Jack Grabek (Bucknell) pitches in the bottom of the third in Albany's 8-0 win over Saugerties.
July 28, 2017
SAUGERTIES, N.Y.- Jack Grabek (Bucknell) was dominant on the hill in the Albany Dutchmen (29-15) 8-0 shutout win over the Saugerties Stallions (19-26) on Friday evening at Cantine Field in Saugerties.
The win extended the Dutchmen’s lead to 1.5 games for second in the East Division of the PGCBL and home field advantage in the one-game playoff with the Mohawk Valley DiamondDawgs (27-16). The ‘Dawgs were idle Friday, and travel to Glens Falls on Saturday.
Chase Allen (Limestone) launched his fourth long-ball of the season in the second inning, scoring Nick Estrella (Azusa Pacific) who led off the inning with a walk.
That was all the support Grabek needed. He went 7.0 innings for Albany, allowing just two hits. His seven punch-outs on the evening boosts his season total to 38, which leads the Dutchmen staff.
The Dutchmen tacked on two runs in the fourth inning thanks to consecutive groundouts that moved the runners around, and a run-scoring wild pitch.
A four-run eighth gave plenty of insurance for Grabek’s third win of the campaign. Estrella’s second hit of the evening scored a pair of runs. Estrella was involved in all but three Dutchmen tallies, with three runs scored and two RBIs.
Griffen Herrera’s two-out double in the inning scored Adam Elliott (Louisville) to give Albany the 8-0 lead, which would be the final score.
Azusa Pacific teammates Herrera and Estrella were the only Dutchmen to achieve multi-hit games, each with two. Estrella now has nine multi-hit games on the season.
Daniel Fischer (Louisville) pitched the final two innings without allowing a hit to preserve the victory.
With the win, the Dutchmen have won seven out of their last eight games, and have clinched a top-three seed for the playoffs. Should the Dutchmen hold on to the number two seed, they will host the number three seed in a one game playoff Tuesday at 5:05 pm at Siena Field.
The Dutchmen will be home Saturday for a doubleheader against the Adirondack Trail Blazers. First pitch for game one will be 3:00 pm with approximately 25 minutes between games. Saturday will be Fan and Host Family Appreciation Night with giveaways all night. Check dutchmenbaseball.com for a complete list of giveaways and promotions.
