After rallying in the ninth inning, the Richmond Flying Squirrels (3-1) walked off in the 11th inning with a, 3-1, win over the New Britain Rock Cats in front of 6,078 on Sunday afternoon at The Diamond. Adam Duvall scored the winning run on a wild pitch, igniting a wild celebration in the home plate circle. With the win, the Squirrels also took the series over the Rock Cats by claiming three of the first four games of the season.
After a scoreless first inning, Rock Cats’ designated hitter Josmil Pinto hit a wind-aided solo-home run on the first pitch of the second inning from Richmond righty Justin Fitzgerald. Pinto’s first home run of the season gave New Britain an early 1-0 advantage.
On a limited pitch count, Fitzgerald worked only into the fourth inning. However, he turned in an effective 3 1/3 innings, allowing just the lone run on two hits. He walked two and struck out five in his season debut.
The Rock Cats struck for a second run upon Fitzgerald’s departure. Right-hander Scott Shuman entered and walked the first batter that he faced, James Beresford. Beresford swiped second and scored to make it 2-0 when Dan Rohlfing singled into right field.
Rock Cats’ righty Alex Meyer was in control for the first four innings, but the Squirrels finally got to him in the fifth. With two outs in the inning, Ehire Adrianza doubled to deep center field. Joe Panik brought him home with an opposite-field single to trim the Rock Cats lead to a lone run, 2-1.
Mark Minicozzi doubled off right-hander Mike Tonkin to lead off the ninth inning and represented the tying run. Tonkin recovered to retire the next two batters, and the Squirrels were down to their final out before Andrew Susac drilled a double into the alley in left-center field to tie the ballgame, 2-2.
The Squirrels’ bullpen was phenomenal in the ballgame, as three hurlers turned in scoreless performances. Right-hander Edwin Quirarte worked two innings, lefty Phil McCormick went 2 1/3, and righty Jose Valdez (1-0) earned his first Double-A win with two impressive frames.
Duvall, who scored the winning run, also sparked the game-winning rally. He opened the 11th inning with a scorched double off Bobby Lanigan up the left-field line. Lanigan (0-1) doomed himself to the loss with the wild pitch that ended the ballgame with Javier Herrera at the plate.
The Squirrels open a three-game series with the Bowie Baysox (Baltimore Orioles) on Monday night at The Diamond. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m., as LHP Ryan Bradley (0-0, —) makes the start for Richmond against RHP Julio Rodriguez (0-0, —) for the Baysox. Pregame coverage begins on SportsRadio 910 and SportsRadio910.com at 6:05 p.m.
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Chris Graham
