By Cody Marshall
Box Score
On Opening Night, most PGCBL teams are without their full rosters. As a result, they have to go about the game with what they have. On Wednesday night, it was the Albany Dutchmen who succeeded in that regard as the visitors handed the Amsterdam Mohawks a 6-1 loss at Shuttleworth Park.
Zach Durfee (Ballston Spa HS/Siena) led the Dutchmen with a single and double as part of a 2-for-5 debut. Justin Childers (Ohio Dominican) aided in the effort going 1-for-3 with a single, run, and RBI.
Albany got on the board early with two runs in the top of the first inning. J.J. Shimko (USC Upstate) reached on an error to start the game and then scored on Dillin Diehm’s (Indiana State) RBI groundout to first after Shimko stole second and advanced to third on a passed ball. Childers scored one batter later when Micah McHugh (Ole Miss) singled to give starter Gabe Kleiman (Penn) a cushion to work with before taking the mound.
Amsterdam would get one back in the bottom half. Tyler Ungerland (St. Rose) led off with a walk, stole second, and advanced to third on a single by Andrew Rouse (Marist). Joe Genord (South Florida) brought home Ungerland with a single to right to make it 2-1.
In the top of the fifth, Shimko and Jon Skidmore (Dallas Baptist) reached base with a single and walk respectively. Shimko would score and Skidmore would move to third on a double steal attempt that caused an errant throw to go into center field. Childers singled to drive in Skidmore and the Dutchmen lead was 4-1.
Durfee led off the top of the sixth with a double to left, advanced to third on a groundout, and took advantage of Skidmore getting caught in a run down between first and second, which resulted in another error on the throw home, allowing Durfee to score. Skidmore crossed the plate after a wild pitch and passed ball to make it 6-1.
Rouse, the only returning player from the 2015 Mohawks team, led the home team with a 2-for-3 night that included two singles and a walk.
Kleiman picked up his first win of the season. The southpaw went four innings, allowed three hits, one run, walked three, and struck out two. The loss went to Austin Keen (Kentucky) who pitched four innings, allowed one hit, two runs (one earned), walked three, and struck out six.
The Mohawks will look to bounce back tomorrow night when they host the Saugerties Stallions at 6:35 p.m. at Shuttleworth Park. The Dutchmen look to pick up their second win Thursday when they host the Glens Falls Dragons at 7:05 p.m. at Bob Bellizzi Field in Albany.
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