Sophomore Shane Demo pitched a five-hitter and junior Tom Darling blasted a key three-run homer to lead the Oswego varsity baseball team to a 7-4 triumph over visiting Nottingham on Monday at the Leighton School diamond.

Demo was working on a 4-0 shutout when Nottingham plated a pair of unearned runs in the sixth to make it 4-2.

Darling gave the Bucs some breathing room in the bottom of the sixth to cap a two-out rally. Gary Carpentier walked, Andrew Anderson singled to left, and Darling crushed one over the center-field fence, giving Oswego a 7-2 lead.

“Tommy’s home run came at a good time,” Oswego coach John Finch said. “Their pitcher is a good pitcher. He gave us trouble when we played them the first time, but he just didn’t get any help defensively. Today, we didn’t put the ball in play enough to put any pressure on their defense. We have to be more consistent with the bats. We had too many strikeouts today.”

The Bulldogs (1-16) never quit, and that was true in the seventh inning as well. Jon Reid reached on an error and Dan Newton belted a two-run homer to right-center field. But Demo responded by striking out the final two batters to end the game.

Demo walked none, hit a batter, and struck out 11.

“Shane did exactly what he was supposed to do. He went out and threw strikes,” Finch said. “He was solid. He was ahead in the count a lot. He had trouble early in the season getting behind the hitters, but he was pretty aggressive today.”

Anthony Johnson went the distance for Nottingham. He allowed six hits and seven walks, while striking out 10. He allowed a run in the second inning and three in the third, an inning which included four walks.

Darling and Anderson had two hits each for Oswego (7-6). Lazzaro and Steve Stemple had the other hits.

The Bucs’ pitching and hitting were good enough to offset their defensive mistakes. Oswego committed six errors. Finch said the team will continue to work on that aspect of the game.

Oswego plays at Rome Wednesday, and hosts West Genesee at 5 p.m. Thursday.