(JUNE 8th Game)

By Josh McMullen – Mohawk Valley Diamond Dawgs

LITTLE FALLS, NY – The rain may have delayed the game by just about half an hour – again – but the thunder could still plainly be heard at Veteran’s Memorial Park on Thursday.

The Utica Blue Sox boomed three home runs, two by Andre Demetral, but it would all be for naught, as a five-run sixth propelled the Mohawk Valley Diamond Dawgs to an 11-10 victory.

The Blue Sox got on the board with an RBI single from Easton Brenner (Houston, TX/LaFayette) that scored Ben Partridge (Bardonia, NY/Rockland CC) . The Diamond Dawgs would answer right back with two runs of their own with RBI singles from Sebastian Mueller (Pottersville, NJ/Quinnipiac) and Mark Darakjy (Randolph, NJ/St. Bonaventure).

Utica tied it up again in the top of the second on a home run to left field by Demetral (Rochester, MI/NIU). They’d take the lead two innings later on a sacrifice fly by Taylor Kaufman (Burlingame, CA/Hamilton), and add to that lead on another RBI by Demetral. The lead extended to four on a 2-RBI single just one inning later by Brenner.

The Diamond Dawgs cut the lead to two on another 2-RBI single in the bottom of the fifth, this time by Mitchell Balint (Avondale, PA/Carson-Newman).

However, Demetral would come back with another home run in the sixth, this time to left field, to bring the lead back to three. Justin Hackett (Wallingford, CT/Bryant) cut the lead to two in the bottom of the inning, thanks to a floating RBI single that scored Sam Miller (McMurray, PA/Columbia). They’d tie it up soon after, thanks to a sacrifice fly by Owen Pincince (North Haven, CT/New Haven) and an RBI fielder’s choice by Corey Adams (Richmond, VA/William and Mary). A passed ball and an error by the Utica defense gave the Diamond Dawgs a two-run lead, in an inning in which they scored five runs and ten Mohawk Valley batter went to the plate.

Fielding errors would haunt the Blue Sox again, as a throwing error in the bottom of the seventh brought home Hackett and Darajky and extend the Mohawk Valley lead to four. Another eight batters came to the plate in the inning for Mohawk Valley.

A passed-ball-wild pitch-passed ball combination in the eighth pulled the Blue Sox within three, scoring Norris McClure (Mandeville, LA/Springhill). Partridge would add a two-run home run in the top of the ninth, but that was as close as the Blue Sox would get, as Owen Zadrozny (Cumberland, RI/Merrimack) got the next batter out to end the game.

Ethan Patch (Agawam, MA/Carson-Newman) got the win for Mohawk Valley (4-2), while Zadrozny got the save. Bill Rozakis (Brooklyn, NY/Siena) got the loss for Utica (2-5), who have lost three straight.

Mohawk Valley will be back at Veteran’s Memorial Park on Friday for game two of a three-game home stand against the Watertown Rapids. Utica will head back to Donovan Stadium on Friday to take on the Albany Dutchmen.

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.