Golden Eagles Fall Short in Comeback

Seth DeWitt

Glens Falls Golden Eagles

July 21, 2011

Glens Falls, NY - On one of the hottest days of the summer, the Golden Eagles (22-12) battled back from an early deficit but fell short to the Hawkeyes (21-13) at East Field on Thursday night 4-3. Glens Falls remains in first place in the Eastern Division over rival, the Amsterdam Mohawks.

Hawkeyes starter Conor Kerins picked up his second win of the season pitching five and two-thirds innings allowing no hits, an unearned run, walking seven and striking out three.Cooperstown reliever Parker Ray earned his four save of the year pitching a scoreless ninth inning.

In the first inning, Cooperstown got out to an early 3-0 lead on a 2-run homer by shortstop Ben Miller over the left field wall and an RBI single by catcher Ben Manlove that was just out of the reach of Golden Eagles second baseman Kyle Ruchim.

The Golden Eagles cut the deficit to 3-1 in the bottom the second as Mike Kindel scored on a passed ball after he was hit by a pitch leading off the inning.

The Hawkeyes regained a three-run lead in the top of the fifth inning. Ben Miller led off the inning with a single and moved to third on an error by Golden Eagles shortstop J.P. Leto. Miller then scored after Tynan Pedrietti hit into a double play.

Golden Eagles starter Derek Mazzio went five innings allowing four runs (three earned) on seven hits and striking out two. 

J.P. Leto picked up the Golden Eagles first hit in the bottom of the seventh as he drove a double to left center. Center fielder Clayton Brown followed with a single to right. Kyle Ruchim on a sacrifice fly to center field scored Leto to pick up his 19^th RBI of the season and cut the deficit to 4-2. Then, Ricky Claudio inched Glens Falls to within a run of Cooperstown on an RBI groundout, which scored Clayton Brown.

Glens Falls reliever Antwan Brown gave the Golden Eagles a great opportunity to come back in the game as he pitched four scoreless innings allowing one hit and striking out five.

Following the game, fans stormed the field for the Golden Eagles annual Diamond Dig. Julie Pike won a Golden Eagles prize pack, which included a Golden Eagles autographed baseball, mini-bat, t-shirt and three family tickets to a future Golden Eagles home game.

The Golden Eagles return to action on Friday against the Albany Dutchmen starting at 5 pm as part of a doubleheader at East Field. In between games, the Golden Eagles will honor John Mayotte for achieving his 200^th career win last Thursday against the Watertown Wizards as Head Coach of the Golden Eagles.

In addition, the Golden Eagles will be working with the Association for the Hearing Impaired to raise money for their organization.

For more information on the Glens Falls Golden Eagles, please follow the team on Facebook and Twitter and visit the team website at http://www.glensfallsgoldeneagles.com.

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