By NATE DISCAVAGE
LITTLE FALLS, N.Y.- The day after becoming the third player in league history to hit for the cycle, Russ Olive (UMass-Lowell), of the Mohawk Valley Diamond Dawgs, decided to keep the hit parade going. The 6-foot-3 sophomore from Chelmsford, Massachusetts, drove in five runs and hit his league-leading sixth home run of the season in Tuesday night’s 6-2 victory over the Adirondack Trail Blazers at Veteran’s Memorial Park in Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League action.
Olive’s big moment came in the bottom of the third inning. Stepping up to the plate with a 1-0 lead, Olive launched a three-run home run to center field to put Mohawk Valley ahead for good.
Adirondack was not going to give in. Back-to-back doubles in the top of the fifth inning followed by an RBI-single by Joe Simone (Rider) cut the lead in half.
Olive was there for the Diamond Dawgs again in the bottom of the seventh as his two-out two-run single gave Mohawk Valley some extra breathing room.
In his last four games, Olive has combined to go 10-for-15 with five extra base hits, eight RBI and eight runs scored.
“I think he is a little upset that he didn’t make the All-Star team,” Mohawk Valley coach Blake Nation said. “During [batting practice] you can see that he is really locked in.”
Levi Abrahamson (Treasure Valley CC) pitched two-and-two-thirds dominant innings of relief to earn his first win of the season for the Dawgs. The six-foot senior from Idaho struck out five batters and allowed one hit. He lowered his WHIP to 0.77—third lowest in the PGCBL among pitchers with at least 10 innings pitched.
Kyle Cashman (Pace) fell to 0-6 on the season. The 6’3 righty allowed four runs on five hits in six innings pitched.
Bay McIntosh (Florida Tech) led Adirondack offensively going 2-for-3 with a double, RBI and run scored.
The Trail Blazers (10-21) get a day off before returning to Little Falls on Friday night for a rematch with the Diamond Dawgs.
Mohawk Valley (21-8) travels to Oneonta for a game with the Outlaws (9-22). Nation said that the team will visit the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown before the game.
“Maybe a little nostalgia will help inspire the guys,” Nation said.
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