State College Spikes win NYPL Championship

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• published: 10 Sep 2014
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By Joe Putnam/State College Spikes Media Relations TROY, NY - Nick Thompson's two-run homer started a six-run State College Spikes surge in the first inning, and the Spikes carried it through for an 11-2 victory over the Tri-City ValleyCats in Game Three of the New York-Penn League Championship Series on Tuesday night at Joseph L. Bruno Stadium, giving the Spikes their first NYPL title in franchise history. Thompson's shot to left field off Tri-City starter Austin Chrismon (1-1) was just the second home run for any player in the NYPL playoffs, and jumpstarted a Spikes offense that had been shut out in Game Two. State College kept the rally going as Alex De Leon doubled and scored when Adam Ehrlich reached on an outfield error. Luis Cruz then produced another double to plate Ehrlich and knock Chrismon out of the box. Cruz then came home himself on Brett Wiley's triple to make it 5-0, Spikes. An ensuing wild pitch then scored Wiley to finish the Spikes' flurry. State College poured on the offense in the fourth when Danny Diekroeger produced another triple and Ehrlich knocked him in with a single. The Spikes then added four more runs in the sixth when Ehrlich drew a bases-loaded walk, Cruz singled to bring two runners home, and a Tri-City error allowed another run to score. The Spikes' offense was bolstered by a tremendous performance from starting pitcher Daniel Poncedeleon (1-1). Poncedeleon tossed six shutout innings, allowing just three hits and a walk while striking out five batters. Josh Lucas then pitched the seventh, Nick Lomascolo took the eighth, and Kyle Grana struck out the side in order in the ninth to wrap up the championship. Tri-City's pair of runs came in the seventh, when Terrell Joyce smashed a solo home run to right-center field and Alex Hernandez singled in another run. The Spikes' two-games-to-one series win avenged last year's NYPL Championship Series loss to the ValleyCats. Both the 2013 and 2014 titles went to the team on the road in Game Three of the finals. State College's championship finished off a season that set new records, as the Spikes matched a club record with 48 wins in the regular season and Rowan Wick smashed the single-season home run record with 14 blasts in just 35 games. The Spikes also broke single-game attendance (6,066 fans) and game length (15 innings and five hours) records on August 30 at the regular season home finale.