By Bob Rotruck
Box Score
Amsterdam's struggles against their rivals from the North Country continued on Friday night as the Mohawks lost at Glens Falls 12-4 in the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League. First-place and #3 nationally ranked Amsterdam is 1-5 against the Golden Eagles this season despite an impressive 29-9 overall record.
Glens Falls recorded their fourth straight win to improve to 21-17 overall and solidify their hold on third-place and an upcoming playoff spot in August.
Ross Kivett (Kansas State) led the way for the Golden Eagles and continued his impressively strong play versus Amsterdam this year with an outstanding performance. He went 5-for-5 with a home-run, double, two RBI's and a stolen base (his league-leading 34th). Kivett's third hit of the night game him 56 for the season to break the all-time Golden Eagles record set last year by Kyle Ruchim (Northwestern).
The eight-run deficit was the worst loss of the year for the Mohawks who had previously lost by four on a couple of previous occasions. The 12 runs allowed equals the most allowed this year.
The injury-plagued Mohawks were also burned a couple of times in that area in the night as well. Shortstop Chase Green (SIU-Edwardsville) appeared to injure his arm in the first inning on a diving stop of a grounder. And pitcher Matt Pirro (Wake Forest) left in the second inning with an apparent injury to his throwing arm.
The Golden Eagles scored four runs in the second inning in opening a 5-0 lead and never looked back after that. They would score three more times back-to-back in the fourth and fifth innings to push the lead to 11-1.
Ed Charlton (NJIT) singled in the eighth inning for Amsterdam to extend his league-record hitting streak to 22 games.
Dennis Buckley (Hudson Valley CC) entered in relief in the second inning for the injured Pirro in his Mohawks debut. Amsterdam High School product Kyle Rufer (Schenectedy CC) made his second Mohawks appearance and threw a shutout eighth.
The second-place Mohawk Valley DiamondDawgs lost their game at the Newark Pilots 7-2. That means that Amsterdam's magic number to clinch the regular-season title is at two over both Mohawk Valley and also at two over Glens Falls. Amsterdam can clinch the regular-season league title on Sunday night with a win over the DiamondDawgs combined with a Glens Falls loss against the Albany Dutchmen.
Amsterdam hosts Mohawk Valley Sunday night at 7:00 with Taylor Martin (Kentucky) on the mound. It's Bark in the Park Night presented by Country Feed with fans allowed to bring their dogs to the game. The Mohawks are also at home on Friday night against Glens Falls on Fireworks Night presented by St. Mary's Healthcare.
The Mohawks will host the PGCBL All-Star Game on Tuesday night with 11 Amsterdam players represented on Team Griffin's team. The home-run derby begins the evening at 6:00 followed by the game at 7:00.
Amsterdam has already clinched a playoff spot and are on the verge of clinching home-field advantage throughout the post-season. The first playoff game is Friday, August 3.
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