By Josh McMullen – Mohawk Valley Diamond Dawgs
LITTLE FALLS, NY – If you just looked at the hits, you would think the Oneonta Outlaws won the game at Veteran’s Memorial Park on Thursday.
That’s why the runs count, not the hits.
The Mohawk Valley Diamond Dawgs only got five hits on Thursday and were outhit 10-5, but used every one of those hits to their full, winning on a walk-off, 6-5.
Mohawk Valley got on the board just three batters in, bringing home Diego Tavarez (Spotswood, NJ/Wagner) on a sacrifice fly by reigning two-time Eastern Division Batter of the Week Brody Rasmussen (Meridian, ID/Maine).
Cristino Tufano (Babylon, NY/George Washington) doubled the lead in the second with a hot grounder that just got under the glove of Oneonta third baseman Jack Bateman (/Holy Cross). Tufano’s roller to left field scored Max McGlone (Doylestown, PA/West Point). Not to be outdone, Rasmussen looped one into deep left field, scoring Tufano and Ethan Pues (Plant City, FL/Hudson Valley CC) on an RBI single.
Colton Harrison (LaFayette, LA/New Orleans) hit the second of back-to-back singles in the fourth, bringing home Jack Hopko (Endwell, NY/Rhode Island).
The Mohawk Valley lead dropped to one in the sixth as Jocoby Dale (Roseville, MI/Wayne State) scored two runs – Bateman and Brendan Connolly (Malverne, NY/Hudson Valley CC) on a looping RBI double to left field. The Outlaws tied the score on a lazily rolling single by Connor Waiting (Seaford, NY/Hudson Valley CC).
Oneonta took the lead in the seventh on a solo home run by Ryan King (Bernardsville, NJ/Rhode Island) that barely cleared the left field fence.
The Diamond Dawgs would not say die though, as in the eighth, Bryce Phelps (Denver, IA/Wagner) scored Luke Nomura (Maplewood, NJ/Seton Hall) on an RBI single that rolled all the way to the left field wall.
The score would stay tied at five until the last out of the ninth, when Rasmussen proved why he was the reigning Eastern Division Batter of the Week, slamming a ball to the left field wall for a double. The hit also scored Tufano and earned Rasmussen a Gatorade shower.
Tyler Hodella (Miller Place, NY/Bridgeport got the win for Mohawk Valley (19-14). Joel Hayner (Halfmoon, NY/Lynn) was credited with the loss for Oneonta (14-15).
Mohawk Valley will be back at Veteran’s Memorial Park on Friday for the penultimate game of this year’s Route 5 Rivalry with the Utica Blue Sox. Oneonta will finish up their road trip on Friday at East Field with a game against the Glens Falls Dragons.
