Riverpigs split over weekend; lose opener but beat Wild on Sunday
Dan McClelland
By Rich Rosentreter
The Tupper Lake Riverpigs lost their season opener 9-6 on Saturday but bounced back to win the second game of the season 7-2 Sunday against the New Hampshire Wild.
In the opener in front of a jam-packed stadium, the Rivergpigs fell behind 1-0 in the top of the second inning. In the bottom half of the inning, Tupper Lake threatened to tie the game but stranded a runner on third base.
In the home third, shortstop Walner Espinal had the crowd yelling and buzzing when he blasted a homer over the left field fence to tie the game at 1-1. Feeding on the crowd’s energy, the Riverpigs kept the inning going when outfielder Mark Shkrelja singled and Joey Skov ripped a double. Both runners later scored as the boisterous home crowd rocked the hometown stadium and Tupper Lake grabbed a 3-1 lead.
The Wild players were unfazed, however, as they rallied to tie the score at 3-3 in the top of the fourth.
Then the Riverpigs showed their fight in the bottom of the frame as Ronald Krsolovic led off with a single up the middle, followed by an infield hit by catcher Miguel Molina and a walk by Espinal to load the bases. Khalyd Cox ripped an RBI single and Tupper Lake regained the edge and a 4-3 lead.
In the top of the fifth, the Riverpigs showed off some flashy defense when the Wild were threatening with a rally and a runner on third base. The ball was grounded to third baseman Ronald Krsolovic who alertly tagged out the runner at third and drilled a throw across the diamond for a timely inning-ending double play to preserve the one-run lead.
In the bottom of the fifth, once again the crowd roared as Edward Salcedo, who has major league experience with the Atlanta Braves, crushed a home run to give the Riverpigs a 5-3 lead.
Then came the top of the seventh inning - and some key errors that would cost the Riverpigs the ball game. The Wild plated six runs in the inning to take a 9-5 lead. Tupper Lake managed to score a run in the bottom of the ninth but a rally fell short.
Riverpigs Manager Jonathan Albaladejo said the one bad inning was the difference in the game, but he was focused more on the learning experience for the players and their improvement.
“The two home runs excited the crowd,” he said after the game. “We did a lot of things really well I think. We did some good things at the plate, we just need to improve on the defensive side. We made some little mistakes that should not happen and that’s why we’re here, it’s a developmental league and we’ll continue to work and hopefully in two weeks none of that will happen.”
“I’m sure we’ll win plenty of games,” Albaladejo added. “We’ve got a good team and I think we’ll do a lot better than we did tonight.”
On Sunday, the Riverpigs did play a better game and won. The crowd wasn’t as big as the opener, but still the stadium was full of Tupper Lake supporters. The Riverpigs fell behind early as the Wild jumped out to a 2-0 lead. Tupper Lake cut the deficit to 2-1 until the bottom of the fourth when they took the lead for good, once again taking advantage of the long ball.
Walner Espinal put the crowd into a frenzy as he smashed a homer with a runner on base to give the Riverpigs a 3-2 lead and the local team never looked back. Killian Bloat kept the rally going with a single and was followed by a drag bunt single by Robert Antunez. Both runners moved up on a Wild miscue and Edward Salcedo ripped a single to right field to drive in both runners and give Tupper Lake a 5-2 lead.
The Riverpigs tacked on two more runs, including another homer by Espinal, who leads the team with three in two games, for the 7-2 win.