(Photo: Chase Green is congratulated by his teammates after hitting a two-run home run in the first inning on Friday night's game versus Glens Falls. Photo courtesy Jon Sargalis.)
By Bob Rotruck
Box Score
The Amsterdam Mohawks scored in seven consecutive trips to the plate as they poured it on against the Glens Falls Golden Eagles en route to a 12-2 blowout win Friday night at Shuttleworth Park in Amsterdam.
The Mohawks improved to 21-5 with the win and extended their lead atop the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League to six games over the second place Golden Eagles who dropped to 15-11.
It was the largest margin of victory this season for Amsterdam and equaled the most runs they have scored in a game. It was also the worst loss of the year for Glens Falls and the most runs they have allowed this season.
The #6 nationally ranked Mohawks ended their two-game losing slide, their first and only losing streak of the season. The second-place Golden Eagles entered Friday night's action as the hottest team in the league having won four straight and seven of their last eight before the blowout loss.
Chandler Shepherd (Kentucky) improved on his league-leading numbers this season with seven solid innings allowing just one unearned run. He became the first pitcher to reach five wins this season and he lowered his microscopic ERA from 0.33 down to 0.26. Shepherd surrendered six hits while striking out four in taking advantage of all the scoring his teammates provided.
The Mohawks scored in seven straight innings from the first through the seventh beginning with a two-run homer from Chase Green (SIU-Edwardsville) over the left-field fence for his third of the year.
Brian Ruby (Binghamton) had a double among his two hits and two more RBI's for his second straight multi-hit game since joining the Mohawks the previous night.
Jeff Boehm (Kentucky) also had a double among his two hits and two RBI's and then he came on to pitch the ninth inning to complete the game.
Zak Colby (Faulkner) had a long double to deep center in the third among his two hits and also drove in another on a fielder's choice for a two RBI night.
Amsterdam got it done without a couple of their top players. Ed Charlton (NJIT) and Evan Stephens (Wake Forest) were named Co-Players of the Week in the PGCBL last week but both missed the game with injuries.
Eight of nine Mohawks starters scored at least one run. Amsterdam also drew nine walks on the night to go along with their 10 base hits.
It was Amsterdam's first win of the season against Glens Falls in three tries. The Golden Eagles had taken the first two encounters by scores of 8-6 and 11-8. The two rivals will square off five more times in the regular season and could also square off at some point in the post-season for the sixth time in ten years.
Ryan Peterson (Yavapai) was tagged with the loss for Glens Falls after lasting four innings and allowing six runs.
Mike Vigliarolo (St. Louis) leads the league in RBI's with 26 but on this night he would score both of the Golden Eagles runs.
After Green's two-run homer in the first started the scoring, it would be an RBI double in the second by Brian Ruby that made it 3-0. He came in eventually on a passed ball to advance the advantage to 4-0.
Josh Nethaway (Univ. Albany) reached on an error in the third and was plated on Zak Colby's long drive to center and by the end of three frames the Mohawks already had a 5-0 lead.
D.J. Hoagboon (Univ. Albany) benefited from a bad bounce for an infield single in the fourth and Boehm singled him home later to make it 6-0.
Glens Falls got on the board in the fifth with a single tally when Vigliarolo singled and advanced on a wild pitch. Kevin Meyers (NE Oklahoma A&M) singled to center and the ball kicked away from Demarcus Henderson (Mississippi State) for a fielding error for an unearned run against Shephard.
The Mohawks kept up the attack for three more innings with a single run in the fifth on a Brian Ruby knock driving in Nethaway to start it off. Henderson walked in the sixth, took second on a passe ball, and scored on a double to left-center by Boehm to make it 8-1 and then Boehm came in on a Nethaway single later on to stretch matters to 9-1.
Three more runs in the seventh would finish the attack for the Mohawks which began with a couple of walks and then an RBI double to left-center by Scott Heath (Maine), a passed ball scoring D.J. Hoagboon, and a ground-out by Green bringing home Heath.
A couple of wild pitches by Jeff Boehm would lead to Glens Falls last run in the ninth for the 12-2 final margin. Vigliarolo reached on a dropped third-strike wild pitch and then eventually came in from third on another wild one.
Amsterdam will host Glens Falls again next Friday, July 13 at Shuttleworth Park in the fourth of the eight scheduled encounters between the current top two teams in the circuit.
The Mohawks make their lone visit to Elmira Saturday night at 7:00 with Mark Leiter (NJIT) starting for Amsterdam. They will return home Sunday at 7:00 to host the Cooperstown Hawkeyes on Amsterdam Idol Night.
The Golden Eagles are at home Saturday at 7:00 against the Watertown Wizards.
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