Renegades Game Notes - SAL Championship Series Game 1

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SAL Hudson Valley Renegades

Renegades Game Notes - SAL Championship Series Game 1

September 15, 2024 - South Atlantic League (SAL)
Hudson Valley Renegades News Release


Hudson Valley Renegades (73-58, 40-26) at Bowling Green Hot Rods (75-54, 40-26)

Best-of-three South Atlantic League Championship Series tied 0-0

RHP Baron Stuart (8-5, 3.63 ERA) vs. RHP Brody Hopkins (1-3, 3.45 ERA)

| SAL Championship Series Game 1 | Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024 | Bowling Green Ballpark | Bowling Green, Ky. | First Pitch 2 p.m. |

Radio: WBPM 96.5 FM - Beacon, WGHQ 92.5 FM/920 AM Kingston, W232DQ 94.3 FM Peekskill, WBNR 1260 AM - Beacon, WLNA 1420 AM - Peekskill

Internet Radio: www.hvrenegades.com/broadcast & www.renegadesonair.com

TV: MiLB.tv & Bally Live App

CHAMPIONSHIP BOUND!: For the second straight year, the Renegades booked a spot in the South Atlantic League Championship Series, taking down the Greensboro Grasshoppers 4-1 in a winner-take-all Game 3 on Friday. The trip to the Championship Series marks the fifth for the Renegades in the last eight years. Kyle Carr pitched 4.1 scoreless innings and Jackson Castillo hit a two-run homer in the late innings. The Renegades began their postseason run on Tuesday with a dominant 6-0 win in Game 1. George Lombard was 3-for-5 with three doubles and three RBIs, and Dylan Jasso was 2-for-4 with a three-run homer.

OVERCOMING ROAD STRUGGLES: While being the best team at home in MiLB this season, the Renegades have struggled mightily on the road. However, Hudson Valley earned a series-clinching win in Greensboro 4-1 on Friday night, in a ballpark where they lost five of six during the regular season. The Renegades finished 26-39 away from Heritage Financial Park in the regular season, the third-most road losses in the South Atlantic League.

FOES FROM LONG AGO: The Renegades and Hot Rods face off in the South Atlantic League Championship Series this week, playing for the first time since late April. Hudson Valley played Bowling Green nine times in the first month of the season, and have not faced them since, with the Renegades holding a 5-4 advantage in the season series. Both teams won the second half in their respect divisions. Game 1 marks the first trip to Kentucky for the 'Gades since the opening weekend of the season.

THE NEW GUYS: Since early August, new additions to the Renegades have provided a major spark offensively. Jackson Castillo has been stellar in his month with the Renegades. On Friday, Castillo provided a crucial two-run homer in the ninth inning of the series-clinching Game 3 win over the Grasshoppers. He is hitting .284 in High-A and has 22 RBIs in 24 games in High-A. After entering the playoffs on a six-game hititng streak where he was 7-for-23 (.304) with six RBIs, Dylan Jasso was 2-for-4 with a crucial three-run homer in Game 1. In his first 17 High-A games, Brendan Jones has been on base an absurd 29 times.

ROC IS CLUTCH: Roc Riggio has provided a boost offensively that the 'Gades needed in the final strech. In the last eight games, Riggio is 13-for-40 (.325) with two home runs, four doubles, and 11 RBIs with a .404 OBP and a .1004 OPS.

HOME BODIES: Tuesday's win for the Renegades was their 13th in the last 14 games at home. Hudson Valley completed their regular season with a 47-19 (.712) record at Heritage Financial Park this season, the best home record of any team in Minor League Baseball this season. Since 2005, the 'Gades home record ranked 12th among all MiLB teams, with the 2011 San Antonio Missions (AA, SD) having set the standard with a 55-15 (.786) mark to set the standard.

STARTING OFF RIGHT: Starting pitching continues to be excellent for the Renegades. A Renegades starting pitcher has allowed more than two earned runs in a start only three times since July 28, a stretch of 41 games. In that span, Hudson Valley starters have a 2.34 ERA in 169.1 IP with a 1.00 WHIP. Overall, Renegades starters had a 3.44 ERA in 2024, 14th-best in MiLB.

BUYING WHAT HE'S SELLING: Trent Sellers continued his dominant form on Tuesday in Game 1, throwing four scoreless innings while allowing just one hit and striking out a career-high nine batters. Since June 25, Sellers has an absurd 0.35 ERA in his last 50.2 IP, with 63 strikeouts and a .109 opposing average.

YOUTH RULES: George Lombard has come alive at the plate over the two weeks, reaching base in 14 of his last 16 games. In Game 1 of the North Division Series, Lombard was 3-for-5 with three doubles and three RBIs. During a 12-game on-base streak spanning from August 24th to September 6th, the 19-year-old was 18-for-49 (.367) at the plate, with eight doubles and a .987 OPS. Of his 30 hits with the Renegades this season, 22 of them came during this stretch, including all of his extra-base hits.

