GLENS FALLS -- Losing brings out the best in some people and the worst in others.

The Glens Falls Golden Eagles, who dropped their second double-header of the weekend Sunday night, have seen both in this New York Collegiate Baseball League season.

On Sunday morning, two pitchers abruptly left Glens Falls to abandon their team. On Sunday night, the Eagles lost a heart-breaking 1-0 decision in the first game to Alfred before falling 10-3 in the nightcap.

The Eagles are 2-13 going into Tuesday night's game at rival Saratoga.

Their veteran coach John Mayotte said he has never seen a team suffer as much adversity as this squad. But he has not seen any quit in his players -- not the ones he dressed Sunday.

"The game is a very humbling game, and right now we're going through a real character-building situation," Mayotte said.

"We had a meeting today of most of the kids, and it was an excellent meeting. ... The bottom line is that we've come together as a group in the summertime, a lot of kids from different parts of the country. And we're trying to build this into a caring team, and we're doing a good job of that."

In the first game against Alfred (9-6), Mike Falasca and Justin Mattes combined held the Athletics to four hits, and it took an unearned run in the top of the seventh to give the visitors their first lead.

In Game Two, Glens Falls scored its first run since Friday night in the bottom of the first inning.

Ryan Saltzgaber got aboard on a hit-by-pitch and moved to second on a passed ball. After a couple of walks from Alfred starter Trey Roberson, Glens Falls left fielder Ryan Hill gave the Eagles a 1-0 lead with a sacrifice fly.

Alfred then built a 6-1 lead through 4 1/2 innings, taking advantage of four unearned runs against Eagles' starter Brian Johnson.

Glens Falls managed single runs in the fifth (Hill's RBI double) and the seventh (an RBI groundout by Nick Valdez). But the A's put the game away with a four-run rally against Tony Clausen.

Clausen's presence on the mound was a sign of the adversity that Glens Falls has faced.

"We put a Tony Clausen in there, who's an outfielder/pitcher, and he suffers through four runs in the seventh," Mayotte said. "He feels bad, but what more can I ask of a kid than to come out of center field and give us three outs so it spares the rest of our pitching staff?"

The depletion of the pitching staff on Sunday morning was not the first time this summer the Golden Eagles were abandoned. A third baseman who committed in the preseason failed to report, and his absence has forced players to learn the position on the fly -- part of the reason why Glens Falls committed 16 errors in its last five games.

Mayotte declined to talk about the specific reasons why two players left the team this weekend. But he said that phenomenon is not unique in summer league college baseball.

"I had a kid on Cape Cod," he said. "We had a 31-10 team, the best team I ever coached. My shortstop the last regular season game of the year hit a home run and we won and we started the playoffs.

"His girlfriend visited that weekend, and he took off with his girlfriend and misses the playoffs," Mayotte said. "That is the kind of thing you run into in summer ball."



Game One

ALFRED GLENS FALLS

ab r h bi ab r h bi

Roberts,ss 4 0 0 0 Saltzgaber,ss 3 0 1 0

Roberson,rf 3 0 1 0 Hagey,2b 3 0 0 0

Watts,1b 3 1 0 0 Clausen,cf 3 0 0 0

Dovichi,2b 0 0 0 0 Clark,rf 3 0 1 0

Wyland,lf 3 0 0 0 Hughes,dh 3 0 0 0

Akin,3b 3 0 2 1 Ferguson,1b 3 0 1 0

Morris,dh 2 0 0 0 Groff,lf 3 0 1 0

Grapes,c 1 0 0 0 Konstanty,3b 2 0 0 0

Bobrowski,cf 1 0 1 0 Burt,c 2 0 0 0

Langston,ph 2 0 0 0

Totals 22 1 4 1 Totals 25 0 4 0

Alfred 000 000 1 -- 1 4 0

Glens Falls 000 000 0 -- 0 4 4

E -- Saltzgaber, Konstanty (2), Mattes. DP -- Glens Falls 3. LOB -- Alfred 12, Glens Falls 4. SB -- Roberson (2), Akin, Clark, Groff. Sac Bunt -- Dovichi (2), Wyland.

IP H R ER BB SO

Alfred

Fitchett, W 7 4 0 0 0 4

Glens Falls

Falasca 4 2 0 0 5 3

Mattes, L 3 2 1 0 1 3

HBP -- Akin (by Falasca), Graves (by Mattes). PB -- Burt.

T -- 1:50.



Game Two

ALFRED GLENS FALLS

ab r h bi ab r h bi

Roberts,ss 5 0 1 0 Saltzgaber,ss 3 1 0 0

Akin,3b 3 2 2 2 Clausen,cf 2 0 1 0

Watts,1b 5 0 2 2 Clark,rf 3 0 0 0

Dovichi,rf 5 2 2 0 Hughes,1b 2 1 1 0

Wyland,lf 4 2 2 0 Hill,lf 2 1 1 2

Brown,2b 3 0 0 1 Ferguson,dh 2 0 2 0

Fox,c 2 1 1 2 Valdez,c 4 0 0 1

Morris,dh 2 2 1 2 Groff,3b 3 0 2 0

Wharton,cf 3 1 1 1 Cox,2b 1 0 0 0

Totals 32 10 12 10 Totals 22 3 7 3

Alfred 031 020 4 -- 10 12 1

Glens Falls 100 010 1 -- 3 7 2

E -- Roberts, Groff, Cox. DP -- Glens Falls 4. LOB -- Alfred 9, Glens Falls 12. 2B -- Wyland (2), Fox, Groff, Hill, Ferguson. 3B -- Wharton, Watts, Hughes. SB -- Roberts, Clausen. CS -- Watts (by Valdez). Sac bunt -- Cox. Sac fly -- Hill.

IP H R ER BB SO

Alfred

Roberson,W 3 1/3 3 1 1 6 3

Bloomberg* 3 2/3 4 2 2 2 0

Glens Falls

Johnson,L 4+ 8 6 2 2 3

O'Leary** 2 1 0 0 2 0

Clausen 1 3 4 4 1 0

*Bloomberg inherited bases loaded with one out in the fourth. **O'Leary inherited runners on second and third with no outs in the fifth. HBP -- Morris (Clausen), Saltzgaber (Roberson), Clausen (Roberson). PB -- Valdez, Fox.

T -- 2:27. A--75 (est.).