LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. – The Albany Dutchmen (18-12) took two games against the Saugerties Stallions (17-15) on Saturday, winning a suspended game from July 7th 10-9 and winning the regularly scheduled game 7-1.
Albany and Saugerties started the day off with by resuming a game from July 7th tied at 9-9 in the top of the 10th inning. The Stallions failed to score in the top of the 10th and Albany grabbed the win from a Tommy Pellis (Seton Hill) sacrifice fly that scored Ben Metzinger (Louisville).
The Dutchmen took the lead in the bottom of the first inning in the second game of the day and did not relinquish it. Luke Gold (Boston College) started the scoring for Albany with a two-run single to center field for his seventh RBIs of the season. The Ballston Spa Senior High School graduate scored the third run of the game later in the inning on a wild pitch by Stallions starter Austin Cole (Arizona Western).
“His approach at the plate is a little advanced for a high school guy,” said Dutchmen Head Coach Nick Davey. “He’s a very mature hitter and that leads to success. He always finds the barrel.”
Albany grabbed insurance runs in the second and the sixth innings. Pellis drove home a run with a single in the second to give the Dutchmen their fourth run of the game. A double in the sixth by Nick Melillo (Siena) and an error by Stallions center fielder Nolen Hester (Wofford) brought home two more Dutchmen on the same play. Melillo later scored in the same inning on another Pellis RBI single.
That was all the run support that Dutchmen starter Ian Murphy (St. John’s) needed. He pitched six strong innings, allowing only one run on three hits and one walk. The right-handed tied his second-highest strikeout total with eight punch-outs against the Stallions. Murphy increased his season strikeout to 41 which leads the Dutchmen pitching staff.
“He was under control with two pitches today,” said Davey. “When he’s on, he’s really tough. I’ve said from the beginning that he’s gonna be one of the best guys we’ve ever had here stuff-wise.”
The combined effort of Joe Kruszka (UAlbany) and Blake Bales (Virginia) kept Saugerties off the scoreboard in the last three innings. The duo combined for four strikeouts, no walks, and no hits.
Pellis, Mitchell Henshaw (St. John’s), Gold and Melillo had multi-hit days against Saugerties. Gold went 3-4 with two RBIs and Melillo went 3-4 with one RBI. Pellis also had two RBIs in the game, increasing his season total to 17, which is second on the Dutchmen roster.
The Dutchmen also continue to cause chaos on the base paths. Albany stole five bases against the Stallions on Saturday, which increases its season total to 133 swiped bags. The Dutchmen have already set a new team single season record for stolen bases. The previous record was 120 stolen bases by the 2017 Dutchmen and the 2013 DiamondDawgs. Chris Seng (Louisville) also stole his 26th stolen base of the season which moves him two stolen bases away from tying a Dutchmen single season record set by JJ Shimko (USC Upstate) in 2016.
Albany now moves to two games up against Saugerties for third place in the PGCBL East Division. The Dutchmen don’t get to rest on their laurels with a doubleheader against the first-place Amsterdam Mohawks up next.
“Going up two games against Saugerties was very important,” said Davey.
The Dutchmen host the doubleheader against the Mohawks at home on Sunday, July 14th, starting at 3:00 pm. For tickets and more information, visit dutchmenbaseball.com.
