Twice As Nice: Pair of Pereira long balls leads Renegades

GREENSBORO, N.C. (June 14, 2022) – Two home runs from Everson Pereira and a late-game comeback led the Hudson Valley Renegades to an 11-9 win over the Greensboro Grasshoppers in 10 innings on Tuesday night at First National Bank Field.

Down to their final out and trailing by two runs in the ninth, the Renegades rallied to tie and eventually won with three runs in the top of the tenth. Pereira finished 3-for-5 with two home runs, three runs scored and four RBIs.

The Renegades took an early lead in the top of the first on Pereira’s first homer of the night, a line drive tucked just over the wall in right off Quinn Priester. However, Greensboro tied the game in the bottom of the first off Blane Abeyta.

Hudson Valley answered with a four-run rally in the third, highlighted by a two-run double by Tyler Hardman. The Gades added another in the fifth on an Eric Wagaman solo home run. In just 30 games this year, Wagaman has tied his career-high with seven home runs on the season.

The Grasshoppers chipped away, scoring two in the fourth and two more in the fifth to narrow the gap to 6-5. They eventually took the lead in the bottom of the seventh on a two-run double from Fabricio Macias off Leif Strom. They grew the advantage to 8-6 off Ryan Miller in the eighth with a Dariel Lopez RBI single.

With two outs in the ninth, Trey Sweeney doubled to right off Domingo Gonzalez, then with the Renegades down to their final strike, Pereira delivered a dramatic two-run homer to left-center to tie the game.

In the 10th, Aaron Palensky drove in pinch runner Eduardo Torrealba to give the Gades a 9-8 lead, and Pat DeMarco later followed with a two-out, two-run double to provide important insurance.

Greensboro pushed across a run in the bottom of the 10th on a groundout and a balk, but couldn’t muster anything else off Alex Mauicio (4-0), who locked down the win. With the victory, the Renegades are at the .500 mark for the first time since May 14.

Hudson Valley continues its series with Greensboro on Wednesday night at First National Bank Field. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m., with coverage on the Renegades Baseball Network beginning at 6:15. RHP Matt Sauer (3-1, 3.02) gets the start for the Renegades, while Grasshoppers counter with RHP Jared Jones (2-3, 5.10).