(June 13 Game)
By: Sam Reis – amsterdammohawks.com
The Amsterdam Mohawks entered Tuesday night with an opportunity to make history at Rao Family Stadium. They came out of it with a dominant 11-1 victory over the Glens Falls Dragons in eight innings, becoming the first Mohawks team ever to start a season 9-0.
Brandon Peterson (NJIT) made his second start of the summer for Amsterdam. The right-hander pitched five hitless innings, allowing no earned runs while walking three and striking out 10.
Frank Ciccone (St. Joseph’s) got his first start for Glens Falls after coming out of the bullpen against Amsterdam in the first meeting between the teams.
Amsterdam struck early, scoring two first inning runs. With Gage Miller (Bishop State CC) on second base, a double from Cam Gurney (Utah) out to right field drove him in to open the scoring. Two batters later, Zach Eldred (Brockport) sent a ball off the wall in right field to drive in Gurney for a second run.
In the second inning, Glens Falls scored its only run of the game. After Michael Pratte (Maine) got on base and all the way to third on an error, Nick Marola (Coker) grounded out to send him home.
An inning later, the Mohawks responded. A sacrifice bunt from Luke Zeisloft (Maryland) gave Jalen Debose (Florida Atlantic) the opportunity to come home from second as he beat out the tag to put Amsterdam ahead 3-1. Later in the inning, Luke Longo (NJIT) hit a sacrifice fly that scored Bruer Webster (Utah) to make it a three-run game.
Ciccone exited the game for the Dragons after four innings. The right-hander allowed three hits and four runs with two walks and six strikeouts. Billy Canale (Le Moyne) replaced him and struggled in the fifth inning.
Amsterdam extended its lead when a bunt laid down by Bruer Webster allowed Alex Irizarry (Maryland) to score from third base. Then, with the bases loaded, a high shot to left center field from Luke Longo cleared the fence for a grand slam to make it 9-1. That marked the third grand slam of the 2023 campaign for the Mohawks. In the fifth, Canale conceded four hits and five runs despite no walks and a strikeout.
Ryan Taffe (Fairfield) entered the contest in the sixth inning for the Mohawks, delivering two scoreless innings with just one hit and one walk allowed and four strikeouts in his third appearance. Colin Maloney (Rhode Island) came in for the eighth inning, allowing no hits with a walk and a strikeout.
Joey Lauer (Siena) was the last Dragons pitcher of the night, going 2 ⅓ innings. Giving up two hits and two runs while walking a couple of batters, the right-hander failed to record a strikeout.
The sixth inning saw Alex Irizarry score from second on an error that made it 10-1. One run away from the 10-run rule, Luke Zeisloft’s solo home run to left field in the eighth inning ended the game.
Aidan Heffner (Siena) recorded the only hit of the night for Glens Falls as the Dragons dropped to 2-4.
Seven Mohawks players tallied a hit and the only player with multiple knocks was Cam Gurney. The Canadian continued an impressive start to the summer, going 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs.
Now 9-0, Amsterdam hits the road for a doubleheader against Boonville on Wednesday. First pitch of Game 1 is slated for 5:00 with Game 2 to follow.