July 11, 2026
By Steamers GM Paul Welker
Hornell struggled to get the offense going as Dansville swept a Friday afternoon doubleheader with 6-3 and 3-2 victories. Hornell battled throughout both seven-inning contests but couldn’t overcome a pair of decisive innings by the Gliders, who improved to 21-9 on the season. The Steamers fell to 14-12-1.
Game One: Dansville 6, Hornell 3
Dansville used a five-run second inning to take control of the opener before holding off a steady Hornell comeback attempt. After a scoreless first, the Gliders strung together six hits in the second inning. Emmett McLean delivered a two-run single before Luca Finton followed with a two-run double. Derek Babineau Jr. capped the rally with an RBI single to give Dansville a 5-0 lead. Hornell answered in the third when John Greenwood (North Park) walked and later scored on Taylor Joseph’s (North Park) RBI double. The Steamers pulled closer in the fourth after Michael Duncan (Eastern Mennonite) walked, advanced to third on Wyatt Argentieri’s (Bethany Lutheran) sacrifice bunt, and scored on Markus Brehm’s (St. Bonaventure) sacrifice fly.
Hornell manufactured another run in the sixth without recording a hit. Rylan Stokes (McMurry) was hit by a pitch, stole second and raced home when Argentieri stole second, trimming the deficit to 5-3. Dansville added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth on Bobby Griffon’s groundout after McLean reached on an error and stole second.
Game Two: Dansville 3, Hornell 2
The nightcap featured a pitchers’ duel that wasn’t decided until the fifth inning.
Dansville grabbed an unearned run in the first when McLean stole third and scored on a throwing error, but Beno Ballard (Westminster) answered in the second with a solo home run to even the score at 1-1.
Hornell took its first lead in the fifth. Brehm reached on an error and came around to score when Will Parker (Pomona Pitzer) lined a single that skipped past the second baseman, giving the Steamers a 2-1 advantage.
The Gliders answered immediately in the bottom half of the inning. Following a walk and an error, Luca Finton singled to put runners on the corners before Philip Lombardi delivered the game’s biggest hit, lining a two-run single to center to put Dansville back in front, 3-2.
Hornell threatened in the seventh after Duncan worked a walk and Brehm was hit by a pitch, but Joshua Martin retired the final batter to earn the save. Ty Vogel (SUNY Niagara) turned in a strong start, allowing just one earned run over 4.1 innings while striking out five. Despite being limited to three hits, Dansville capitalized on six walks and timely hitting from Lombardi, whose two-run single proved to be the difference.
Hornell has Saturday off before starting a two-game series with Genesee on Sunday. They take on the Rapids at 2 p.m. on Sunday at Houghton.
