Sanudo leads Valleycats in debut

Staff Report

NORWICH, Conn. — The Tri- City ValleyCats made sure a post all-star g am e los ing streak wouldn’t start on Thursday and they had a brand new member to thank.

Right- hander Gonzalo Sanudo made his debut for the ValleyCats and worked out of a bases loaded jam, in the eighth inning, to preserve the lead and help Tri- City post a 3- 1 victory over the Connecticut Tigers at Dodd Stadium.

With ( 33- 23)

ValleyCats Tigers 3 1

the ValleyCats

leading 2- 1, Sanudo relieved Andrew Thurman and escaped from a one- out bases loaded jam.

Sanudo was promoted from Greeneville ( Rookie) and fellow righty Andrew Walter was promoted to Quad Cities.

Tri-City lost their first game after the all- star break ended, but bounced right back to remain in first place in the New York- Penn League’s Stedler Division, just ahead of Lowell.

The ValleyCats didn’t manage much offense, finishing with just five hits and was held scoreless through the first six innings.

Tri-City got single runs in each of the seventh, eighth and ninth innings. Michael Martinez tied the score, 1-1, with a sacrifice fly to score James Ramsay.

One inning later, Chan Moon tripled and came in to score on a RBI single by Tyler White. The ValleyCats tacked on one more run when Martinez hit his team-leading ninth home run over the left field fence.

The Tigers ( 25- 30) scored their lone run in the very first inning, when Dominic Ficociello doubled home Steven Negron.

That was the only run allowed by Sanudo, Thurman and starter Adrian Houser, who combined to allow just six hits and one run, while striking out eight.

Tri- City plays the Tigers tonight at 7 p.m.