(June 27 Game)
By: Sam Reis – amsterdammohawks.com
With a 3-2 count, two outs and runners on first and second in the bottom of the 10th, Greg Mays (Cortland) was one strike away from ending things in a tie. Instead, Bryce Hubbard (Mississippi State) made sure the Mohawks came out with a win as he delivered a walk-off single to end a thrilling game in style on Wednesday night at Rao Family Stadium.
In what was a pitcher’s duel for the first six innings, Brandon Peterson (NJIT) got the start for Amsterdam, his fourth of the summer. On the other side, Greg Shaw (Manhattan) made his second start for Albany, both coming against Amsterdam.
Peterson retired seven of the first nine batters he faced through three innings and didn’t allow a hit until the fourth. That’s when Anthony Paskell (Rider) led off with a double. Moments later, Tyler Kipp (Fairfield) reached first on a fielder’s choice and after Paskell got to third, an errant throw to first allowed him to come home for the breakthrough run.
Peterson stayed in through the sixth, only allowing that one run (not earned) and three hits with two walks and six strikeouts.
Greg Shaw retired 17 of the 19 batters he faced, only allowing two hits, both to Cam Gurney (Utah). In six scoreless innings, the right-hander did not walk anyone and struck out four.
Joey Colucci (Maryland) replaced Peterson in the seventh, making his third appearance for the Mohawks and second against the Dutchmen. The inning started off with Anderson Moreno (Southern New Hampshire) getting hit by a pitch. Joe Karpierz (Xavier) followed that up with a double to advance Moreno to third. Then, a groundout from Tyler Kipp allowed Moreno to score from third to give Albany a 2-0 lead. Colucci came out after the inning, allowing that run and a hit with no walks or strikeouts.
Nick Kolze (Xavier) entered in the seventh for the Dutchmen, making his sixth appearance and third against the Mohawks. Zach Eldred (Brockport), the second batter Kolze faced, belted the first pitch he saw to right field for a solo home run to put Amsterdam on the board.
Josh Davis (Clemson) became the third Amsterdam pitcher in the eighth inning, making his sixth appearance of the season. Despite hitting two batters, the Mohawks exited the inning keeping it a one run game.
Kolze stayed in for the eighth, retiring the first two batters of the frame. Then, Mason Swinney (Alabama) delivered a single for his first hit of the night. Kolze allowed four hits in 1 ⅔ innings and was then replaced by Jackson Smith (Kankakee CC), who made his fifth appearance for Albany. Amsterdam’s offense continued to come alive as Bryce Hubbard singled and Bruer Webster (Utah) did the same, driving in Swinney from second to tie the game at 2-2.
Davis pitched a scoreless ninth for Amsterdam, going two hitless innings, with no walks and a strikeout.
Greg Mays came in for Albany in the ninth, appearing in his fifth game. Alex Irizarry (Maryland) recorded a leadoff single, but after advancing all the way to third was left stranded as Mays got out of the frame unscathed.
In the first extra innings contest of the season for the Mohawks, Jack Seppings (Brown) entered in the tenth, making his eighth appearance of the summer. Brayden Childress (Warner) served as the runner at second base to begin the inning. After a couple of walks from Seppings, a strikeout to Mike Talavera (Hudson Valley CC) left the bases loaded as the score remained tied.
In the home half of the tenth, Carlos Martinez (Pittsburgh) served as the runner on second to start the inning. After Cam Gurney was hit by a pitch, Jaxson West (Alabama) flew out and Mason Swinney struck out. That left it all down to Bryce Hubbard to decide whether or not the game would end in a tie. With a full count, Hubbard sent a ground ball through the gap to the left side, driving in Martinez from second and giving the Mohawks their first true walk-off win of the season.
With the victory, head coach Keith Griffin won his 498th game with the Mohawks.
Greg Mays suffered the loss for Albany, going the final 1 ⅔ innings, conceding two hits and one run (not earned) with a walk and a strikeout. That makes him 1-1 this season. The loss for the Dutchmen drops them to 6-12.
Jack Seppings got the win, pitching a scoreless and hitless tenth inning with two walks and two strikeouts. The Brown product now has 23 strikeouts in 10 ⅓ innings and a record of 2-0. The dramatic come from behind win extended the Mohawks winning streak to 10 games as they improved to 19-1. After an off day on Wednesday, Amsterdam and Albany square off in a rematch at Dutchmen Field with first pitch scheduled for 6:35.
From dutchmenbaseball.com
By: Josh Richardson
The Albany Dutchmen came into Tuesday night’s game against the Amsterdam Mohawks going 1-6 in their last seven games, but the resilience and determination of this team helped motivate and propel them to be able to compete with the best team in the league. Albany fell to the reigning PGCBL Champs 3-2 in extra innings, but they did not make it easy on the Mohawks.
Both teams came out with slow offenses to start, with no runs being scored in the first three innings. However, in the top of the fourth, back-to-back hits from Anthony Paskell (Rider) and Anderson Moreno (SNHU) gave the Dutch runners in scoring position, with Paskell later scoring on a bad throw. Tyler Kipp (Fairfield) was credited with the RBI, and would follow that up with his second later in the game.
In the seventh, Albany was still clinging to a 1-0 lead when Moreno was hit by a pitch out of the hand of Joey Colucci (Maryland). Joe Karpierz (Xavier) continued his recent tear by advancing Moreno to third on a double, and Kipp would pick up the RBI on a high chopper of a groundout. The Dutchmen entered the later stages of the game with the lead, with only 2.5 more innings to play.
In the bottom half of the seventh, Amsterdam showed why they are the best team in this league: They never quit and continued to play hard, scoring their first run courtesy of Zach Eldred’s (SUNY Brockport) third home run of the year. That was then followed up in the eighth by Bruer Webster (Utah) on an RBI single. Just like that, the game was tied 2-2 entering the ninth.
With both teams unable to score in the ninth inning, the Dutchmen now had an opportunity to steal a game on the road in extra innings, however Bryce Hubbard (Mississippi St.) had other plans. In the bottom of the tenth, Hubbard hit an RBI single, scoring the winning run for Amsterdam, now extending their win streak to ten, and their overall record to 19-1. The Dutchmen fell to 6-12, tied for last place in the East Division, after a 4-3 start to the year.
Albany got a masterful start from Greg Shaw III (Manhattan), who turned in one of the best performances of the summer. The Cornwall-on-Hudson native threw six shutout innings, allowing just two hits, while walking none and striking out four.
With each team seemingly going in opposite directions, the rematch scheduled for Thursday night will give insight as to what the Dutchmen can do to begin winnings these close games. First pitch on Thursday scheduled for 6:35.