By Callum McNamara
Box Score
Clinching the East and defeating the beast, Mohawks hang up eleven runs against the Dragons
The Amsterdam Mohawks hosted the Glens Falls Dragons for their final matchup of the season between each other. Before Friday night’s game, the Mohawks clinched the East division title on Wednesday after an 8-4 win against Saugerties which earned him their 20th division title in their team’s history. With coach Keith Griffin at the helm, it was their 15 east division title and 13th in a row.
Amsterdam defeated Glens Falls 11-1 in eight innings. The Mohawks scored the final run in the bottom of the eighth to implement the 10-run rule to conclude the game early. Amsterdam scored eleven runs on ten hits and Glens Falls put up only one run on four hits. Each team committed an error.
Big Brother
The Mohawks had won the eight other games during the season against the Dragons. The Mohawks previous game against Glens Falls was a 7-2 win last Saturday on the road. Jake Sparks and Bray Touchstone both had a big game with key hits in their last win against the Dragons. Amsterdam have won the past 26 games against the Dragons, going back to 2022.
With last night’s win against the Dragons, the Mohawks extended their record to 30-9-2 on the season and 9-0 against Glens Falls this year. With three games left in the season, Amsterdam is looking to avoid a double digit number in their loss category since 2021. Glens Falls moved to 11-26 and now have lost five straight. Amsterdam gets back into the win column after losing their last game to Boonville.
Dominant on the Mound
Pitcher of the Week for the PGCBL, James Redick took the mound last night. Redick's last outing was in Saturday's win against the Dragons, pitching six innings and only giving up one run and striking out nine batters. Redick pitched three innings only giving up one hit and struck out three.
Nolan Feidt relieved him and earned the win pitching two innings, letting up one run, and struck out three batters. Mason Veronezi and Brad Curtis each came in for the Mohawks, providing one inning of scoreless baseball. The Mohawks then brought in their dominant closer Derek Duval to close out the game.
Glens Falls pitchers struggled with Amsterdam’s bats being unstoppable. Xavier Garcia started the game out for the Dragons, pitching five innings and giving up six runs on seven hits. Aiden Newhall relieved Garcia but only went 1.1 innings in the game. Newhall gave up four runs on two hits and walked three. Ethan McGarry also pitched 1.1 innings giving up one run on one hit and also walked three.
Score big, Win big
The Mohawks hung up eleven runs last night with the help of Bray Touchstone yet again, being the player of the game as well as earning player of the week honors from the PGCBL. Touchstone had a four RBI night including a three-run home run in the 5th inning. Peyton Jemison, Luke Costello, and Brandon McCraine all doubled throughout the game. McCraine provided two RBI’s for the Mohawks, starting the scoring off in the second.
Jake Sparks stays hot in his return to Amsterdam, hitting two doubles and driving one. Sparks now batting .583 in his return getting hit after hit. Brent Rowell drove in two runs, Young Jr. and Cowan both earned an RBI on sacrifice fly’s. Luke Costello returned from a broken finger injury and has been on a tear since then.
Glens Falls only scored one run off a Tate Van Alstyne sacrifice fly in the top of the fifth. Catcher Joe Haines had two hits of the four total for the Dragons. Besides a 12-11 defeat to the Mohawks this season, the Dragons were heavily dominated by Amsterdam’s pitching in every other game.
One title down, One to go
The Mohawks wrap up their season with two road games and close the season at home against the Mohawk Valley DiamondDawgs in the Rao Family Stadium at Shuttleworth. Glens Falls has four more games left with a pair of matchups against Booneville this season. As of right now the final game of the season for Amsterdam against Mohawk Valley will preview the first round of the playoffs between the two. Saugerties and Utica are the other two teams with a playoff spot right now.
Clinching the east division title was just another step towards another championship. Although the Mohawks have wrapped up the top seed in the tournament and most likely home-field advantage, these last three games of the season including two against playoff teams mean a lot. These games determine how this team will go into postseason play.
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