Early Lead Vanishes as DiamondDawgs Roll 9-2

Glens Falls grabbed an early lead and watched it disappear in a hurry. Tyler McKillop's two-run homer in the first put the Dragons up 2-1, but the Mohawk Valley DiamondDawgs answered with a four-run second and cruised to a 9-2 win Friday at East Field. Glens Falls managed just six hits, dropping to 5-9 as the visitors piled up 10 and a pair of long balls.

Jake Haarde set the tone for Mohawk Valley, homering to lead off the game, later singling home a run and scoring three times. The DiamondDawgs blew it open in the second, when Jaden Santiago's two-run double and Erick Diaz's two-run homer made it 5-2. They tacked on a Nolan Colby sacrifice fly in the third and back-to-back RBI singles from Haarde and Connor Scanlan in the fourth to lead 8-2. McKillop's first-inning blast — a two-run shot that scored Giorgio Pantepinto — was the lone highlight for a quiet Dragons lineup. Pantepinto, Tyler Worth, David Yorke, Billy Barthel and Jack Ploppert each collected one of the team's six hits. Winning pitcher Jack Donlin struck out eight over five innings, scattering three hits and the two early runs.

Tad D'Andrea took the loss, charged with eight runs and six walks over four innings. The bullpen steadied things — Pierce Byrne and Kyle Fives combined for five innings of one-run ball, Fives striking out four over three scoreless. The Dragons head to Boonville on Saturday.