KINSTON, N.C. (June 17, 2025) – The Down East Bird Dawgs dropped the opener of a six-game series against the Tri-City ValleyCats on Monday night, falling 10-3 after an early four-run second inning put them in a hole they couldn’t climb out of.

Tri-City got on the board in the second when Javeyan Williams walked with the bases loaded, Cam Jones came home on a balk, and Oscar Campos hit a two-run single to take a 4-0 lead.

The Bird Dawgs responded in the bottom of the second when Tyler Blaum ripped an RBI single to left to cut the deficit to 4-1.

Williams launched a two-run homer in the top of the fourth for the ValleyCats to extend the lead to 6-1.

Each team scored in the sixth as Campos hit a sacrifice fly for Tri-City, and the Bird Dawgs drove two home on back-to-back singles by Jaylen Smith and Trey Law to make the score 7-3.

The ValleyCats extended their lead in the ninth when Josh Leslie drove in a run on a single, and Cam Jones smacked a base hit to bring in two more, closing out the scoring at 10-3.

Stephen Still (4-1) secured the win, delivering 5 2/3 innings while allowing one earned run on five hits and striking out five batters.

Drew Durst (0-5) took the loss, allowing six runs on seven hits in four innings.

The Bird Dawgs fall to 11-21 and will continue the series with Game 2 against the ValleyCats on Tuesday, June 18, at 7 p.m. at Historic Grainger Stadium.