IronBirds top the Renegades in an Extra-Inning Thriller

Gassaway's RBI single in the 12th pushes Aberdeen to their first win

June 17, 2018

Aberdeen, MD: The IronBirds and Renegades battled through thirteen innings of intense baseball. Randolph Gassaway's RBI infield single in the bottom of the 12th was the difference in this one as the IronBirds get their first win of the season over Hudson Valley. THE JC DIFFERENCE: The IronBirds came into today

Aberdeen, MD: The IronBirds and Renegades battled through thirteen innings of intense baseball. Randolph Gassaway's RBI infield single in the bottom of the 12th was the difference in this one as the IronBirds get their first win of the season over Hudson Valley.
THE JC DIFFERENCE: The IronBirds came into today with one run scored in two games played. In 3 innings today, JC Escarra, doubled that with two critical early RBI's. In the First innings, Escarra brought home Jake ring with an line drive single. Then in the 3rd, Escarra got all of a pitch from Michael Mercado for his first home run of the season.
PEREZ DEALS: Luis Perez made a strong first impression in his IronBird's debut. Perez, a Non-Drafted Free Agent (2016), pitched 6.0 innings of shutout baseball. He allowed only one hit and struck out six.
HELP WANTED: Michael Mercado struggled through 4.2 innings of pitching but was helped out by some strong work from the Renegade bullpen. Alan Strong and BJ Meyers were excellent in relief. In total, the two relievers pitched 3.1 scoreless innings of relief to keep the game close for Hudson Valley.
RESPONDING STRONG: Hudson Valley didn't score a run until the 8th inning when they got two unearned runs off of IronBirds right-hander, Jimmy Murphy. Murphy went 1.2 inngins pitched, giving up 3 hits and two walks.
EXTRA'S: The IronBirds and Renegades played into extra innings for the first time for the 2018 season. Tyler Frank broke the 2-2 tie for Hudson Valley as the short-stop laced a line drive, RBI single that brought in Jake Stone. It wasn't until the 12th inning when IronBirds DH, Randolph Gassaway, came through with the game winning infield single to score Robbie Thorburn. It was Gassaways first hit and RBI of the season.
BIRD WATCHIN': JC Escarra collected two hits along with both RBI's for the IronBirds today. Overall, he ended up going 2-for-4 with a solo homerun. Along with his bat, Escarra also showcased some stellar defense at 1st base. He made a couple of critical diving plays to save hits and also started a doubke play ball to get out of a 1st and 3rd jam.
UP NEXT: The IronBirds will be back tomorrow night at home when the face the Tri-City Valley Cats at 7:05 p.m.