(Media release from the Rome Emperors):
Adam Zebrowski’s walk-off single in game one and E.J. Exposito’s game-tying three-run homerun in game two headlined the final day of a wild two-week homestand at AdventHealth Stadium.
Game One: Emperors 5, Renegades 4
Spencer Schwellenbach stretched his streak of no earned runs given-up out to 11.1 innings after his 5.1 innings of two-hit baseball against Hudson Valley Sunday afternoon. The Emperors were the beneficiaries of a botched run-down between third and home which brought in two runs in the bottom of the fourth to break the scoreless tie. Rome would add another in the fifth after Sabin Ceballos doubled to left-center and back-to-back wild pitches from Hudson Valley’s Joel Valdez brought him home to make it 3-0 Emperors. After runs from Hudson Valley in the sixth and seventh, we needed extra-inning baseball for the second time in the series to decide game four.
The Renegades capitalized on their ghost runner in the top of the eighth and led by one heading into the home half. With Paolini on second, Workinger connected on a towering flyball to centerfield that was lost in the cloud cover and dropped for a double to tie the game. Zebrowski then slapped a single into centerfield to walk off the ‘Gades in game one of the twin bill.
Elison Joseph and Chad Bryant both made their 2024 debuts on the mound. Joseph picked up a hold and Bryant the win.
Game Two: Renegades 6, Emperors 3
Tyree Thompson was handed the ball in game two and lasted just an inning after surrendering three runs on two hits in the first. Landon Harper was stellar in relief of Thompson, covering 4.0 innings and only permitting three baserunners (two hits, one walk). It was Exposito’s milestone three-run bomb off the scoreboard in the 4th that knotted the game at three apiece before Hudson Valley plated three more in the top of the 6th off Rome’s Shay Schanaman and never looked back.
Rome’s next home game falls on the last day of April, until then the Emperors will play 12 games in the Tarheel State, six in Asheville and six in Winston-Salem.
