By Sam Reis
Box Score
Behind a solid outing from Carson Pierce on the mound, the Amsterdam Mohawks struck early and never relinquished the lead in a 7-4 victory over the Saugerties Stallions on Wednesday night at Rao Family Stadium.
Carson Pierce (Oklahoma) started his fourth game for the Mohawks and his first at Shuttleworth Park. The right-hander began the contest by retiring the first seven batters faced before walking Travis Hobbensiefken (Mt. San Antonio) in the third.
Quinton Hall (Eastern Kentucky) made his second start and fourth appearance of the season for Saugerties. After walking Gage Miller (Bishop State CC) and conceding a double to Zach Eldred (Brockport) to begin his outing, Luke Longo (NJIT) grounded out to drive in Miller for the first run of the game. That was followed by a single from Dakota Duffalo (Utah) that sent Eldred home to give Amsterdam a 2-0 lead.
The run scored by Gage Miller in the first inning was his 29th of the season, the most in the PGCBL, and his 79th with Amsterdam, breaking Josh Gardiner’s record for the most runs scored in Mohawks history.
Following back-to-back walks to begin the second, Marek Houston (Wake Forest) notched a single to send Jalen Debose (Florida Atlantic) home, making it 3-0.
In the third, Zach Eldred belted the first pitch of the inning to right field for a home run, his fourth of the summer, to give Amsterdam a 4-0 lead. Later in the inning, Quinton Hall was replaced by Damion Kenealy (Polk St.) after hitting Dakota Duffalo with a pitch. Kenealy, making his second appearance as a pitcher, induced Jalen Debose into a double play to end the frame.
After Carson Pierce struck out the side in the fourth for Asmterdam, Marek Houston hit another single and was driven in by Luke Zeisloft (Maryland) to extend the Mohawks lead to 5-0 through four innings.
Damion Kenealy pitched 1 ⅔ innings, allowing two hits and one run (not earned) with no walks and a strikeout. Brandon Eldridge (Western Carolina) entered for Saugerties in the fifth, making his fifth appearance of the campaign. The fifth inning was the first in which Amsterdam failed to score.
Through 5 ⅔ innings, Carson Pierce still had not surrendered a hit but that changed when Samuel Hill (UMass) recorded a single. Pierce responded with a strikeout to conclude his six scoreless innings with just two walks and ten strikeouts.
Josh Davis (Clemson) made his sixth appearance for Asmterdam in the seventh. With two outs, Conor Kelly (UMass Lowell) looped a pitch out to center field for a single that scored Alex Nevils (Wofford) to put the Stallions on the board. Davis allowed three hits in the inning with no walks or strikeouts.
In two scoreless innings, Brandon Eldridge allowed one hit with two walks and two strikeouts. Ryder Moye (Wofford) became the fourth Saugerties pitcher in the seventh, making his fifth appearance. Amsterdam reclaimed a five-run lead when Cam Gurney (Utah) singled to score Zach Eldred.
Ryan Taffe (Fairfield) entered in the eighth for the Moahwks, appearing in his seventh contest. The right-hander handled business quickly with a 1-2-3 inning.
Izaiah Ayala (Mt. San Antonio) came in for Saugerties in the eight, making his fifth appearance. Luke Zeisloft reached base on a fielder’s choice and that enabled Max Martin (Rutgers) to come home for the seventh Mohawks run. Ayala gave up two hits in the inning with no walks or strikeouts.
Ryan Taffe remained in to start the ninth and allowed singles to Aaron Stelogeannis (Polk St.) and Carson Clark (Wright St.) to begin the frame. Then, Andrew Amato (Delaware) hit a home run, his second against Amsterdam in as many games, to cut the deficit to 7-4. Saugerties continued to apply some pressure as Evan Wainman (Polk St.) doubled and Conor Kelly was walked. That is when Taffe was taken out after 1 ⅓ innings of work, conceding four hits and three runs (all earned) with a walk and a strikeout. Joey Colucci (Maryland) was called upon to close the game out, appearing out of the bullpen for the fifth time this summer. With the tying run at the plate, all it took was two pitches to get things done as Jack Lawrence (Towson) grounded into a double play to secure the win for Amsterdam.
Quinton Hall suffered the loss, dropping to 0-1. The Stallions lost their third consecutive game and now sit at 11-10. Saugerties next travels to Mohawk Valley on Thursday at 6:30.
Carson Pierce earned the win, moving to 1-1. Offensively, Zach Eldred and Cam Gurney had a couple of hits while Marek Houston led the way with three, staying perfect through two games with Amsterdam.
The win for the Mohawks was their 16th in a row, marking the longest unbeaten streak in team history. Amsterdam is now 25-1 and heads to Utica to face the Blue Sox on Thursday at 6:45.
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