By Anthony Sorbellini

Saugerties, NY- The Saugerties Stallions hosted the Albany Dutchmen on Sunday, July 22 at 4 p.m. to make way for the closing ceremonies, at 7 p.m., for the traveling Memorial Vietnam Wall which was held behind the centerfield wall at Cantine Field.

In a back and forth pitcher’s duel between Albany’s Max Cioffi (Ole Miss) and Saugerties’s Nick Zwack (Xavier), the Dutchmen broke out in front first.

The Dutchmen bats broke a scoreless tie in the fourth inning.  Dutchmen third baseman Justin Wright (St. Johns) started with a two-RBI double, scoring both John Malcom (Vanderbilt) and Zach Durfee (Siena), giving them a 2-0 lead.  Following Wright’s double, Lucas Dunn (Louisville) hit another double to score Wright, giving the Dutchmen a 3-0 lead.

Saugerties would go on to have a big inning of their own when they took the lead in the fifth inning.  Noah Searcy (Georgia Southern) hit a sac fly to centerfield to score catcher Carlos Pino (Nyack).  Later in the inning, Jordan Kozicky (Minnesota) hit a two-RBI double to score Herman Alvarado (Nyack) and Derek Ripp (Arkansas).

Cameron Comer (Virginia) came to bat and broke the tie game with an RBI single to score Kozicky, giving Saugerties a 4-3 lead.

Albany would come back in the seventh inning.  Dutchmen second baseman, Nick Estrella (Azusa Pacific) hit a solo homerun to tie the game at four.

The Stallions took the lead late in the eighth inning after Searcy hit a groundball and the Dutchmen shortstop Dunn could not make the play.  Pino would score after the error to give the Stallions a 5-4 lead which they would hold onto to get the win.

Stallions pitcher Dillon Good (Lock Haven) got the win, Dutchmen pitcher Nick Bird (UAlbany) took the loss while Zack Strickland (Georgia Southern) picked up the save.

The Dutchmen play tomorrow, July 23 at the Oneonta Outlaws and the Stallions also play Monday at home in a doubleheader makeup against the Elmira Pioneers.