After double-header split, ‘Cats head to Washington with season on the line
TROY, NY » The Tri-City ValleyCats played two very different games on Thursday against the Sussex County Miners. The first game was a resumption of Wednesday’s suspended game, due to rain, which was picked up in the third inning on Thursday at 4 p.m.
The ValleyCats would take a 1310 win in the first game, which featured 31 hits combined between Tri-City and Sussex County.
The Mines rebounded and got a 7-0 win during the second game, which was seven innings, due to double-header rules.
In the first game, Connor Lien was 2-for-4 with a double, a grand slam home run and six RBI. Denis Phipps was 2-for-5 with two home runs, his twentieth and twentyfirst of the season. Luis Roman was 3-for-4 with three RBI, with Juan Silverio, Zach Biermann and Carson McCusker all having a two-hit game.
“Matt (Callahan) came up to me and told me he’s never seen a ball hit there before — ever, over
that second fence and into the trees over there. It was a bomb and couldn’t come at a better time with the bases loaded,” ValleyCats manager Pete Incaviglia said of Lien’s grand slam, which went over the second wall in center field.
Juan Kelly hit two home runs for Sussex and Chuck Taylor, Kaleo Johnson and Trevin Esquerra each hit a homer.
Pat Murphy got the win for the ValleyCats in relief and Michael Mediavilla took the loss.
With the loss, the Miners (48-43) were eliminated from post-season contention, as the Washington Wild Things (54-39) clinched the Northeast Division.
GAME 2
The story of the second game for Sussex County was Tyler Luneke, who threw a seven inning, four-hit, complete game shutout, leading the Miners to a 7-0 win. He struck out two and did not walk a batter.
Denis Phipps had two of the ValleyCats four hits in the game. McCusker and Roman had the other two.
Jose Cruz got the loss for Tri-City, giving up five runs over 5.2 innings.
A WAVE GOODBYE
After the final out of the second game, Pete Incaviglia took a moment to wave to the crowd, in what could have been the ValleyCats final game at Joseph L. Bruno Stadium this season, should they not reach the playoffs.
The wave was reciprocated by a standing ovation from some of the fans as the team walked off the field.
“It’s been a great year. We started off horribly at 4-16 and we have three games left and have an opportunity to make the playoffs. I just wanted to show my appreciation for the fan base coming out on a school night. I’m sure there’s a lot of other things they could have been doing, but they came out here to support our guys and I just wanted to say thank you,” Incaviglia said. “Without the fans and without the community, we don’t have baseball. They were great all year, they came out and supported us and I’m really grateful to have the opportunity to manage here and see the fan base and how they do it here.”
SEASON ON THE LINE
After the ‘Cats completed the second game on Thursday night, they began the seven-plus hour bus ride to Washington, PA for their series against the Wild Things, which begins on Friday at 7 p.m.
The ValleyCats (49-44) and Equipe Quebec (49-43) are battling for the Atlantic Division title and a postseason berth. Tri-City has three games remaining on their schedule, while Quebec has four against Sussex County, who will play a double-header in Sussex on Friday.
“They could have laid down a long time ago and they didn’t, they kept fighting and they kept scratching and it’s a tribute to them and their character,” Incaviglia said. “We’ll go to Washington
and see if we can bring some playoff baseball back.”
The ValleyCats currently hold the tiebreaker over Quebec, as they won the season series 8-7. This season, the ValleyCats are 1-5 on the road against Washington (they are 5-1 against Washington at home). So far, the Miners are 6-5 against Quebec and are 5-3 at home.
Given the rivalry that the ValleyCats and Miners have had this season and the fact that Sussex has been eliminated from the post-season, whether or not Sussex manager Bobby Jones puts out his most competitive lineup
over the next four games is something that remains to be seen.
The probable starters for the three games against the Wild Things are Logan Dubbe, Josh Hiatt and Parker Kelly.
If Tri-City is able to clinch a post-season berth, they will remain in Washington to begin a five-game semi-final series against the Wild Things. Even though Washington (54-39) will have a better record than Tri-City or Quebec, they will not have home field advantage throughout the series, due to Wild Things Park being unavailable on September 17 and 18, due to concerts.
ALL STARS
On Thursday afternoon, the Frontier League announced their end-of-season awards and all-star team. The members of the ValleyCats represented as allstars are Denis Phipps (DH), Juan Silverio (3B), Brad Zunica (1B) and Trey CochranGill (RP).
“They are all-stars,” Incaviglia said. “Anybody who watched any games, Denis Phipps and Juan Silverio and Brad Zunica and Trey Cochran-Gill are the heart and soul of our ballclub. Trey set a record for saves, Juan set a record for hits, Phippsy set a record for home runs and Brad might be the best offensive player in the league. I feel very fortunate to manage those guys and we wouldn’t be here without them.”
These are the league-wide awards:
Most Valuable Player (Morgan Burkhart Award): Quincy Nieporte, Schaumburg Boomers
Pitcher of the Year (Brian Tollberg Award): Ryan Hennen, Washington Wild Things
Rookie of the Year (Jason Simontacchi Award): Ryan Hennen, Washington Wild Things
Citizen of the Year (Fran Riordan Award): Nick Ward, Washington Wild Things
Manager of the Year (Roger Hanners Award): Andy McCauley, Evansville Otters
Coach of the Year (Darren Bush Award): Alex Boshers, Washington Wild Things
Can-Am Conference AllStar Team:
1B—Brad Zunica, Tri-City ValleyCats
2B—David Glaude, Équipe Québec
3B—Juan Silverio, TriCity ValleyCats
SS—Cito Culver, Sussex County Miners
C—Jeffry Parra, Équipe Québec
DH—Denis Phipps, TriCity ValleyCats
OF—L.P. Pelletier, Équipe Québec
OF—Martin Figueroa, Sussex County Miners
OF—Chuck Taylor, Sussex County Miners
SP—Ryan Hennen, Washington Wild Things
RP—Trey Cochran-Gill, Tri-City ValleyCats
Midwestern Conference All-Star Team:
1B—Riley Krane, Evansville Otters
2B—J.R. Davis—Evansville Otters
3B—Brylie Ware, Joliet Slammers
SS—Luis Pintor, Florence Y’alls
C—Trevor Craport, Florence Y’alls
DH—Quincy Nieporte, Schaumburg Boomers
OF—Chad Sedio, Florence Y’alls
OF—Chase Dawson, Schaumburg Boomers
OF—Nolan Earley, Southern Illinois Miners
SP—Zac Westcott, Southern Illinois Miners
RP—Logan Sawyer, Evansville Otters Miscellaneous Awards Organization of the Year— Schaumburg Boomers
Executive of the Year (Bob Wolfe Award)—Michael Larson, Schaumburg Boomers
Trainer of the Year—Rylee Shimmin, Washington Wild Things
Writer of the Year—Mark Singelais, Albany Times Union
Broadcaster of the Year (Robert Ford Award)—Kyle Dawson, Washington Wild Things
Clubbie of the Year (Sam Hartsfield Award)—Kee Stewart, Florence Y’alls
Field of the Year—Todd Vanostrand, Tri-City ValleyCats
Umpire of the Year—Mel Chettum
Photographer of the Year—Logan Douglas, Washington Wild Things