CORTLAND — Each team only managed two hits apiece when Lakeview hosted Springfield on Wednesday. However, the Bulldogs played small-ball and came out on top with a 4-3 victory.

The score was tied 3-3 in the bottom of the sixth, and Hayden Newton led off with a single. Then, Newton stole second and moved over to third on a perfect sacrifice bunt by Jake Nicholas. Newton came around to score the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly by Andrew Brown.

“Anytime there’s a pop-fly, and I’m on third, I’m always going to score,” Newton said. “I’ll be there. We executed and played good defense. I play second base and catcher. I’ll do whatever it takes to help my team win.”

Brandon Toot pitched two scoreless innings with three strikeouts in relief to get the win. Brown started the game and went five innings with nine strikeouts and only allowed one earned run.

“It was a great game,” Toot said. “We executed well in that last inning. We got that bunt down and got the winning run home with that sac-fly.

“The season started a little rough. Now, we’ve got a little winning streak. Hopefully, we keep it going.”

After starting the season 2-9, the Bulldogs have won six games in a row and improved their record to 9-10 overall.

“It was another gritty win,” Lakeview coach Cam Carson said. “We’re starting to play a lot better as a team. We needed one run. We had a base hit, stole a base, sac-bunt, sac-fly. I had a lot of confidence in Jake getting that bunt down. It was just good team baseball.”

Springfield (11-3) grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, and the Tigers went ahead 3-2 in the top of the third before Lakeview tied it up in the bottom half of the inning.

Seniors Parker Dobson and Blake Jeffries had the hits for the Tigers. Jeffries started the game on the mound, and Kolten Ruark went three innings, before sophomore Noah Troggio pitched the final two innings.

“We need to clean up our defense, and put the bat on the ball a little more,” Springfield coach Terry Dobson said. “Noah did a good job. That was the first time he’s been on the mound this year. We didn’t help him out defensively.

“We’ve had too many cancellations to count. We still have three league games to make up. We’ve got to get better every game. It’s two weeks until the tournament starts.

“We’ve had some injuries. We’re putting players in positions they’ve never played before. We had three guys playing out of position today. Lakeview is a good, solid, Division II team. Those kids come to the plate ready to swing the bat.”

The Bulldogs and Tigers will both be back in action today. Lakeview will host LaBrae and Springfield welcomes Girard.

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