Last night, the McNamara Division champion Staten Island Yankees took on the Stedler Division champs, the Tri-City Valleycats (Houston Astros’ New-York Penn-League affiliate) in Game 1 of the Penn-League semifinals at Richmond County Bank Ballpark in Staten Island. In a game that had James Kaprielian take the ball for the Baby Bombers, Staten Island needed extra innings, but it was Junior Valera’s RBI double in the bottom of the 11th that lifted the Yanks to a 3-2 win and 1-0 lead in this best-of-three series.
Right out of the gate, the Yankees got on the board in the bottom of the first against Tri-City’s starter, Chris Murphy.