SAL Hudson Valley Renegades

HVR Game Notes - April 16, 2023

Published on April 16, 2023 under South Atlantic League (SAL)
Hudson Valley Renegades News Release


Hudson Valley Renegades (5-3) vs. Aberdeen IronBirds (3-5)

RHP Drew Thorpe (0-0, 3.18 ERA) vs. RHP Kyle Virbitsky (0-0, 27.00 ERA)

| Game 9 | Home Game 9 | Heritage Financial Park | Wappingers Falls, N.Y. | April 16, 2023 | First Pitch 2:05 p.m. |

HELLO, OLD FRIEND: Before the start of this six-game series, the IronBirds and the Renegades have played 246 times against each other. That number marks the second-most games played by Hudson Valley against another league opponent in franchise history, only trailing the Brooklyn Cyclones (257). The Renegades lead the all-time series 144-107 (.569). Hudson Valley and Aberdeen also opened their seasons by playing each other for 15 straight years from 2005-2019. Aberdeen was one of three New York-Penn League teams absorbed into the High-A East/South Atlantic League during the Great Reorganization of 2020.

ABOUT LAST NIGHT: Aberdeen snapped Hudson Valley's four-game winning streak with a 2-1 victory on Saturday night. Juan Carela for Hudson Valley tied a career-high, striking out nine in 4.1 scoreless innings. Ben Cowles and Spencer Jones compiled back-to-back doubles in the third to score the game's first run. Max Wagner hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game in the seventh. An RBI groundout by Luis Valdez in the top of the ninth, surged Aberdeen ahead to a 2-1 victory over the Renegades.

STAY IN THE YARD: Marcos Cabrera's inside-the-park home run in the bottom of the sixth on Thursday against Aberdeen was the first inside-the-park home run for the Renegades since Eric Wagaman circled the bases against Jersey Shore on June 9, 2022 at Heritage Financial Park. Wagaman's inside-the-parker was part of a 10-run inning for Hudson Valley in a 15-1 rout of the BlueClaws.

CAREER DAY FOR AARON: In Wednesday's 12-5 win over Aberdeen, Aaron Palensky drove in four runs and collected four hits, while falling just a double shy of the cycle. The four hits set a new career-high while the four RBIs tied his career best. The former Nebraska Cornhusker tallied 4 RBIs last year, on August 21st against the Brooklyn Cyclones, when he connected for a Grand Slam.

SPENCERS BRING THEM IN: In Tuesday's series opener with Aberdeen, Spencer Jones and Spencer Henson each hit two home runs and drove in five runs. They became the first pair of Hudson Valley teammates to homer twice and collect 5 RBIs in the same game since Everson Pereira and Carlos Narvaez did so at Greensboro on June 17, 2022. Previous to that, the last time two Renegades teammates had 5 RBIs in the same game was on Sept. 2, 2012 when Luke Maile and Justin O'Conner each had 5 RBIs at Aberdeen.

PITCHING LEADING THE WAY AGAIN: The Renegades rank first in ERA (2.22) among South Atlantic League teams and all High-A teams. This comes after Hudson Valley paced the SAL in ERA in 2022 (3.62), and finished with the second-best ERA among all High-A teams. The Hudson Valley bullpen has been even better, sporting a collective 1.73 ERA through 36.1 innings, the third-best mark in MiLB.

LEAVING THEM BEHIND: Over the past two games, the Renegades pitching staff has left 21 runners on base. Aberdeen is 0-for-30 over the past two games hitting with runners in scoring position. The last time an IronBird hitting recorded a hit with a runner in scoring position was in the fifth inning of Thursday's contest.

GADES IN THE SHOW: The Renegades were well-represented on MLB Opening Day rosters in 2023, with 26 former Hudson Valley players and managers appearing across the AL and NL. 2021 Renegades INF Anthony Volpe headlined the list who made his Major League debut with the Yankees. In 2022, nine former Renegades made their MLB Debuts, the most in single-season franchise history.

WELCOME MR. JONES: Spencer Jones, the 25th overall pick in the 2022 First-Year Player Draft by the Yankees last season will open the year in Hudson Valley. He begins the season as the Yankees No. 5 prospect by MLB Pipeline, the highest-ranked prospect on the Renegades roster. Through six games, Jones leads the South Atlantic League and High-A in total bases (23). The Renegades outfielder is batting .385/.414/.885 with 3 HR and 8 RBIs in 26 at-bats.

TOP PICKS ON THE GADES: The Renegades Opening Day roster prominently features 2022 Yankees first-round pick Spencer Jones, who was selected 25th overall by New York out of Vanderbilt University. Jones becomes the sixth Yankees first rounder to play for the Renegades in their three seasons as an affiliate. During the Renegades' entire affiliation with the Tampa Bay Rays/Devil Rays, a total of 14 first rounders played with the 'Gades (notables: Josh Hamilton, Evan Longoria, Tim Beckham, Brendan McKay, Greg Jones).

YANKEES FIRST ROUND PICKS WITH HUDSON VALLEY

Drafted Player Years w/ HV

2018 Anthony Seigler 2021-22

2019 Anthony Volpe 2021

T.J. Sikkema (Comp A) 2022

2020 Austin Wells 2021-22

2021 Trey Sweeney 2022

2022 Spencer Jones 2023

STREAKS!: The Renegades saw their four-game winning streak snapped on Saturday. In 2022, their first four-game winning streak came from April 23-27 against Brooklyn and Wilmington. Their first five-game winning streak didn't come until June 11-17 against Jersey Shore and Greensboro.

Check out the Hudson Valley Renegades Statistics

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South Atlantic League Stories from April 16, 2023


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