ValleyCats Dominate In Season Opener

The Tri-City ValleyCats were in complete command at "The Joe" on Friday night, defeating the Vermont Lake Monsters by a score of 11-1 in front of a sellout crowd of 4,627, behind three home runs and brilliant pitching.

Newcomers Seth Beer and Jeremy Pena collaborated with relative veterans Luis Encarnacion and Kyle Davis to compile 11 runs behind eight hits, including three home runs.
Beer, who was the Houstons Astros' first round selection (28th overall) in the 2018 Major League Baseball Draft, ended his professional debut with a 2-for-4 day at the plate, two runs batted in and a team-high three runs scored to go along with his first career home run.
The milestone home run came in Beer's second at-bat. His first professional hit was poured over the left-center field wall in the fifth inning to score Pena off of first base in extending the ValleyCats' provisional lead to 7-1.
The lead got to that point as the result of a monster day at the plate from Luis Encarnacion.
Encarnacion brought home the ValleyCats' first four runs of the night, including a two-run home run in the first inning to give Tri-City its first lead of the year.
He then backed that up with a two-run double in the third inning, scoring Pena and Beer to make the lead 4-1. 
As part of the ValleyCats' four-run sixth inning, Encarnacion drew one of two bases loaded walks for Tri-City, collecting his career-high-tying fifth RBI of the night.
One of the ValleyCats' returning members this season, Kyle Davis, tacked on a solo home run in the fourth inning to extend the ValleyCats' lead to 5-1 at the time.
Jeremy Pena, the Astros' third round selection in the 2018 MLB Draft, made his presence felt right from the drop of the flag at Joe Bruno Stadium.
After 'Cats starter Chad Donato struck out the game's first two batters on six pitches (Jeramiah McCray reached on a wild pitch in the dirt), the seventh pitch of the game was hit directly at Pena, who started the game at shortstop.
Pena played the routine ground ball off his chest as it dribbled several feet to his right and he was unable to record either of the two potential outs.
After grounding out in his first at-bat, Pena then went on to reach base in his next three plate appearances. 
In the third inning, Pena walked and scored on Encarnacion's two-run double. Then in the fifth inning, Pena picked up his first career hit--a double that was yanked into left field. Pena then scored his second run of the game on Beer's home run.
Pena then went on to serve as one of the catalysts to Tri-City's four-run sixth inning. With Carlos Machado and Osacar Campos on base, Pena ripped a base hit to right, scoring Machado giving him his first career RBI. 
Not to be lost in the debris of the ValleyCats' 11-run outburst was the dominant pitching performance that locked down Tri-City's opening night win.
The game was started by Chad Donato, who was charged with an unearned run in the first inning. From that point, Donato shut the Lake Monsters down. 
Six strikeouts to go along with just three hits set the tone for the ValleyCats' pitching staff as Donato picked up the Opening Night win.
Luis Garcia and Felipe Tejada went on to record the game's final nine outs. Behind four strikeouts from Garcia and three for Tejada, the ValleyCats ended up striking out a whopping 13 batters to solidify the win.
The ValleyCats will continue their season-opening homestand against the Lake Monsters during Health & Home Runs Night on Saturday, with first pitch slated for 7:00 p.m. Coverage will begin on the Tri-City ValleyCats Radio Network with Steven Cusumano 15 minutes prior to first pitch.