Hoppers lose next-to-last game of season in 12 innings

WAPPINGERS FALLS, N.Y. ― Everson Pereira hit an RBI single in the bottom of the 12th inning to drive home the winning run and lift the Hudson Valley Renegades to a 5-4 victory over the Greensboro Grasshoppers at Dutchess Stadium on Saturday night.

Pereira finished 2-for-4 with a home run and four RBIs to lead the Renegades, who lead the series 3-2 heading into the regular-season finale Sunday.

Greensboro has won or split 17 of 19 six-game series this season, and the Hoppers need a victory in the finale to make it 18 of 20.

Jared Triolo went 2-for-5 with his 15th home run of the season to lead Greensboro, which will open the best-of-five High-A East Championship series at home this coming week.

The second-seeded Hoppers (73-46) will host the top-seeded Bowling Green Hot Rods (82-36) in Games 1 and 2 of the championship series on Tuesday and Wednesday at First National Bank Field in Greensboro. Thursday is a travel day to Bowling Green, which hosts Games 3, 4 and 5 (if necessary) Sept. 24-26.

The Hot Rods and Hoppers finished first and second in the South Division, but the two teams with the best records in the entire 12-team league ― regardless of division ― earned playoff berths.

Greensboro eliminated North Division champ Hudson Valley (71-48) by winning two games in this season-ending series.

Will Matthiessen went 2-for-5 with a run scored Saturday in a game that was tied 2-2 at the end of nine innings.

Liover Peguero hit an RBI double in the top of the 10th inning, and Lolo Sanchez had an RBI single in the top of the 11th. But Hudson Valley scored runs in the bottom of those innings to send the game to the 12th.

In all, the Hoppers went just 3-for-17 with runners in scoring position and stranded nine baserunners.

Right-handers J.C. Flowers, Garrett Leonard and Carmen Mlodzinski all came off the 7-day injured list Saturday. Flowers started the game and allowed two runs in three innings, and Leonard followed with four scoreless innings of relief.

Enmanuel Mejia (1-1, 1.10 ERA) took the loss, allowing unearned runs in the 11th and 12th innings. He gave up two hits and walked two in 1 1/3 innings, striking out two.

Notes

• Bowling Green and Greensboro have played two series this season. The Hoppers are 5-7 in head-to-head games against the Hot Rods.
• Greensboro is 37-22 in road games this season, which is tied with Bowling Green for fewest road losses in the High-A East. Hudson Valley is 39-20 at home.
• Greensboro is 21-14 this season against teams that are .500 or above. Hudson Valley, which has played the weakest schedule in the league, is just 4-7 against .500-or-better teams (all 11 of those games against the Hoppers).
• Duke alum Jack Carey, a right-handed reliever, was sent down to the Rookie-level Florida Complex League to make room on the roster for the Hoppers pitchers activated Saturday.
• Left fielder Lolo Sanchez stayed hot, extending his hitting streak to six games and 10 of his last 11. Sanchez leads the league with 30 stolen bases and 79 runs scorer, and he ranks second with 55 walks. In his last 32 games, Sanchez has batted .344 (42-for-122) with 30 runs scored.
• Third baseman Jared Triolo leads the High-A East with 127 hits and 28 doubles. He ranks second with a .305 batting average and third with 78 RBIs. Triolo was batting just .217 on June 2, but in 84 games since then he has batted .326 with 25 doubles, 13 home runs, 63 RBIs and 23 stolen bases.
• First baseman Will Matthiessen has hit safely in 15 of his last 17 games, and he's batting .308 (20-for-65) with three homers, 16 RBIs and 19 runs scored in that stretch.
• In his last 19 games, catcher/DH Blake Sabol is 23-for-72 (.319) with five home runs, five doubles, 14 runs scored and 15 RBIs.