(Gloversville's Matt Gage (Siena) pitches against Mohawk Valley on Sunday night. Photo courtesy Jon Sargalis)
By John McGraw
Box Score
LITTLE FALLS, N.Y. – The Amsterdam Mohawks scored nine times over the final two innings to defeat the Mohawk Valley DiamondDawgs, 12-4, on Sunday evening at Veterans Memorial Park. The Mohawks (19-3) have won eight games in a row and 18 of their last 19 contests in the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League.
Since July 2, 2011, the Mohawks have accumulated a 42-10 (.808) record in PGCBL regular season games. Amsterdam is now 5-0 this season against Mohawk Valley. The two teams will next meet on July 5 at Shuttleworth Park.
The Mohawks and DiamondDawgs entered the eighth inning deadlocked the three. Chase Green (SIU Edwardsville) had forced the 3-3 tie in the fifth inning when he tripled home Evan Stephens (Wake Forest) and then scored on a passed ball.
Ed Charlton (NJIT), who entered the game as a defensive replacement in the seventh, wasted no time breaking the stalemate in his first at-bat. He lashed a two-run double that scored both D.J. Hoagboon (UAlbany/Mayfield) and Nathan Gomez (Marshall). Charlton added another Amsterdam run in the inning when he raced home as part of a successful double steal with Evan Stephens. A Mohawk Valley error on a base hit by Jeff Boehm (Kentucky) sent Stephens home with Amsterdam’s fourth run of the frame and Stephens’ second of the night.
The 11th-ranked Mohawks pulled away in the ninth. D.J. Hoagboon and Ed Charlton each smacked RBI singles and Evan Stephens blasted a three-run home run.
Amsterdam finished the night with 12 runs on 15 hits. D.J. Hoagboon went 4-for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored, Evan Stephens recorded three hits and scored three times and Ed Charlton went 2-for-2 with two runs scored and three RBI. Zak Colby (Faulkner) added two hits and tallied two runs and Chase Green was 2-for-5.
Matt Gage (Siena/Gloversville) struck out seven batters in five innings but did not figure in the decision. He allowed three runs on six hits though all of Mohawk Valley’s offense against Gage came in a three-run fourth inning. Scott Heath (Maine) tossed three scoreless stanzas of relief to earn his first win of the summer. The 2011 Maine Gatorade Player of Year held the Dawgs to just two hits and struck out two.
Mohawk Valley’s Cameron Sorgie (UAlbany) struck out six over five innings. He also walked six and yielded three runs on four hits. Tyler Heck (Union, N.Y.) and Chris Cruz (Cornell) each went 2-for-4 with one RBI and one run scored. Luke Nethaway (Herkimer County CC), the younger brother of Amsterdam’s Josh Nethaway (UAlbany), hit a solo home run, his second of the season.
Neither Matt Gage nor Cameron Sorgie allowed a run through the first three innings on Sunday evening at Vet’s Park. Amsterdam finally got on the scoreboard in the fourth. Zak Colby walked, stole second and scored on the first of D.J. Hoagboon’s four hits.
Mohawk Valley responded with three runs in the bottom half of the inning, the only damage done on the night to Matt Gage. Luke Nethaway clubbed a solo home run and Jesse Buratt (Baton Rouge C.C.) and Tyler Heck each drove in one run to give Mohawk Valley a 3-1 lead.
Chase Green single-handedly pulled Amsterdam even in the fifth. Green mashed his second triple of the season to score Evan Stephens from first after a lead-off single. A passed ball on Mohawk Valley catcher Luke Nethaway brought Green home with the tying run.
The game remained tied at three until the eighth as Mohawk Valley’s Aaron Casper (Canisius) and Amsterdam’s Scott Heath traded zeroes for two frames each in relief. Sal Lisanti (Bryant), the Dawgs’ closer, began the eighth. He yielded a one-out single to D.J. Hoagboon and then plunked pinch hitter Nathan Gomez (Marshall). A passed ball moved both runners into scoring position and Ed Charlton cleared the table with a two-run double. Evan Stephens followed with a base hit and with runners on the corners, Charlton and Stephens engineered a double steal to push the Amsterdam advantage to 6-3. With two outs, Jeff Boehm singled to center field. An error on Mohawk Valley center fielder Hassan Evans (Herkimer County CC) allowed Evan Stephens to score the fourth run of the frame.
Amsterdam added five more tallies on five hits in the ninth against Mohawk Valley relief pitcher Taylor Wright (Brown). Mohawk Valley did manage one final run in the last half-inning as Tyler Heck tripled with one out and scored on a Chris Cruz sacrifice fly.
In three games at Vet's Park in Little Falls this season, the Mohawks have scored 29 runs.
The Mohawks continue a brief two-game road trip on Monday night against the Albany Dutchmen at Bob Bellizzi Field in the Christian Plumeri Sports Complex. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
Tuesday night, the Mohawks return home to Shuttleworth Park for the Third Annual Spectacular Holiday Post-Game Fireworks Show presented by the Amsterdam Rotary. The opposition will be the Cooperstown Hawkeyes. Game time is set for 7:05 p.m.
Listen to every Mohawks home game and select road games at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/mohawksradio
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