Miners Win 1-0 In Defensive Masterclass, Hold Tri-City Scoreless
The Sussex County Miners won game one of the three-game series, 1-0, against the Tri-City ValleyCats.
The Miners and the ValleyCats started this game off on a slow note, only recording one hit a piece in the second inning, but the Miners would get the party started, scoring the first and only run of the game by both teams.
With one out in the top of the fourth inning, second baseman Hunter D’Amato tripled on a fly ball to center, and third baseman Dean Ferrara doubled toward center field, bringing home D’Amato to get the Miners on the board with a 1-0 lead. Tri-City’s starting pitcher Luis Misla was able to get out of trouble by striking out designated hitter Mahki Backstrom and forcing right fielder Keenan Taylor to line out, retiring the side.
Left fielder Gabriel Maciel was carrying a 19-game hitting streak coming into this game, but that came to an end, as Maciel went hitless in his three at-bats. Starting pitcher Christian Colmery pitched an exceptional game, as he worked six innings, allowed only two hits, and struck out four.
The ValleyCats struggled to generate offense, as Tri-City only registered three hits. The last time the ValleyCats registered three hits or less was July 22nd in a 10-1 loss against the Ottawa Titans.
The Miners defense was great in the opener, only allowing three hits and striking out six, resulting in a 1-0 victory. The last time the Miners defense allowed three hits or less was July 29th in a 1-0 win against the Ottawa Titans.
The Sussex County Miners now inch closer to a potential Wild Card berth, sitting at 38-40 on the year, now three games behind the New Jersey Jackals after tonight’s contest, who sit at 41-37 after their loss against the Down East Bird Dawgs.
The ValleyCats move to 30-48 overall and look to even the series tomorrow. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Fans can watch live on the Frontier League Network powered by HTN or listen on Mixlr. Streaming links are available at scminers.com
Written by Justin Shepard
Above: Christian Colmery pitched six scoreless innings for the win (photo by Phil Hoops)