TROY, N.Y. (May 27, 2025) – The Down East Bird Dawgs opened their three-game series against the Tri-City ValleyCats with a 2-1 win on Tuesday night, backed by a strong start from Spencer Johnston and timely offense from Emmanuel Tapia and Stephen DiTomaso.

The ValleyCats got on the board in the first as John McHenry scored on a wild pitch after reaching on a single up the middle to take a 1-0 lead.

The Bird Dawgs found a pair of runs in back-to-back innings as Tapia dialed up his sixth homer of the year in the fourth to tie the game, and DiTomaso hit a sacrifice fly in the fifth to bring home Gehrig Ebel to jump in front 2-1.

Spencer Johnston (3-1) earned the win and his second quality start of the season for the Bird Dawgs as he delivered six innings while giving up one run on four hits and striking out three batters. Bird Dawgs closer Greg Martinez secured his third save of the season as he pitched in the ninth inning, collecting one strikeout.

Tri-City starter Connor Wilford took the loss as he allowed two runs on eight hits over six innings while striking out six batters.

The Bird Dawgs are now 7-7 and are set to take on Tri-City for game two of three of the series on Wednesday, May 27 at 10:00 a.m.