By Josh McMullen
It was a weird night in Little Falls. It started with the umpires being mysteriously absent, delaying the game for half an hour. It ended with the Mohawk Valley DiamondDawgs winning their game against Amsterdam in the craziest of ways.
The DiamondDawgs only racked up four hits in nine innings. Fortunately though, they were able to take advantage of spectacular baserunning to maximize their return on those hits, managing to squeak by the Mohawks, 9-7.
The game would remain scoreless until the third, when Amsterdam's Kai Roberts (Lehi, UT/University of Utah) scored on an infield single by Jake Reinisch (Clifton Park, NY/Wake Forest). Mohawk Valley would get it all back and then some in the bottom of the inning with one swing of the bat from Tyler Cannon (Clayton, NJ/Iona). His bomb would score himself, Matt Venuto (Mansfield, MA/Fairfield)
and Ryan Morash (Califon, NJ/Hofstra).
The Mohawks cut the lead to one in the fourth on a slow blooper by Matt Shaw (Brimfield, MA/Maryland). Like Roberts' infield single in the third, it would score a run from second, this time Stone Miyao (Hilo, HI/University of Hawaii). Reinisch would tie it up again in the fifth, scoring Danny Moshier (Falmouth, ME/Marist) on a line drive to left field.
The DiamondDawgs would get the lead back in the sixth, as a passed ball by Amsterdam pitcher Isaac Brown (Troy, NY/Marist) would score Cannon. They'd get another one in the same way a few batters later, scoring Alfredo Delgado (Bronx, NY/Manhattan). Amsterdam pulled it back in the top of the seventh to within one on an RBI single by Brett Young (Wynantskill, NY/Siena), scoring Jackson Phinney (Marshfield, MA/Pittsburgh).
Delgado would help the Diamond Dawgs pull even further ahead in their half of the seventh, rocketing a ball to center field and scoring two: Venuto and Cannon. They'd extend the lead in the eighth on a passed ball by Von Baker (St. Johnsville, NY/Cornell). Baker would give up five walks in the inning, one to Rob Taylor (Wolcott, CT/University of New Haven) that would score Morash.
The Mohawks, in their usual never-say-die mentality, managed to shrink the lead back to three on a 2-RBI double by Reinisch, scoring Roberts and Phinney. They'd pick up another on a close play at first, scoring CJ Funk (Bellefinte, PA/Pittsburgh).
That was all the DiamondDawgs would get and need, as Nathan Draves (Manhattan Beach, CA/Lynn) would get out of a bases-loaded jam with no one out and then two out to put the game away.
Evan Berta (Yorktown Heights, NY/Fairfield) picked up the win for Mohawk Valley (7-8), who have won three in a row. Brown got the loss for Amsterdam (14-3), who sees a ten-game winning streak snapped.
Mohawk Valley will head up to Watertown for a game with the Rapids on Monday, the first half of a home-and-home series and the fourth time the two will meet in a week. The Mohawks will be off on Monday, but will head home to Shuttleworth Park on Tuesday to face the Saugerties Stallions.
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