The Tables Are Turned

TROY, NY-After three-straight wins in walk-off fashion, the Hudson Valley Renegades had the tables turned on them Wednesday night as they lost a walk-off 8-7 to the Tri-City ValleyCats at Joseph L. Bruno Stadium. Tri-City scored twice in the ninth inning to overcome a one-run deficit. The Renegades twice led the ValleyCats by three runs, but couldn't put them away.
The scoring started for the Renegades with two runs in the first. Centefielder Tanner Dodson lined a double to right and rightfielder Jordan Qsar walked to put runners at first and second with one away. Catcher Chris Betts followed with another double to center to score Dodson as Qsar went to third. The next hitter, first-baseman Jacson McGowan, followed with a sacrifice fly to center to bring in Qsar and give Hudson Valley a 2-0 lead.
Tri-City responded with a run of their own in the bottom of the first. With two out and a runner at third, catcher Alex Holderbach ripped a double to center to put the ValleyCats on the board.
Hudson Valley would score single runs in the second and third innings to increase the lead. Leftfielder Michael Smith roped a double to center to score designated hitter Marvin Malone from first to put the Renegades up two. In the next frame, Betts grounded a single to left, then came around to score on three wild pitches from ValleyCats reliever Brett Conine as the Renegades led it 4-1.
The ValleyCats came back with two in the fifth to pull within one. With one out and a runner at first, second-baseman Austin Dennis lined a double to left to move the runner to third. From there, shorttop Trey Dawson grounded a two-run single to center to make the score 4-3.
The teams would trade runs in the fifth as third-baseman Adrian Rondon singled in Betts in the top-half, while first-baseman Luis Encarnacion lined an RBI single to left to bring in centerfielder Alex McKenna.
The sixth inning saw more scoring as the Renegades scored twice to take a three-run lead again. McGowan drove in two runs on an infield single to short to put the Hudson Valley up 7-4. However, Tri-City got both runs back in the bottom-half as third-baseman Emmanuel Valdez drew a bases-loaded walk, and McKenna grounded into a 6-4-3 double play to bring in Dawson to pull the ValleyCats to within 7-6.
Things stayed that way until the bottom-of-the-ninth. Renegades closer Jack Labosky had retired eight consecutive hitters in going three complete innings, however things unraveled for him in the ninth. Back-to-back singles put runners at the corners with no one out to start the inning when rightfielder Carlos Machado stood in and scalded a single to right to tie the game. After a pop-out to first recorded the first out of the inning, Encarnacion stood in and grounded the game-winning single into left to score McKenna from second.
Getting the win for the ValleyCats was reliever Luis De Paula (1-4) who fired 2.1 hitless innings of relief while striking out four. The loss fell to Labosky who allowed the two runs in the ninth on four hits in 3.1 frames.
The Renegades had 11 hits in the game, including three from Betts who scored twice, doubled and drove in a run. Rondon went 2-5 with an RBI and a double as well, while Dodson finished with a single, double and a run scored.
Tri-City finished with 10 hits. Encarnacion went 3-4 with a couple of RBI, while McKenna went 2-5 with two runs scored to aid the ValleyCats' cause.
The Renegades take on the ValleyCats in game two of their three-game series tomorrow at 7:00 p.m. Righty Joe Ryan (1-0, 5.12 ERA) will take the hill for Hudson Valley against southpaw Carlos Hiraldo (2-0, 3.48 ERA) for Tri-City.
Hudson Valley returns home on Saturday when they kickoff a two-game series and homestand against the Aberdeen Ironbirds. First-pitch is slated for 6:05 and will include a fireworks show following the game. Tickets can be purchased online at hvrenegades.com or by calling the ticket office at 845-838-0094.