'Gades fall just short: Wilmington wins late in dramatic fashion

Wappingers Falls, N.Y. – The Hudson Valley Renegades saw their five-game winning streak come to an end on Thursday night, falling to Wilmington 6-5 at Heritage Financial Park.

Hudson Valley had the tying run in scoring position with one out in the bottom of the ninth but couldn’t bring the runner home.

The Renegades led 5-4 in the top of the ninth with two outs before Ronny Cruz hit a go-ahead two-run homer.

Hudson Valley only had two hits through six innings. It then grabbed six hits in the final three.

Wilmington pitching walked seven batters. The Blue Rocks have walked 21 batters through three games.

Hudson Valley pitching struck out 13 Blue Rocks. The Renegades have struck out 35 batters through three games and lead the South Atlantic League with 1116.

The Renegades stole seven bases on the game and have 223 total steals on the year, the second-highest total in team history. They are averaging 2.1 steals per game this season.

The club record is 230 steals set in 2022.

The Renegades have stolen 40 bases in their last nine games and have been caught only twice.

Renegades pitching walked just two Blue Rocks. Hudson Valley has walked a total of five batters through three games.

Neither team committed an error after both committed four in game two of the series on Wednesday night.

The Renegades fall to 23-22 in the second half of the season and are 3.0 games back of the second half playoff spot.

The Renegades move to 9-12 overall against Wilmington, 6-9 against them at home, and 8-7 in the second half.

RHP Bryce Cunningham (6.0 IP, 10 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 8 K) struck out a season-high eight batters. It was his first time striking out eight-or-more batters in a game since he fanned eight on 4/26/25 at Asheville.

Cunningham pitched 6.0-or-more innings for the third time this season (6/9 at Jersey Shore and 8/1 (G1) vs Jersey Shore).

Cunningham didn’t walk a batter for a second time in his last three starts. It’s only the third time this season that he hasn’t walked a batter in a start.

Of the 10 hits Cunningham allowed, four were infield singles. He only allowed one extra-base hit (double). The 10 hits allowed were a career-high for the right-hander, surpassing his previous high of seven (two times).

2B Enmanuel Tejeda (2-for-4, K, 2 SB) is 5-for-10 (.500) with 2 BB to start the series against Wilmington.

Tejeda extended his hitting streak to four games.

3B Bryce Martin-Grudzielanek (1-for-4, R, BB, 2 K, 2 SB) has gotten on base in all nine games played with the Renegades.

C David McCann (2-for-3, 2B, R, RBI BB, K) was a couple of feet away from hitting his fifth home run in just seven High-A games.

McCann’s slashing .345/.424/.793 with a 1.217 OPS, 2B, 4 HR, 6 R, 12 RBI, BB, 9 K, 2-for-2 SB in High-A.

McCann has grabbed RBIs in all but two games played with the Renegades.

DH Hans Montero (1-for-4, R, K) has hits in each of his first two High-A games.

LF Robbie Burnett (0-for-3, BB, 2 K) extended his on-base streak to nine games.

Burnett is slashing .233/.395/.400 across it with 2 2B, HR, 2 R, 5 RBI, 8 BB, 13 K, and 3-for-3 SB over the streak.

1B Kyle West (1-for-3, 2 R, 2 BB, 2 K) broke a two-game hitless streak.

RHP Bryce Warrecker (2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 K) has only allowed three earned runs to score this season when pitching for more than one inning.