On Friday, Sept. 7, a sellout crowd of 4,864 fans packed Dutchess Stadium to wish the Hudson Valley Renegades farewell in the team’s final game of the season.
In a game that symbolized the team’s play all year, the ‘Gades fell behind early only to rally back in the late innings – and still fall short of a win. The Vermont Lake Monsters held on to win the game 8-4, handing the Renegades another tough defeat.
With the loss, the Renegades finished their season 34-42, good for third place in the New York-Penn League’s McNamara division.
Vermont scored often and early against Renegades starter Alex Cobb, putting up two runs apiece in the first two innings.
Facing an early 4-0 deficit, the Renegades offense responded in the bottom of the second. Designated hitter Jimmy Mayer, who saw significant action in the season’s final games, drove home right fielder Reid Fronk to put Hudson Valley on the board. Later in the inning, first basemen Henry Wrigley scored to make it a 4-2 game.
The game was seemingly within reach for the ‘Gades, but the Lake Monsters came back with four more runs in the fourth and fifth innings against relief pitcher Robert Della Grotta to take an 8-2 lead.
Down once again by a sizable margin, the Renegades launched another rally in the seventh. Center fielder Emeel Salem drove home Mayer for the Renegades’ third run and then shortstop Kevin Colon scored on a pinch-hit single by Angel Fermin. The hit brought the Renegades to within 8-4, but the Lake Monsters bullpen held fast and Hudson Valley failed to score the rest of the game.
Alex Cobb (5-6) took the loss, giving up four runs on six hits in three innings of work. Fronk and Mayer contributed two hits each for the ‘Gades.
The loss completed a wild last week for the team, which went on a season-high three-game winning streak before dropping its final two games.
The streak started with a 10-3 victory over the Aberdeen Ironbirds on Sept. 3.
The Renegades continued their hot hitting the following night, beating the Ironbirds 11-5. The ‘Gades posted eight runs in the third inning and never looked back. Starting pitcher Jesse Darcy picked up the win to finish the season with a 6-5 record.
On Wednesday, facing the Lake Monsters, the Renegades won their third straight game by a score of 7-4. Diego Echeverria gave up two runs over five innings to take the win, improving to 4-8 on the year. Center fielder Emeel Salem led the way at the plate, going 3-3 with four RBIs.
The ‘Gades went for their fourth win in a row in the penultimate game of the season on Sept. 6 but came up short. The Renegades took two leads early in the game on the strength of a three-run homer by catcher Mike McCormick, but Vermont battled back.
The teams were knotted at 7 runs apiece going into the ninth when the Lake Monsters erupted for five runs against Newburgh native Mark Suchowiecki. In their bottom half of the ninth, the Renegades couldn’t answer and they lost the game 12-7.
Suchowiecki (1-3) took the loss in relief for the ‘Gades. McCormick finished 2-4 with three RBIs. His fourth-inning home run was his eighth long ball of the year.
After the difficult loss the Renegades were unable to bounce back in the last game of the season, losing 8-4. Their final record of 34-42 was an improvement over 2006, when the team went 31-43, but not good enough to qualify the Renegades for the postseason.