The Amsterdam Mohawks won at home tonight against the Batavia Muckdogs, 9-5. The win puts the Mohawks a game up in the Championship Series.
The Championship Series will be a best of three games, with the top-seeded Mohawks opting for Game One at home rather than a potential doubleheader for games two and three. Batavia will now receive those games starting Wednesday afternoon.
The Muckdogs tried to capitalize on first-inning jitters to take command of the game. Batavia scored the first run shortly after a Brett Coker (Middle Tennessee State) error allowed the lead-off runner to reach base safely. Amsterdam negated this score in the bottom of the inning when Zach Gardiner (Marshall) blasted a home run over the left-field wall, his first home run of the playoff campaign. He finished the game with this one hit and two runs scored.
The Mohawks grabbed the lead the following inning after Tyler Prospero (Niagara) put himself in a jam. With two runners on, Nick Giamrusti (Pittsburgh) put a groundball short enough that Jerry Reinhart (Akron) couldn’t make a play. The infield single scored the lead runner; that was all Amsterdam could muster in the inning.
The long ball was the story for Amsterdam. The Mohawks sent four balls well over the left field wall throughout the contest; the first from Gardiner, followed by Coker in the fifth inning two by Cade Bush (Florida State) during back-to-back plate appearances. Coker and Bush have two home runs this postseason, while Bush leads all players with five RBIs this postseason.
Amsterdam also got a strong performance from starter Cade Citelli (Texas-Arlington). After the run scored in the first inning, Citelli went on an impressive run, striking out four consecutive batters between the scoreless second and third innings. Daniel Burroway (Alvin CC) hit an RBI double in the fourth, but that was the extent of the damage done to Citelli. Citelli received the win after seven innings with one earned run and ten strikeouts.
Batavia pushed back into the game with a three-run inning against Jude Abbadessa (UConn). The Muckdogs scored the three runs on four hits during Abbadessa’s third outing in four games. Josh Leadem (Rochester) led the attack with two RBIs. Nolan Lamere (Clarke) came in during the eighth to close out the game.
The Muckdogs will have to win the first game at home Wednesday to force Game Three later that evening. Game Two will start at 4:30 pm at Dwyer Stadium in Batavia. If necessary, Game Three starts at 7:30 pm or after the conclusion of Game Two.
All statistics and scores can be found on Pointstreak.