NYPL Tri-City ValleyCats

Hernandez delivers walk-off blast

Published on August 13, 2010 under New York-Penn League (NYPL)
Tri-City ValleyCats News Release


TROY, NY- Kiké Hernandez entered Friday night's game with only one home run. The 18-year-old second baseman was far from anyone's idea of a power hitter.

But with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning, Hernandez delivered his biggest hit of the season. He took a swing at Richard Martinez's first pitch, hitting a high fly ball to left field. Shane Brown drifted back to the warning track, to the wall, and jumped. But the ball disappeared just beyond Brown's glove, giving the ValleyCats a thrilling 2-1, walk-off victory.

"When I hit the ball, I thought it would be a routine out," Hernandez said. "But then I saw the ball carrying, and I thought, 'that ball's gone.' I started celebrating as soon as I saw the fielder running back."

"I thought in the sixth that maybe I should have bunted [Hernandez] instead of letting him hit away, but I had a feeling that he might catch one," manager Jim Pankovits said. (Hernandez struck out in the sixth with Orloff at first.) "He's an aggressive hitter, and he's a good fastball hitter, and when they throw it in there, he doesn't get cheated."

Hernandez's family came into town today, picking an opportune time to see the teenager play.

"That's a pretty good gift for [my family] visiting me," said Hernandez. "As soon as Ben [Orloff] got out, I started thinking about ending the game right then. I got my pitch, and I didn't get all of it, but it worked."

Early in the first inning, it seemed very unlikely that Tri-City would win a pitchers' duel. The Yankees ripped four consecutive singles, the last a Kelvin De Leon grounder to score Shane Brown. But after a mound visit from pitching coach Gary Ruby, Martinez settled down. The righty fanned Mike Ferraro with a changeup and induced a double-play ball from Jose Mojica, limiting the damage to one run.

Martinez would allow six other runners to reach base in his remaining 3.1 innings, but none would score.

Two Yankees were on base when Martinez left the game with one out in the fifth inning, but Alex Sogard got out of the inning with two quick outs. The southpaw went on to dominate the lefty-heavy Staten Island lineup for more than three innings. Sogard hit two batters, but retired the other ten batters he faced.

The final Tri-City reliever, Mike Ness, was just as strong. Ness came on with two outs in the eighth and the go-ahead run on third, but got Nick McCoy to ground out to end the threat. The righty went 1-2-3 in the ninth, setting the stage for Hernandez's blast.

"You can't say enough about [the pitchers]," Pankovits said. They've thrown great for over a month now. Martinez really battled to keep us in it, it was important that Sogard was able to keep their lefties at bay, and Ness was pretty sharp. We're probably going to have a lot of these low-scoring games, and we'll probably win more than we lose."

The ValleyCats tied the game in the sixth inning, relying on some new faces. Chris Wallace and Marcus Nidiffer arrived in Troy today after a promotion from Greeneville and made their presence known quickly. Wallace walked and Nidiffer singled to lead off the frame; Jacke Healey brought home the former with a one-out grounder.

Local product Thomas Kahnle electrified the crowd of 4,290 with two perfect innings for the Yankees. The righty, who graduated from nearby Shaker High School three years ago, struck out four batters with a mid-90s fastball.

"Orloff and I were talking about that. We were like, '[Kahnle] has more fans than we do here. Let's ruin his party.' We wanted to disappoint him," Hernandez said.

Hernandez also doubled off the right-field wall in the fourth inning, but fell down between second and third base and was thrown out.

The Yankees return tomorrow for the second of three games at Joe Bruno Stadium. The game starts at 7 pm.

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New York-Penn League Stories from August 13, 2010


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