Collegiate baseball: Amsterdam wins second game in a week against Watertown Rapids
Jun. 17—WATERTOWN — The rain and the Amsterdam Mohawks have been the Watertown Rapids' two biggest problems this week.
Tyler Sausville struck out seven and gave up one hit in six innings of work as Amsterdam defeated Watertown, 6-2, in a Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League game Saturday night at Toyota Field at the Alex T. Duffy Fairgrounds.
Cam Gurney registered three hits while Jaxon West and Bruer Webster each added a pair of hits for the defending league champion Mohawks (11-1), who started the week with a 16-7 win over the Rapids last Sunday at the Fairgrounds.
Amsterdam pounded out 16 hits against Watertown pitching. Sausville and the rest of Amsterdam's pitchers can rely on the offense for plenty of run support.
"This offense is good at getting our pitchers a lead and always giving me something to work with," Sausville said. "I have a lot of trust in these guys that they'll get hits and allow me to do my job."
Watertown catcher David McCann belted a two-run home run in the ninth to break up the Amsterdam shutout bid. The Rapids rolled out eight pitchers in a game that allowed the team's bullpen arms to receive some much-needed innings. Former Lyme product Derrike Goutremout took the loss after working the first inning. Watertown had a total of three games called off due to rain and manager Mike Kogut said his hurlers need work.
"With the rainouts this week, guys didn't get their innings in and there was a backlog," Kogut said. "We wanted everyone to get an inning in with some live hitters."
Kogut also said it was a chance to reset the rotation for the next set of games. The Rapids (4-8) have six of their next seven games at home and know they'll have to find some wins to keep pace with the other teams jockeying for playoff positioning.
"We know this is a big week for us," Kogut said. "We have a bunch of teams that are fighting for the same playoff spot over the next two weeks."
Amsterdam opened the scoring with two runs in the first inning and that was enough for Sausville. The University of New Haven product kept the Watertown hitters off-balance with his mix of pitches.
"I was trying to get ahead of batters and go right at them," Sausville said. "I didn't try to pitch around hitters and let the defense do the work."
The Mohawks offense has been prolific with an average of 8.5 runs per game. However, they're just as good at keep opponents off the scoreboard.
"Our pitching has been incredible and we just keep running good arms out." Griffin said.
A four-run fourth inning helped put the game out of reach with Mason Swinney and Webster hitting RBI singles. Despite the multitude of hits, Amsterdam coach Keith Griffin said his team is far from a finished product.
"Our situational hitting didn't do very well," Griffin said. "I didn't think we moved hitters when we should have,"
McCann's home run that gave the Rapids a lift in the ninth was the team's third straight game with a home run. Watertown's hitters have been performing better in recent games, but will need to stay strong for the homestand.
"We know we got a bunch of guys that can swing the bat from our contact guys to our power guys," Kogut said. "We know over the course of the summer the hitting is going to come through."
Watertown hosts the Boonville Lumberjacks at 5 p.m. today for the start of three straight games at home.
