During each week of the 2018 PGCBL season, the league office will recognize one position player and one pitcher as the League’s Player and Pitcher of the Week. For the first time this season, one team sweeps the weekly awards thanks to a 6-1 record that moved them into first place.
The Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League is pleased to announce the selection of Austin Pollack (Manhattanville) as the PGCBL Player of the Week, and Sam Turcotte (Stony Brook) as the PGCBL Pitcher of the Week. Both players are members of the Mohawk Valley DiamondDawgs.
Austin Pollack proved to be a key component in Mohawk Valley’s 6-1 week at the plate, recording five multi-hit games in six starts. The outfielder led the PGCBL with ten runs batted in on the week, and hit .480 with 12 hits in 25 at-bats. Pollack twice recorded three hits and four RBIs, leading the Dawgs to victories over Saugerties on Monday and Adirondack on Sunday. In four of the five games where Pollack recorded two or more hits, the DiamondDawgs won by scoring ten or more runs in the contest.
During his 2018 season at Manhattanville, Pollack started the first 20 games of the season before an injury ended his season. During that time, the Harrison, New York native recorded a .299 batting average with 20 runs scored and 19 RBIs, and logged a .432 on base percentage. With the DiamondDawgs this summer, Pollack is hitting .398 in 25 games, driving in 17 runs and scoring 19.
Mohawk Valley twice turned to Sam Turcotte to start this past week, and the Toronto native was able to shut down the opposing offense on the road in victories. Turcotte started his week by tossing 5.2 shutout innings against the Saugerties Stallions, striking out seven hitters while allowing only two hits. He followed that performance up with five strong innings at the Robert Smith Sports Complex in Boonville against the Adirondack Trail Blazers. Turcotte allowed just one run on two hits, leading the Dawgs to a 12-4 win. On the week, Turcotte worked 10.2 innings with just four hits allowed and eight strikeouts.
At Stony Brook this season, Turcotte went 1-0 with a 4.03 for the Sea Wolves, making four starts and four bullpen appearances. He struck out 22 hitters in 22.1 innings, and allowed only 12 hits on the season. This summer in Little Falls, the righthander holds a 2-1 record, and has made five starts for the first place DiamondDawgs. Turcotte has 25 strikeouts in 22 innings of work, and has recorded a 3.27 ERA.
The PGCBL is pleased to recognize the accomplishments of Pollack and Turcotte over the last seven days. The league will continue to honor the best performances in the PGCBL throughout the summer with both nightly and weekly awards.