No Seventh Heaven for 'Gades

WILLIAMSPORT, PA -In a road trip where little went wrong for Hudson Valley, the seventh inning of Sunday's 6-2 defeat at the hands of the Williamsport Crosscutters saw the baseball gods get even. Two walks, two wild pitches, and two errors led to Williamsport's five-run outburst at BB&T Park as the Renegades finished their six-game road trip at 4-2.
The scoring was started by the Crosscutters without the benefit of a hit. Second baseman Brayan Gonzalez led off the inning with a walk then moved to second on a hit-by-pitch by catcher Lenin Rodriguez from Renegades starter Nick Lee. After a groundout moved both runners up, Gonzalez scored on a sacrifice fly to center from designated hitter Rafael Marchan to give the Crosscutters the lead.
Hudson Valley tied things up in the sixth. With one out, back-to-back walks from Williamsport reliever Randy Alcantara to shortstop Tyler Frank and leftfielder Bryce Brown put runners at first and second. After an infield single from catcher Chris Betts loaded the bases, designated hitter Jacson McGowan lofted a sacrifice fly of his own into shallow left-centerfield, which was caught by Crosscutters shortstop Jonathan Guzman. Frank scored on the play and the game was tied at one.
However, everything came crashing down on the Renegades in the seventh. Rodriguez started the inning with a walk, then moved to second on a failed pickoff attempt from Hudson Valley reliever Alan Strong. After a fly out and infield single put runners at the corners with one away, Strong got a popup from Guzman for the second out. Strong looked as if he would get out of the inning but after walking Madison Stokes to load the bases, first baseman Edwin Rodriguez would clear them with a double to center to give Williamsport a 4-1 lead.
Edwin Rodriguez moved to third on the play thanks to a fielding error by Betts. After that, Strong uncorked his second wild pitch of the inning to score Rodriguez, which was then followed by a solo homer to left from leftfielder Ben Pelletier to make the score 6-1. The dinger by Pelletier was his fourth of the season and capped Williamsport's five-run frame.
In the ninth, Hudson Valley got a one-out walk from first baseman Allen Smoot and a double to left by rightfielder Jake Stone to put runners at second and third. Second baseman Garrett Giovannelli followed with a sac fly to right to cap the scoring for the evening.
Getting the win for Williamsport was Alcantara (4-1) who allowed a run on two hits over two innings. The star on the mound, though, was Crosscutters starter James McArthur who tossed five shutout innings on three hits. Taking the loss for the Renegades was Strong (0-1) who allowed five runs on four hits in only 1.2 innings of work.
The Renegades finished with five hits in the game as Stone went 2-4 with a double to lead the way. The Crosscutters, meanwhile, finished with seven hits including two apiece from Marchan and Pelletier. Marchan scored a run and drove in another while Pelletier had the solo homerun.
The Renegades return home on Monday, July 30^th when they open a three-game series and homestand against the Lowell Spinners beginning at 7:05. Righty Easton McGee (3-3, 7.34 ERA) will take the hill for Hudson Valley against Lowell southpaw Yorvin Pantoja (3-0, 4.70 ERA). Tickets can be purchased online at hvrenegades.com or by calling the ticket office at 845-838-0094.