By PETE TOBEY
tobey@poststar.com
GLENS FALLS -- The Saratoga Phillies overcame a blow to their already short-handed lineup with gutty pitching, defense and one big hit.
The Glens Falls Golden Eagles, meanwhile, are still waiting for that clutch hit.
Sunday evening at East Field, the Phillies topped Glens Falls 3-2 in their first meeting of the New York Collegiate Baseball League season.
Adam Cronk delivered a two-run double in the top of the eighth inning to help push Saratoga past the Golden Eagles (0-3), who failed to score with runners in scoring position three times.
The Phillies (2-1) also finished with right fielder Cody Merrell behind the plate, after catcher Nick Cruit went down with an injured finger in the seventh.
"We don't have a whole lot of options right now," Saratoga head coach John Fitzgerald said. "We're a work in progress. But these guys stuck their noses out and fought through it the rest of the way. For the second night in a row, we had good pitching and defense -- that's going to set the tone for the rest of the season."
The Phillies trailed 1-0 for the first seven innings -- thanks to a sterling start by Glens Falls' Shawn McNamara. They rallied in the eighth behind their No. 9 batter, former Shenendehowa High School standout Jason Downey of Rutgers, who ripped a double down the left-field line.
Kendall Horner followed with a sacrifice bunt, setting the table for Fuller Smith's RBI single to right field for the tying run.
With two outs and two men on, Drew Mahan replaced McNamara on the mound. Cronk turned Mahan's first pitch into a two-run double to center field for a 3-1 lead.
"It came down to one big hit by their first baseman (Cronk)," Glens Falls head coach John Mayotte said. "We got a spectacular starting performance by McNamara. He kept getting ahead and he didn't hurt himself. He hasn't pitched in three weeks -- we don't want him to get too high of a pitch count, so we took him out."
Glens Falls had opened the scoring in the first, as Josh Cox led off with a double, was sacrificed to third and scored on Dave Williams' groundout.
The Eagles did not score again until the bottom of the ninth, as designated hitter Darren Clark reached on a passed-ball strikeout, and scored on three wild pitches.
In between, they had runners in scoring position in three innings, but grounded out each time.
"We're not hitting the ball well at all," Mayotte said. "We get runners in scoring position, but we never seem to get that clutch hit we need. We have to continue to get better and get those clutch hits, but we have to be patient. It only takes one clutch hit to turn the tide."
Saratoga pitchers Greg Young and Pat Riley combined on a five-hitter. Young, a left-hander, kept the Eagles off-balance and Riley came on in the seventh to pick up the victory.
"Our team chemistry is real good," Fitzgerald said. "They're fighters. They've jelled real well in just a few days."
SARATOGA (2-1) GLENS FALLS (0-3)
ab r h bi ab r h bi
Horner ss 3 0 0 0 Cox 2b 3 1 2 0
Thielemann 2b 3 1 1 0 Groff lf 2 0 1 0
Smith cf 3 1 2 1 Williams cf 4 0 0 0
Baxter 3b 4 0 0 0 Clark dh 3 1 1 0
Cronk 1b 4 0 2 2 McNamara p 0 0 0 0
Merrell rf-c 4 0 1 0 Mahan p 0 0 0 0
Cruit c 3 0 1 0 Konstanty 3b 4 0 0 0
Riley p 1 0 0 0 Ferguson rf-1b 4 0 1 0
Corvino lf-rf 1 0 0 0 Hughes 1b 2 0 0 0
Downey dh-lf 4 1 1 0 Wells rf 1 0 0 0
Young p 0 0 0 0 Saltzgaber ss 3 0 0 0
Burt c 3 0 0 0
Totals 30 3 8 3 Totals 29 1 5 0
Saratoga 000 000 030 -- 3
Glens Falls 100 000 001 -- 2
E -- None. DP -- Saratoga 1, Glens Falls 1. LOB -- Saratoga 6, Glens Falls 5. 2B -- Cronk, Downey; Cox. SB -- Corvino. CS -- Cruit; Cox. SAC -- Smith, Horner; Groff, Wells.
IP H R ER BB SO
Saratoga
Young 6 4 1 1 2 3
Riley, W 1-0 3 1 1 1 0 3
Glens Falls
McNamara, L 0-1 7 2-3 7 3 3 3 4
Mahan 1 1-3 1 0 0 1 2
HBP -- by Riley (Cox). WP -- Young 2, Riley 3. PB -- Merrell.