ERIC AHLQVIST
THE COOPERSTOWN CRIER
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Cooperstown Hawkeyes owner Tom Hickey said on Monday the team’s inaugural season was a success on every level except for one.
``The attendance was disappointing,’’ Hickey said the day after his team was eliminated from the NYCBL playoffs by Amsterdam. ``But I think we accomplished what we set out to do: Provide low cost, family entertainment. It was a beautiful experience playing at Doubleday Field.’’
After securing the fourth seed in the Eastern Division of the New York Central Baseball League, the Hawkeyes met top seed and defending league champion Amsterdam in a three-game series that began Friday night.
The Hawkeyes lost the opener, 3-1, and hosted the first playoff game in team history on Saturday evening at Doubleday Field.
Trailing 3-0, Cooperstown graduate Frank Petroskey hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning that gave the team life, according to Hawkeyes manager Jake Dennstedt.
``We were dead in the water up to that point, but when Frank hit that home run it was electric in the ballpark,’’ Dennstedt said. ``It was Frank’s first home run of the year. He always seemed to find a way to make something good happen for us this year.’’
Cooperstown appeared on their way to victory when Matt Howard hit a two-run home run to right field in the bottom of the eighth inning for a 4-3 lead.
But the Hawkeyes could not hold the lead, allowing a ninth inning run. The teams played three more innings before the game was called due to darkness. Cooperstown had a man on second in the 10th, 11th and 12th innings, but could not plate the winning run.
The teams traveled back to Amsterdam on Sunday and when play resumed Amsterdam’s Brian Martutartus hit the first pitch from losing pitcher Mike Barsotti over the left-field wall and the top-seeded Mohawks went on to a 5-4 victory in 13 innings.
If Cooperstown had won that game, the teams would have played the third game immediately following. During Friday’s opener in Amsterdam, Kyle Hunter pitched eight strong innings as Amsterdam won, 3-1.
Hunter allowed no runs on three hits. He struck out nine and walked none.
``He’s the best pitcher in the league,’’ Dennstedt said of Hunter, who attends Dartmouth University. ``He allowed three runs in about 50 innings all summer, so we knew runs would be tough to come by.’’
Cooperstown (21-22) scored once in the ninth off reliever Abram Williams, who earned the save.
``Williams is the best closer in the league as well,’’ Dennstedt said. ``He came in and pitched four innings on Saturday and held us scoreless in extra innings.’’
Mark Fochesato pitched 7 1/3 innings for Cooperstown, giving up two runs on seven hits. He struck out three and walked one.
Alex Todd had an RBI double in the ninth for the Hawkeyes, who finished with four hits. Josh Boyd, Matt Creel and Mike Danaher also had hits. Hickey moved his NYCBL team from Brockport to Cooperstown this season.
The Hawkeyes finished 21-21 in the regular season to place fourth in the Eastern Division.
Hickey said the team is planning several initiatives to increase attendance next season. In addition, Hickey said he recently hired R.C. Reuteman as the team’s new general manager.
Reuteman spent 20 years in the New York Mets organization, including stints at Class A Brooklyn, Double-A Binghamton and the Mets’ then-Triple-A affiliate, Tidewater in Norfolk, Va. Twice honored as minor league baseball’s executive of the year, Reuteman was part of Mets’ affiliates that drew record crowds in Binghamton and Brooklyn.
Before Saturday’s game, Cooperstown shortstop Alex Todd was named the team’s Most Valuable Player and was presented a commemorative bat made by the Cooperstown Bat Company for his stellar season.
``Alex was pretty much the backbone of our team,’’ Dennstedt said. ``He was the best defensive shortstop in the league and he hit third for us all year and batted right around .300. He probably won us four or five games with his glove.’’
