By Brandon Hillier

Box Score

Amsterdam- The Amsterdam Mohawks (2-3) defeated the Albany Dutchmen (5-1) 6-1 at Shuttleworth Park. Albany’s Will Miller (College of Albermarle) took E.J. Ashworth’s (Fairfield) first pitch of the ballgame deep over Shuttleworth Park’s left field wall, but that would be all for the Albany Dutchmen’s bats. The Mohawks responded in the second inning with a two run double by Jack Czeszewski (Illinois State), and they never looked back.

E.J. Ashworth pitched six full innings for the Mohawks, and picked up his first win of the season after receiving a no-decision on opening night. After the leadoff home run to begin the game, Ashworth settled down and struck out four, walked one, and only let up five hits. He was helped by some stellar defense by Marcus Carson (Kentucky) in centerfield who made an amazing diving catch in the fifth inning.

Jack Czeszewski set the tone for Amsterdam’s hitters with a two-run double in the second inning. He also plated Connor Heady (Kentucky) in the sixth inning with another double, but was tagged out after overrunning the bag.

After Will Miller led off the game with a home run on the very first pitch, the Albany bats went quiet. The Dutchmen only managed three singles afterward, one each by Dave Vaccaro (Radford), Adam Lee (Lipscomb), and Josh Lee (Lipscomb).

The underlying theme of this game was the inefficiency of the Dutchmen’s defense. Dave Vaccaro (Radford) made two throwing errors in the third, which prolonged an inning that should have ended on a 5-3 putout. But instead, the errors allowed an inning in which the Mohawks scored twice to carry on. Vaccaro made another throwing error in the sixth when Jonathon Pryor (Wake Forest) popped up a sacrifice bunt. Vaccaro caught the pop-up, but threw the ball away trying to double up Connor Heady (Kentucky) at first, who moved to second on the throw. Heady would score on the following at-bat, a Jack Cseszewski double. Blake Logan (Auburn) would tack on one last insurance run in the seventh with an RBI single.

The Mohawks’ bullpen relieved E.J. Ashworth at the top of the seventh inning, and pitched flawlessly. John McCarren (Wake Forest) and Joe Randall (Fairfield) faced the minimum of nine batters in the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings. John McCarren struck out two batters in two innings of work, and Randall didn’t allow the ball to leave the infield in the ninth inning.

The Albany Dutchmen entered Shuttleworth Park undefeated, but left with their first loss of the season. The Dutchmen are now 5-1, but still sit a top the Eastern Division standings. Albany travels to Booneville to take on the Adirondack Trailblazers Wednesday night at 7 p.m.

After losing their first three games, the Amsterdam Mohawks are now on a two game win streak. Amsterdam takes their two-game winning stream to Veteran Memorial Park in Little Falls to take on the Mohawk Valley Diamond Dawgs. Connor Johnstone (Wake Forest) is scheduled to toe the rubber for the defending PGCBL Champs.

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