AMSTERDAM - For six innings, the Amsterdam Mohawks were listless, as Glens Falls Golden Eagles starting pitcher Brandon Magallones held them hitless while building a 7-0 lead.
However, the bullpen provided the Golden Eagles with no relief, as Glens Falls hung on for an 8-6 victory Friday night at Shuttleworth Park.
"We got awesome pitching," Glens Falls coach John Mayotte said. "This is the first time I ever had to take a pitcher out when he was throwing a no-hitter. That was the right thing to do because he's on a pitch count and he's a very valuable property of Northwestern baseball. We did the right thing."
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Amsterdam Mohawks pitcher Taylor Martin tags out Glens Falls’ Ross Kivett during Friday’s game at Shuttleworth Park in Amsterdam. (The Leader-Herald/Mike Zummo)
When Magallones came out of the game, the Mohawks' offense came to life, with a little help from Glens Falls reliever Mike Clarkson.
Walks to Jeff Boehm and Giuseppe Papaccio got things started. Then Zak Colby broke up the Golden Eagles' bid for a no-hitter and the shutout with a single to right field, scoring Boehm. Colby's single got by Glens Falls right fielder Buddy Putnam. Colby got caught in a rundown between first and second, as Papaccio broke toward the plate. Glens Falls second baseman Ross Kivett's throw to the plate got by catcher J.P. Rosseau, allowing Papaccio to score and Colby to take second. Colby later came around on a wild pitch by Clarkson, giving the Mohawks' their third run.
"[Jared] Cheek, the closer, is really good, but there are some guys in between, that we got back in the game that way," Mohawks coach Keith Griffin said.
Mayotte had seen enough and replaced Clarkson with Jake Doller, who came in to strike out D.J. Hoagboon. DeMarcus Henderson singled up the middle, but Chase Green was thrown out trying to score on a strike from center fielder Danny Brennan. Henderson, who advanced on the throw, scored on Ed Charlton's double, cutting the deficit to 7-4.
The Golden Eagles tacked on a run in the top of the eighth when Mike Vigliardo singled off the shoulder off Boehm, who relieved Kevin Archbold. After a walk and hit batsman, Vigliardo scored on a wild pitch.
Then in the bottom of the inning, Amsterdam came right back when Josh Nethaway blasted the Mohawks' first home run of the season at home, cutting the deficit to 8-5. Boehm followed with a single. He got to second on Papaccio's groundout, and scored on Green's RBI single. Green took second on the throw home and third when Rosseau's throw went into right field.
"We threw the ball along way too much," Mayotte said.
He would have scored on Hoagboon's looper into short center field, but Kivett made a diving catch to deny Hoagboon his first hit on the night.
"I thought we played real hard at the end," Griffin said. "I don't think we played real hard to begin with. Their guy really threw the ball well. He was a little bit sharper than our hitters were."
Cheek got the save for the Golden Eagles (7-6), as the got Glens Falls out of the eighth inning, and struck out Josh Nethaway with Evan Stephens on second base to end the game.
"He likes the big moment," Mayotte said. "You can tell. Most guys shy away from it. He loves it."
The Golden Eagles jumped on Martin early. After Emmanuel Forcier tried unsuccessfully to bunt for a base hit, Danny Brennan lined a single up the middle and Kivett blasted a two-run home run to left field, giving the Golden Eagles a 2-0 lead.
Martin got out of further trouble, working around a double and a single. Martin gave up a single to Casey Rodrique to lead off the second inning, but he induced a double-play grounder from Rosseau, and settled down.
"Every run against this team is important," Mayotte said. "We got six hits in the first two innings, and they didn't have any. All of a sudden for three or four innings, I don't think either team had a hit."
At least until the sixth inning, when Martin started to run out of steam.
Brennan tripled, and then after a wild pitch, and a walk to Kivett, Chase Griffin delivered an RBI single, giving Glens Falls a 3-0 lead. After the runners advanced on a wild pitch, Alberto Morales smacked a two-run single to left field, and then took seven when the ball got past Mohawks left fielder Henderson. Morales scored when Buddy Putnam tripled over Mohawks reliever Kevin Archbold. Archbold then uncorked a wild pitch, allowing Putnam to come home with the Golden Eagles' seventh run.
Griffin was run from the game in the third inning when he argued a disputed catcher's interference call when Hoagboon appeared to hit Rosseau with the bat while swinging at a pitchout.
"That was an awful call," Griffin said. "It is what it is. I said what I had to say, and he threw me out. It's no big deal."
The Mohawks (11-3), who saw their 10-game winning streak end Friday night, will travel to Cooperstown's Doubleday Field for a 5 p.m. game against the Hawkeyes.
"We won 10 straight," Griffin said. "I tell them to win 10 more."
Glens Falls 8, Amsterdam 6
Glens Falls 200 005 010 - 8 11 2
Amsterdam 000 000 420 - 6 7 1
Magallones, Clarkson (7), Doller (7), Cheek (8) and Rosseau; Martin, Archbold (6), Boehm (8), Gallup (9) and Hoagboon.