NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, CFL stats



Amsterdam Mohawks Repeat as PGCBL Champions

August 9, 2013 - Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League (PGCBL)
Amsterdam Mohawks News Release


The Amsterdam Mohawks have repeated as champions of the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League with a 7-3 victory over the Elmira Pioneers in the deciding game of the Best of 3 Championship Series.

A raucous crowd of 1,400 packed Shuttleworth Park to cheer Keith Griffin's fourth league title in five years. It was the first time for "Griff" to celebrate a championship on his home turf. The championship is the seventh all-time in Mohawks' franchise history and their sixth all-time since moving to Amsterdam (from Schenectedy) in 2003.

Handshakes and hugs were shared all around after the big pile-on celebration following Mike Urbanski (Binghamton) inducing a game-ending and championship clinching fly out to left fielder Jordan Ebert (Auburn). And many last pictures in Mohawks jerseys were taken of the new friendships and bonds that developed for the team in the quick two-month season as the players will now head out in their various directions to prepare for their upcoming collegiate year.

Three players on the Amsterdam team get to call themselves repeat champions. Ed Charlton (NJIT), Brian Ruby (Binghamton) and Chris Kalica (St. John's) all posed with the winning trophy last year when Amsterdam finished a championship sweep at Glens Falls.

"They put together a great organization both on and off the field," said league President Jeff Kunion to the Shuttleworth Park crowd in a post-game presentation. "And it gives me great pleasure once again to present the PGCBL Championship Trophy to owner Brian Spagnola and head coach Keith Griffin and the Amsterdam Mohawks."

"We got off to a rough start," manager Keith Griffin said to reporters after another Gatorade shower reflecting on the season that was. "We didn't play very well...is an understatement. It was very difficult trying to get them to do what we wanted them to do. But we turned the corner and the guys did a nice job. And at the end we're the best team in the league and all the credit goes to our players." "It's the best thing in the world," Griffin said of winning yet another championship.

Amsterdam area native Matt Snyder (Temple University) carried a shutout into the ninth inning scattering six hits in his season swan-song. After retiring the first batter, he surrendered a single before leaving the game to a standing ovation

Brian Ruby (Binghamton) was 3-for-4 with three RBIs. His single with the bases loaded in the fifth inning broke a scoreless tie and was the beginning of a big five-run rally knocking out Elmira starter Jasper Adams Adamsy (Ithaca) who had kept Amsterdam off the board through his first four innings. Kevin Guthrie (Brown) then grounded out to plate another and Kyle Barrett (Kentucky) singled to right bringing in two more and making it 4-0. John Nogowski (Florida State) reached on an error allowing another run to score and Amsterdam held a seemingly comfortable 5-0 lead.

But the Mohawks had just held a 5-0 lead on the road at Elmira almost 24 hours earlier in Game 2 and were unable to close out the victory. This time, just a half-inning after Amsterdam's five-run rally in Game 3, it appeared Elmira yet again entertained ideas of pulling off a similar comeback.

The Pioneers had the bases loaded in the top of the sixth with one out and were just one base-hit away from climbing back into contention in the ball game. Chris Knott (East Strousburg) had singled, Ryan Plantier (Cornell) had doubled and Dave Hoffman (Siena) drew a walk for the big threat. But Brian Bashara (Old Dominion) hit a spinning hopper to the first-base side of the pitchers' mound. Matt Snyder made a lunging effort for it but fell down in the process. While rolling into a sitting position and without much leverage, he barely got a weak one-hop throw to the side of the plate which catcher Kevin Guthrie (Brown) was able to handle for the force-out. Then Snyder induced a threat-killing fly out of Colby Gee (Ithaca) as Elmira left the bases loaded.

After that it was just a matter of time. Brian Ruby collected RBI singles in the sixth and eighth innings to stretch the lead to 7-0. Mike Urbanski allowed three unearned runs in the ninth inning for the 7-3 final.

The Mohawks finished the regular season with the best overall record in the league at 31-16 including a 10-game streak of wins at the end and a 14-1 run to climb from fourth place in the division all the way to the top spot. Amsterdam's overall mark on the year was 35-18 including the six post-season games.

Under Keith Griffin, the Mohawks have won three previous titles on the road at the Glens Falls Golden Eagles (2012), at Elmira Pioneers (2010) and at the Hornell Dodgers (2009). This was his first title at home. Other Mohawks championships came in 2004 and 2003 (both against the Hornell Dodgers) and in 1988 over the Cohocton Red Wings.

• Discuss this story on the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League message board...

Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League Stories from August 9, 2013


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent Amsterdam Mohawks Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central