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The atmosphere at Dutchess Stadium was certainly ripe for a Hudson Valley Renegades victory on June 21.
Coming off an uplifting 11-inning victory at Staten Island the night before, the Renegades returned for their first Saturday night home game with more than 4,000 fans cheering them on and a touted sixth-round draft pick, Shane Dyer on the mound.
Unfortunately the wind came out of Hudson Valley’s sails early, quickly negating the home field advantage and ultimately resulting in a 9-1 loss in the middle game of a three-game set against the Yankees.
Dyer, a lanky righthander, took the mound and looked sharp early on, hitting the strike zone and retiring the first batter he faced. With no one on, Staten Island third basemen Braedyn Pruitt lined a single to center. An error by Hudson Valley third baseman Anthony Sceifo on a Jahdiel Santamaria hit allowed the runners to advance to second and third. Catcher Brian Baisley than smashed an RBI single to center, plating Pruitt for the game’s first run.
The damage was not yet complete. A wild pitch by Dyer brought in Santamaria for the second run of the game. Later in the inning, Staten Island’s David Adams drove in two more runs on a single to right-center. Whether it was a case of nerves in his professional debut, it appeared as though Dyer was working right into the middle of the strike zone, rather than nibbling around its edges.
Having reached his pitch count, Dyer was done for the evening after only one inning, having allowed four runs on three hits, although only one of those runs was earned.
In the bottom of the frame, Renegade first baseman Mike Sheridan lined a single to left, one of three hits he would collect on the night. In spite of a couple of hard-hit balls in the inning, the Renegades were unable to put anything across against Staten Island starter Cory Arbiso.
Hudson Valley’s Scott Welsh relieved Dyer to pitch a scoreless second, including two strikeouts, before yielding to knuckleballer Diego Echeverria in the third. Echeverria yielded another RBI single by Adams and the Staten Island lead was 5-0
After Arbiso was relieved in the fourth by Jacinto Gonnel, there was a stirring in the Renegades heretofore-dormant offense. Sheridan led off with a screaming line-drive double down the first base line. The Renegades then played small ball to plate their first run. Sheridan moved over to third on a groundout by rightfielder Mike McKenna and came around to score on a sacrifice fly by Kyeong Kang to make it a 5-1 ballgame.
In the bottom of the fifth, the Renegades had a golden opportunity to further cut into the Yankee lead. With Gonell still on the mound, designated hitter Michael Lyon reached on an infield single with one out. Following a strikeout of second baseman Mike Ross, shortstop Robi Estrada singled in the hole between first and second, advancing Ross to third and bringing up Sheridan, the hottest hitter on the team. Fouling off numerous pitches, including a deep cut down the rightfield line, Sheridan was called out by the first base umpire on check swing.
The game was effectively put away by Staten Island in the top of the sixth inning when rightfielder Melky Mesa rudely greeted an Echeverria offering and deposited the ball off the leftfield scoreboard for a long home run. Later in the inning, Staten Island scored three more times on long double by Morris and a sacrifice fly from Baisley. A balk from Echevarria completed the scoring, giving Staten Island a 9-1 lead that would hold up until the end.
Gonnel, pitching 2 and 1/3 innings of relief, got the win to improve to 1-0, while Dyer took the loss in his inning of work. Sheridan had three hits to improve his season average to .615. Manager Joe Alvarez was philosophical after the game.
“When you get down 4-0 in the first inning, it’s an uphill climb. We’ve got to get our starting rotation back into a groove,” said Alvarez, admitting that Dyer could very well have been suffering from debut jitters.
The Renegades went on to drop a game the following day at Staten Island, before rebounding to take two straight from the Brooklyn Cyclones.
Honoring the talent men
In a pre-game ceremony, the Renegades inaugurated their Scouts Hall of Fame. The exhibit, located just outside the gates of the stadium, inducted its first two members, Texas Rangers’ scout Tom Giordano and John Tumminia, who has worked for the Chicago White Sox for more than 20 years.
As part of the festivities, White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf paid tribute to Tumminia in a video message played on the scoreboard. Renegades co-owner Marvin Goldklang present the scouts with plaques and both men threw out the first pitch to Hudson Valley catcher John Mollicone. The hall of fame is sponsored by the Topps trading card company and the Goldklang Group, which owns the Renegades. Scouts will be honored this season at by all six minor league affiliates owned by the Goldklang Group.
