Comeback Win Gives Golden Eagles Second Straight Road Victory
The Glens Falls Golden Eagle picked up their third straight road win on Wednesday and handed the Mohawk Valley DiamondDawgs their fourth straight defeat in a 7-4 victory at Veterans Park.
A four-run ninth inning for the Golden Eagles capped an impressive comeback as Glens Falls went down in order for the first three innings. The previous night, the Golden Eagles jumped out to an early 5-0 lead after the first inning.
“Some games you struggle with the bat,” Golden Eagles Head Coach John Mayotte said. “Offensive is cyclical, even in the big leagues.”
Leading off and playing centerfield for the Glens Falls Falls Golden Eagles, freshmen Steve Zavala (Rutgers) singled to center in the fourth inning for the teams’ first hit of the game. Zavala would later score on a wild pitch for the first run of the game.
Zavala finished with two hits and two runs scored, upping his batting average to over .300.
Without enough position players to field a designated hitter, the free-swinging Golden Eagles team amassed nine hits and seven runs, including six hits in the ninth inning.
Back-to-back doubles from sophomore third basemen Sean Lamont (Georgetown) and freshmen outfielder Justin Zumwalde (Pima C.C.) in the top half of the seventh inning allowed the Golden Eagles to knot the game up at three runs a piece.
Freshmen catcher Connor Gandossy (Saint Louis) singled up the middle to kick off the four-run ninth inning rally for the Eagles. The Golden Eagles broke the three-all tie in the ninth after a stand-up double to right from sophomore first basemen Nate Valdez (Central Arizona) scored Gandossy all the way from first.
A sacrifice bunt from junior pitcher Chase Richard (Southern) pushed Valdez to third.
The Golden Eagles played small ball throughout the entire game. Freshmen shortstop Eric Phillips (Georgia Southern), who jacked a grandslam the previous night against Amsterdam, added two more sacrifices in the fourth and eighth respectively.
“You have to coach differently with wood,” Mayotte said. “Build runs any way you can, don’t sit back and wait for the big inning.”
Zavala then double deep to left to score Valdez from third and put the Golden Eagles ahead 5-3.
Up next, freshmen outfielder Rodarrick Jones, who had been hit by pitches in two of his previous four at-bats, retaliated with a two-run shot over the right field wall for the teams’ second homerun in as many games.
“I wasn’t upset,” Jones said. “He had thrown me a slider before so I expected him to come back with it, and when he did I was ready and lifted it out of the ball park.”
Notching his second win of the 2009 summer season, lefty pitcher Richard allowed one earned run and struck out three in his five innings of work. Richard relieved right-handed starting pitcher Andrew Brown (Akron) after he went four strong innings, allowing two earned runs and striking out four.
The Glens Falls Golden Eagles travel to East Side Recreation Field for the first time this season. In two games against the Saratoga Phillies, the Golden Eagles’ have yet to defeat the Phillies, who lost 8-4 to the Albany Dutchmen on Wednesday, being outpitched in both games.
“One thing we need to do is make sure we square the ball up and put good contact on it,” Jones said. “We just need to make the pitchers throw pitches and avoid one-pitch outs.”
Glens Falls returns home on Friday when they play this same Mohawk Valley team. Game time is 7 p.m. and it’s Scout Day at East Field so any scouts wearing their uniform will receive free admission to the game.
