Cesar, Benedetti Have Big Nights in 10-2 Win over Tigers
Published on July 15, 2016 under New York-Penn League (NYPL)
Tri-City ValleyCats News Release
TROY - The Tri-City ValleyCats (15-13) received another solid outing from their pitching staff and big nights from Randy Cesar and Carmen Benedetti in a 10-2 victory over the Connecticut Tigers (17-11) Friday night at Joseph L. Bruno Stadium.
Dating back to last night's ballgame, Cesar has now reached in eight consecutive plate appearances, and raised his season batting average to .367. Cesar finished the night 4-4 with three singles, a triple, a walk, three runs scored, and two RBI. The triple, his first of the season, landed in left center field, 377 feet away from home plate.
Designated hitter Carmen Benedetti came around to score in his first three plate appearances on two hits of his own, and mashed an RBI base hit in the 8th to score Stephen Wrenn. Benedetti, who missed eight games due to soreness, raised his batting average to .409 in the win.
Kevin Hill, pitching against his South Alabama teammate Locke St. John (L, 2-3), outdueled his lefty counterpart. Hill scattered three hits and a walk over four scoreless innings, striking out three. Austin Nicely (W, 3-1) took over in the fifth and allowed two runs in four innings, striking out one batter.
The 'Cats, who improved to 5-0 in Friday contests, wasted no time getting on the board, plating three runs in the first inning thanks to a solo home run from Ryne Birk (3) and a two-run double from Ronnie Dawson down the first base line. Birk finished 2-5 with two runs scored and a stolen base.
Tri-City tacked on two more in the 5th when Jake Rogers ripped a bases loaded single to centerfield, making it 5-0. The 'Cats added four more insurance runs in the sixth when DeGoti doubled to kick off the inning, and Birk singled him home. Benedetti followed with a single, scoring Birk, and Cesar launched a triple into deep left-center field, scoring Benedetti.
The only offense the Tigers produced was in the eighth, when Andres Sthormes and Will Savage hit back-to-back singles. Joey Havrilak doubled (3) on a line drive to right field, scoring Sthormes. Blaise Salter followed with a single on a line drive to center fielder Stephen Wrenn, scoring Savage. The 'Cats responded with one more run of their own in the bottoe half of the frame, on an RBI single from Cesar which scored Carmen Benedetti. Cesar came in to score on an RBI groundout from Ronnie Dawson, his third of the night.
St. John, who took the loss for the Tigers, entered the game with a 0.94 ERA in 28.2 innings. It rose to 2.16 after allowing five runs on seven hits, striking out four and walking four in 4.2 innings. In relief, Clate Schmidt, John Schreiber and Eduardo Jimenez combined to allow five runs on seven hits, striking out seven.
The ValleyCats and Tigers face off again tomorrrow night as the 'Cats look to sweep in the series finale. First pitch is scheduled for 7:00 pm, with a lefty-lefty matchup on the docket. Ryan Hartman will take the hill for the 'Cats against southpaw Gregory Soto.
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