NYPL Tri-City ValleyCats

Adamson hits walk-off HR in 7-6 thriller

Published on July 30, 2010 under New York-Penn League (NYPL)
Tri-City ValleyCats News Release


TROY, NY - 6,130 fans at Joe Bruno Stadium certainly dug the long ball on Friday night. The ValleyCats (17-22) fell into a 5-1 hole against Lowell (9-32), but tied the game on Adam Bailey's seventh-inning grand slam. Four frames later, Dan Adamson took Tyler Lavigne's first pitch over the fence in left-center for a walk-off homer, sealing the 7-6 win.

"When you have [power], you're never out of a game," manager Jim Pankovits said. "[Adamson and Bailey] certainly picked us up tonight."

"I was just looking for a pitch I could drive," Adamson said. "I knew I hit it well, but I didn't know it was gone."

Although he didn't know it was a home run off the bat, everybody else in the park did. As Adamson sprinted to first, Bailey threw his bat and ran to home plate to congratulate the center fielder.

Before Adamson's blast, Bailey was the hero of the night. Three ValleyCats reached base to lead off the seventh inning, but Adamson left them all waiting with a strikeout. Bailey picked him up, driving a fly ball that stayed fair by only a couple of feet, landing well over the visitors' bullpen in right field. The first Tri-City grand slam of the season tied the game at 5-5.

"[Spinners reliever Charle Rosario] jammed me a little bit, but I got my barrel through," Bailey said.

The 'Cats took the lead in the eighth inning with a two-out rally. Tyler Burnett singled and advanced on a Mike Kvasnicka walk. Catcher Buck Afenir hit a soft line drive into center field, and Felix Sanchez's throw was much too late to catch Burnett at the plate. Burnett went 3-for-4 on the night, extending his hit streak to 10 games.

But the Spinners struck back in their last ups. Sanchez battled through a 12-pitch at-bat to draw a walk off closer Jorge De Leon. The speedy centerfielder was bunted over to second base and took third on a passed ball. Kolbrin Vitek hit a hard grounder to shortstop Oscar Figueroa, who was playing on the grass, but the shortstop's throw bounced wide of Afenir at the plate, allowing Sanchez to tie the game.

Vitek advanced to third base on another bunt and a wild pitch, but was stranded there to end the ninth.

Murillo Gouvea entered the game with an ERA above nine, but shut the Spinners down in the seventh and eighth innings and struck out the side in the former. De Leon and Brandt Walker held the Spinners scoreless in extra innings, setting the stage for Adamson's heroics.

"[The bullpen] came up big," Pankovits said. We were down to almost our last pitcher tonight, with a doubleheader tomorrow. We really needed them tonight."

Early on, it seemed as if the Spinners would cruise to their first series victory of the season. Two Tri-City fielding errors led to a pair of second-inning runs, and Brandon Jacobs added a third in the fourth. Reliever Jason Chowning fanned four batters in 2.2 innings of work but allowed Lowell to extend its lead to 5-1 in the fifth, capped by Bryce Brentz's RBI triple to center.

Bailey also drove in the hosts' first run, plating Afenir with a second-inning groundout. Adamson too played a big role, moving the catcher to third with an opposite-field double.

The 'Cats threatened to end the game in regulation with a ninth-inning rally. Jacke Healey and Figueroa hit consecutive singles, and moved up 90 feet on a Wilton Infante groundout. But Kiké Hernandez, who entered the game with a hit in all but one July game, went down swinging to force extras.

The walk-off victory was only the ValleyCats' second extra-inning win in eight tries.

Tonight's crowd of 6,130 was the fourth-largest in ValleyCats history. Tri-City goes on the road this weekend, playing three games in two days at Connecticut, before returning to "The Joe" for a pair with Vermont. Monday's game is at 7 pm.

Check out the Tri-City ValleyCats Statistics

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