Renegades Game Notes - SAL Championship Series Game 3

Sports stats



Hudson Valley Renegades

Renegades Game Notes - SAL Championship Series Game 3

September 18, 2024 - South Atlantic League (SAL)
Hudson Valley Renegades News Release


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

Best-of-three South Atlantic League Championship Series tied 1-1

RHP Trent Sellers (6-3, 2.08 ERA) vs. RHP Jackson Baumeister (3-3, 2.53 ERA)

| SAL Championship Series Game 3 | Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024 | Heritage Financial Park | Wappingers Falls, N.Y. | First Pitch 6:35 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

FOR ALL THE MARBLES: The Renegades kept their championship hopes alive with a 6-2 victory on Tuesday night, forcing a winner-take-all Game 3 on Wednesday night. A five-run fifth inning featured a grand slam from Omar Martinez, helping Hudson Valley overcome a 2-0 deficit early. With a win tonight, the Renegades will earn their first South Atlantic League championship in franchise history, and their fourth league title overall.

OUT FOR FOUR: The Renegades are looking for their fourth championship in team history, having won the New York-Penn League's Nader Cup three times: 1999, 2012 and 2017. Hudson Valley won the 1999 title over Mahoning Valley and the 2012 title over Tri-City at Heritage Financial Park, and the 2017 championship on the road at Vermont.

CHAMPIONSHIP CONNECTION: The last time the Renegades won the New York-Penn League in 2017, their manager was Craig Albernaz. The next season, Albernaz guided Bowling Green to its first Midwest League championship with a roster featuring 18 members of the 2017 Renegades. From 2020-23, Albernaz served as the Bullpen and Catching Coach for the San Francisco Giants, where he was joined on staff by current Renegades manager Nick Ortiz.

THE WINNER TAKES IT ALL: Hudson Valley plays its second winner-take-all game of the postseason tonight and its third game in the last four in which the season would be over with a loss. All-time in winner-take-all playoff games, the Renegades are 7-2 (.778). The Renegades won their first winner-take-all game of the 2024 playoffs last Friday, beating Greensboro 4-1. Hudson Valley won two winner-take-all games during their 1999 and 2012 New York-Penn League Championship runs.

GRAND SLAMS: In a 2-2 game in the fifth on Tuesday, a grand slam by Omar Martinez helped lift the Renegades to a win in an elimination game. The Martinez blast was the fourth grand slam for the Renegades since August 13, after they had just one all season up until that point.

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 respective divisions.

BUYING WHAT HE'S SELLING: Trent Sellers continued his dominant form last Tuesday in Game 1 of the North Division Series, 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.

HOME BODIES: 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. Tuesday's win for the Renegades was their 14th in the last 15 games at home. The 'Gades home record was 12th-best among MiLB teams since 2005, with the 2011 San Antonio Missions (AA, SD) having set the standard with a 55-15 (.786) mark. Since July 30 (including playoffs) the Renegades are 23-4 (.852) at Heritage Financial Park.

ROAD WARRIORS: 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.

ROC IS CLUTCH: Roc Riggio has provided a boost offensively that the 'Gades needed in the final strech. In the last ten games, Riggio is 14-for-46 (.304) with three home runs, four doubles, and 12 RBIs with a .400 OBP and a 1.009 OPS.

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 has 23 RBIs in 26 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 of the North Divsion Series. In his first 19 High-A games, Brendan Jones has been on base an absurd 31 times.

YOUTH RULES: George Lombard has come alive at the plate over the two weeks, reaching base in 16 of his last 18 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, 23 of them came during this stretch, including all of his extra-base hits.

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 allowed just five earned runs in 43.1 innings, good for a 1.04 ERA. In Tuesday's Game 2 of the South Atlantic League Championship Series, three Renegades relievers combined 5.1 hitless innings to close out a 6-2 victory.

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 43 games. In that span, Hudson Valley starters have a 2.46 ERA in 175.1 IP with a 1.07 WHIP. Overall, Renegades starters had a 3.44 ERA in 2024, 14th-best in MiLB.

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.

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 nine-inning franchise record with 21 strikeouts on Sept. 7. 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: Despite a rough conclusion to his season on Tuesday, Josh Grosz was instrumental for the Renegades this season. Grosz had four quality starts in his last seven Hudson Valley appearances. Between June 28 and Sept. 17 in Tampa and Hudson Valley, Grosz was charged with just nine earned runs in 64 innings, good for a 1.26 ERA during that stretch.

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 93-for-110 on stolen base attempts as a team in their last 61 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 .573 winning percentage, the second-best in MiLB behind only Bowling Green (.573) 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 26 hits in his last 29 games (since 8/13), batting .269/.400/.495 in that span with an .895 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.

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 last Tuesday.

DEFENSIVE IMPROVEMENT: Hudson Valley is 40-13 in games this season where they do not commit an error. The Renegades did not committ an error in the Game 2 win on Tuesday.

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. In two playoff games, the Gades have hosted an additional 8,173 fans.

Check out the Hudson Valley Renegades Statistics

• Discuss this story on the South Atlantic League message board...

South Atlantic League Stories from September 18, 2024


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central