Big First Inning Lifts Renegades to a Championship
Hudson Valley Renegades manager Jared Sandberg couldn’t help noticing how relaxed his team was playing at the start of the season. Renegades fans couldn’t help noticing how relaxed the team was at the end of the year.
The Renegades displayed composure and resiliency well beyond their years as they battled back from one-game-to-none deficits in each of their two post-season playoff series. Last Thursday evening at Dutchess Stadium, they emerged with an 8-3 victory over the Tri-City Valley Cats in the third and deciding game of the New York-Penn League championship series, capturing their first league title since 1999.
“It’s amazing,” said Sandberg after he had watched his players earn the second championship in franchise history. “Both series, we were down 1-0 and that’s how we played this entire season. We never gave up. It was a special season. They turned it into a special season.”
The Renegades, who were forced to win a pair of home games last week after losing at Brooklyn in the first game of the semifinals, wasted no time jumping to a big lead in the decisive game against the Valley Cats. First baseman Ryan Dunn rocketed a two-run single to center field to give the ‘Gades a quick 2-0 lead in their first turn at bat. Shortstop Leonardo Reginatto and catcher Jake DePew then followed with back-to-back RBI singles as Hudson Valley built a commanding 4-0 edge in the early going.
The Valley Cats chopped the lead in half by the sixth, but the Renegades answered with two more runs in both the sixth and eighth innings, to the delight of the 3660 fans who turned out to watch the culmination of a great season by the popular home team. Marty Gantt drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the sixth and, later in the frame, Dunn scored on an error.
After Tri-City scored its third run in the seventh, Hudson Valley all but put the game away an inning later as Gantt drove in a run with an RBI single to the right-center field gap and eventually scored on a wild pitch to cap the night’s offense.
Just as the Renegades’ bats were clicking when it counted most, Hudson Valley’s pitching also held up. Sandberg called on seven different pitchers to piece together the clincher, highlighted by a two-inning, four-strikeout performance from Brandon Henderson, who recorded the win.
Henderson also notched the win in the Renegades’ 2-0 victory over Brooklyn last Monday, setting down 13 consecutive Cyclone batters through four and a third innings. He maintained the relaxed mentality throughout the playoffs.
“I just took it one pitch at a time, that was the mindset,” Henderson said. “I tried to dial in each pitch, and we got the job done. It was great energy, and all year we played really loose.”
Just a day earlier, Gades’ third baseman Richie Shaffer, the Tampa Bay Rays’ first-round draft pick this year, crushed a go-ahead, three-run homer to left in the eighth inning to force a game three. The Renegades’ win overwhelmed Shaffer, and marked the first time he captured a team title .
“It’s incredible and this is why you play the game,” he said. “I could tell we had something special here and the chemistry among this team was unparalleled. This is one of the first times I ever won a championship in my career in baseball, since I was eight years old and it’s just an awesome feeling.”
According to Sandberg, the loyal Renegades fans deserved to witness a championship season, and he was proud his team played each game this year with a winning attitude.
“Hudson Valley has always meant a lot to me and my family, and to win a championship for these fans is amazing,” he said. “The team had fun, but it was a focused fun. They came to play every single day and they came to work every single day. You really have to tip the cap to these players.”
Adam has worked in the local news industry for the past two decades in Westchester County and the broader Hudson Valley. Read more from Adam’s author bio here.