By Jon Sargalis

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The Mohawks offence played 6 innings like they were asleep. Down 6-2 in the seventh, Keith Griffin called a team meeting during the seventh inning stretch and gave his team a wakeup call as they went on to beat the Utica Blue Sox by a score of 8-6 on Tuesday night at Shuttleworth Park.

The game started with Zach Hernandez on the mound and the first pitch of the game resulted in the batter reaching first on an error. That run would score giving the Blue Sox an early lead, but the Mohawks would tie it on a balk in the bottom of the first to make it 1-1.

Utica took the lead back in the third with a 3-run inning and RBIs by Sean Sousa, Connor Jones and Parker Barraza to go up 4-1. Amsterdam got one of those runs back in the third as Brandon McCraine drew a bases loaded walk to force in Tucker Smith making it 4-2.

The Blue Sox added runs in the fifth off a Sean Sousa single and in the and in the seventh off a Connor Jones single to take a 6-2 lead.

Then came “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” as the fans sung a cheerful tune, Keith Griffin sang a less cheerful tune as he let his team know that they wouldn’t win any games performing like they were. That was the wakeup call the Mohawks needed as the offence immediately came to life. Bray Touchstone led off with a single, Jake Long followed with a double and Jayden Harriel followed with a walk to load the bases. Utica looked like they were about to bounce back as they recorded the next 2 outs, but then Sebastian Harden drew a bases loaded walk and Luke Filippi drew his fourth walk of the game to force in runs. Then Brandon McCraine delivered the big blow with a game-tying hit to right field to score a pair of runs. Shellshocked by the turn of events, a wild pitch with Luke Fillippi on third base instantly gave the Mohawks a 7-6 lead.

In the eighth Jayden Harriel added an insurance run with an RBI double that scored Jake Long. Joe Gold would enter in the ninth and secured his first save in the 8-6 win.

The Mohawks moved to 4-0 on the season, while the Blue Sox fell to 1-1. Brad Curtis (1-0) was the winning pitcher, while Tanner Sharpe (0-1) took the loss.

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