By Cody Marshall
Box Score
The Glens Falls Dragons ended a four-game losing streak Friday night by defeating the Amsterdam Mohawks 6-5 at Shuttleworth Park.
Robbie Knightes (St. John’s) led the Dragons with a 3-for-5 night. Knightes finished a home run short of the cycle, scored twice, and drove in a run. On the hill, Joe Jones (Maryville) kept the Mohawks off balance through the early innings before turning the game over to the bullpen.
Glens Falls struck first in the third inning. Trevor Smeeton (Colby CC) singled with one out and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Hunter Szaflarski (Lock Haven) followed with an RBI double to make it 1-0 Dragons.
The Mohawks would answer in the bottom of the sixth. Tristen Carranza (New Mexico State) and Tyler Ratliff (Marshall) singled back-to-back to start the inning. Chris LaVorgna (Franklin Pierce) singled on a would-be sacrifice bunt attempt to load the bases. After Carranza was forced out at home, a wild pitch allowed Ratliff to score, tying the game at one.
The Dragons took the lead again in the eighth. Szaflarski led off with a triple to left center and scored one batter later on Knightes’ single. An error allowed Knightes to move to second on the play. After Alex Chandler (St. Rose) singled, Josh Brown (Skidmore) doubled to bring in Knightes. Josh Hoagland (SUNY Oswego) followed with a single to load the bases. After Chandler was forced out at home, Griffin Neuer (Bellarmine) worked a walk to drive in Brown. A two-out walk to Smeeton allowed Hoagland to score and put the Dragons up 5-1.
Amsterdam chipped away in the bottom half. Ratliff took the first pitch he saw over the left field wall to make it 5-2. LaVorgna walked and Joe Genord (South Florida) reached via the base on balls two batters later. Dan Maynard (Maryland) grounded into a fielder’s choice, resulting in an error that allowed Genord to move to third. A passed ball allowed Genord to score and the lead was cut to 5-3.
In the top of the ninth, Knightes led off with a triple to left center. Chandler walked and stole second before Hoagland’s one-out sacrifice bunt plated Knightes to make it 6-3.
The Mohawks looked to rally and things looked up when Andrew Rouse (Marist) and Nick Patten (Delaware) drew back-to-back walks to start the inning. Carranza drove the next pitch to left center for a double, coming feet away from tying the game. Rouse scored, making it 6-4. Ratliff followed with a sacrifice fly to center to bring in Patten, but back-to-back groundouts ended the threat.
Jones picked up the win, going 7.1 innings, in which he allowed ten hits, three runs (two earned), walked four, and struck out five. The loss was charged to Derek Balbierz (UAlbany), who pitched 0.2 innings in relief, allowed five hits, four runs (three earned), walked two, and struck out one. John Bednarek (St. Thomas Aquinas) picked up his first save.
With the win, the Dragons improved to 2-6 and will host the Mohawk Valley DiamondDawgs at East Field Saturday night. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. The Mohawks dropped to 4-4 and had their four-game winning streak snapped. Amsterdam will travel to Albany to face the Dutchmen at Bob Bellizzi Field Saturday night at 7:05 p.m.
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