By Cody Marshall

Box Score

Justin Yurchak (Binghamton) provided offense at the right times to help the Amsterdam Mohawks defeat the Albany Dutchmen 6-4 at Shuttleworth Park on Tuesday night.

Yurchak finished the night 3-for-5 with a home run, double, single, run scored, and three RBIs. His first inning two-run shot put the Mohawks ahead 2-0 and his RBI single in the bottom of the eighth gave the Mohawks an insurance run to push the lead to two.

The Mohawks also got help for their pitching staff which retired 19 straight Dutchmen hitters between the first and eighth innings. That streak even included eight straight strikeouts from the fifth through seventh innings.

Tom Moore (Schenectady County CC) provided much needed offense late when his solo home run in the eighth sparked a three run inning to make it 5-4 heading into the bottom half.

In the first, Grayson Lewis (Rice) led off with a walk and came around to score on Sean Aspinall’s (Azusa Pacific) single to third to put the visitors up 1-0. In the bottom half, Riley Mahan (Kentucky) singled to start things off and scored two batters later on Yurchak’s one-out, two-run homer. Brendan Tracy (Fairfield) followed with a walk and scored on Handsome Monica’s (Arizona) ensuing double. Scott Manea (NC State) drove in Monica with a single to put the Mohawks up 4-1.

Amsterdam scratched across another run in the bottom of the fourth when Tyler Kirkpatrick (Marist) led off with a single, advanced to second on a ground out, and scored on Mahan’s two-out single.

In the eighth, Moore deposited a pitch over the left field wall to cut the deficit to three. The Albany bats came alive as Patrick Hisle (Maryland) singled, advanced on a wild pitch, and scored on Zach Remillard’s (Coastal Carolina) two-RBI triple that also scored Jesse Cooper (Seton Hill). In the bottom half, Yurchak singled to shallow left center with runners on first and second to drive in Mahan and put the game out of reach.

The win went to Amsterdam starter Brad Schaenzer, who improved to 5-1 after going a predetermined three innings. The loss went to Albany starter Jon Reid (Azusa Pacific) who dropped to 4-4 after allowing five runs (all earned) on eight hits in four innings of work. Reid struck out two and walked one. The save went to Tyler Smith (Canisius), his fourth of the season.

The Dutchmen and Mohawks are at it again Wednesday night at Bellizzi Field in Albany at 7:05 p.m. Albany can clinch a playoff spot with a win and a Glens Falls loss to Saugerties on Wednesday night.

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