(June 10 Game)

By Josh McMullen – Mohawk Valley Diamond Dawgs

LITTLE FALLS, NY – The Mohawk Valley Diamond Dawgs took advantage of 11 free passes and a six-run inning en route to a 9-4 exhibition win over the Albany Athletics of the Albany Twilight League.

Craig Mastroianni got the Athletics on the board first, bouncing a ball into center field that scored Jarred Russell and Danny Moshier. Brian Heckelman (/Towson) would answer in kind in the bottom of the inning with a floater to left field to score Mason Snell (St. Johnsville, NY/Herkimer) and Jaden Ross (Tampa, FL/Hudson Valley CC). It would stay tied at two until the third, when a passed ball gave the Athletics a one-run lead, bringing Jake Sparks home.

The Diamond Dawgs would tie the score back up in the bottom of the inning, thanks to an RBI single by Ethan Valdez (Tampa, FL/Spring Hill) that brought Nick Sturino (New Milford, CT/Fairfield) home. A dribbling ball into right field by Ross gave Mohawk Valley the lead, with Brady Shannon (Youngstown, OH/Central Florida) coming home. Another wild pitch brought Valdez home and extended the lead to two, and Ross came home the same way three pitches later. A bobbled ball and throwing error would bring the lead to four, scoring Snell. In all, twelve batters came up to the plate in the third, scoring six runs while walking five times.

It would stay at 8-3 until the fifth, thanks to a sacrifice fly by Sturino that scored Heckelman.

Albany scored on a passed ball in the top of the seventh, bringing home Tyler Sears, but that was all that closer Sam Miller (/Columbia) would allow, striking out Sparks to finish off the game.

Peter Parrotta (/Rhode Island College) picked up the win for Mohawk Valley, while Ty Santa Barbara got the loss for Albany.

The Diamond Dawgs will be back in action on Sunday for the last game of a four-game homestand when they face the Boonville Lumberjacks. The first pitch is scheduled for 5:00 pm.

If you want to watch the live stream of the games, you can go to https://mvdiamonddawgs.com/livestream/, or if you have an Apple TV device or Roku, search for Creative Outpost and add the app.

Photos by Dave Warner