Yesterday evening, the Tri-City ValleyCats and New Jersey Jackals faced off at Hinchliffe Stadium and fans were treated to a game that came down to the wire.
New Jersey would land the first blow in the bottom of the first inning. Facing two outs, Jackals’ newly acquired outfielder David Glancy hit a single to right field. This allowed outfielder Martin Figueroa to score from second base, giving New Jersey a 1-0 lead.
ValleyCats starting pitcher Chad Gartland would battle through traffic for the next four innings. Tri-City could only keep New Jersey at bay for so long, as a solo home run to left field by Aneudis Mordan extended the Jackals lead to 2-0 in the fifth inning.
New Jersey’s starting pitcher Sonny Fauci impressively matched Gartland pitch for pitch. Despite several ValleyCats baserunners reaching either by walks or via hit-by-pitches.
Fauci was able to hold the ValleyCats scoreless for the first seven innings. Gartland handed the ball to Adam Brouwer in the seventh inning, and after a leadoff walk in the eighth inning, Fauci gave way to Andrew Peters.
After struggling to find any rhythm at bat, Tri-City would finally break through in the bottom of the eighth inning. With runners on first and third base, infielder Ian Walters ripped a double to center field.
Creating the opportunity for Max Mandler and Nick Monile to score, tying the game up at 2-2. New Jersey would have Jorge Benitez come on to try to stop the Valleycats from building any more momentum.
Benitez would do exactly that, holding Tri-City scoreless for the rest of the eighth inning. New Jersey would sub out Benitez at the top of the ninth inning for Chase Hungate. Unfortunately for the Jackals, Hungate couldn’t give them the opportunity to win the game.
Hungate went on to hit Daniel Stephens with a pitch, and five pitches later he committed a balk. This would prove to be costly because it advanced the runners and allowed the go-ahead run to give the ValleyCats a 3-2 lead.
In the middle of the ninth inning, the ValleyCats brought out Wyatt Cameron to come in relief for Adam Brouwer. Despite a two-out single by Isaac Bellony, Cameron would slam the door shut on New Jersey’s comeback hopes.
Tri-City would successfully play spoiler, winning 3-2 over New Jersey. While the ValleyCats are well out of playoff contention, the Jackals continue to fight for a playoff spot.
