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Amsterdam's John Nogowski (Florida State) celebrates after hitting a home run on Sunday against Newark. Photo courtesy Amsterdam Mohawks

The Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League is pleased to announce the winners of the PGCBL Player and Pitcher of the Week awards for the week of June 17 through June 23.

John Nogowski (Florida State) of the Amsterdam Mohawks has been chosen as the PGCBL Player of the Week. Nogowski is the first Mohawk this season to earn weekly recognition from the league.  A thrilling pitchers’ duel on Thursday, June 20, at Veterans Memorial Park in Little Falls resulted in a split of the PGCBL Pitcher of the Week prize. Mohawk Valley’s Keegan Long (Saint Joseph’s, Ind.) and Utica’s Eric Brothers (Sioux Falls) were selected to share the award. Brothers is the second Utica Brewer in as many weeks to be honored by the league this season, Michael Pierson (Appalachian State) was the PGCBL Player of the Week for Week 1 (June 5-16). Long is the first DiamondDawg to win a weekly award this season.

John Nogowski (Florida State) is the starting first baseman for the defending league champion Amsterdam Mohawks. Nogowski powered the Mohawks to a 5-2 showing last week which included a Sunday doubleheader sweep of PGCBL West leading Newark Pilots. He played and started all seven games for the Mohawks. The Tallahassee, Fla., native hit .448 (13-for-29) with seven runs scored, five runs batted in, two doubles, two walks, two hit-by-pitch, one triple, one home run and 20 total bases. Nogowski compiled a .690 slugging percentage and a .515 on-base percentage. He recorded at least one hit in all seven games and totaled four multi-hit performances. Defensively, the Amsterdam first baseman committed just one error in 70 chances.

The 20-year-old helped Amsterdam to back-to-back wins over Adirondack and Elmira to start the week. He went 2-for-5 with one walk, one RBI and one run scored in a 17-7 triumph at Adirondack. Nogowski belted out two hits, scored twice and was hit by a pitch in a 9-7 home victory versus Elmira. The Florida State product notched his third multi-hit game of the week on Friday night against Glens Falls. He posted a pair of RBI singles and scored one run as part of a six-run first inning. Nogowski’s best performance came on Saturday night in a 3-2 victory at Mohawk Valley in 11 innings. At the plate, he drove in the eventual winning run in the 11th with an RBI single and finished 4-for-5 with a triple and one run scored. At first base, Nogowski was flawless in a season high 15 chances. Sunday, the Amsterdam slugger launched his first home run of the season to spark a four-run rally in a comeback win over Newark.

The Utica Brewers and the Mohawk Valley DiamondDawgs combined for 24 runs on 24 hits in the opening game of a doubleheader on Thursday, June 20, at Veterans Memorial Park in Little Falls, N.Y., which Utica won, 15-9. In the night cap, Utica starting pitcher Eric Brothers (Sioux Falls) threw the second no-hitter in the three-year history of the PGCBL but Mohawk Valley prevailed 2-0 behind a one-hit shutout thrown over six innings by starting pitcher Keegan Long (Saint Joseph’s, Ind.). Brothers and Long combined to allow just one hit in the contest, an infield single by Utica’s Michael Pierson (Appalachian State) in the first inning.

Eric Brothers conceded just five base runners over six innings. He walked four, struck out four and faced three batters over the minimum. The rising junior from the University of Sioux Falls seated the final 14 Mohawk Valley batters between the second and sixth innings. All of Mohawk Valley’s offense came in the second on four-straight walks and a double-play ground out that forced home a run. Following the second, Brothers did not allow another Mohawk Valley base runner. 

Keegan Long struck out a season-high nine over six innings. He fanned two batters each in three of his six frames. Long allowed seven base runners but forced Utica to strand all seven to maintain a 2-0 lead. The Edon, Ohio, native retired nine Utica batters in a row between the first and fourth innings. The Brewers loaded the bases in the fifth but Long induced an inning-ending fielders’ choice to keep Utica scoreless.