ValleyCats win in Lowell
July 28, 2004 - New York-Penn League (NYPL)
Tri-City ValleyCats News Release
LOWELL, MA-The Tri-City ValleyCats beat the Lowell Spinners 2-1 in 16 innings to close out a brief two game series at LeLachleur Park. The 'Cats are 8-2 against the Spinners so far on the season.
Lowell got one run off of ValleyCats starter Raymar Diaz in the second inning. Diaz left one pitch up in the zone to Chris Turner and Turner belted one over the left-field wall for a 1-0 lead. The Spinners would carry that lead all the way to the top of the ninth inning with two outs. They would carry that lead all the way into the ninth inning.
Save for the second inning home run, Raymar Diaz pitched very well. He actually gave up fewer hits than Lowell starter Barry Hertzler did, but took the tough luck loss. Diaz gave up one run on two hits in six innings pitched. Diaz kept his walks to a minimum with only two and struck out nine Spinners.
Diaz's pitching performance was so good it could only be equaled. Unfortunately for the ValleyCats, Lowell starter Barry Hertzler was up to the task. He pitched seven innings of scoreless baseball, allowing just four hits and struck out eight. Both pitchers got a no-decision.
Jeff Wigdahl relieved Diaz and pitched a scoreless eighth inning. Drew Ehrlich took the ball from Hertzler in the eighth inning and got Tri-City to go quietly in order. In the ninth inning, Jonny Ash led off with a single off Ehrlich. Ben Zobrist stepped up to the plate and dropped down a sacrifice drag bunt. He was thrown out and Ash moved up to second base. Mario Garza struck out against Ehrlich. Hunter Pence worked the count to 1-1 and got a pitch in the dirt got past the catcher Paniagua. Jonny Ash moved up to third base. Pence fouled a few pitches back and threw another pitch in the dirt that got past Paniagua. Ash scored to tie the game at 1-1.
Tri-City and Lowell battled through numerous extra innings. In the 11th inning, Drew Pinckney led off with a triple. He was left stranded when Lowell failed to bring him home. The ValleyCats stranded a runner in scoring position when Kevin Vital led off with a double and did not come around to score.
In the meantime, all Rodrigo Escobar did was relieve Jeff Wigdahl in the tenth inning and pitch four scoreless innings. Escobar struck out seven to give a set a new single game franchise record for most strikeouts in a game. When Escobar was lifted for Casey Brown, the ValleyCats pitchers had 17 strikeouts. They would finish with 21.
In the 14th inning, the ValleyCats got the bases loaded with two outs before Lou Santangelo struck out for the third out.
The ValleyCats got two runners in scoring position in the 16th inning when Kevin Vital hit a double to bring home the winning run.
The ValleyCats now have an off day on Wednesday before opening up a three game series against the Williamsport Crosscutters. The game is set for 7:00 Thursday at Joseph L. Bruno Stadium. The game can be heard on AM 1160 WABY Mechanicville and AM 900 WUAM Saratoga Springs as well as on the Internet at sportsjuice.com.
New York-Penn League Stories from July 28, 2004
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- ValleyCats win in Lowell - Tri-City ValleyCats
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