ValleyCats Get Win Over Batavia Behind Impressive Showing By Dawson

Ronnie Dawson is beginning to find his stride at the plate.

The Astros 2016 second round draft pick had 2 LONG home runs in the ValleyCats 9-8 win over the Batavia Muckdogs on Sunday evening. Dawson had a nice bounce back performance after giving up a costly run on a fielding error in Saturday nights loss.

“Some of the home runs I hit, I never know. But I knew that those two were gone.” Said Dawson after the game.

Tri-City jumped out to a 4-0 lead after just one inning. And starting pitcher Erasmo Pinales (1-2, 2.66 ERA) held down the fort the first 4 innings not allowing a run. But after getting into some trouble and being taken out after 4.2 innings, Batavia brought their bats to life. Colby Lusignan hit a game-tying, bases clearing double to left. And with the man on 2nd, centerfielder Stephen Wrenn made a critical fielding error. Dropping the ball allowing the go-ahead run to score. Wrenn was benched for the remainder of the game.

The ValleyCats mounted a comeback of their own in the 7th inning. Second baseman Ryne Birk started the scoring by doubling to center. And eventually the ‘Cats would post a 5-spot in the inning. Taking a 9-5 lead heading into the 8th.

There was a little bit more room for error on Saturday night with a 4-run lead heading into the 9th inning. And they needed it. Relief pitcher Carlos Sierra made things interesting by walking the tying run to the plate. And the ‘Cats turned to Juan Santos, who finished the job, but not before giving up 2 more runs. He did get his 2nd save of the year. And that wrapped up a 9-8 victory.

Batavia falls to 6-24 on the season. So if there was ever a series that the ‘Cats need to win, it’s this one. 30 games into the season, they are 16-14. Who knows what the second half of the season will bring?