Redwings Baseball Self-Destructs in the 7th

The Hoboken Redwings nearly knocked off a tough Union City team Thursday afternoon, a win that would've given them a bit of confidence as they head into the Hudson County Tournament. They led 6-4 going into the seventh, when they suddenly self-destructed.

Despite the loss, Coach Buddy Matthews was "encouraged by the hitting. It was one of our best hitting games of the year," he says. Hitting will be key to winning tomorrow night's County Tournament game against North Bergen High School.

North Bergen is the 2-seed; Hoboken is seeded 15^th. "Our pitching is always steady," Matthews says, "Our earned run average is 3.5." It is a failure to combine good batting and solid defense that plagues the 6-12 Redwings, Matthews says. "We either have solid D or good hitting. If we put it together, pulling out the wins against the tougher opponents is definitely attainable."

On Thursday, Union City (12-7) opened the game with one run in the first, coming on an RBI-single by Yendy Ventura. Hoboken struck back, scoring two on back-to-back RBI singles by Sal Pagan and Abe Groomes. Pagan knocked in Justin Arocho, who led off with a single. Groomes brought home Duke McCourt for the 2-1 lead.

Hoboken barely escaped a bases loaded jam in the third, but starting pitcher Groomes rose to the challenge as he notched a strike out with two down. 

In the fourth, the Soaring Eagles tied the game at two runs a-piece. After an error in right field, Jeremy Rivera had an RBI single.

Hoboken again struck back, this time claiming a 3-2 lead on Danny Rivera's inside-the-park lead-off homerun to center. They added another run before the inning was over. Kenny Roder reached base on a two-out error. Arocho followed with his third hit of the day, a single, before Duke McCourt brought in Roder with an RBI single. The Redwings led 4-2.

Union City scored two in the top of the fifth to tie the game up yet again, as Willy Tavarez hit a two-run homerun. They took the 5-4 lead the next inning, scoring on a solo homerun by Kevin Carabello.

Hoboken refused to bow-down. In the bottom of the sixth, McCourt regained the lead for the Redwings with a 2-RBI single. Luis Morales and Roder scored on the hit.

Hoboken led 6-5 going into the seventh.

"Then we just self-destructed," Matthews says. After an error at third, a wild pick-off attempt, a hit batter and a wild pitch, relief pitcher Pagan found himself in a jam. He had a chance to escape, as, with one out, Eloy Domingues grounded to third. But there would be no double-play on this ground ball. The two base runners came around to score as the grounder went through the legs of third baseman Anthony Richards to tie the game.

Union City took the lead for good on a sacrifice fly by Jeremy Rivera. They added three more, two on a homerun, before the inning was over, for the 10-6 lead. All five runs were unearned.

Hoboken failed to reach base in the seventh, going down quietly for the first time all afternoon.

Sal Pagan gets the loss, falling to 3-4 on the season. Pagan pitched two-thirds of an inning, allowing 5 runs, 0 earned; 2 hits; 1 strike out and 1 hit batter. Groomes went six and a third, allowed 5 runs, 4 earned; 14 hits; 1 walk and 5 strike outs.

The Redwings are at North Bergen Saturday night at 7:00pm for the Hudson County Tournament Play-offs.