(August 30, 2024 – York, Pa.):  The York Revolution and Staten Island FerryHawks went to extra innings on Friday night in their series opener and Alfredo Reyes played the hero with a walk off single in the tenth inning to win the game, 4-3 for the Revs in front of nearly 4,000 on hand at WellSpan Park.
Staten Island got the first two runners of the game on base against York starter Aaron Fletcher, but the lefty responded to get Pablo Sandoval to ground into a double play. The Ferryhawks would not be done, however, as Luis Castro blasted a two-run homer to left field to spot Staten Island a 2-0 cushion.
FerryHawks starter Noe Toribio retired the first ten Revs he faced on the mound before Matt McDermott knocked a base hit up the middle with one out in the fourth. McDermott proceeded to steal second base and move to third on a wild pitch. After Jacob Rhinesmith walked, Zander Wiel lined a comebacker that deflected off of Toribio for an RBI infield single. David Washington scorched a single of his own up the middle to tie the game, and with two outs, Reyes knocked an RBI single to right field to put York up 3-2.
Fletcher retired 10 straight hitters of his own after the Castro homer before the FerryHawks loaded the bases with nobody out in the fifth. Kyle Dernedde tied the game at 3-3 with a sacrifice fly, but Fletcher mitigated the damage with a pickoff of Jackson Loftin before getting a groundout to end the frame and keep the game deadlocked.
Fletcher came up against Castro again in a tie game in the sixth and got the Hawks cleanup man to ground into an inning ending 5-4-3 double play to finish his outing in strong fashion.
York had two in scoring position with one out against Toribio in the sixth, but the righty ended his night with back-to-back strikeouts of Reyes and Jordy Barley to keep the game tied.
Both teams’ bullpens tossed scoreless frames through the ninth, sending the game to extras still even at 3-3.
Brett Schulze (1-2) hit the first batter of the tenth inning but escaped scoreless thanks in part to a great defensive play by Washington from first base, cutting down the lead runner at third base on an attempted sacrifice bunt.
York loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the tenth when Reyes knocked a base hit into the hole on the left side that was deflected away by Dernedde at shortstop as Rhinesmith raced home with the winning run.
York will look to make it back-to-back victories on Saturday when Jon Olsen (10-2, 3.55) takes the hill against Mike Shawaryn (6-9, 6.59). It is Football Frenzie Night with Post-Game Fireworks presented by AAA Mid States. Tickets are on sale at YorkRevolution.com, (717) 801-HITS, and in-person at the Shipley Energy Ticket Office.
Notes: The walk-off victory is the sixth of the year for the Revs. York improves to 8-3 in extra-inning games. The Revs improve to 71-39, matching last year’s overall win total with still more than two weeks remaining in the regular season. York is within one game of Gastonia for the league’s best overall record. Staten Island has lost eight straight. The Revs bullpen combined for four scoreless innings of one-hit ball with seven strikeouts. The Revs stole five bases increasing their season total to 298, seven shy of matching a league record. Rudy Martin Jr stole his league-leading 72nd bag, tying for sixth-most in league history. McDermott stole two bases giving him 52 on the year, second most in the league behind Martin Jr, including 50 with York as he becomes the fifth in Revs history to steal 50 bases in one season.