The Record Blogs: Off the Record: 'Burgh blanked by Amorosi, Schalmont

Schalmont and Lansingburgh battled for control of the Colonial Council lead Tuesday afternoon and the Sabres let it be known early that they were not messing around.

Lansingburgh High School junior Jake Shaw throws a pitch during Tuesday's game at Schalmont. Shaw allowed three runs in the first inning and one more in the second, but kept the Sabres off the board the rest of the way. (Photos by Tom Killips - The Record).

Jake Shaw bailed himself out Tuesday afternoon after allowing three runs in the first inning, but the Lansingburgh offense never responded in a battle for first place at Schalmont.

Schalmont's Joe Amorosi twirled his third shutout of the season, striking out nine over seven innings, leading the Sabres to a 4-0 victory at Schalmont High School.

Amorosi, now 7-0 this season, has a 1.16 ERA. He's also leading the team with a .569 batting average.

Check out the full story in Wednesday's edition of The Record.

Lansingburgh second baseman Frank Castiglione tries to apply the tag on Schalmont's Joe Amorosi in the fourth inning of Tuedsay's game. Amorosi was eventually tagged out and was shaken up on the play, but remained in the game.

Lansingburgh was playing severely shorthanded Tuesday, so the Knights were not throwing their optimal lineup at Amorosi.

Starting pitcher T.J. McLaughlin is injured and did not play Tuesday.

Starting shortstop Jarrod Nash broke his finger over the weekend and played first base, but he can't bat.

Starting first baseman Mark Tracey was disqualified after a collision at the plate in Monday's victory over Cobleskill, meaning he could not play in Tuesday's game.

Lansingburgh (12-2, 12-6) travels to Watervliet Wednesday and hosts Mechanicville Friday in its Colonial Council finale.

Schalmont (14-1, 16-3), the defending Section II Class A champion, hosts Ravena in its Colonial finale Thursday. The Sabres have finished in second place five of the past seven years and can only be caught if they lose to Ravena and Lansingburgh wins twice.

Lansingburgh center fielder Dom Cioffi makes a catch during Tuesday's game at Schalmont.

Lansingburgh head coach Joe Henkel challenged his team to be more mentally tough after the game.

"Schalmont…they’re a much more mentally ready team than we are," he said. "There is a lot more maturity on that team. That’s what I see. Their kids, they came out, they knew how to attack, they attacked and they got the job done. They put us in a hole. Our team is trying to strive to get that mental toughness and that has been our downfall in many of our losses this year. It's something we had last year that we don’t have this year."

"I think if you’re mentally ready in the classroom, you take it out onto the field," continued Henkel. "I think Schalmont is a scholar-athlete team. I think their football team was a scholar-athlete team. That kind of gives you a little bit of an edge when you come down to the big games, because really, the big games, it’s about mental readiness and preparation."

It will be interesting to see how this Lansingburgh team responds to this game. The first loss to Schalmont really sparked the team on a strong rally though the regular season. Can this loss spark the Knights to some postseason magic?