Renegades Show Grit, Win 7-6

Auburn, NY - The Hudson Valley Renegades have won in walk-off fashion six times in 2014, but on Friday night, it was the 'Gades opponents who looked for a dramatic victory. In what is becoming their typical fashion, the 'Gades answered the call and survived a late rally for a 7-6 victory.

The Renegades jumped out in front early in the game when Braxton Lee singled and Coty Blanchard doubled to lead off the game. Lee came in to score on a ground out by the Rays' 2014 1st round draft pick Casey Gillaspie.

Gillaspie would go on to help the 'Gades take a 6-0 lead an inning later, when he came to bat with the bases loaded and his team leading 3-0. He scorched a double to right which cleared the bases and put his team ahead by six runs.

But Auburn showed grit against Renegades starter Chris Pike. He pitched into the fifth inning having allowed just two hits, but a pair of walks and an RBI single set the stage for a three-run homer from Auburn's Raudy Read which cut the Renegades' lead to 6-4.

Pike was relieved by Edgar Gomez, who received some insurance from his team in the top of the sixth inning, when Gillaspie laced another double, this time to left, to score Jace Conrad and restore a three-run cushion.

It was an advantage the 'Gades would not relinquish. Gomez pitched into the ninth inning, allowing two runs which cut the Renegades' lead to 7-6. But with the tying run on third, Kyle McKenzie came in to close it out for Gomez, and picked up the save while striking out a batter.

The win was the 25th of the season for the Renegades, the joint-highest total in the New York-Penn League with the State College Spikes. The Renegades hold an eight-game lead in the McNamara Division over Staten Island, who the Renegades will play in a two-game series next week.

Notes: The Renegades have yet to lose a game which Chris Pike has started. In his four starts the team is 4-0, but Pike is yet to record a wint. Friday's outing of 4.2 innings is the longest in his pro career..... Tonight's appearance by McKenzie was his Renegades' debut, after beginning his pro career with Princeton since his selection in the 20th round of the draft last month..... Gillaspie is hitting .343 in his last nine games (12-for-35), and has 10 RBI in that span. He ranks second on the team in RBI in 2014 with 23, five behind Hunter Lockwood...... The Renegades will play a three-game series in Vermont against the Lake Monsters on Saturday, Sunday and Monday before returning home to take on the Staten Island Yankees at the Dutch on Tuesday July 22. For ticket and hospitality information, call the box office at (845) 838-0094.