Aberdeen IronBirds Defeat Hudson Valley Renegades 11-1 - Short Season A, NY-Penn League

Aberdeen - On the same day that Chris Salberg was promoted to Class-A Delmarva, Aberdeen starter Cole McCurry turned in a performance that could have him wearing a Shorebirds uniform in the near future as well.

The left-hander got all the run support he could want, as Aberdeen scored nine runs over the first two innings on their way to an 11-1 win in the nightcap of a doubleheader against Hudson Valley on Sunday.


The IronBirds (15-17) dropped the first game of the twin bill by a 9-6 score in eight innings earlier in the day.

The team also wore special pink jerseys during the nightcap in celebration of Women's Appreciation Night at Ripken Stadium. Raffle tickets for the jerseys were sold throughout the home stand and winners were selected following the game.


McCurry tossed his second complete game in his last three starts, allowing just one unearned run on five hits—all of which were singles—while issuing two walks and striking out six batters in seven innings of work. He also improved to 5-0 with the victory, which puts him second on the wins list among all New York-Penn League pitchers.


After McCurry retired the side in order in the first inning, Aberdeen sent eight batters to the plate in the home half. In the frame, the ’Birds plated four runs thanks to two walks, RBI singles by T.J. Baxter and Chad Durakis and a run-scoring triple by Kraig Binick in his first at-bat since being promoted from the Gulf Coast Orioles on Saturday.


Hudson Valley (17-15) scored its only run in the second after the first three batters of the inning reached base. Justin Reynolds then lifted a sacrifice fly to center field to bring home John Mollicone to cut the lead to 4-1. Binick helped McCurry out of the jam on the next play, making a diving catch in right-center field and doubling Kyeong Kang off second base to end the inning.


The IronBirds went right back to work in the second, as five of the first six batters in the inning recorded a hit. Among those five hits were a double by Jacob Julius and back-to-back triples by Tyler Kolodny and Baxter to knock starter John Baird from the game. Binick welcomed reliever Diego Echeverria to the game with an RBI single to put Aberdeen, which batted around in the frame, ahead 9-1.


With McCurry cruising, Durakis was hit by a pitch to lead off the fifth and scored on a Jason Altenhof triple. Paco Figueroa then drove in Altenhof with a single to center for Aberdeen’s final run .


Baird (0-3) took the loss, giving up nine runs (five earned) on eight hits and two walks in 1.1 innings.


Altenhof went 3-for-3 with a triple, a run scored and an RBI in just his third professional game, while Binick, Baxter and Julius each collected two RBIs.


Caleb Joseph hit safely in both of Sunday’s games to extend his career-best hitting streak to seven.