Simone wins batting crown

MOHAWK VALLEY 5, GLENS FALLS 2

LITTLE FALLS, N.Y. — With his final New York Collegiate Baseball League swing Thursday, Utican Jason Simone won a batting title.

Simone passed Mohawk Valley teammate Kyle Richardson in the batting race with a single in the seventh inning of the DiamondDawgs’ season-ending 5-2 win over the Glens Falls Golden Eagles at Veterans Memorial Park. Rome’s Richardson then bounced into an inning-ending double play and missed his chance to move back on top.

With the DiamondDawgs already eliminated from postseason contention, the Oneida County duo’s race for the batting title took center stage in Little Falls. They entered the game tied for the league lead with .369 averages, although Richardson actually led Simone by five-10,000ths of a point.

Batting atop the Mohawk lineup, both players grounded out in the first inning. In the third inning, Quinn Renner walked and advanced to third base before the lineup turned over with one out. Simone, the DiamondDawgs’ designated hitter, singled to drive Renner home with the first run of the game and took over the lead in the batting race. The lead did not last long as Richardson, Mohawk Valley’s center fielder, followed with a double.

The game remained 1-0 until the bottom of the fifth inning when Tim DeVito singled out the ninth spot leading off and brought the prospective batting champs back to the plate. Simone grounded into a fielder’s choice for the first out then was forced out himself on Richardson’s ground ball. Matt James stole the spotlight for a moment when he lined a home run off the side of the Little League shack beyond the left field fence. James’ home run was his first of the season and gave Mohawk Valley a 3-0 lead.

Pinch-hitter Greg Solomon singled in another run for the DiamondDawgs in the sixth inning and Glens Falls got two in the top of the seventh. DeVito grounded out to start the bottom of the seventh and Simone followed with a single to move ahead of Richardson for the second time, .372 to .368. Richardson’s grounder to shortstop was turned into a double play by the Golden Eagles and Richardson’s batting average came to rest at .366.

James homered again in the eighth inning to give the DiamondDawgs a three-run cushion. Evan Kirsch then pitched a scoreless ninth and earned his first and only save of the summer despite bringing the tying run to the plate by hitting one batter and walking another.

A third player jumped into the batting race and made a charge Thursday. Allegany County Nitro Tyler Fisher went 2-for-5 against Niagara and 2-for-4 against Alfred in a split doubleheader, bringing his average up to .366, five-10,000ths of a point ahead of Richardson in the final count. Fisher went 7-for-12 in his final three games to raise his average 20 points in two days.

The two-homer game raised James’ final average to .250 and he finished the season with a team-high 25 runs batted in.

Joe Michaud (3-2) pitched five scoreless innings of two-hit ball for the DiamondDawgs Thursday. The Bryant University right-hander struck out five batters and walked two. After starting the summer in the bullpen, he closed out the season by allowing two earned runs in 24 innings over his final four starts. He did not allow a run in his last 11 innings pitched.

Tyler Townsend joined Simone and James as DiamondDawgs with two hits Thursday.

Ethan Liederman had two hits for Glens Falls and Arthur Owens drove in both of the Golden Eagles’ runs with a single in the seventh.

MOHAWK VALLEY DIAMONDDAWGS 5, GLENS FALLS GOLDEN EAGLES 2
Glens Falls    000 000 200 — 2  4  1
Mohawk Valley    001 021 01X — 5  10  2
James McNamara, David Olson (7) and Luis Gonzalez. Joe Michaud, A.J. Bates (6), Evan Kirsch (9) and Sean Saverio, Greg Solomon (7). W — Michaud 3-2. L — McNamara 1-2. Sv — Kirsch (1). 2B — Glens Falls, Ethan Lederman; Mohawk Valley, Kyle Richardson. 3B — Mohawk Valley, Saverio. HR — Mohawk Valley, Matt James 2. Records — Glens Falls 22-20; Mohawk Valley 17-22. Attendance — n/a.

Compiled From Times Staff Reports