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MOHAWK VALLEY DIAMONDDAWGS 5, WATERTOWN WIZARDS 1
In the eyes of their manager, the Mohawk Valley DiamondDawgs put on their most well-rounded performance of the season in Tuesday’s 5-1 victory over Watertown’s Wizards 5-1 at Veterans Memorial Park.
Hard-luck starter Dustin Stanton carried a shutout into the eighth inning and earned his first win of the season. Leadoff hitter George Hajjar got the scoring started with a home run in the third inning, all-star Cullen Wacker had four hits and the DiamondDawgs played their third error-free game of the season in the field.
“I told the guys after the game that this was our first complete game as a team,” Mohawk Valley manager Troy Gerlach said. “We got good pitching, we didn’t have any errors and we got timely hits. When we had a chance to tack on, we scored.”
Stanton, a holdover from 2010, entered the day with an 0-5 record which included losing his first four decisions while allowing a total of five earned runs.
“He came out tonight and kept his fastball down, Gerlach said. “That’s the key. His ball has so much movement that when he keeps it down he’s hard to hit.”
Hajjar gave Stanton a two-run lead with a home run in the third inning and the big right-hander from the University of Southern Maine was in control from that point forward. He struck out seven Watertown batters, walked one and scattered six hits.
Alex Maldonado, Watertown’s leadoff hitter, went 3-for-4 and was the only Wizard to reach third base, doing so three times. Maldonado singled with one out in the eighth inning, stole second base, moved to third on a hit by Pat Talbut and tagged up to score the lone Watertown run on a fly ball to left field hit by Patrick Puentes.
Maldonado had three stolen bases to go with his three hits.
Stanton retired 10 of Watertown’s 11 batters during one stretch and did not allow more than one hit in any inning until the eighth as he made Mohawk Valley’s longest start of the season.
Watertown left-hander Aaron Page had allowed only one DiamondDawg to reach base before he walked No. 9 batter Mike Fasolo with one out in the third inning. Hajjar followed second home run in six games since joining the team and Mohawk Valley took a 2-0 lead.
“You don’t expect a leadoff gut who’s 5-8 to hit the ball out of the ballpark but he did,” Gerlach said of the former Herkmer County Community College captain who is off to a .409 start with the DiamondDawgs. “He’s been in a tough spot. He came in here cold and got thrown in every day and he’s done a great job.”
MOHAWK VALLEY DIAMONDDAWGS 5, WATERTOWN WIZARDS 1
In the eyes of their manager, the Mohawk Valley DiamondDawgs put on their most well-rounded performance of the season in Tuesday’s 5-1 victory over Watertown’s Wizards 5-1 at Veterans Memorial Park.
Hard-luck starter Dustin Stanton carried a shutout into the eighth inning and earned his first win of the season. Leadoff hitter George Hajjar got the scoring started with a home run in the third inning, all-star Cullen Wacker had four hits and the DiamondDawgs played their third error-free game of the season in the field.
“I told the guys after the game that this was our first complete game as a team,” Mohawk Valley manager Troy Gerlach said. “We got good pitching, we didn’t have any errors and we got timely hits. When we had a chance to tack on, we scored.”
Stanton, a holdover from 2010, entered the day with an 0-5 record which included losing his first four decisions while allowing a total of five earned runs.
“He came out tonight and kept his fastball down, Gerlach said. “That’s the key. His ball has so much movement that when he keeps it down he’s hard to hit.”
Hajjar gave Stanton a two-run lead with a home run in the third inning and the big right-hander from the University of Southern Maine was in control from that point forward. He struck out seven Watertown batters, walked one and scattered six hits.
Alex Maldonado, Watertown’s leadoff hitter, went 3-for-4 and was the only Wizard to reach third base, doing so three times. Maldonado singled with one out in the eighth inning, stole second base, moved to third on a hit by Pat Talbut and tagged up to score the lone Watertown run on a fly ball to left field hit by Patrick Puentes.
Maldonado had three stolen bases to go with his three hits.
Stanton retired 10 of Watertown’s 11 batters during one stretch and did not allow more than one hit in any inning until the eighth as he made Mohawk Valley’s longest start of the season.
Watertown left-hander Aaron Page had allowed only one DiamondDawg to reach base before he walked No. 9 batter Mike Fasolo with one out in the third inning. Hajjar followed second home run in six games since joining the team and Mohawk Valley took a 2-0 lead.
“You don’t expect a leadoff gut who’s 5-8 to hit the ball out of the ballpark but he did,” Gerlach said of the former Herkmer County Community College captain who is off to a .409 start with the DiamondDawgs. “He’s been in a tough spot. He came in here cold and got thrown in every day and he’s done a great job.”
Tyler Townsend and Wacker started the fifth inning with back-to-back singles. Dave Soltis grounded into a force play at second base and Townsend scored when Talbut’s relay throw sailed wide of first base for an error. Bryan Bleakley singled and Michael Gunn drew a walk to load the bases with one out. Nic Spence sent right fielder Chris Gruarin to the fence with a fly ball that gave Soltis ample time to tag up and score another run and put the DiamondDawgs up 4-0.
The DiamondDawgs tacked on a run in the bottom of the eighth after Watertown had scored in the top of the inning. Hassan Evans singled, stole second and moved to third on Fasolo’s ground ball for the second out. Reliever Evan Kirsch hit Hajjar and Townsend with pitches to load the bases and Wacker capped his four-hit night with an RBI-single up the middle.
Tyler Kane pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning with a pair of strikeouts to close out the win for the DiamondDawgs.
Townsend left the game after Kirsch’s pitch hit his left hand. X-rays detected a fracture that is likely to end his summer season. The University of Kentucky infielder has started 25 of the DiamondDawgs’ 26 games and ranks second on the team with a .313 batting average.
“It would be a shame to lose him,” Gerlach said before learning the extent of the injury. “He’s playing good ball for us.”
Named a starter on the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League’s East Division all-star team earlier in the day, Wacker pushed his batting average up to .351 with his 4-for-5 performance. The Auburn University outfielder is now sixth in the league’s batting race.
Despite his now 1-5 record, Stanton leads Mohawk Valley’s starting pitchers with a 3.21 ERA. He has walked three batters in 33 2/3 innings. Stanton’s performance gave the bullpen a rest after the DiamondDawgs endured a stretch that saw them allow 53 runs over their previous six games.
Tuesday’s win was the first for Mohawk Valley in a nine-inning game since June 21 when the DiamondDawgs staged a ninth inning rally for a walk-off win at home against — coincidentally — the Wizards. Mohawk Valley’s other two wins in July came in seven-inning games during doubleheaders.
The DiamondDawgs played at home Wednesday against Newark and host a game Friday against the Elmira Pioneers.
MOHAWK VALLEY DIAMONDDAWGS 5, WATERTOWN WIZARDS 1
Watertown 000 000 010 — 1 6 1
Mohawk Valley 002 020 01X — 5 13 0
Aaron Page, Ricky Christopher (6), Evan Kirsch (8) and Larry Balkwill. Dustin Stanton, Tyler Kane (9) and Bryan Bleakley. W — Stanton 1-5. L — Page 2-2. 2B — Watertown, Alex Maldonado, Kody O’Connor. HR — Mohawk Valley, George Hajjar. Records — Watertown 11-16; Mohawk Valley 8-18. Attendance — 364.
Compiled From Times Staff Reports
