Yard Goats End Season with Extra Innings Victory
Published on September 14, 2025 under Eastern League (EL)
Hartford Yard Goats News Release
Richmond, VA - Bryant Betancourt had a pinch-hit RBI single in the 10th inning leading the Hartford Yard Goats to a 5-2 victory against the Richmond Flying Squirrels in the season finale on Sunday afternoon at The Diamond in Richmond, Virginia. It was the last ever game at The Diamond for the Flying Squirrels who will move into a new ballpark next season. Connor Staine pitched into the seventh inning and got help from RBI hits from Jared Thomas, Betancourt and Julio Carreras. The Yard Goats finished the season with a winning record 69-68. The Yard Goats open the 2026 season at Dunkin' Park on Thursday, April 2nd against the Baltimore Orioles affiliate, the Chesapeake Baysox.
The Yard Goats scored the first run of the game in the fifth inning as Jared Thomas knocked home Dyan Jorge with a single to right field off Richmond starting pitcher Ryan Murphy. Hartford made it 2-0 in the seventh inning on a fielding error on a ball hit by Braylin Wimmer which allowed Cole Messina to score.
Yard Goats starting pitcher Connor Staine did not allow a run over his first six innings and retired 12 in a row from the third through seventh innings. He sat down the side in order three times and permitted only three hits over the first six frames. However, in the seventh inning he allowed a one out single and a walk. The Flying Squirrels made it a 2-1 game as Drew Cavanaugh scored on an infield grounder, and then tied the game on Nate Furman's RBI single off reliever Blake Adams.
Neither team scored in the eighth and ninth innings sending the game into extra innings. In the 10th, Bryan Betancourt cracked a pinch-hit go-ahead run-scoring single, and Jared Thomas scored, giving Hartford a 3-2 lead. Later in the inning, Julio Carreras smashed a double down the left field line, scoring Betancourt and Benny Montgomery to make it 5-2.
Austin Smith, who pitched around a leadoff single in the ninth inning, stayed in for the 10th and got the job done. Smith got Turner Hill to line into a double play and then struck out Scott Bendura to end the game.
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