Late-inning heroics continue for Renegades in 5-4 walk-off victory
Wappingers Falls, N.Y. (April 17, 2024) —After a brief rain delay prior to first pitch, it appeared that the Aberdeen IronBirds were going to cruise to a 4-1 victory on Wednesday night. Instead, the Hudson Valley Renegades found more late-inning magic, scoring three in the ninth to tie the game
Wappingers Falls, N.Y. (April 17, 2024) —After a brief rain delay prior to first pitch, it appeared that the Aberdeen IronBirds were going to cruise to a 4-1 victory on Wednesday night. Instead, the Hudson Valley Renegades found more late-inning magic, scoring three in the ninth to tie the game at 4. At long last, in the 11th inning, Nelson Medina singled home Kiko Romero to seal the third straight win for the Renegades, and their second consecutive walk-off win.
Renegades starter Jackson Fristoe struggled with command in the first inning, walking four batters in 0.2 innings. A single from Matthew Etzel opened the scoring, and a sacrifice fly from Carter Young later in the inning put Aberdeen in front 2-0. Etzel finished his night 4-for-5, and was on base five times.
On the other side, Hudson Valley had runners on in the early going, but a pair of inning-ending double plays in the first and second allowed IronBirds starter Cameron Weston to settle in. After earning South Atlantic Player of the Week honors on Monday, Weston tossed four scoreless innings on Wednesday, allowing just two hits and striking out four.
Josh Moylan got the Renegades on the board in the bottom of the fifth with a towering drive to right for his first home run of the season.
The IronBirds added a fourth run in the sixth with Tavian Josenberger coming around to score on a two-out walk, via an error by Renegades second baseman Roc Riggio.
In the bottom of the ninth, the Renegades came alive. Jesus Rodriguez continued to perform, singling home Jared Serna to cut the deficit to 4-2. After Moylan was hit by a pitch, a throwing error by Matthew Etzel allowed Rodriguez to come in to score. With the score 4-3, IronBirds reliever Hayden Nierman issued a free pass to Anthony Hall to load the bases, and Beau Brewer earned a base on balls in the ensuing at-bat to complete the three-run comeback to send the game into extra innings.
After both teams struggled to find a clutch hit in the 10th, the Renegades found the breakthrough in the bottom of the 11th. After Rodriguez popped out, Moylan walked, setting up Nelson Medina to be the hero. In his first at-bat after coming on as a pinch runner in the ninth, he singled through the right side, scoring automatic runner Kyle Battle and capping off a heroic comeback.
Hudson Valley will look to build on their winning streak against Aberdeen on Thursday night at Heritage Financial Park. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. with the Heritage Financial Credit Union Pregame Show beginning at 6:15 on the Renegades Radio Network. RHP Brian Hendry (1-0, 0.00) takes the ball for the Renegades against RHP Levi Wells (0-1, 8.10) for the IronBirds.