Benedetti's walk-off caps 6-5 win over Vermont

Carmen Benedetti's two-run single in the bottom of the 9th lifted the Tri-City ValleyCats (19-17) over the Vermont Lake Monsters (17-19), a 6-5 final Sunday night at Joseph L. Bruno Stadium. 

"I told myself, 'This isn't going to extras. There's no way this goes to extras," Benedetti said after the game. He finished 3-5 with two RBI and a run scored. 

Juan Santos picked up the win in relief for the 'Cats, pitching to only one batter in the top of the 9th inning. Starter Framber Valdez struck out four in five innings of one-run ball before Edgardo Sandoval and Sean Stutzman combined to allow four runs to score in the next 3.2 innings. 

Vermont got on the board first in the 2nd inning on an RBI base hit from James Terrell, who finished 3-4 with two runs scored. Neither team scored in the 3rd, but the 'Cats tied the score in the 4th when Taylor Jones launched his 4th home run of the season. The solo shot, which traveled 380 feet to left field, was the only run the 'Cats managed off of Lake Monsters starting pitcher Ivan Andueza, who scattered three hits over six innings. 

Miguel Mercedes smacked his 5th home run of the season in the 6th, a solo shot to left field, giving Vermont a 2-1 lead. The Lake Monsters added two more runs in the top of the 7th thanks to a sacrifice fly from Eli White, and a throwing error on Sandoval. 

Things got interesting in the bottom of the 7th when Stephen Wrenn came to bat with the bases loaded. He hit a ground ball to third baseman Jesus Lopez, which scored Brauly Mejia from 3rd, and Lopez threw wildly to second base. DeGoti, who was running from first to second before the throw, tried to get to third base, but was tagged out for the 3rd out of the inning. Meanwhile, Tyler Wolfe appeared to cross home plate before the out was recorded, but home plate umpire Matt Cowan upheld that DeGoti was tagged out before Wolfe scored.

Mejia's run pulled the 'Cats within two, and they tied it up in the 8th thanks to a two-run base hit from Tyler Wolfe, his first as a ValleyCat, that scored Benedetti and Chuckie Robinson, before Sean Stutzman came on to pitch the 9th. Wolfe was acquired in the 39th round of the 2016 Draft by the Houston Astros, and promoted from Greeneville after Randy Cesar's promotion to Quad Cities. 

James Terrell III doubled to lead off the 9, and Stephen Pallares moved him onto third base with a sacrifice bunt. Eli White followed with his second sacrifice fly of the game, giving Vermont a 5-4 lead. 

In the bottom of the 9th, Marc Berube (BS, 1, L, 0-1) surrendered back-to-back walks to DeGoti and Ryne Birk, prompting Vermont manager Aaron Nieckula to pull Berube in favor of Derek Beasley (BS, 1). Stephen Wrenn promptly reached on an error to load the bases, and Benedetti dropped a base hit into left center field in front of a diving Terrell to plate the game-tying and game-winning runs. 

Berube finished with four runs allowed on three hits in one inning of work. 

The ValleyCats are back home tomorrow, July 25, against the Vermont Lake Monsters for game two of this three-game set. 

Probable match-ups:

Monday, July 25, 7:00: Enrique Chavez (2-0, 1.67) vs. Brandon Bailey (0-0, 1.93)

Tuesday, July 26, 7:00: Dakota Chalmers (4-1, 2.87) vs. Ryan Hartman (0-0, 1.40)