NYPL Hudson Valley Renegades

Hudson Valley Topples Tri-City 2-1 in 11

Published on September 3, 2012 under New York-Penn League (NYPL)
Hudson Valley Renegades News Release


TROY, NY (Monday, September 3): The Hudson Valley Renegades stunned the Tri-City ValleyCats 2-1 in 11 innings Monday night in front of 4,384 fans at Joseph L. Bruno Stadium in Troy.

The Labor Day matchup between the New York-Penn League's top two teams didn't disappoint, with the winning run coming on a dropped third strike in the 11th frame. Hudson Valley (51-23) surpassed the top regular-season win total in franchise history, set by the 1998 Hudson Valley Renegades squad that went 50-26. The loss gave the Renegades a one-game advantage over the ValleyCats (50-24) as the teams jockey for home-field advantage throughout the NYPL playoffs.

Hudson Valley struck first in the top of the first inning. Second baseman Tommy Coyle came to the plate with two outs against Tri-City starter Brady Rodgers and cranked a fastball over the right-field fence for his fifth homer of the season. The solo shot gave the Renegades a 1-0 lead.

That advantage stood until the bottom of the eighth inning. Reliever Rob Finneran came on to replace Jordan Harrison for the Renegades, and walked Tri-City leadoff man Joe Sclafani. Neiko Johnson bounced a grounder back to the mound, but Finneran fired the ball past shortstop Leonardo Reginatto into center field; Sclafani reached third on the error. Johnson swiped second base before Preston Tucker was struck out for the first out of the inning. The Renegades elected to intentionally walk Jesse Wierzbicki to load the bases. However, the strategy backfired when Finneran walked M.P. Cokinos to bring in Sclafani from third, tying the game 1-1 and keeping the bases loaded. Finneran worked out of trouble from there, though, inducing a pop out from Tyler Heineman and whiffing Jarrod McKinney to end the inning.

Hudson Valley finally retook the lead in the top of the 11th inning. Left fielder Marty Gantt hit a ground ball to the right side off Tri-City reliever Travis Ballew (5-1), and just beat the throw to the bag for a leadoff single. Third baseman Felix Gonzalez advanced Gantt to second base with a sacrifice bunt for the first out. Ballew intentionally walked center fielder Joey Rickard before getting catcher Jake DePew to pop out to first. Tri-City brought in lefty reliever Scott Zuloaga to retire Coyle. With two strikes, Zuloaga got Coyle to swing and miss on a breaking ball that Heineman couldn't handle; the passed ball skidded to the backstop, and Gantt sprinted around third base, sliding in under Zuloaga's tag for the go-ahead run. The Renegades carried their 2-1 lead to the bottom of the 11th, where reliever Marcus Jensen (6-1) gave up a walk but slammed the door to secure the victory.

Renegades starter Taylor Guerrieri gave up three walks and two hits against four strikeouts in five scoreless innings. Harrison allowed just one hit in two scoreless innings, striking out four. Finneran allowed an unearned run over 1.1 innings of relief, walking four and whiffing three. Jensen took the win, giving up just one walk in 2.2 innings of action against two strikeouts.

Rodgers gave up a run on one hit over two innings in his start. Lefty Brian Holmes no-hit the Renegades over seven innings, allowing just one walk and accumulating seven strikeouts. Ballew took the loss, coughing up the winning run (unearned) on two hits and two walks in 1.2 innings; he whiffed one. Zuloaga struck out the only batter he faced but didn't record an out due to the passed ball. Euris Quezada retired the only batter he faced.

The Renegades and ValleyCats will tangle again Tuesday, with righty Eduar Quiñonez on the hill for Hudson Valley against Tri-City righty Juan Minaya. First pitch is at 5:00 p.m., with Ben Gellman's pregame show starting at 4:45 p.m. on 1450 and 1370 AM WKIP, as well as online at HVRenegades.com.

Great seats are still available for the playoffs, with the first home game at Dutchess Stadium on Saturday at Dutchess Stadium at 7:05 p.m.. Call the ticket office 845-838-0094 for information, or go to www.hvrenegades.com to order yours now!

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New York-Penn League Stories from September 3, 2012


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