NYPL Tri-City ValleyCats

ValleyCats win the first of three against Vermont

Published on August 1, 2004 under New York-Penn League (NYPL)
Tri-City ValleyCats News Release


Troy, NY- The Tri-City ValleyCats received good pitching and timely hitting to beat the Vermont Expos 6-3 in the first game of a three game set before 2, 743 at Joseph L. Bruno Stadium. Evan Englebrook struck out 11 in five innings on the mound for Tri-City.

Hunter Pence hit a towering home run with one out in the first inning to commence the scoring. He hit a huge drive over the left field scoreboard for a solo shot that gave Tri-City a 1-0 lead.

The ValleyCats scored two more runs with one each in the second and third innings. Lance Koenig led off the second with a double and came around to score when Jonny Ash hit a triple to right-centerfield. His shot into the gap went all the way to the wall and allowed him to motor around to third base. In the third inning, Ben Zobrist started the action with a double. Mario Garza responded with a double but in a rare occurrence, Zobrist only advanced to third base. Garza's fly ball was hit on a line to right field. Zobrist stayed in between second and third base until the ball sailed over Steve Mortimer's head.

The 'Cats had runners at second and third and had to wait until Kevin Vital hit an RBI single to take a 3-0 lead.

Vermont got all three runs back in the fourth inning against ValleyCats starter Evan Englebrook. With one out and one man on, Luke Montz belted a home run over to bring Vermont within two at 3-2.

Englebrook hit the next two batters with a pitch and walked Brandon Conway. The bases were loaded when Englebrook fired a ball that skipped off the glove off the catcher Lance Koenig. The ball skipped to his right and by the time he noticed where the ball was, the tying run had scored for the Expos.

Englebrook bounced back after the three run fourth inning. He faced the minimum in the next three innings, striking out two Expos in each inning. Evan finished with 11 strikeouts in five innings on the mound. The 11 strikeouts are a ValleyCats single game franchise record for one pitcher.

The score remained tied until the seventh inning. Zobrist walked and Mario Garza belted a home run over the right-field wall. The ValleyCats had a 5-3 lead. Garza now has four home runs and eight RBI's, having homered in four straight games.

In the eighth inning, Brandon Averill smacked a solo home run to round out the scoring at 6-3. It was his first professional home run.

The ValleyCats and Expos continue their three game series tomorrow night. The game can be heard in the Capital Region starting at 6:40 on AM 1160 WABY Mechanicville and AM 900 WUAM Saratoga Springs as well as on the Internet at sportsjuice.com.

Check out the Tri-City ValleyCats Statistics

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New York-Penn League Stories from August 1, 2004


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