By Nate Shoemaker
Haughton’s Heroics: The Setup and Surprise
The Mohawks looked dead in the water in the first inning against the number-one-seeded Mohawk Valley Diamond Dawgs. Head Coach Keith Griffin walked out of the dugout and pulled starting pitcher Kyler Ackert before the first inning ended.
This was the shortest start of the season, and with the showcase coming up on Friday, Amsterdam did not have many options. It looked like all the momentum they had picked up before hosting Mohawk Valley was lost. Amsterdam answered with three runs, but they needed their bullpen to step up.
Toby Peterson kept the Diamond Dawgs at bay with 2.1 shutout innings, allowing the Mohawks to try and start a comeback. Amsterdam got one more run in the second inning to make the score 5-4, but some inflicted wounds allowed the Mohawk Valley to stretch their lead to 8-4.
Three walks and a wild pitch. The Mohawks were right back where they started. They walked nine batters through the first five innings.
In the sixth, the Diamond Dawgs staff issued two walks to load the bases for Amsterdam’s hottest hitter, Robert Melo. Mohawk Valley called on submarine pitcher Dean Daddio. Daddio forced Melo to fly out and struck out Jordan Perry, and with two quick outs, it looked like he had escaped the jam.
James Haughton had not hit a home run all year or even in an extra-base hit. He had been in and out of the lineup, but Coach Griffin decided to keep him in because of the lefty-righty matchup.
Griffin made the right call as Haughton hit his first home run of the summer and put the Mohawks in front for the win. Haughton was expected to try to keep the line moving, but instead, he launched a bomb over the left-field wall.
Bryson Treichel and Derick Duval teamed up for 4.1 scoreless innings against the PGCBL’s second-best offense, escaping multiple jams to slam the door on the win.
The Mohawks showed their resilience, mounting two different comebacks fueled by their bullpen and an unexpected hero. Haughton’s swing propelled the Mohawks into first place in the East Division for the first time this season.
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