By Sam Federman
Box Score Photos
GLENS FALLS, N.Y. - Mohawks shortstop Pete Daniel is probably not a rabid fan of The Rolling Stones, but Mick Jagger would be proud of the way he started Amsterdam up tonight.
The Belmont product set the tone for the rest of the game by cracking a leadoff single in the top of the first, eventually coming around to score the season’s first run. From there, the Mohawks never stopped. Led by Daniel’s hot bat, Amsterdam scored 12 runs, and earned its twelfth straight victory over the Glens Falls Dragons, on 2024’s opening night.
On the heels of a tumultuous freshman season in Nashville that saw the hometown kid play in 57 games, but record a batting average of .230 and a paltry .618 OPS, the summer provides Daniel with a chance to see more pitches and get in a groove.
“Towards the end of the season (at Belmont), I got healthy,” Daniel said after the game. “I got two legs back in the box, so it’s good to be swinging with two legs and the box, and feeling good at the plate.”
After the Mohawks scored two in the top of the first, Gage Haley took the mound and immediately gave it back. Glens Falls’ center fielder Cody Meier led off with a double and was nearly instantly driven in on Cato Kleinman’s single. Later in the first, Justin Gouveia tied the game with a two-bagger of his own.
Glens Falls continued to apply pressure to Haley and the Mohawks’ defense in the early innings, notching five hits in the first three innings of the game, and taking a 3-2 lead into the 4th. In the six meetings between these two teams last year, the Dragons didn’t score more than two runs in any of them, yet they surpassed that mark in just two innings on Friday.
Tyler Figueroa led off the top of the fourth with a double, and Jake Sparks moved him over to third with a sacrifice bunt. Amsterdam returner Ben Huckans drove in the MAAC All-Rookie selection with a single, tying the game back at three. Then, for the second time in three plate appearances, the Mohawks laid down a successful sacrifice bunt, as Sebastian Harden moved Huckans over to second.
Then, Daniel had the decisive hit of the inning, driving a 2-1 fastball into the right-center field gap, easily scoring Huckans from second, and giving Amsterdam a lead that it wouldn’t relinquish.
“(Starting the season with a strong performance) is always good (for my confidence),” Daniel added. “I’m seeing the ball well, and I’m just ready to go tomorrow.”
Two more runs in the fifth inning pushed the Mohawk lead to 6-3, but Zach Hernandez ran into trouble in the bottom half of the frame. The first three hitters all reached without even putting the ball in play, then Caden Bernardo hit a sacrifice fly, spelling the end of the outing for Hernandez in a two-run game.
Keith Griffin decided to give Brown right-hander Brendan Kline a chance to get out of the inning, and he did just that and more. Following a walk to Odilio Cespedes that re-loaded the bases and put the go-ahead run on first, the sidearmer coaxed a 4-6-3 double play, ending what would be the final true winning push that Glens Falls could muster up.
Kline continued strong for the next three innings, retiring nine of the next eleven batters that he faced without giving up a hit, and striking out four.
Amsterdam added to its lead with two more in the sixth, and a four-run outburst in the eighth, marked by Figueroa’s 2-run triple.
Moving from right field to the pitcher’s mound in the ninth, Huckans completed the road win for the Mohawks. The final out was recorded by the offensive star of the show, Daniel, who ranged to his left behind the second base bag from his shortstop position to field the ball and throw out Kleinman at first.
A huge home crowd awaits the two-time reigning champions on Saturday night against the Watertown Rapids, and ahead of his first PGCBL home game, Daniel has felt the hype.
More News Articles