Culver Homers Twice as Vargas Earns Win in ValleyCats' Debut
Published on July 21, 2023 under Frontier League (FL)
Tri-City ValleyCats News Release
TROY, NY - The Tri-City ValleyCats (35-23) won the series opener 5-2 over the New York Boulders (33-23) on Friday at Joseph L. Bruno Stadium.
Pavin Parks greeted July Sosa with a single in the first. Cito Culver cranked a two-run tater of the year to provide the ValleyCats with a 2-0 lead.
New York cut the deficit in half in the second. Matt McDermott hit a solo homer off Jhon Vargas to make it a 2-1 game.
Tri-City extended its lead back to two runs in the bottom of the third. Culver singled, and went to second on a groundout from Jakob Goldfarb. Oscar Campos then laced an RBI double to put the ValleyCats on top, 3-1.
Culver collected his third two-homer game of the year with a roundtripper in the fifth to pull the 'Cats ahead, 4-1. It was his ninth long ball of the season.
The Boulders trimmed the deficit to two in the sixth. Tucker Nathans walked. Pat Kivlehan singled Nathans to third. Thomas Walraven picked up an RBI single to make it a 4-2 affair.
Tri-City delivered an insurance run in the seventh. Culver and Goldfarb both worked one-out walks off Ryder Yakel. Culver swiped third, and Campos lifted a sac fly to give the ValleyCats a 5-2 lead.
Vargas (5-4) earned the win. He hurled six frames in his Tri-City debut, yielding two runs on four hits, walking two, and striking out a ValleyCats season-high 10 batters.
Sosa (4-2) received the loss. He went five innings, allowing four runs on seven hits, walking two, and striking out three.
Blake Workman bridged the gap to Coleman Huntley with two perfect frames. Huntley recorded his second save of the year after tossing a scoreless ninth, giving up a hit, walking none, and striking out one.
Tri City returns to Joe Bruno tomorrow, Saturday, July 22 for the middle game against New York. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 PM.
FINAL | TRI-CITY 5 | NEW YORK 2
W: Jhon Vargas (5-4)
L: July Sosa (4-2)
Time of Game: 2:30
Attendance: 3,004
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