Santhosh Gottam of the Amsterdam Mohawks can add yet another award to his resume, as the 2022 Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League (PGCBL) Championship Series MVP was chosen as the PGCBL’s first-ever Relief Pitcher of the Year.
A new award created to recognize the ultra-talented bullpen arms in the PGCBL, the Relief Pitcher of the Year was voted on by the league’s head coaches. Among the three major awards handed out (Player, Pitcher, and Relief Pitcher of the Year), Gottam’s victory was the most convincing.
Gottam, a rising sophomore at Brown University, was lights-out in relief for the 2022 PGCBL champions. In 28.2 innings across 15 regular-season appearances, the Dallas, Texas, product went 2-0 with two saves and a minute 0.94 earned-run average. He struck out 37 against only eight walks, and as a member of the best staff in the league, he logged the team’s lowest WHIP (walks and hits per inning pitched) (.800) and the second-best batting average against (.152).
Amsterdam went 13-1-1 in games when Gottam toed the rubber, in addition to two more wins in the playoffs. After his only regular-season start on June 21, Gottam pieced together 13.2 shutout relief innings in seven games spanning June 27 through July 17. That included 4.0 one-hit innings in a 7-5 victory at Albany on July 13 and a winning decision with 2.1 perfect innings in a 5-2 victory over Saugerties on July 17.
In the postseason, Gottam contributed 1.2 innings out of the bullpen against Saugerties on August 1, before a commanding start in the third game of the 2022 PGCBL Championship Series. Despite tossing no more than 4.0 innings all summer, the 6-foot-1 righty picked up the win by allowing just one run in 7.0 innings. After guiding the Mohawks to a win in the decisive game, Gottam was tabbed the series’ Most Valuable Player.
In his first season with the Brown Bears, Gottam went 4-5 with a 5.52 ERA in 14 appearances (five starts). His four wins were tied for the most on the team, while his 44.0 innings of work were the third-most. In his collegiate debut against Memphis on February 27, Gottam collected the win with a season-best 6.2 innings and three punch outs.