After a three-day break, the Mohawks (26-4) returned to their winning ways with a 5-0 victory over the Stallions (15-13-1) from Shuttleworth Park on Thursday night. Amsterdam beat Saugerties for the second time in five days and improved to 6-0 this summer against their East Division rival.
Cade Citelli (Houston) made his fifth start of the season for the Mohawks and his second against Saugerties. After pitching six scoreless innings with 11 strikeouts in an 11-0 Mohawks win over the Stallions on June 23rd, the redshirt freshman was lights out yet again yesterday. Citelli got the win after tossing five shutout frames, allowing just two hits alongside six strikeouts and two walks. On the year, the Texas native has pitched 12 innings vs. Saugerties without allowing a run.
Offensively, Amsterdam was held in check through two innings by Saugerties’ starter Bryan Boully (Florida Atlantic). The freshman made it through a clean 2.2 innings before the top of the Mohawks lineup provided a spark. In the bottom of the third, leadoff hitter Gage Miller (Bishop State CC) collected a single. Four pitches later, Ian Petrutz (Maryland) smashed a ball over the right-field wall to make the score 2-0 Amsterdam. Boully pitched five innings of two-run ball on the game, adding seven punchouts and only one walk.
James Reilly (St. Thomas Aquinas) pitched the final three innings for Saugerties and struggled to settle in. The Mohawks added two more runs in the bottom of the sixth after RBI singles from both Zach Gardiner (Marshall) and Cameron Love (Rutgers). Amsterdam added one more score for good measure in the bottom of the eighth, as an RBI single from Cade Bush (Florida State) increased the lead to 5-0. The Mohawks collected 11 hits overall, getting multiple knocks from Miller, Petrutz, Gardiner, Love, and Bush.
Amsterdam’s bullpen picked up where Citelli left off after five innings. First, Luis Misla (Hudson Valley CC) notched a scoreless two frames with five punchouts and a pair of walks. Next, Arlon Butts (Arkansas State) pitched a clean eighth inning with two strikeouts. Lastly, Santosh Gottam (Brown) chucked a perfect top of the ninth thanks to a couple of strikeouts to seal the deal. On the night, the Mohawks struck out 15 Stallions and handed out four walks, giving up five hits in the process.
Back in business tomorrow, Amsterdam hosts Glens Falls at 6:35 pm from Rao Family Stadium. Watch the video broadcast on the Amsterdam Mohawks’ Facebook page through Facebook Live. Saugerties returns home where it’ll face the Boonville Baseball Club in a doubleheader that starts at 5:00 pm.