CENTRAL NEW YORK (WUTR/WFXV/WPNY) – The collegiate baseball league season has begun in the Mohawk Valley, and five local teams – four in the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League, one in the New York Collegiate Baseball League – will be looking to hoist their respective championship trophies at the end of the summer. Here is your Summer League Roundup for June 1, 2023:

PGCBL

Utica 13, Mohawk Valley 10

Utica (1-0) jumped out to an 11-0 lead and was poised to take home the first run-rule win of the 2023 season, thanks to a seven-run fourth inning and a three-run home run by Hillsdale College’s Will Shannon. Utica scored 11 of their 13 runs on Thursday night in the first four innings and starting pitcher Holden de Jong had only allowed two hits through 3 1/3 innings.

However, Mohawk Valley clawed their way back with what looked to be their last chance in the bottom of the fifth, sending 14 batters to the plate in the inning and bringing home eight runs. Herkimer College’s Mason Snell picked up a run for the Diamond Dawgs, but it was Columbia’s Sam Miller who helped spark a rally, with a three-RBI double in the eight-run fifth to cut the lead to three. However, the Blue Sox were able to get another two runs in the late innings to close out their first win of the season.

Both pitching staffs combined for 21 strikeouts, but also 19 walks. The two teams also combined for five errors.

Utica native and SUNY Oneonta pitcher Thomas Roefaro picked up the save for the Blue Sox, going four innings in relief and racking up six strikeouts. de Jong, from the New Jersey Institute of Technology, got the win. The College of St. Rose’s Chris Palmer got the loss for Mohawk Valley (0-1).

Boonville 9, Watertown 1

After a rough year for the former Boonville Baseball Club in 2022, the team came back with a new look and a new name: the Lumberjacks. Guilford College’s Jacob Philips pitched eight innings and picked up the first win for Boonville (1-0) under new owner, former Utica Blue Sox owner Butch Russo. Phillips only allowed two Watertown hits over those eight innings of work and picked up the win.

Designated hitter Darnell Guerrero had a day of his own, with a two-run home run in the eighth, while Mansfield University’s Dylan Mercedes added a triple and a double to the Boonville scorebook. In all, six Lumberjacks went home with RBI’s on the night.

On the other side, the Rapids’ (0-1) pitching walked seven batters and hit another two in a losing effort. Their only run on the night came from a bases-loaded ground out by SUNY Oswego’s Brett Meyers.

Other PGCBL Games from June 1

Amsterdam 10, Albany 0 (five innings)

Games for Friday, June 2

Saugerties @ Mohawk Valley

Utica @ Watertown

Boonville @ Oneonta

Amsterdam @ Glens Falls

Auburn @ Geneva

NYCBL

The Sherill Silversmiths will begin their NYCBL season on Monday, June 5 when they travel to Rochester to play the Ridgemen. They will come back to Noyes Park on Tuesday, June 6 for a three-game home stand against the Syracuse Spartans and a doubleheader against the newest NYCBL team, the Horseheads Hitmen.