ValleyCats celebrate Fourth of July with sweep of Capitales

TROY, N.Y. ( NEWS10 ) — The fireworks came early for the Tri-City ValleyCats (25-23) on Thursday as they launched two homers, and swept the Québec Capitales (30-18) 10-1 at Joseph L. Bruno Stadium.

Tri-City got on the board in the second. Oscar Campos doubled off Sam Ryan. Demias Jimerson plated Campos with a single to pull the ValleyCats ahead, 1-0.

Tri-City doubled its lead in the third. Robbie Merced launched his fourth long ball of the season, and third in the last week to provide the ValleyCats with a 2-0 advantage.

Merced doubled in the fifth and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Javeyan Williams delivered an RBI single to put Tri-City on top, 3-0.

Campos began the sixth with a single. Ian Walters then singled, and Campos went to third after an error from Justin Gideon. Kyle Novak singled and knocked in Campos. Jimerson brought home a pair with a triple. Dylan Broderick had an RBI single off Austin Marozas before Williams had an infield single. The two baserunners moved up 90 feet on a wild pitch. Ryan Cash collected a two-run single to make it a 9-0 game.

Williams went yard in the eighth against Yusniel Padron to give the ValleyCats a 10-0 lead. It was the fourth round-tripper of the year for the left-hand-hitting outfielder.

Québec barely avoided being shut out by Jhon Vargas in the ninth. Jake MacKenzie reached on an error from Elvis Peralta and swiped second. Tyler Osik went to first on an error from Williams, and MacKenzie came around to cut the deficit to 10-1. Tom Peltier entered and induced a lineout from Kyle Crowl to seal the ‘Cats sixth straight victory.

Vargas (6-2) earned the win and nearly picked up his second complete-game shutout of the season. He dominated for 8.2 innings, yielding an unearned run on four hits, and struck out eight on a whopping 129 pitches.

Ryan (3-5) received the loss. He lasted five frames, giving up seven runs, six earned on 10 hits, walking one, and striking out two.

Tri-City begins a three-game series against the Sussex County Miners on Friday, July 5 ^th . First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 PM.

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