EL1 New Hampshire Fisher Cats

Smith's walk-off single carries Fisher Cats to 3-2 win over Rock Cats

Published on July 18, 2008 under Eastern League (EL1)
New Hampshire Fisher Cats News Release


Manchester, NH- David Smith grounded a single down the left field line in the bottom of the ninth inning, scoring Travis Snider to give the New Hampshire Fisher Cats a dramatic 3-2 victory over the New Britain Rock Cats before 5,872 fans at Merchantsauto.com Stadium on Friday night. It was the Fisher Cats' second walk-off victory of the season and first since April 13.

Losing pitcher Robert Delaney walked Snider (1-for-3, 2B, 2 R) and Brian Jeroloman (1-for-3, RBI, BB) before Smith (1-for-4, RBI) pulled the game-winning hit just inside third base. It was New Hampshire's first hit since the bottom of the fourth inning, and it made a winner of Zach Dials.

Dials (2-2) went two-thirds of an inning to notch the win. He struck out one and walked one.

Delaney (1-1) suffered his first Eastern League loss. The right-hander went 1.1 innings, yielding a run on one hit. He walked two and struck out two.

An unearned run in the top of the first inning staked New Britain (41-57) to a 1-0 lead. With two outs, Danny Valencia (2-for-5, 2B, R) doubled off Ricky Romero and scored when Fisher Cats' leftfielder Eric Nielsen dropped a fly ball off the bat of David Winfree (0-for-3, BB, R).

New Hampshire (38-60) tied the game against Anthony Swarzak in the bottom of the third inning. Kyle Phillips (1-for-2, R, BB) led off with a single, Andrew Pinckney (1-for-3, 2B) doubled to right and Ryan Klosterman (0-for-3, RBI) drove in Phillips with an infield ground out.

The Fisher Cats claimed a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning when Snider doubled to right and scored on Jeroloman's single.

Nielsen atoned for his first-inning error by making two spectacular warning track catches. With a runner on in the top of the fourth inning, Nielsen chased down a Brock Peterson (1-for-4, RBI) shot to gap in left-centerfield. With two runners on base in the top of the sixth inning, Nielsen pumped his fist after making a leaping catch at the wall to rob Erik Lis (2-for-3, 2B, BB) of an extra-base hit.

The Rock Cats tied the game, 2-2, in the top of the eighth inning on Peterson's two-out single off reliever Jared Gothreaux, plating Winfree from second base. The run was charged to Romero, who allowed two runs -one earned- in seven-plus innings. The left-hander scattered five hits, struck out four and walked two.

Swarzak also received a no-decision after pitching a season-high seven innings, allowing two runs on four hits. The righty struck out five and walked two.

The Fisher Cats turn to right-hander Brandon Magee (2-11, 5.37) on Saturday night at 7:05pm against Rock Cats' left-hander Kyle Aselton (4-3, 4.23) in the third game of this four-game series. Radio coverage begins at 6:45pm on the WGIR Fisher Cats Radio Network with Mike Murphy.

An Atlas Fireworks Show follows Saturday night's 7:05pm game at Merchantsauto.com Stadium. For tickets, visit www.nhfishercats.com or call (603) 641-2005.

Check out the New Hampshire Fisher Cats Statistics

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Eastern League Stories from July 18, 2008


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