Crawford Dazzles Through Seven Innings, ValleyCats Take Series 9-4
July 2, 2022 - Frontier League (FL)
Tri-City ValleyCats News Release
Tri-City, ValleyCats outfielder Jordan Brewer
(Tri-City ValleyCats)
TROY, NY - Saturday night at Joseph L. Bruno Stadium featured the second game of the weekend series between the Tri-City ValleyCats and the Empire State Greys.
Leo Crawford took the mound for Tri-City. The left hander was looking for his second consecutive victory, after beating the Greys last Saturday as well. The ValleyCats starter shined in the first inning. Liam McArthur was retired on a line out to Brantley Bell in left field. The next two batters would be taken care of by Crawford, striking out both Robbie Carling and Paul Mondesi.
Greys starter Derek Hassan would struggle in the bottom half of the first inning, walking Pavin Parks to lead off the inning. Brantley Bell would be hit by the first pitch thrown to him, and Jesus Lujano would work a walk to load the basis. Hassan would surrender his third walk of the inning, giving up a bases loaded walk to Denis Phipps, bringing Parks in from third. First baseman Brad Zunica would bloop a single into shallow center field, bringing Bell in from third base.
Jordan Powell would come in to replace Hassan following the Zunica single. Juan Silverio would greet the Greys reliever with a base hit of his own, plating the third run of the inning. Powell would settle down, striking Jace Mercer out for the first out of the inning. The right hander would limit the 'Cats damage to just three runs following an inning-ending double play off the bat of Carson McCusker.
Crawford would allow the first two Greys batters to reach base in the top of the second inning, Khalyd Cox singled and Christian Naccari worked a walk, putting runners on base with nobody out. Crawford would work out of the self-induced jam, getting a double play ball out of Trey Woosley and striking out Willie Estrada to retire the side.
The Tri-City offense would pick up right where it left off in the bottom half of the second. Following a Pavin Parks single, Brantley Bell would launch his fifth home run of the season to left center field. Brad Zunica would record his second hit in as many innings with a two out double, bringing Juan Silverio to the plate. The ValleyCats third baseman would plate Zunica with his second RBI single of the night, giving Tri-City a 7-0 lead.
The Greys would get on the board in the top half of the third inning, on a double steal from Liam McArthur and John Benevolent. McArthur took off from first with two outs, inducing a rundown between first and second base, allowing Benevolent to score from third.
The ValleyCats offense would be held silent by Powell through the next three innings of his outing. Alberto Rodriguez would enter in the bottom of the sixth inning. The Greys reliever would retire the first two batters he faced, but would run into trouble following back to back singles from Brantley Bell and Jesus Lujano, bringing Denis Phipps to the plate. Following a steal of second from Lujano, the designated hitter would rip a single into left field, bringing both Bell and Lujano in to score.
Leo Crawford would go seven innings in his outing, surrendering just one run on three hits, while striking out five and just walking two Greys hitters.
Marshall Winn would enter to make his professional debut in the eighth inning. The former Albany Great Dane would strike out Jose Mercado to start the inning, and would retire the remaining two Greys hitters in order, ending the eighth with a strike out of Robbie Carling.
Winn would run into a bit of trouble in the ninth, surrendering three consecutive singles, walking and hitting a batter. Adam Hofacket would replace Winn, and would take care of the Greys to secure the series victory.
FINAL | (23-20) TRI-CITY 9 (2-39) EMPIRE STATE 4
W: LEO CRAWFORD (2-2)
L: DEREK HASSAN (0-1)
SV: NONE
ATTENDANCE: 1,655
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 Tri-City, ValleyCats outfielder Jordan Brewer |
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