Box Score
WATERTOWN, NY- The Amsterdam Mohawks (24-8) beat the Watertown Rams (18-14), 6-4, on Monday night to increase their lead in the East Division to five games heading into the All-Star Game. With Newark’s win over Elmira, the Rams fall to second place in the West. Daniel Castro (Albany) picked up the win for the Mohawks, while Zander Clouse (Bellevue) took the loss for the Rams.
The win was the 200th for Mohawks head coach Keith Griffin. Since taking over the coaching duties for the Mohawks in 2009, the Mohawks have had a 200-85 record for a .702 win percentage. The Mohawks have gone to the championship in each of Griffin's 5 years and came home with the title 4 times.
The game was scoreless until the top of the third inning when Amsterdam took a 2-0 lead on a Josh Gardiner (Radford) 2-RBI triple. The Rams tied the game in the bottom of the fifth on a Chris Gaetano (Monmouth) RBI single, scoring Shane Servoss (Skagit Valley). The next batter, Matt Diorio (Central Florida), drove in Gaetano with an RBI single after Gaetano had stolen second base.
The Mohawks retook the lead in the top of the sixth inning on a Thomas Kain (Lynn) RBI single, scoring John Razzino (Franklin Pierce). The Rams left runners on second and third in the home half of the inning, as they were unable to tie the game. In the top of the seventh, Amsterdam scored three unearned runs to make it a 6-2 game. Marcus Carson (Kentucky) hit a fly ball to left field that was dropped by Rams left fielder Brandon Mikulka (Creighton), allowing two runs to score. Gardiner drove in Carson the following play for the third run of the inning.
Watertown scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth, but Zach Breen (Barton) stopped the comeback in its tracks, getting a fly out and a strikeout to end the game. Diorio had previously singled home Charles Leblanc (Pitt-2014) and Chris Gaetano to pull the Rams within two. Gaetano’s run was unearned.
Daniel Castro tossed 0.2 innings of scoreless relief to pick up the win. The southpaw moves to 2-0 on the season. Zander Clouse allowed three runs (all earned) in six innings of work in taking his first loss of the season.
Josh Gardiner went 3-for-4 with three RBIs for Amsterdam. Gardiner goes into the All-Star Game hitting .434 on the season. Shane Servoss and Diorio both had multi-hit games for the Rams.
Both teams are off on Tuesday for the PGCBL All-Star Game in Elmira. Amsterdam has ten representatives, while Watertown will send five players. The Rams return to action on Wednesday night, as they travel to Boonville to take on the Adirondack Trail Blazers. First pitch is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. Amsterdam will host Glens Falls on Wednesday with first pitch scheduled for 6:35 p.m.
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