(June 16 Game)

By Josh McMullen – Mohawk Valley Diamond Dawgs

LITTLE FALLS, NY – It’s a rare thing in baseball to win with significantly more runs than you do hits, but that’s what the Mohawk Valley Diamond Dawgs did on Friday night.

The Diamond Dawgs doubled up their hit total in runs (14-7), as they and the Oneonta Outlaws combined for 27 runs and just 18 huts. In the end, though, it would be the Diamond Dawgs who would get the 27th in a 14-13 victory.

Oneonta got on the board first, thanks to an RBI single by Dakota Britt (Rockwall, TX/Herkimer) to center field three batters in. That hit would bring home Gavin McAlonie (Miller Place, NY/Molloy) and be the third of three straight Outlaws to reach base to start the game. A passed ball also brought home Logan Haskell (Kirkwood, NY/Binghamton) to extend the lead to two. Jarod Wade (West Chester, PA/Long Island) brought the third of those runs home on a sacrifice fly to right field, bringing home Britt.

One error would tie up the score in the fourth, as a triple by Brady Shannon would roll all the way to the wall and score Mitchell Balint (Avondale, PA/Carson-Newman), Sebastian Mueller (Pottersville, NJ/Quinnipiac), and Brian Heckelman (Mineola, NY/Towson). Nick Sturino (New Milford, CT/Fairfield) gave the Diamond Dawgs the lead just a couple of batters later on a sacrifice fly to right field that scored Brady Shannon (Youngstown, OH/Central Florida). Justin Hackett (Wallingford, CT/Bryant) extended the lead to two on a hard-hit double to left field that would score Jaden Ross (Tampa, FL/Hudson Valley CC). Balint would break the game wide open on a three-run home run to left field to extend the lead to five.

Another two-RBI single by Balint scored Ross and Ethan Valdez (Tampa, FL/Spring Hill), then a walk with the bases loaded brought the lead to eight, and a Chance Checca (Ballston Spa, NY/Herkimer) sacrifice fly brought the lead to double digits.

An Oneonta walk with the bases loaded in the eighth cut the Mohawk Valley lead to nine. An RBI single to right field by Christopher Baillargeon (Staten Island, NY/Holy Cross) got another run across for Oneonta in the seventh. A two-RBI single by Anthony Barone (New York City, NY/SUNY Oswego) would finish off the inning, thanks to a tight relay throw by Valdez to get the runner at third.

Mohawk Valley would start quickly to regain their large lead, thanks to an RBI single by Hackett and an RBI ground out by Balint.

Another two runs would score for Oneonta in the eighth, thanks to a throwing error, to cut the lead to just five. Yet another error, this time on a pop fly, cut the lead to just three. The lead would drop to just two on an RBI single by Barone to left field.

Oneonta would add one more on a fielder’s choice, but that was all closer Sam Miller (McMurray, PA/Columbia) would allow, forcing the last Outlaw hitter into another fielder’s choice to end the game. Miller would pick up his first save of the season.

Hayden Duke (Mattapoisett, MA/Salve Regina) picked up the win for Mohawk Valley (8-2). Logan Jamrosz (Watervliet, NY/Herkimer) was saddled with the loss for Oneonta (4-6).

The Diamond Dawgs will travel to Boonville on Saturday for their next game, playing at the Robert Smith Sports Complex against the Lumberjacks. The Outlaws head back to Damaschke Field on Saturday, where they will host the Glens Falls Dragons.

If you want to watch the live stream of the games, you can go to https://mvdiamonddawgs.com/livestream/, or if you have an Apple TV device or Roku, search for Creative Outpost and add the app.