JUNE 8, 2004
Mohawks nip Golden Eagles
Testa's two-hitter gives Glens Falls second loss of year
By MICHAEL LEWIS Local Sports, THE POST-STAR

GLENS FALLS -- The Glens Falls Golden Eagles scored 31 runs in their first four games this season, a wildly high number in a low-scoring wood bat league like the New York Collegiate Baseball League.

Monday night, the Eagles finally ran out of hits and played a game more typical of pitching-dominated summer ball.

Amsterdam Mohawks right-hander Gian Testa was dominant at East Field, outdueling Glens Falls' Randy Cornejo and leading Amsterdam to a 2-1 victory.

The loss dropped the Eagles to 3-2 on the season, and Testa's outing had more than a few players talking to themselves.

"We all felt pretty calm about things, that we would get him eventually, until the sixth inning when we looked up and saw we only had two hits," Eagles catcher Aaron Hepner said. "He threw a lot of good stuff tonight that we couldn't do anything with, and it was getting frustrating."

Testa, who as a junior at Cleveland State this season went 3-0 with a 3.78 ERA, kept Glens Falls off balance all night with an array of biting curveballs and sliders, mixed in with an occasional changeup and rarely-used fastball.

Testa constantly got ahead of the Eagles hitters, and didn't walk a batter in a complete-game win. At one point Testa retired 18 straight Glens Falls batters, striking out 10 in nine innings.

His only mistake was committing a balk in the top of the first inning, allowing Terry Blunt to score from third with Glens Falls' only run.

Mohawks head coach Nicholas Enriquez was as surprised as everyone else by his hurler's dominance.

"We knew he'd been a middle reliever and their coaches told us he was going to start next year, so we're giving him a shot," Enriquez said.

"This league's about pitching, but you never know how good a guy on your team is until you see him. Tonight, Gian was awesome."

While Testa was shutting down Glens Falls, Cornejo was almost as good in thwarting Amsterdam (2-2). A southpaw from Navarro (Tex.) Junior College, Cornejo was overpowering at times in allowing just seven hits and no walks in eight innings of work.

He got into trouble in the third, when three straight hits to start the inning culminated in a Mike Parker RBI single to tie the game at 1.

"I was leaving pitches up a lot in the early innings; they got to a few balls that got a little away from me," Cornejo said. "I love games like this, though, because you're always on your toes knowing the other guy is pitching so strongly."

Amsterdam pushed across the eventual winning run in the fifth. After John Marcella led off by reaching on an error by second baseman Eric Lawson, a balk by Cornejo advanced Marcella to second. After a groundout moved Marcella to third, the Mohawks' Josh Colafemina lined an RBI single to left.

The Golden Eagles only got one baserunner after the second inning, a leadoff single by Hepner in the eighth. But he was caught stealing, and Testa was perfect after that.

"Our guys just weren't able to pick up the ball off (Testa) tonight, and we didn't make the adjustments in time," Glens Falls coach John Mayotte said. "It was a well-pitched game from both sides."