19 May Late Surge Pushes Miners
Eleven Hits, Stellar Pitching Push Win Streak To Five
April 18, Augusta, NJ – In what was a tight game for six and a half innings on Thursday night turned into a rout, as the Sussex County Miners put seven runs up against the Tri-City ValleyCats bullpen in the seventh and eighth innings to run away with a 9-2 win at Skylands Stadium to sweep the three game series and run their win streak to five consecutive games.
Once again, a pitcher’s duel opened up affairs at The Ol’ Red Barn, as former Miner Dwayne Marshall and current Miner Alex Hart would go back and forth. The lone blemishes to Marshall’s evening was a three hit first, with Gavin Stupienski’s RBI single providing the lone run in the first inning, extending his hit streak to six games in the process. The other run came across on a solo home run by Juan Santana in the sixth that would give the Miners a 2-1 lead at the time. Hart’s lone hiccup would be a solo home run hit by Zach Biermann in the fourth inning that would tie the game at one. Biermann would do more damage in the seventh, as he his second home run of the game – this one off of Billy Parsons – would tie things up at two heading into the seventh inning stretch. Hart would pitch well on the evening, allowing only four hits and the one run. Alex would issue just one walk while striking out seven.
The bottom of the seventh would be where the Miners broke the game open. Edwin Mateo would lead off by drawing a walk from ValleyCat reliever Brac Warren, then advanced to second on a stolen base, and then to third when Jakob Goldfarb’s throw slipped into centerfield. The extra base wouldn’t matter, as Will Zimmerman would bring him home with an RBI triple to give the Miners the lead 3-2. It was Zimmerman’s third RBI in the last two games. Then three batters later, Jawuan Harris would knock Zimmerman home with an RBI single to push the Miners advantage to 4-2. Jackson Valera would reach on an error by the third baseman, and Santana would get his second RBI of the game on a sacrifice fly, knocking home Jason Agresti who had walked earlier to make it 5-2. Harris would then advance to third on a wild pitch, and score on an errant throw by Goldfarb to push the Miner advantage to 6-2. Sussex County would tack on three more runs in the eighth inning on three hits and three walks to stretch their lead to what would end up being the 9-2 final score.
Parsons would pitch the final three innings for the Miners in picking up the win, allowing just one other hit outside of the Biermann home run. Warren would take the loss for Tri-City, who have now dropped four consecutive games. The Miners will next welcome their rivals, the New Jersey Jackals, to Skylands Stadium with a Friday night fireworks spectacular. The first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 pm.