GLENS FALLS -- Saratoga Phillies coach Garett Baron went a little long on the postgame speech on Friday night at East Field. The players didn't seem to mind, though. They knew it was good news.

The Phillies won their fifth straight and 10th of their last 11 New York Collegiate Baseball League games with a 10-3 win over the Glens Falls Golden Eagles at East Field on Friday. The win put Saratoga on top in the division and the league at 13-6.

The words "win streak" and "first place" are music to the ears of the Phillies.

"It's got a nice ring to it," Baron said. "First place always sounds good, but with that comes a target on your back."

The win, however, came after three hours of sloppy play by both teams. In a game that saw six batters hit by a pitch and four errors, the only solid performer in the contest was Shenendehowa grad and Rutgers junior pitcher Jason Downey, who allowed four hits through seven innings and struck out five with three walks en route to his his third win of the season.

"I started off slow, I didn't get my legs until the third inning," Downey said. "They're a good hitting team so I just tried to keep them off-balance. We knew this was a big game for us."

Designated hitter Justin Bunkis went 3-for-5 with two RBIs to lead the Phillies. Saratoga Catholic grad and catcher Matt O'Rourke went 1-for-3 with two runs scored Saratoga.

The loss ended a four-game win streak for Glens Falls (12-6).

"It wasn't a classy game for us," Glens Falls coach John Mayotte said. "We didn't swing the ball well. The scoreboard told the story."

After trailing 2-0, the Golden Eagles scored their first run on a thrilling play in the bottom of the fifth after outfielder Mike Consolmagno stole home. To score the run, Consolmagno was hit by a bad throw by the catcher while trying to steal second, advanced towards third and got the call to run home by coach John Mayotte. The ball was thrown in enough time for the tag at the plate, but the catcher dropped the ball to earn his second error of the game.

"It could have been a momentum-changer but their pitcher didn't let it happen," Mayotte said.

Catcher Brent McWhorter went 3-for-4 for Glens Falls.

Glens Falls will travel to Amsterdam tonight in hopes to get back to winning ways. The teams will play again on Monday at East Side Rec. The Phillies play a doubleheader today at Bolivar.



Notes: Glens Falls outfielder Jonathan White was named the NYCBL Player of the Week... Glens Falls Mayor Roy Atkins threw out the first pitch on Save the Frostbite Night.



SARATOGA (13-6) GLENS FALLS (12-6)

ab r h bi ab r h bi

Tann lf 5 1 1 1 Cons'gno cf-2b 3 1 0 0

Webb rf 4 1 2 1 Tews ss 5 0 0 0

Mastroinni ss 5 1 2 1 White lf 2 0 0 0

Bunkis dh 5 1 3 2 Recknagel 1b 4 1 0 0

Scaglione 3b 5 1 1 0 Arensdorff rf 4 0 0 0

Nicolla 1b 5 0 1 1 Conan 3b 3 1 0 0

Dove cf 4 1 1 2 McWhorter c 4 0 3 0

O'Rourke c 3 2 1 0 Cawiezell dh 3 0 1 0

Zeronda 2b 0 2 0 0 Knight 2b 4 0 2 0

Totals 36 10 12 8 Totals 33 3 6 2

Saratoga 000 204 031 -- 10

Glens Falls 000 010 020 -- 3

E -- Scaglione, O'Rourke 2; Conan. LOB -- Saratoga 13, Glens Falls 10. SAC -- Recknagel. SB -- Tann, Dove, Consolmagno, White 2. CS -- Webb.

IP H R ER BB SO

Saratoga

Downey W, 3-1 7 4 1 0 3 5

McKean 1 2 2 1 2 1

Ruvalcaba 1 0 0 0 0 2

Glens Falls

Silverstein L, 1-2 5 1/3 6 5 3 3 5

Campbell 1 2/3 5 4 4 2 2

Redmon 1 1/3 1 1 1 3 1

WP -- Campbell, Redmon. HBP -- Zeronda (twice by Silverstein, once by Campbell; White (by Downey), Dove (by Silverstein), Bunkis (by Redmon). PB -- O'Rourke 3, McWhorter 3.

T -- 2:54. A -- 300 (est.).