Ponies Fall to Erie in First Game of Eastern League Championship Series

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. – The Binghamton Rumble Ponies (0-1, 74-61) dropped the opening game of the Eastern League Championship Series to the Erie SeaWolves, 9-6, despite a game-tying three-run homer from Drew Gilbert in the sixth inning. Erie leads the best-of-three series, 1-0.

Binghamton raced out to a 3-0 lead after two innings. Kevin Parada had an RBI single to get the scoring started and JT Schwartz followed by grounding into an RBI fielder’s choice to make it 2-0. Rhylan Thomas hit an RBI double in the second to make it 3-0.

Erie (1-0, 75-62) then went on to score six unanswered runs to take a 6-3 lead. Ben Malgeri hit an RBI double in the fourth that made it 3-1. Danny Serretti drove in Trei Cruz with a sacrifice fly in the fifth to make it 3-2. Jake Holton later hit a two-run homer in the fifth to give Erie a 4-3 lead. Cruz hit an RBI double and Serretti hit an RBI single in the sixth to put Erie up 6-3.

In the bottom of the sixth, Thomas hit a one-out single and Jett Williams drew a two-out walk. With runners on first and second, Gilbert clobbered the first pitch he saw from Lael Lockhart over the right field wall for a game-tying three-run homer that made it 6-6. It was Gilbert’s first homer and first runs batted in of the postseason.

Erie clawed right back in front in the seventh on an RBI double from Eliezer Alfonzo, which gave the SeaWolves a 7-6 lead. Erie added two runs in the ninth on runs batted in from Daniel Cabrera and Alfonzo to go up 9-6.

The Rumble Ponies will play Game Two of the Eastern League Championship Series at UPMC Park on Tuesday night against the Erie. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m. and pregame coverage will begin at 6:20 p.m. on the WNBF Rumble Ponies Radio Network.

Postgame Notes: Williams drew a career-high-tying four walks…Parada recorded the first three-hit game of his Double-A career…Luisangel Acuña, Gilbert, Rowdey Jordan, and Thomas also recorded multi-hit games…Jordan went 2-for-4 with a double, single and run scored and has gone 6-for-12 over the first three games of the postseason.