Published on 6/5/2004
By STEPHEN DRAVIS
Special to the Post-Star
GLENS FALLS - The Saratoga Phillies needed just one pitch to record the first hit in franchise history, but the team is still waiting for its first run.
Glens Falls pitcher Jeremy Hall manhandled the Phils for seven innings, and Eric Lawson's three-run home run was the highlight of a potent Golden Eagles attack as Glens Falls won, 8-0, on Friday night at East Field.
The Eagles improved to 2-0 in the young New York Collegiate Baseball League season and will put that perfect record on the line at Plattsburgh today. Saratoga will look for its first win in a double-header today at Mohawk Valley.
Hall struck out six and scattered four more hits after giving up Gil Kim's leadoff bunt single in the top of the first. The 6-foot-3 starter from East Tennessee State gave way to Glens Falls native Dane Cory and Randy Cornejo, who each pitched an inning of scoreless relief.
Meanwhile, the Eagles played flawless -- at times spectacular -- defense behind their pitchers while pounding out 10 hits.
"You know the old cliche about baseball -- great pitching, great defense and timely hitting -- that's what we did," Glens Falls coach John Mayotte said. "The scoreboard exemplifies that."
Among the defensive highlights for the Eagles were a double play, a relay from right field to catch Brooks Villar attempting to stretch a single into a double and three strong throws from deep at third by Brad Beatty of the University of Dayton.
"I thought Beatty had a big game at third," Mayotte said. "He made some big plays at third, and he had a big hit, a run-scoring double. And he's been struggling with the bat, so you like to see that.
"This is a little confidence-builder. The kids relax and start playing the way they're capable of playing."
Saratoga coach Matt Mueller knows that his team is capable of better things at the plate and in the field. The Phillies finished with five hits and four errors to produce four unearned runs behind starter Clint Dykehouse and reliever Tyler Travis of Stillwater.
The Phillies are missing a number of players whose college teams are involved in this week's NCAA Division I regionals. That is a big reason why Mueller was not pushing the panic button after one rough night.
"I know they understand the situation that we're in," Mueller said. "Is it tough? There's no doubt, but they're all quality athletes, they're all quality kids.
"(Dykehouse) didn't pitch poorly. The only thing I'd say he didn't do was he didn't get ahead in the count. He didn't get strike one. But it's just like with the rest of these guys, it's his first time out. Other than the bomb and a couple of walks, he didn't pitch poorly."
"The bomb," Lawson's second-inning three-run blast over the left-field fence, provided all the offense Glens Falls needed.
Lawson hit five homers and drove in 29 runs in 43 games while batting .363 last spring at Bowling Green.
"I got a good piece of it, and it felt good," he said of the home run. "(Left field) is short, but really this whole park is a hitter's ballpark. You can't zone in on hitting it to left, or you're going to start beating a lot of balls into the ground."
Lawson ended up 2-for-4 on the night. Michigan State sophomore Ryan Basham went 3-for-4 with a double, and Chris Carlson and Queensbury native Will Groff had two hits apiece for Glens Falls.
