Amsterdam slips past Glens Falls, 5-4
By BILL CAIN, The Leader-HeraldArticle Photos
AMSTERDAM - Another round to Amsterdam.
In their sixth meeting of the New York Collegiate Baseball League season, the Mohawks topped league-leading Glens Falls 5-4 Friday to pull within a half game of the lead in the Eastern Division. The Mohawks have won four of the six games with the Golden Eagles.
In Friday's game, every time the Mohawks started building a lead, Glens Falls found a way to pull close again. Amsterdam need it's pitchers to work out of trouble on several occasions to cut the scoring runs short.
"We got out of a lot of jams tonight," Amsterdam coach Kevin Downing said. "Our pitching was there and the defense made plays when they had to, then we got the timely hitting when we needed it."
Glens Falls tied the game 3-3 in the sixth inning and was threatening to take the lead when Amsterdam starter Dan Forman started having trouble with his throwing arm. The Golden Eagles' Jose Valerio was on third base and Nick McCoy was standing at the plate with a 2-0 count when Forman was lifted for Josh Hammonds. The reliever completed the walk to McCoy with two pitches, but followed with three straight outs, the first two at the plate for strikeouts.
"[Forman's] arm was tightening up a little bit, so we got him out," Downing said. "Hammonds came in and got us out of a big jam. It was first and third and he got the next three guys. That was a huge inning and kept us in the game."
Forman went five-plus innings, striking out three, walking one and hitting one batter. Hammonds threw 2 2/3 of scoreless baseball, striking out four, walking three and hitting one to pick up the win. Sean Gregory closed the game out for Amsterdam, throwing 1 1/3 and striking out two in the ninth.
The Amsterdam pitchers held the Golden Eagles' top hitter, Kody Johnson (.329 AVG, 6 HR, 16 RBIs entering Friday's game), hitless. Johnson went 0-for-5 and was sat down with a runner on third in the fifth inning and a runner on second in the ninth.
Either being driven in or doing the driving, Amsterdam's Mark Onorati accounted for four of his team's five runs. He finished 2-for-3 with two runs and two RBIs.
"I was seeing it all right. It was a good night," Onorati said. "I was getting the pitches I wanted and was able to put good wood on it."
Onorati scored the game's first run after being hit by a pitch in the first inning and scoring from first base on a Spencer Korus double. In the second inning, his sacrifice fly drove in Bryce Nugent, who had walked. He walked to lead off the seventh and later scored on Ben Clowe's single. Then in the eighth, he singled off the glove of a diving Stefan Romero at third base, plating Chris Bisson, who had singled.
Mike Spina hit a solo home run to lead off the third inning, accounting for the other Amsterdam run and giving the Mohawks a 3-1 lead.
Onorati said the ability of Glens Falls to stay in the game and chip away at any lead puts a little more pressure on the Amsterdam batters to keep building their lead with every at-bat.
"It's difficult," he said. "They showed it in the ninth inning when they almost came back. They're a good team. They showed why they're in first place. We just had to hold them when we got the lead."
Amsterdam (19-9) plays at Bennington today, while Glens Falls (18-7) will take on Little Falls.
Scott Denault got the start for Glens Falls, striking out six, walking four and hitting one batter in six innings of work. Jamie Storey took the loss in relief.
Glens Falls coach John Mayotte said in a tightly-contested game like Friday's, every little mistake or close call becomes more important and makes for good baseball.
"These are two really outstanding teams. I think a lot of baseball fans are missing out on this series," Mayotte said. "Everything is magnified 10-fold. The ground ball to short we threw away, in a regular game, you don't even think about it."
He said Denault was frustrated at times by the strike zone, but found a way to keep the Golden Eagles close.
"He was struggling at times. He wasn't getting the strike zone, wasn't getting the calls," Mayotte said. "He has a way of sticking in there and battling and I'm proud of him. He could have taken the easy way out and baled out, but he's a great competitor and he kept us in the game."
Amsterdam 5, Glens Falls 4
Glens Falls001 011 001 - 4 8 2
Amsterdam 111 000 11x - 5 7 3
Denault, Storey (7), Damon (8) and McCoy; Forman, Hammonds (6), Gregory (8) and Nugent.
