A Flair For the Dramatic: A Renegades Story

A FLAIR FOR THE DRAMATIC: A RENEGADES STORY

The Comeback Kids. The Rallying Renegades. They did it again.

The Hudson Valley Renegades beat the Wilmington Blue Rocks on Friday Night at Dutchess Stadium, 11-9. It's the seventh win in a row for Hudson Valley.

When Israel Pineda hit a two-run home run in the top of the 5th to give the Blue Rocks an 7-3 lead, the game looked like it was nearly over. It seemed like it would stay there after a nightmare inning where Renegades pitcher Nelson Alvarez gave up six earned runs.

The lead stretched to 8-3 after a home run by Oman Meregildo in the sixth.

The wheels started turning on offense for the Renegades though, and little by little they chipped away at the lead. Isaiah Pasteur gave the Gades the spark they needed in the top of the 7th when he launched his first home run of the season, a two-run shot to cut the deficit to 8-5.

Ezequiel Duran decided that he wanted in on the action as well and he hit an RBI double scoring one, so the Renegades found themselves down just two.

Anthony Siegler, Wednesday’s walk-off hero, stayed hot and drove in the seventh run for the Renegades but got thrown out trying to leg a single into a double. The Gades were down by one after seven.

While the offense was churning, Matt Minnick was doing solid work out on the mound, throwing 2.2 innings and allowing only one run off of two hits.

Eduardo Torrealba’s RBI double in the bottom of the 8th tied the game and the Renegades looked poised to win it when they had the bases loaded. However, Isaiah Pasteur and Ezequiel Duran both struck out swinging. Up came the dangerous Anthony Siegler, and he didn’t disappoint.

If the right field wall is 325 feet, Siegler must have hit his ball 324.5 feet because he missed a grand slam by just a few inches. With that, however, Siegler blew the game open and put the Renegades up 11-8.

Charlie Ruegger, who pitched the last two innings of the game, watched his no-decision turn into a win (3-4). It wasn’t all pretty though, as Israel Pineda walked into the batter's box in the top of the 9th representing the game-tying run. Pineda drove in Gage Canning to make the game 11-9, but with two outs, Drew Mendoza grounded out to end the game.

With the win, the Renegades have clinched a series win two days early. They've also built up a 4.5 game lead on Aberdeen in the North Division. The teams continue the series on Saturday night.