The Newburgh Nuclears fell to Kingston-Saugerties 9-2 in American Legion Baseball action on a scorching Thursday evening at Cantine Field, despite a late push to close the gap.

Newburgh’s record fell to 6-4, while Kingston-Saugerties improved to 10-4.

Jake Young started on the mound for Kingston-Saugerties and held Newburgh’s offense in check for much of the game. Rudy Cherry started for Newburgh before being pulled for reliever Darren Russo in the bottom of the third.

Kingston-Saugerties took an early lead in the first inning on a sacrifice fly that drove in a run. The team extended its lead in the second inning on a sacrifice fly from Kaden Deibert.

Robert Lawrence made one of the defensive plays of the night in the second inning, laying out for a diving catch in the outfield to rob a hit.

“I think I got a good read on the ball,” Lawrence said. “I’m just trying to lay out for anything, save the team some runs. I think it’s all instinct, getting good reads on the ball, stuff like that. I think today I did a pretty good job.”

Kingston-Saugerties pushed its lead to 3-0 in the fourth inning after an infield error allowed a run to score.

Newburgh answered in the bottom of the fifth. Justin Freeman singled, and Michael Joerger followed with a double that drove in two runs, cutting the deficit to 3-2. Joerger later advanced to third on a passed ball but was stranded when Chase Rounds struck out.

Kingston-Saugerties answered with a two-run inning of its own in the bottom of the fifth after a throwing error, then added an insurance run on a single by Luke Johnson. Russo ended the threat with a strikeout.

Newburgh Team Manager Shea Ceriello credited the pitching change for keeping the game competitive.

“I thought our starting pitcher was out of the zone,” Ceriello said. “Our second guy came in, did a great job. The game moved along nicely. He stayed focused, and then Chase came in and had to finish it off.”

Russo, describing his approach coming in as a reliever with his team trailing, said: “You just got to come in and limit base runners and run, put pressure on them.”

Kingston-Saugerties pulled away in the sixth and seventh innings, scoring four runs to secure the 9-2 win. Jackson Huber and Johnson each drove in runs in the sixth, and Austin June’s double plated two more runs in the seventh.

Lawrence had a single in the seventh for Newburgh’s final hit of the game.

“I think games like this are going to get us ready for game time in the playoffs,” Lawrence said.