PITCHING IN: The Renegades pitching staff finished the regular season with a 3.25 ERA, not only the lowest in the South Atlantic League, but the best among all High-A teams. Hudson Valley ranked sixth among all full-season Minor League teams in ERA. With a shutout in Game 1 of the North Divsion Series, the Renegades have now thrown 20 shutouts this season. They threw a team-record 19 shutouts in the regular season, which led MiLB. The 19 shutout victories were the most by a MiLB team since 2019, and is tied for 12th-most in the minors since 2005. After the All-Star Break, the staff had a 2.31 ERA, ahead of the Midland RockHounds (AA, OAK) for the best in MiLB, who had a 2.51 ERA after the break.

THE 'PEN IS MIGHTIER: The Renegades bullpen collectively sported a 3.06 ERA (186 ER/547.1 IP) this season, the best mark in High-A and third-best in the minors. Across six games of the series last week against Asheville and the first three games of the playoffs, the bullpen has allowed just five earned runs in 43.1 innings, good for a 1.04 ERA.

RECORD SETTERS: The Renegades' win over Asheville on Sunday was the team's 73rd win of the year, setting a new franchise record for most wins in a year. The 2021 and 2022 Renegades each won 71 games.

THROWING PUNCHES: The Renegades set a franchise record with 21 strikeouts on Saturday night. Starter Baron Stuart set his career-high with 12 punch outs in 4.2 innings, before the bullpen combined for nine strikeouts in 4.1 frames.

THIS GUY IS GROSZ: After being called up two weeks ago from Single-A Tampa, Josh Grosz has been stellar for Hudson Valley. On Tuesday, Grosz tossed five innings of one-run ball, allowing just one hit. He struck out seven batters, marking the fourth consecutive start in which has five or more punchouts. Grosz has four quality starts in his last six Hudson Valley appearances. Since June 28th between Tampa and Hudson Valley, Grosz has been charged with just nine earned runs in 64 innings, good for a 1.26 ERA during that stretch.

COLD-BLOODED: Hudson Valley walked it off for the 11th time this season last Thursday in a 5-4 victory. After trailing 4-0 in the eighth inning, the Renegades scored two in the eighth, two in the ninth, and one in the 10th to complete the comeback. They have now won eight games in 2024 when they've trailed in the seventh inning or later.

THE RUNNIN' RENEGADES ARE BACK: After stealing only 13 bases in 27 games in June, the Renegades have been on a stolen base frenzy, going 92-for-109 on stolen base attempts as a team in their last 59 games. Hudson Valley stole 21 bases in their final six-game series against. Asheville.

ALL THEY DO IS WIN: Since the start of the 2012 season, the Hudson Valley Renegades have an incredible .572 winning percentage, the second-best in MiLB behind only Bowling Green (.574) among active teams (min. 800 games). The third-place team, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, sports a .551 winning percentage.

MARTIN MASHING: Garrett Martin has been massive during this stretch run for Hudson Valley. The Renegades outfielder has 25 hits in his last 27 games (since 8/13), batting .281/.414/.517 in that span with an .931 OPS. After a remarkable series at the plate vs Wilmington from August 20-25, Martin earned SAL Player of the Week. In seven games, Martin was 8-for-21 with three home runs, two doubles, nine RBIs, 10 runs scored, and eight walks. Martin was the first Renegades player to win a SAL Weekly Award this season.

LIMITING HITS: Hudson Valley pitchers allowed only 835 hits in 131 regular season games. The Renegades allowed the fewest hits in MiLB, 19 fewer than the Down East Wood Ducks (A, TEX) for the lowest mark. Renegades pitching is holding the opposition to a .206 batting average this season, the best in MiLB. Incredibly, the Lansing Lugnuts (OAK, A+) allowed a staggering 1196 hits in 131 games, most among all non-AAA teams.

DOUBLES MACHINES: With 254 doubles in the regular season, Hudson Valley had the most doubles in High-A this season, 14 more than the Everett AquaSox (A+, SEA). Hudson Valley had four doubles in Game 1 on Tuesday.

DEFENSIVE IMPROVEMENT: Hudson Valley is 39-12 in games this season where they do not commit an error. The Renegades committed two costly errors in Game 2.

'GADES THROW ANOTHER NO-HITTER: After the Renegades had two no-hitters in the first 29 years of its history, the Renegades tossed a no-no on August 22 in game two of a doubleheader, their second in five weeks. Trent Sellers, Mason Vinyard, and Thomas Balboni combined to allow just one batter to reach safely in seven innings.. Sellers was part of both no-hitters this season, one as a starter and one as a reliever. On July 19, Kyle Carr, Sellers, and Hueston Morrill completed the third no-hitter in franchise history. It was the first time since July 10, 2021 that the Renegades had thrown a no-no, and their first nine-inning no-hitter since August 10, 2000.

TURNSTILES: On Friday, the Renegades officially set a new single-season attendance record at Heritage Financial Park, and welcomed 195,791 guests to the stadium in the 2024 season. Hudson Valley eclipsed the previous record of 184,055 from the 2022 season.

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