Game 1:
Tage Johnson (Jamestown, NY, Frewsburg) ripped a walk-off shot off the right-center wall to give the Houghton Highlanders a 6-5 victory in their home opener over the D'Youville Spartans.
 
The Spartans grabbed a quick one run lead in the top of the first when Dylan Haack hit a two-strike triple to the right field gap and Thomas Brummer plated him with a fielder's choice.
 
After the initial run Highlanders' starter John Kopicky (Centerville, OH, Centerville) settled in, giving up only one more hit through the end of the sixth inning.
 
Spartans' starter Dan Fox, though, would start out with a hot hand.  Fox retired the first seven Houghton batters he faced and put up three consecutive zeros on the scoreboard.
 
The Highlanders would finally break through in the fourth, taking advantage of four straight hits and several Spartan defensive miscues to take a 4-1 lead.
 
In the sixth, Houghton added an insurance run when Timothy Leathersich (Lima, NY, Lima Christian) hit a sacrifice fly that plated John Zamites (Olean, NY, Olean) to put the Highlanders up by four.
 
That run would prove crucial in the seventh. 
 
After retiring the first batter of the inning on six pitchers, Kopicky walked the next on the same amount.  A strikeout put him an out away from the complete game win.  Then things began to unravel.
 
A liner past the third baseman, a hit and a walk ended Kopicky's day with D'Youville down by only three with the bases loaded.    
 
On the first pitch from Houghton relieverLucas Cornell (Almond, NY, Alfred-Almond), Spartan senior Eric Simoncelli ripped a double over the centerfielder's head to tie the game.
 
Cornell settled down and struck out the next batter but the game was now tied.
 
In the bottom of the seventh Michael Knapp (Brockport, NY, Brockport) led off with a monstrous double of his own.  A Joseph Gilligan (Ringwood, NJ, Lakeland Regional) single put runners at the corners before Johnson ended the game on the first pitch he saw.
 
Garret Kirkpatrick (York, PA, Central York) and Ethan Duryea (Concord, OH, Cornerstone Christian) each picked up two hits for the Highlanders to pace an 11-hit attack. 
 
Haak posted three hits for the Spartans, including a double and a triple.
 
Game 2:
After giving up an unearned run in the first inning, the Highlander bats picked up right where they left off in the seventh inning of game one, scoring nine runs over the first three innings, three more in the fifth and a final run in the sixth.
 
Over their six frames at the plate Houghton pounded out 16 hits, including three doubles and a triple for a season-high 13 runs.
 
On the mound, Ned Monthie (Albany, NY, Christian Brothers Academy) picked up his first win of the year, allowing only one hit over five innings of work.
 
Freshman Garrett Alread (Victor, NY, Victor) pitched a scoreless sixth, picking up two strikeouts.
 
Gilligan and Patrick Parsons (Wellsboro, PA, Wellsboro) paced the Highlanders offensive attack, picking up four and three hits apiece, respectively.  Gilligan now has nine hits in his last four games.  Both players also added three RBI to their cache.
 
Bryan Hodge (Thornton, CO, Community Christian) and Garret Kirkpatrick added two hits apiece for the Highlanders.  Tage Johnson added three RBI. 
 
Travis Macrides collected two hits and two RBI for the Spartans.