New Britain First baseman Whit Robbins hit the go-ahead two-run home run in the sixth inning, and the New Britain Rock Cats came from behind to top Trenton 6-4 on Sunday afternoon from New Britain Stadium. The loss eliminated the Thunder from post-season consideration. The Thunder will miss the Eastern League post-season for the first time since 2004. New Britain advances to the Eastern League post-season for the first time since the 2003 season. New Britain will play Connecticut in the Northern Division Championship Series, which will start on Wednesday.
Trenton scored four runs in the first inning to take a 4-0 lead. All the runs in the frame came home with two outs. Shortstop Eduardo Nunez doubled to start the rally. First baseman Chris Malec walked, and Right fielder Noah Hall also walked to load the bases for Left Fielder James Cooper. Cooper delivered a bases-clearing double to give the Thunder a 3-0 lead. After a walk to Catcher P.J. Pilittere, Third baseman Marcos Vechionacci capped off the scoring with an RBI single. Six straight batters reached with two outs against New Britain Starting Pitcher Mike McCardell.
The Rock Cats chipped away at the lead. New Britain tallied a run in the bottom of the first inning on an RBI double by Designated Hitter Erik Lis. The Rock Cats cut the gap to 4-2 on a solo home run by Catcher Wilson Ramos. New Britain took the lead with three runs in the sixth inning. Third baseman Ramon Santana led off the inning with a walk against Trenton Starting Pitcher Jason Stephens. Lis followed with his second RBI double of the day to make it 4-3. Trenton Reliever Josh Schmidt (8-4) came on for Stephens and retired Ramos on a fly out for the first out of the inning. But, First baseman Whit Robbins belted a two-run home run off of Schmidt to give the Rock Cats a 5-4 lead. New Britain tacked on an insurance run in the eighth inning on an RBI single by Second baseman Alejandro Machado.
Stephens tossed five-plus innings and allowed five hits and four runs. He struck out two and walked one. McCardell yielded five hits and four runs over six innings. New Britain Reliever Kyle Waldrop tossed two shutout innings in a relief of McCardell, and New Britain Reliever Alex Burnett hurled a 1-2-3 ninth inning to notch his ninth save of the season. Nunez had his fourth four-hit game of the season for the Thunder in the loss. He leads the team with 47 multi-hit games.
