The Amsterdam Mohawks stymied the Albany Dutchmen as they picked up a 7-0 win Tuesday night at Shuttleworth Park. The win is Amsterdam’s sixth in seven tries and forced a three-way tie for second in the PGCBL’s East Division.
Joe Genord (South Florida) continued to swing the bat well. After going 3-for-3Monday night, Genord had a 3-for-4 night on Tuesday with two singles, a double, a run scored, and three RBIs.
The Mohawks benefited from the arrival of three new players. Tyler Frank (Florida Atlantic), Austin Botello (New Mexico State), and Chris Givin (Xavier) combined to go 3-for-10 with two singles, a double, a run scored, and three RBIs. Frank was the catalyst in turning two 6-3 double plays in the game.
Albany starter Dylan D’Anna (Siena) and Amsterdam starter Tim Herrin (Indiana) matched each other up until both were pulled after four innings. D’Anna allowed two hits and struck out four, while Herrin allowed one hit walked four and struck out seven. Neither starter factored in the decision.
Amsterdam broke the stalemate in the bottom of the sixth. Frank led off the inning with a single to left. Two batters later, Tristen Carranza (New Mexico State) lifted a shallow fly ball to right field, with Frank going on the pitch. Justin Childers (Ohio Dominican) raced to the line to make the catch and tried to double off Frank, but his throw sailed high and bounced into the Albany dugout, allowing Frank to move to third. Nick Patten (Delaware) grounded an RBI single to left to drive in Frank.
In the bottom of the seventh, Chris LaVorgna (Franklin Pierce) led off with a single, stole second, and advanced to third when the throw continued into center field. Givin lifted a fly ball to right that was just deep enough to score LaVorgna for Givin’s first RBI.
In the eighth, the Mohawks sent nine hitters to the plate and scored five runs. With one out, Tyler Ratliff (Marshall) doubled down the left field line. With Patten at the plate, Ratliff took third before Patten walked. Botello followed with a single to make it 3-0. A wild pitch allowed both runners to move up to second and third respectively before LaVorgna walked to load the bases. With one swing, Genord cleared them with a three-RBI double to left center before coming in to score himself on Givin’s ensuing double, making it 7-0 Mohawks.
On the mound, Johnny Malatesta (NJIT) picked up his first win of the season, going three innings in relief. Malatesta allowed one hit and struck out two. Jackson Bubala (Dartmouth) took the hard-luck loss after going two innings in relief in which he allowed four hits, one run (unearned), walked one, and struck out one.
Amsterdam looks to move atop the East Division for the first time this season when they travel to Veterans Memorial Park to play the Mohawk Valley DiamondDawgs for the first time since last year’s East Division Finals. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. Albany will have Wednesday off before returning to actionThursday night when they host the Utica Blue Sox at Bellizzi Field at 7:05 p.m.
