 3-for-4 at the plate with three of Oxford’s six stolen bases.

Schenevus fired up in the bottom of the third with a four-run inning. Three runs scored on mishaps by the defense, including two errors and a wild pitch and the other run came on an RBI single. Schenevus picked up one final run in the fourth inning.

Oxford pushed through to get one back in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings as they took advantage of Schenevus’ own troubles. The Blackhawks were able to hold Schenevus in the final few innings, but could not create a big breakthrough in the top of the seventh inning in a two-run deficit.

Oxford had a great season, earning the second place trophy from their division with a 6-2 regular season record. While it was a team effort to push through to a good finish this summer, Oxford can only select two players to represent them in the All-Star game. The annual Otsenango PONY League All-Star Game will take place on Wednesday, July 26 at 5 p.m. from Doubleday Field in Cooperstown.

Box Score:

Runs by Inning: R H E

OX:

0-0-2-1-1-1-0 5 7 5

SC:

1-1-4-1-0-0-X 7 6 2