KINSTON, N.C. (August 2, 2026) – Colby Backus scored on a passed ball in the tenth inning to cap a dramatic comeback as the Down East Bird Dawgs walked off the Tri-City ValleyCats 9-8 at Historic Grainger Stadium Sunday afternoon, winning their third consecutive game and heading into a two-week road trip with momentum at 31-41.

Tri-City jumped out to a 3-0 lead on an RJ Stinson leadoff homer in the first and two more runs in the second on a Kyle Caccamise RBI triple and an error.

The Bird Dawgs chipped away with a Tyler Blaum RBI single in the second and a Trey Law wild pitch score in the third to cut it to 3-2 before a Kai Moody two-run homer in the fifth pushed the lead back to 5-2.

Down East answered with four runs in the bottom half as Stephen DiTomaso singled in a run, Ali LaPread doubled home another, Jacob Corson added an RBI groundout, and Backus singled in a run to take a 6-5 lead.

Backus then launched a two-run homer in the seventh to push the advantage to 8-5 before Stinson's two-run single pulled the ValleyCats within one at 8-7.

Tri-City tied it in the ninth on an Ian Walters RBI double before Backus scored the walk-off run on a passed ball in the tenth to set the final at 9-8.

Wes Albert went five innings against his former team, allowing five runs — four earned — on nine hits with one walk and one strikeout.

Jack Hagan (3-2) earned the win, tossing 1⅔ scoreless innings on one hit with one walk and one strikeout.

Quinn Hocom started for Tri-City, allowing a run before exiting with an injury after one inning. Wyatt Cameron (0-2) took the loss, retiring two quick outs in the tenth before the walk-off passed ball.

The Bird Dawgs (31-41) head into a two-week road trip beginning Tuesday, August 4, at 7:05 p.m. ET against the Washington Wild Things at EQT Park in Washington, Pa.