By Ian Nicholas
Box Score
The Mohawks (21-4) pulled out their first walk-off win of the summer with a 5-4 victory over the Dutchmen (13-9) from Shuttleworth Park on Thursday night. Amsterdam defeated Albany for the second time in four days and improved to 3-0 on the season against the Dutchmen. After an 11-5 loss at home to the Mohawks on Monday, the Dutchmen took control early in the ballgame from Rao Family Stadium but faltered down the stretch.
Cade Citelli (UT-Arlington) made his fourth start of the year for Amsterdam and picked up two strikeouts in a scoreless top of the first. Through Citelli’s first 18 innings on the mound in 2022, the redshirt freshman had yet to give up a run. In the bottom of the frame, Danny Kelleher (Hofstra) gave up a single to Ian Petrutz (Maryland) but kept the contest tied at 0. In the top of the second, Citelli’s scoreless streak would come to an end. First, Matt Bergevin (Fairfield) reached on an E5 from Michael O’Shaugnessy (Davidson). Then, Chance Checca (Herkimer CC) hit a double through the hole and into left field. With second and third and nobody out, both players came home to score and gave Albany a 2-0 lead. Anthony Raimo Jr. (Rhode Island) batted in the first run with an RBI groundout, and Caden Shapiro (Princeton) scored the second with an RBI single.
What followed was a scoreless third inning from both squads, but the Dutchmen came back for more in the top of the fourth. Shapiro reached after his second hit and then scored from third after a Ben Lavery (St. John Fisher) sac-fly to left-center field. The third run of the game ended Citelli’s start with 3.2 innings pitched, three runs (two earned), six hits, three strikeouts, and three walks. The Mohawks did respond in the bottom of the inning after a Cade Bush (Flordia State) RBI groundout allowed Mark Black (Gardiner-Webb) to come home and cut the deficit to 3-1. Kelleher pitched four innings, giving up one run and three hits alongside two strikeouts and one walk.
After an uneventful fifth inning, Albany extended its lead in the top of the sixth. The Dutchmen had second and third off reliever Luis Misla (Hudson Valley CC), and Tyler Young (Lehigh) hit a weak grounder in front of the mound. Misla opted to throw home in an attempt to tag out Bergevin at the plate, but the Fairfield product slid-in safe to make the score 4-1 Albany. Amsterdam’s Jack Slyvia (St. Lawrence) pitched a scoreless top of the seventh with no hits and one walk, but the Mohawks did not score off Albany’s Andrew Cubberly (Quinnipiac) in the bottom of the inning.
Amsterdam’s third pitcher out of the bullpen, Ryan Van Buren (Maryland), kept the Dutchmen off the board once more in the top of the eighth while surrendering one hit with a strikeout and a walk. In the bottom of the eighth, the Mohawks came alive. With nobody on and one out, Gage Miller (Bishop State CC) was plunked by Cubberly. After that, Cubberly was pulled for Hunter Harris (Santa Ana), who loaded the bases following a single from Petrutz and a walk from Black. Then, the PGCBL’s leader in RBIs, Zach Gardiner (Marshall) dropped a double into left field that cleared the bases and tied the game at 4-4. Miller, Petrutz, and Jacob Hand (the pinch runner for Black) scored. In 0.2 innings pitched, Harris’ final line included two runs off two hits with two strikeouts and one walk.
In the top of the ninth, Jude Abbadessa (UConn) got the job done for Amsterdam as he pitched a 1-2-3 innings with a pair of strikeouts. Billy Fitzgerald (Fairfield) took the mound for Albany in the bottom of the inning, and first deduced a groundout from Paul Winland (Flordia SouthWestern). That would be the lone bright spot for the Dutchmen, as Josh Overbeek (Pittsburgh) walked on four pitches to put the tying run on first with one out. Fellow Panther Nick Giamarusti (Pittsburgh) entered the game to pinch-run for his college teammate. Next up was Cameron Love (Rutgers). After Albany catcher Ty Gallagher (Hobart) bobbled a ball in the dirt, Giamarusti moved over to second base. Moments later, Love chopped one fair to third base. Instead of throwing home, Checca hurled the ball to first, but Love beat it out. Giamarusti then got the green light to come home as first baseman Austin Bode (Louisville) threw to the dish. As he slid into the home plate umpire, Giamarusti beat out the throw to secure an RBI single for Love and the game-winning run for the Mohawks.
Tomorrow at 5 pm, Amsterdam travels to Utica in a doubleheader against the top team in the West Divison. For the radio broadcast, tune in to the Amsterdam Mohawks’ Facebook page and listen on Facebook Live. Albany hosts Glens Falls at 6:35 pm.
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