By Sam Reis
Box Score Photos
Behind another stellar performance from Brandon Peterson on the mound, the Amsterdam Mohawks completed a season sweep over the Boonville Lumberjacks with an 8-3 win in the fifth and final meeting between the teams on Tuesday night at Rao Family Stadium.
Brandon Peterson’s (NJIT) start was his seventh of the season and second against Boonville. The tone was set early as he struck out two batters and recorded a 1-2-3 opening frame.
On the other side, Bryce Collis (St. John Fisher) started on the bump for Boonville, his fourth start of the summer and third against Amsterdam. While the game remained scoreless through an inning, Collis ran into trouble in the second. Luke Zeisloft (Maryland) led off with a single and that was followed by walks to Marek Houston (Wake Forest) and Jared Johnson (Brown) to load the bases. After Bryce Hubbard (Mississippi State) was retired, Mason Swinney (Alabama) and Bruer Webster (Utah) were walked to drive in Amsterdam’s first two runs. Then, a sacrifice fly from Gage Miller (Bishop State CC) brought Johnson home to make it 3-0.
In the third inning, Luke Longo (NJIT) sent a rocket to left field for a solo home run, his sixth of the season, tying teammate Gage Miller for the second most in the PGCBL.
Alex Irizarry (Maryland) hit a single in the fourth and Bruer Webster followed that up with a perfect bunt down the third base line to put runners on the corners. During Gage Miller’s at-bat, Webster advanced to second on a passed ball. With two outs, Zach Eldred (Brockport) looped a single to shallow right field to bring Irizarry and Webster home, making it 6-0. After that, Bryce Collis was taken out, giving up five hits and six runs with five walks and one strikeout in 3 ⅔ innings. Mason Collins (Stillman) came in to replace him, making his fifth appearance as a pitcher.
Carrying a no-hitter into the fifth inning, Brandon Peterson’s streak of 12 ⅓ hitless innings came to an end on a two-run home run from Hugo Kohnhorst (Mineral Area), making the score 6-2. Peterson settled back down and that turned out to be his only hit allowed in six innings of work. The right-hander finished with just two walks and recorded 10 strikeouts for the third time this season.
In the bottom of the sixth, Alex Irizarry was hit by a pitch and Maximus Martin (Rutgers/Georgia State) reached on a fielder’s choice. With Martin ultimately getting to second and Irizarry to third, both runners scored on the same passed ball while Zach Eldred was at the plate, giving Amsterdam an 8-2 lead.
Von Baker (Cornell) came in to pitch the seventh for Amsterdam, appearing in his 10th game this summer and second against Boonville. After conceding a hit to begin the inning, the next three batters were put away.
Colin Maloney (Rhode Island) took over for Baker in the eighth, also making his 10th appearance and second against Boonville. After Hugo Kohnhorst struck out looking to begin the inning, Nick Vega (NJIT) went all the way around the bases on a triple and an error, making it 8-3. That was followed by another strikeout from Maloney and a flyout.
Mason Collins stayed in the game the rest of the way for the Lumberjacks, allowing three hits and two runs (none earned) with no walks and four strikeouts in 4 ⅓ innings.
Ben Huckans (St. John Fisher) entered for the final inning, appearing in his third game and facing the team he made his debut against. The Amsterdam native didn’t concede a hit and ended the game with a strikeout, securing the win for the Mohawks.
Bryce Collis suffered the loss for the Lumberjacks, dropping him to 0-2. Boonville is now on a four-game losing skid and sits in last place in the east at 10-26. The Lumberjacks travel to Watertown on Wednesday to take on the Rapids at 6:30.
Brandon Peterson got the win for the Mohawks, improving to 4-0. His 1.59 ERA ranks fourth in the league while his 46 strikeouts are the third most in the PGCBL. Amsterdam is now 31-3-1 and hits the road to face Saugerties on Wednesday at 7:05.
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