A 3-run home run from Rick Oropesa (Southern California) in the 13th inning blasted Chatham to their third consecutive victory, and a 3-0 record to start the 2010 campaign. The round-tripper gave the Anglers the win via a 5-2 score over the Orleans Firebirds in the 2010 Chatham home opener, with Orleans falling to 0-3. Matt Brazis (Boston College) worked two innings of relief to earn the win, striking out one batter and not allowing a hit.
Chatham struck first in the 2nd inning after Kevin Vance (Connecticut) walked with one out, then stole second, advanced to third on a ground out by catcher George Carroll (NY Inst. of Tech.), and came home on a balk by Orleans' starter Cameron Hobson (Dayton).
The Anglers would remain in the lead until the 5th inning when Firebirds' left fielder Will Piwnica-Worms (Duke) led off the inning with a single, advanced to second on a balk by Chatham starter Joe Zimmerman (New Orleans), then came around to score on an RBI double by third baseman Mick Doyle (Notre Dame) to tie the score 1-1.
Both teams would remain scoreless through the next two innings, before second baseman Kolten Wong (Hawaii) led off the 8th with a solo home run to give the Firebirds a 2-1 lead. Marcus Stroman (Duke) pitched two 1-2-3 innings of relief before yielding to Jack Leathersich (UMass - Lowell) in the 9th. Peter Verdin led off the inning with a single, then was advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Mark Ginther (Oklahoma State), then came home to tie the score 2-2 on an RBI single by Dan Paolini (Siena).
The bats remained silent through the end of the 12th, with Brazis coming on in the 12th and retiring the side in order through both innings of work. Dennis O'Grady (Duke) came on in relief in the 11th and was left on to face the Anglers' order in the bottom of the 13th. Verdin laced a hard-hit ball to short and legged a single ahead of the throw to kick off the inning, then was advanced to second on a single by Ginther. With two men on and no one out, returning Angler Oropesa stepped in to the left-handed batter's box and blasted a 3-run home run over the right field fence to give the Anglers the 5-2 win in walk-off fashion.
The Anglers get a day off on Thursday before heading back out to Brewster on Friday to face the Whitecaps at Stony Brook Field in a 5pm start. Tune in to the live broadcast starting at 4:40pm for the Anglers Extra Pregame Show at chathamanglers.com, or on TRZ Teamline by dialing 1-800-846-4700 and entering the team code 3841.
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