New Hampshire Fisher Cats Win Walk-Off Style Over Connecticut Defenders - Eastern League

MLN Newswire - www.mlntherawfeed.com - Manchester, NH- Kyle Phillips lined a single to deep right field, scoring Scott Campbell with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the New Hampshire Fisher Cats a 5-4 walk-off victory over the Connecticut Defenders Sunday afternoon before a crowd of 2,983 at Merchantsauto.com Stadium.



With the game tied 4-4, Marcos Cabral (2-for-3, 2B, 2 R, BB) was walked on four pitches by losing pitcher Justin Hedrick (0-1) to start the ninth inning. Campbell (3-for-4, R) lined a single to right, Chris Gutierrez (1-for-4, SF, 2 RBI) bunted into a fielder’s choice ground out and Phillips (1-for-5, RBI) hammered a Hedrick offering over the head of rightfielder Carlos Sosa to give New Hampshire (2-7) a split of the four-game series.


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Left-hander Daryl Harang (1-1) pitched one inning of scoreless relief to earn his first win less than 24 hours after suffering his first loss. Harang entered with the bases loaded and no outs in the top of the ninth inning. After Travis Ishikawa (2-for-5, 2 RBI) blooped a two-run single to tie the game, 4-4, Harang struck out Simon Klink (0-for-4, BB, R) and induced an inning-ending double play grounder off the bat of Sosa (0-for-4, BB, R).



Connecticut (6-4) rallied from a 4-2 deficit against Fisher Cats’ reliever Sean Stidfole in the top of the ninth when Olmo Rosario (2- for-4, R) led off with a single, pinch-hitter Dayton Buller doubled down the leftfield line and Travis Denker drew a walk. Rosario and Buller scored on Ishikawa’s double off Harang, with both runs charged to Stidfole (0 IP, 2 ER, 2 H, 1 BB).



New Hampshire erased a 2-0 deficit in the bottom of the fifth inning against Defenders’ starter Brooks McNiven. Brian Jeroloman (2- for-2, 2B, HBP, R) walked, Eric Nielsen (1-for-4, R) singled, and both runners advanced on catcher Adam Witter’s passed ball. Anthony Hatch (0-for-3, BB, RBI) scored Jeroloman with a ground out, and Ryan Patterson (0-for-3, SF, RBI) brought home Nielsen with a sacrifice fly.



Cabral, making his Fisher Cats’ debut, doubled to right field, knocking McNiven out of the game. Ryan Sadowski entered and intentionally walked Campbell before yielding an RBI single to Gutierrez, scoring Cabral to give the Fisher Cats a 3-2 lead.



New Hampshire made it 4-2 in the seventh inning when Gutierrez scored Cabral with a sacrifice fly.



Connecticut jumped ahead 2-0 in the top of the fourth inning against Fisher Cats’ starter Jean Machi when Klink and Sosa drew back-to- back walks, and Witter (1-for-3, 2B, 2 RBI, BB) grounded a two-run double down the rightfield line.



Machi had his second straight quality start, allowing two runs on five hits in six innings. The right-hander struck out six and walked five –one intentionally.