By Jon Sargalis
Leading 9-4 going into the eighth inning, the Amsterdam Mohawks erupted for 8 runs to defeat the Saugerties Stallions 17-4 on Wednesday night at Cantine Field.
The game could’ve gotten off to a much different start. The Mohawks were set down in order to start the first and the Stallions loaded the bases with no one out in the bottom of the first. That’s when Mohawks starting pitcher Zach Eldred (Brockport) stepped up and recorded a strikeout and induced a double play to end the inning unscathed.
The Mohawks bats then responded in the second inning with 5 straight hits. Jaxson West (Alabama/Florida State) led off with a single, Jalen DeBose (FAU) doubled, and both scored on a Marek Houston (Wake Forest) single. Luke Zeisloft (Maryland) followed with an RBI double to drive in Houston and Bruer Webster (Utah) followed with a single to put runners on the corners. Webster was then picked off first and it resulted in Zeisloft scoring from third to make it 4-0.
In the third, Luke Longo (NJIT) doubled and scored on a Jaxson West single to make it 5-0.
In the bottom of the third, Zach Eldred got into another bases loaded jam and walked Corey Dowdell (Georgia Southern) to force in Andrew Amato (Delaware) to make it 5-1. That’s when Keith Griffin turned the ball over to Joey Colucci (Maryland) and he induced a popout and another bases loaded double play to put an end to the rally.
The Mohawks added 4 runs in the sixth as Luke Longo hit a 2-run double, Luke Zeisloft hit an RBI single and Bruer Webster walked with the bases loaded to force in Jaxson West to make it 9-1.
The Stallions chipped away by adding single runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings. Evan Wainman (Polk State) hit a sac-fly, Corey Dowdell was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and Evan Wainman scored on a Samuel Hill (UMass) groundout to make it 9-4.
In the eighth inning the wheels came off for the Stallions as the Mohawks sent 12 men to the plate. Dakota Duffalo (Utah) started it off with a double and scored on a Mason Swinney (Alabama) single. Cam Gurney reached on an error allowing Swinney to score. Jalen DeBose hit a 2-run double. Bryce Hubbard (Mississippi State) scored on a wild pitch and Jalen DeBose scored on an error by the shortstop. Dakota Duffalo then recorded his second hit of the inning as he drove in Marek Houston with a single and Luke Zeisloft scored on a wild pitch to cap off the inning and put the Mohawks in front by a score of 17-4.
Tyler Sausville (New Haven/Xavier) made his first relief appearance of the season and after a pair of walks he bounced back with a pair of strikeouts and ended the game in the eighth.
Joey Colucci got the win out of the bullpen. He went 3 hitless innings allowing 1 unearned run with 2 walks an 1 strikeout as he improved to 2-0 on the season as the Mohawks moved to 32-3-1. Saugerties starter Will Robbins (Georgia Southern) fell to 0-1 as he went the first 3 innings allowing 5 runs (4 earned) on 9 hits with no walks and 4 strikeouts as the Stallions fell to 18-14-1.
The Mohawks will heat to Albany on Thursday to play the Dutchmen in a doubleheader starting at 5:00.