DiamondDawgs open season with win

Courtesy of Little Falls Times Jon Rathbun

Eric Helmrich (Photo Courtesy of Marist Athletics)

Marist College outfielder Eric Helmrich homered to break a sixth-inning tie and the DiamondDawgs defeated the Glens Falls Golden Eagles 4-2 on the road. Four Mohawk Valley pitchers combined to scatter seven hits in the victory.

Brown University right-hander Taylor Wright worked his way into and out of a jam on the mound for the DiamondDawgs and Bryant University’s Salvatore Lisanti pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to earn the save.

Trailing 3-1, the Golden Eagles loaded the bases with singles by Danny Brennan, Ross Kivett and Chase Griffin, their top three batters, to start the eighth inning against Wright. Cleanup hitter Mike Vigliarolo struck out swinging for the first out. Chris King brought a run home with a sacrifice fly to center field but Alberto Morales popped up to third base and the DiamondDawgs maintained a one-run lead at the end of the inning.

Mohawk Valley tacked on an insurance run in the top of the ninth when Jesse Buratt walked, stole second base and scored on a single by Jonathan Scott.

Glens Falls had put the game’s first run on the board in the first inning and Mohawk Valley came back with a run in the third. Starting pitchers John Means for the DiamondDawgs and Tony Urban for the Golden Eagles each went four innings and allowed the single run. The teams remained tied in the sixth inning when Wes Judish walked Baton Rouge Community College’s Buratt with two outs. Buratt stole second base to move into scoring position for Helmrich before the first-team 2011 all-Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference pick sent a pitch from Judish toward Haskell Avenue behind the left field fence.

Herkimer County Community College outfielder Hassan Evans, drafted earlier in the day by the Chicago Cubs, drove home the first run for the DiamondDawgs. Herkimer teammate Luke Nethaway drew a walk leading off and Bryant’s Joe Carcone singled. Back-to-back force plays left the DiamondDawgs with runners at first and third with two outs when Evans singled to right field and Carcone scored.

Canisius College’s Aaron Casper, a graduate of Duanesburg High School, earned the win with three scoreless innings of one-hit relief. Casper struck out five batters and walked none after replacing Means to start the fifth inning. Means, a left-hander drafted out of high school by the Atlanta Braves who opted to attend Fort Scott Community College in Kansas, allowed the first-inning run but yielded just one hit after that. Means recorded six of the 12 Mohawk Valley strikeouts while walking two batters.

Carcone had two of the DiamondDawgs’ five hits. Brennan and Griffin each had two hits for Glens Falls. Brennan singled in the first inning and scored on a two-out double by King who drove in both runs for the Golden Eagles.

Scheduled for a 7 p.m. start, the game officially got under way at 7:25 p.m. following rain that passed through late in the afternoon.

The DiamondDawgs have Thursday off before playing their home opener Friday against the Watertown Wizards. Joe Michaud, a right-hander from Bryant, is scheduled to make the start for Mohawk Valley; Michaud went 3-2 for the DiamondDawgs two years ago during their final season in the New York Collegiate Baseball League. The 7:05 p.m. game will be followed by fireworks