(June 19th Game)

By Josh McMullen – Mohawk Valley Diamond Dawgs

LITTLE FALLS, NY – It’s been the mantra all year in Mohawk Valley: think small. Scratch the game out with singles and doubles. On Tuesday night against Glens Falls, it was another night of small-ball goodness, and the Diamond Dawgs came out on the winning end.

Mohawk Valley managed only nine hits but was able to take advantage of almost every one of them, dooming the Dragons to their seventh straight loss, 6-3.

Back-to-back fielder’s choices by Odilio Cespedes (Santo Domingo/Bryant and Stratton) and Ryan Grace (Concord, MA/Colby) brought in the first run of the game in the form of Michael Pratte (Bedford, NH/Maine) just four batters into the game. The Diamond Dawgs would answer right back in their half of the first inning, thanks to Mitchell Balint (Avondale, PA/Carson-Newman). His RBI single – his 38th RBI of the season – brought home Nick Sturino (New Milford, CT/Fairfield).

The score would stay knotted at one until the bottom of the fourth, when a ball wound right through the legs of Glens Falls third baseman Jack Griffin (Mechanicville, NY/College of St. Rose), scoring Sam Miller (McMurray, PA/Columbia). An RBI single by Jaden Ross (Tampa, FL/South Florida) and a passed ball brought home Justin Hackett (Wallingford, CT/Bryant) and Mark Darakjy (Randolph, NJ/St. Bonaventure), respectively.

Three straight singles by the Dragons cut the lead to two in the fifth, scoring Aidan Heffner (Averill Park, NY/Siena). The score would stay that way until the eighth when Darakjy got some insurance for the Diamond Dawgs on a bloop single to left field by Sturino.

That was all the Diamond Dawgs would need, as closer CJ Dinapoli (Mechanicsville, VA/William and Mary) kept the Dragons hitless through the last three innings to pick up the save.

Ethan Patch (Whitehall, NY/Carson-Newman) got the win for Mohawk Valley (21-14). Antonio Hicks (Rexford, NY/Central Connecticut) got the loss for Glens Falls. (11-20).

The Diamond Dawgs will be back at Veteran’s Memorial Park on Thursday to host the Utica Blue Sox in one of the last four games the two will play over the next two weeks. The Dragons will travel back to East Field on Thursday to host a doubleheader with the Saugerties Stallions.

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.

Photos by Dave Warner