SARANAC LAKE, NY – The Plattsburgh Thunderbirds defeated the Saranac Lake Surge this evening by a score of 12-11 in which the game ended in walk off fashion.

Kyung Min Han started for the Thunderbirds and would face off against Saranac Lakes John Parrish.

Thunderbirds had the only run early on in the 1st inning when Anthony Torreullas launched a ball into the left field bleachers to give the Tbirds an early 1-0 lead

However, It was a pitchers duel through 4 innings until Saranac Lake would score a run in the 5th inning to take a 3-2 lead on a clutch base hit by Tomeko Saez to score Adam Imwalle.

The Surge would add 2 more in the 6th when Noah Ruiz scored on a double by Barrone Porter and Darrius Bomer would hit a sac fly to drive in Barrone Porter who advanced to third on a wild pitch to take a 5-4 lead.

But in the bottom of the 6th, the Thunderbirds answered with 3 runs when Jaylen Turner hit a ball to that cleared every part of land the Surge own for a 3-run homer and a 7-5 lead.

The Surge rallied back in the 7th to take the lead Scoring 5 runs. Steven Peryea Jr scored on a single by Zack Fowler for the first run of the inning. Tomeko Saez and Zach Fowler would score on Barrone Porter’s second double of the game. Then Benjamin Gravel and Barrone Porter scored on a single by lead off hitter Darrius Bomer to give the Surge a 2 run lead.

With a 10-8 lead heading into the bottom of the 9th and Jason Couture on first base, Anthony Torreullas hit a clutch triple to the right center area. But on that same play, Surge second baseman would try to make the throw home to get the lead runner and ended up throwing the ball out of play with 2 outs which caused Torreulas to score the tying run.

In the top of the 10th, Barrone Porter scored on a double by Salix Felix to take a 11-10 lead which looked to be the dagger in the game.

But Plattsburgh had other ideas, Kezlin Douglas would drive in Juan Lugo to tie the game in the bottom of the 10th, advanced to 2nd on a wild pitch, went to third on a smoked base hit by Juan Ayala to right field and Douglas finally scored on a wild pitch to end the game.

This final score of 12-11 give Plattsburgh, Saranac Lake and Malone 5 wins each in the season.

Noah Cole was credited with the win while Max Peterson was credited with the loss.

Article by Empire Media

MALONE, NY – The Tupper Lake Riverpigs came into Malone with a 9 game winning streak and would continue that streak as they defeated the Malone Border Hounds by a score of 5-0.

This was a match full of energy and a great environment. Over 700 fans in attendance for this one as Malones William Shea faced off against Tupper Lakes Joe LaFiora.

This game was a pitchers duel heading into the late innings. It was a two run ball game all the way until the 8th inning.

The Riverpigs took advantage of a few mistakes by the Border Hounds early to give themselves a 2-0 lead.

The Border Hounds had many opportunities with runners in scoring position and suffered with a few baserunning miscues and failed to bring in the runs.

Joe LaFiora was lights out as he would go the distance for the Riverpigs. LaFiora tossed a complete game shutout. He Struck out 11 batters in the game allowing just 4 hits and walking 3.

Tupper Lake would tie the Empire League record in most consecutive wins with a victory on Monday versus Japan.

Article by Empire Media

Saranac Lake – NY – The Japan Islanders defeated the 2nd place Saranac Lake Surge by a score of 16-5 to give Japan their 2nd win of the season.

Japan got off to a huge lead in the first inning scoring 6 runs on 2 hits. Newcomer Luke Chung came out swinging as he singled in his first two at bats of the game and drove in 3 runs.

Japan would tack on 7 more in the second inning off Surge starter Zach Marlow who struggled with command in this one and gave up another two hits to give Japan a total of 13 runs in 2 innings.

Saranac Lake would begin their scoring in the 3rd inning when the team scored 3 runs on a error by the Islanders 3rd baseman.

The Surge added another 2 runs in the 4th when Marco Melgoza and Darrius Bomer both scored. That would be the last time in the game the Surge would plate a run.

Ken Watanabe started for Japan and went 3 innings while striking out 4. Terry Beeker and Norman Coleman- Goodwin would throw 2 each to seal the victory.

Zach Goree came up big for the Surge as he tossed 5.2 innings allowing just 1 run on 5 hits and striking out 6 total batters.

The win was Japans 2nd and with the Malone Border Hounds losing the Surge remain in 2nd place

Article by Empire Media

Plattsburgh, NY – The Plattsburgh Thunderbirds get their second win of the season over the Saranac Lake Surge today in a wild 16-10 ballgame.

In a Game with such an offensive explosion from both sides, the game finished in less than 2 hours and 45 minutes.

A big reason why is because most of the runs came off 10 total homers with each team hitting 5 each.

Jaylen Turner hit two homers with one being a grand slam for the Thunderbirds and ended with 7 total RBI’s in the game. Anthony Socci, Zach Miner and Jason Couture joined him with a home run of their own.

Adam Imwalle had a big day for the Surge as he also would hit 2 homers driving in 4 total runs and scoring 2. Darrius Bomer, Stephen Peryea and Salix Felix joined the fun as they each had a homer.

The game basically came down to which bullpen would be able to stop more hitters and the Thunderbirds did just that. Right handed pitcher Noah Cole was outstanding as he went 2.2 innings without giving up a single hit, walked one batter and struck out 5 of the 8 batters he faced.

Noah Cole was credited with the victory while Ben Gravel, a position player, was given the loss.

Article by Empire Media

MALONE, NY – The undefeated Tupper Lake Riverpigs (6-0) defeated the Malone Border Hounds in Malone, New York in their first meeting this season.

Left handed starting pitcher Joe LaFiora made his Empire League debut going against one of the Empire Leagues top pitcher William Shea.

There was no action until the 3rd inning when the Tupper Lake Riverpigs scored their first run on a single to center field that scored Ryan Enos.

Malone got their first run in the 6th inning when Devon Hawks scored on a ball hit by Jose Torrealba to the pitcher in which William Shea made an errant throw.

The game took a turn in the Top of the 8th inning when the Riverpigs would score 4 runs. Collins Robinson scored the first one on a hit by pitch to Walner Espinal with bases loaded. Ryan Enos and Starling Paulino would score on the following at bat with a single by Christian Naccari. The 4th run would come in when Walner Espinal scored on a double play grounder with zero outs to make the game 5-1.

Border Hounds did however respond in the bottom of the 9th as they made a big comeback that fell short. Evan Keegan scored on a wild pitch, Nate Darwin scored on a single by Devon Hawks, and Devon Hawks scored on a bases loaded walk by Chris Loeb.

With a score of 5-4 in the bottom of the 9th, a new pitcher for the Riverpigs would come in and get Matt Golda to ground out and end the game.

Joe LaFiora was credited with his first win of the season going 6 innings giving up just 1 hit and striking out 7. William Shea was given a no decision as he went 7 innings allowing just 1 run on 6 hits, walking just 1 batter and striking out 7.

This was the first matchup of the rivalry in which Riverpigs remain undefeated for the season.

Article by Empire Media