By Josh McMullen – Mohawk Valley Diamond Dawgs
LITTLE FALLS, NY – It was supposed to be a doubleheader of two seven-inning games. With the run rule and the rain, it only turned out to be two five-inning games.
However, the Mohawk Valley Diamond Dawgs won them both, 22-7 and 2-1 over the Oneonta Outlaws.
The Diamond Dawgs got off to a hot start in the first inning of Game One, thanks to a two-RBI double by Mitchell Balint (Avondale, PA/Carson-Newman) and a three-run home run by Sam Miller (McMurray, PA/Columbia). They would add a sixth on a throwing error to score Mark Darakjy (Randolph, NJ/St. Bonaventure). Darakjy would score another run on a hardly-hit ball to left field by Jaden Ross (Tampa, FL/Hudson Valley CC) in the third.
Balint brought home another two soon after, thanks to a bloop single to right field that scored Ross and Owen Pincince (North Haven, CT/New Haven). The levee finally broke in the fourth when the Diamond Dawgs brought 16 batters to the plate and scored another twelve runs to extend the lead to 21.
The Outlaws finally got on the board in the bottom of the fourth on an RBI single by Christopher Baillargeon (Staten Island, NY/Holy Cross), scoring Jack Hopko (Endwell, NY/Rhode Island). The Outlaws would score three more in the inning on a throwing error, an RBI double by Jarod Wade (West Chester, PA/Long Island), and a passed ball.
The Outlaws would add three more in the fifth on a ground-rule double by Hopko to center field and a two-run double by Caden Marsters (Sarasota, FL/Erskine). But that was all reliever Peter Parrotta (Agawam, MA/Rhode Island College) would allow, slamming the door on the Outlaws with a strikeout and a pop-out.
Colin Dowlen (Middletown, NJ/Seton Hall) picked up the win for Mohawk Valley, while Sean Dertinger (Nanuet, NY/SUNY Oswego) got the loss for Oneonta in Game One.
A sacrifice fly by Baillargeon started off the scoring for Oneonta in the third in Game Two, but the game would be delayed for several minutes due to rain. After the delay, Ross got the Diamond Dawgs on the board with a two-run double that scored Sebastian Mueller (Pottersville, NJ/Quinnipiac) and Chance Checca (Ballston Spa, NY/Herkimer).
It would stay that way until lightning delayed the game again in the bottom of the fifth. This time, the game was called, with the Diamond Dawgs winning 2-1.
Marco Siracusa (Kinnelon, NJ/Pace) picked up the rain-shortened win in Game Two. Joel Hayner (Halfmoon, NY/Herkimer) was saddled with the loss.
The Diamond Dawgs (13-4) are on the road on Saturday when they play the Amsterdam Mohawks at Shuttleworth Park. The Outlaws (6-9) head back to Damaschke Field on Saturday to take on the Glens Falls Dragons.
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.
