Out of the playoff picture, the Albany Dutchmen turned in a strong performance against Cooperstown.
Jack Wietlispach had three hits, and Jon Mestas added a three-run homer to lead the Dutchmen (21-24) to an 8-2 victory over the Hawkeyes in Tuesday’s Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League game at Bob Bellizzi Field.
The victory snapped a three-game losing streak for Albany, which knocked the Dutchmen out of contention for the final berth in the four-team PGCBL playoffs.
`I’m happy to see how they responded,` said Albany head coach Nick Davey. `They didn’t get down on themselves, and that was good to see.`
The Dutchmen mounted a two-out rally in the bottom of the third inning to take the lead for good. Andrew Pezzuto hit a ground rule double to left-center field and scored on Will Remillard’s single to break a 1-1 tie. Remillard advanced to second on the throw home and scored on Wietlispach’s double down the left field line to put Albany ahead 3-1.
`I think we just have a lot of confidence against this (Cooperstown) team,` said Remillard, who contributed a pair of hits. `It’s a team we feel we can beat every night.`
Cooperstown (12-32) drew within a run in the top of the fifth when Bobby Guerra’s bases-loaded infield single drove in Colton Beatty, but Albany responded with a big rally in its half of the inning. Remillard doubled home Greg Pezzuto, moved to third on Wietlispach’s single and scored on Ben Douglas’ ground out to first base. Following a two-out walk to Ryan Gasporra, Mestas drilled the ball over the left field wall for his second home run of the season.
`I’ve definitely been in a bit of a (home run) drought,` said Mestas. `It felt good.`
The run support was enough for starting pitcher Cody Tollison to earn his first victory of the season. Tollison allowed one earned run in 6.2 innings and struck out seven batters before giving way to the Albany bullpen. Relievers Steve Basile and Jake Woodward didn’t allow a hit over the final 2.1 innings.
Cooperstown starter David Hannan was roughed up for eight earned runs in five innings of work. Outfielder Coleman Barron came in and pitched the final three innings for the last-place Hawkeyes.
Albany is scheduled to close out its season Wednesday against first-place Amsterdam at Bellizzi Field. The Mohawks eliminated the Dutchmen from the playoff hunt with a 1-0 victory Monday at Amsterdam’s Shuttleworth Park.
`We played really well (Monday),` said Remillard. `Their pitcher just pitched very well. We couldn’t get anything going.`
