A much needed win for sure.
The Tri-City ValleyCats had hit an undesired three game losing streak very early into this 2016 season. And a loss on Friday night would’ve meant a series sweep for the visiting Vermont Lake Monsters. But thanks to some clutch hitting and a steady night from the bullpen, the ‘Cats are off to Lowell as a happy group.
Like many times to start out this season, the scoring for the ValleyCats started fairly early. A Carmen Benedetti line drive scored Taylor Jones to put the ‘Cats up 1-0 in the 2nd. And Jones wasn’t done. He drove his second homer of the season to left in the 4th inning to extend the lead. A Vermont 2-run homer from Miguel Guzman tied the game in the fifth. The first scoring of the night for the Lake Monsters, who were shutout in a short, but strong performance by ValleyCats starter Brett Adcock. Who went 2.2 innings without allowing a hit and striking out three.
Tri-City finally broke through in the 7th inning when Alex DeGoti hit a line drive go-ahead single into left. Some timely hitting for a team that has lacked it to start the season. From there the offense tacked on. In the 8th, 2 more runs scored off of Benedetti and Randy Cesar hits. And three solid innings of relief work to close out the game by Austin Nicely, who only allowed 1 hit in that frame. Nicely earned his first win of the season. And the ‘Cats closed it out by a score of 5-2.
“Hitting with runners in scoring position is our mindset” said DeGoti after the game. “Guys took the pressure off themselves, and just let their ability take over.” Tri-City was much improved in that department tonight, only leaving three men in scoring position.
With the road trip to Lowell coming up, I asked Lamarr Rogers about the importance of winning the series against the undefeated Spinners. And on the night of his birthday, I got the obvious response of “I’m not thinking about that right now, i’m just enjoying the night.” Same here Lamarr, same here.
