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Wild Walk-Off: Jones races home to give HV 6-5 victory

Pitching staff ties franchise record, punches out 19 batters
Spencer Jones reaches base three times and scores on a walk-off wild pitch in the ninth inning on Sunday versus the Wilmington Blue Rocks. (Dave Janosz)
By Thomas Zinzarella/Hudson Valley Renegades
July 2, 2023

WAPPINGERS FALLS, N.Y. (July 2, 2023) — The Hudson Valley Renegades stormed back late and scored a walk-off win over the Wilmington Blue Rocks 6-5 on Sunday afternoon at Heritage Financial Park. With the game tied at 5-5 entering the bottom of the ninth, Spencer Jones singled to right field

WAPPINGERS FALLS, N.Y. (July 2, 2023) — The Hudson Valley Renegades stormed back late and scored a walk-off win over the Wilmington Blue Rocks 6-5 on Sunday afternoon at Heritage Financial Park.

With the game tied at 5-5 entering the bottom of the ninth, Spencer Jones singled to right field on the first pitch of the inning against Marlon Perez (3-1). Back-to-back flyouts by Ben Cowles and Christopher Familia allowed Jones to tag up to second and third base.

With two outs and Jones at third, Rafael Flores was intentionally walked to bring up Antonio Gómez. Jones then scampered home on a 1-1 pitch in the dirt that snuck past the catcher Geraldi Diaz, and for the second time this season, the Renegades won on a walk-off wild pitch.

Wilmington jumped in front in the top of the first on a T.J. White RBI single off Juan Carela. The Blue Rocks extended their lead to 2-0 in the top of the third, when Jeremy De La Rosa scored from third on a rundown play where he was credited with a steal of home. Carela finished with nine strikeouts and allowed just two runs on three hits in 4.2 innings.

Hudson Valley tied the game in the bottom of the third against Rodney Theophile after the Renegades strung together three straight singles from Eduardo Torrealba, Marcos Cabrera, and Jones to begin the inning. The single by Jones scored Torrealba, and Cowles plated the second run with a sacrifice fly to even the score at 2-2.

Wilmington jumped back in front in the top of the seventh when White came through again with a go-ahead three-run home run to right field off Indigo Diaz to open up a 5-2 advantage.

The Renegades tallied the final four runs of the game starting with another sacrifice fly from Cowles in the seventh, and an RBI double from Gómez in the eighth. Gómez came around to score on a passed ball in the eighth to tie the game before the Renegades won the game in the ninth on the wild pitch.

Jack Neely (4-2) struck out all seven batters he faced in the contest and picked up his fourth win of the season. As a pitching staff, the ‘Gades tied their season-high and franchise record with 19 punchouts. The feat was also accomplished this season on April 23rd against the Rome Braves.

The Renegades and Blue Rocks wrap up their series on Monday evening at Heritage Financial Park. First pitch is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. with coverage on the Renegades Baseball Network beginning at 5:45 p.m. Hudson Valley will send RHP Drew Thorpe (6-1, 2.49) to the hill while the Blue Rocks will turn to RHP Andry Lara (2-5, 5.56).

The Renegades and Blue Rocks wrap up their series on Monday evening at Heritage Financial Park. First pitch is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. with coverage on the Renegades Baseball Network beginning at 5:45 p.m. Hudson Valley will send RHP Drew Thorpe (6-1, 2.49) to the hill while the Blue Rocks will turn to RHP Andry Lara (2-5, 5.56).