TROY, N.Y. (May 29, 2025) – The Down East Bird Dawgs saw an early 3-0 lead slip away and ultimately fell in sudden death, 3-3, as the Tri-City ValleyCats turned a dramatic double play at the plate in the 11th inning to win the series on Thursday.

The Bird Dawgs broke through in the fourth inning, taking a 3-0 lead on Joe Johnson’s infield single that scored Emmanuel Tapia, a bases-loaded single by Gehrig Ebel to bring in Yassel Pino, and a sacrifice fly to right field by Kam Guidry that plated Johnson.

Tri-City found a run in the bottom half of the sixth as Ian Walters hit a sacrifice fly to bring Oscar Campos home to cut the deficit to 3-1.

The ValleyCats tied it in the seventh when Luis Campos lined a single to left to score Dylan Broderick, and Javeyan Williams came home on an error by the left fielder to make it 3-3.

Defense for both teams found its stride as neither allowed any runs through the 11th inning. Under Frontier League rules, once the game reaches the 11th inning, the sudden-death rule is introduced. The home team determines if it will play offense or defense, and they play a half inning. If the fielding team gets three outs without allowing any runs, then they take the win. The team that is hitting is given a baserunner at first base with no outs, and if they score a run, then they win the game.

Tri-City elected to play defense for the sudden-death 11th inning as they secured their first out on a fielder’s choice hit by Kam Guidry and then forced a double play with the final tag being at the plate to secure a 3-3 sudden-death victory to win the series two to one.

Luke Trueman earns the win for the ValleyCats as he was the pitcher of record in the 11th inning. Arlo Marynczak started for Tri-City as he went five innings, giving up four hits on three runs while walking three and striking out three batters.

The pitching staff for the Bird Dawgs doesn’t get the loss as they did not give up a run to lose the game. Drew Durst delivered a quality start for the Bird Dawgs, going six innings, allowing one run on five hits, striking out four batters.

The Bird Dawgs fell to 7-9 as they prepare to travel to Pomona, N.Y., for a three-game series against division rival New York Boulders. The opener is set for Friday, May 30, at 7 p.m.