GLENS FALLS—For the fourth time five games, the East Division-leading Glens Falls Golden Eagles held their opponents to only one run.
Glens Falls pitching prevailed in a 4-1 win over the second-place Amsterdam Mohawks tonight at East Field.
The win, the 24th this season for the Golden Eagles, increased their East Division lead to five games over the Mohawks and 10 over the Watertown Wizard, who they host tomorrow night at 7 p.m.
The Golden Eagles finished with five hits and one error, while the Mohawks scattered eight total runs yet scored just one run.
Despite being hitless against Amsterdam pitching for 10 and two-thirds innings, sophomore third basemen Chris Lashmet (Northwestern) hit a clutch two-run homer, his second dinger this season, with two outs in the bottom of the fourth inning to give the Glens Falls Golden Eagles their first hit of the game and a 2-0 lead.
Freshman Rodarrick Jones (New Orleans) scored two of the teams' four runs. Jones reached base via a hit-by-pitch in the fourth and on an error by the Mohawks' third baseman in the eighth.
Junior Anthony Giansanti (Siena) scored the Golden Eagles other run, when he doubled in the eighth and later scooted home on an Amsterdam wild pitch. Giansanti leads the Golden Eagles with 24 runs scored. Jones' 21 runs scored this summer stand just three behind Giansanti for the team-lead.
"It's kind of been the theme all year," said Giansanti, whose leaping catch robbed the Mohawks of a tying run. "Our hitting's a little slow, a little off right now, but we've had solid pitching and defense."
Jones, Giansanti, and freshman second basemen Pepito Moreno all were hit by pitches in tonight's game. Giansanti in the first, and Moreno in the third. Moreno also drew his 12 walk of the season in the seventh.
On his 19th birthday, freshman shortstop Eric Phillips (Georgia Southern) doubled-home Jones in the eighth inning for the games' final run. Sophomore Sean Lamont (Georgetown) added his team-high eighth double this season with a rope-job in the seventh, and junior catcher Conner Gandossy (St. Louis) singled with two outs in the fifth.
Picking up his second straight win and fourth overall, junior southpaw Chase Richard (Southern) tossed six innings of one-run ball, allowing seven hits, walking only one, and striking out three. Richard now has the second-most wins for the Glens Falls pitching staff this 2009 season and the third most strikeouts (25) in over 36 innings pitched.
"We've done it all year," Richard said. "They hit a couple hard and we had guys there to make plays. It gives you a lot more confidence to throw strikes when the defense is making plays."
Freshman right-hander Andrew Brown (Akron) notched his first save of the season, tossing three scoreless innings, allowing only one hit and striking out two.
Both Richard and Brown worked out of a couple pressure situations to secure the win for the Golden Eagles. First, Richard faced trouble in the second and fourth innings.
After two hits in the second, Richard retired the next two Amsterdam batters. Facing the same situation in the fourth, Richard forced the next two Mohawk hitters to pop out, once to third and once to himself.
In the sixth inning, Amsterdam finally plated a run on Richard. A leadoff double from all-star first basemen Braden Kapteyn (Kentucky) had the Mohawks in business early.
Phillips then stopped a sure run-scoring single from Austin Sheffield (Manhattan) that forced Kapteyn to advance to third and Sheffield to reach via an error. Kapteyn later scored on a fielder's choice for the Mohawks lone run of the game.
The Mohawks left eight runners on base compared to the Golden Eagles who stranded five.
The first batter Brown faced singled to left, which put runners on the corners for the Mohawks with nobody out. After batting with junior outfielder Ian Choy (Canisius), Brown induced an 3-2 double play thanks in large part to a game-saving stop from first baseman Sean Lamont.
Brown, again, became the beneficiary of another double play in the eighth inning after beaming the first batter of the inning.
The Golden Eagles next play the Watertown Wizards at East Field on Friday, July 17 for a 7 p.m. The game, sponsored by Seeley Office Systems, will be St. Patrick's in July. The Golden Eagles organization will be raffling off a fully-function color printer and all members of the YMCA will receive free admission. As with ever Friday night home game this summer, the Golden Eagles will also be raffling off a pair of free Yankees tickets.