New York Penn League Baseball Notes: Playoff berths on the line

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With two and a half weeks left in the regular season, the chase is on for post-season berths. If the New York Penn League playoffs were to start today, it would look like this:

Hudson Valley would be the number one seed and play Brooklyn, the number four seed. Batavia, the number two seed, would take on Lowell, the number three seed. Each of these series would be best two of three matchups.

There was a second no-hitter thrown in the league and it happened on Monday night in Aberdeen. A trio of pitchers combined to defeat the Vermont Lake Monsters 7-0. Jake Lyons, James Ryan, Kyle Martin did the honors as the IronBirds threw the first no-no in team history. The trio struck out eight and walked only one. Lyons went the first six and threw 61 pitches of which 41 were strikes. He issued the only walk of the game in the third inning, a leadoff pass to Marty Bechina. Ryan took care of the seventh and eight innings, with Martin taking care of the ninth. Congrats to these hurlers on a job well done!!!.

Despite being no-hit by Aberdeen, the Vermont Lake Monsters have been getting solid work out of their pen all summer long. The bullpen is being led by Jose Mora’s 1-0 record with a 2.95 ERA, and eight saves. He is joined by Carlos Sanchez, 4-1, 2.81 earned run average, one save. In 32 innings pitched, Sanchez has given up 10 earned runs. Jorge Martinez, 4-1, 1.95 ERA, one save, has allowed only six earned runs in 27.2 innings of work.

Maybe the best pitcher in the league has been in Lowell this year. That would be Yusniel Pardon-Artilles, who leads the league in wins with seven, earned run average at 2.17, and strikeouts with 74. He has also just given up fourteen earned runs allowed in 58 innings. This is good news for a Spinners team that has been going in the wrong direction since the month of August has arrived, just 3-11 so far this month.

The leader in WHIP is Brooklyn Cyclones pitcher Garrison Bryan. His record of 4-1 with a 2.59 ERA is good, but his WHIP of 0.86 is outstanding. He has made 11 appearances with nine of them being starts. In 59 innings pitched, he has given up just 17 earned runs allowed, 38 hits, and a strikeout to walk ratio of 55 to 13.

The Hudson Valley Renegades have been a running ballclub this season. They have four players with double digits in stolen bases. Greg Jones leads with 13 steals and has been caught only seven times. Garrett Hiott has 17 stolen bases and has been caught only caught four times. Nick Sogard has 13 steals to only three times caught and K.V. Edwards has 17 stolen bases, three caught stealing. Keeping these guys off the bases goes a long way in being able to handle Hudson Valley’s offense.

On the mound, the Renegades have a horse they can call upon to get the job done, Shay Smiddy. In 11 games he has a 0.78 ERA, with only three runs allowed, of which two have been earned. He has an outstanding strikeout to walk numbers with 22 SO and only nine walks. Shay makes you earn first base.

Next week, we will be back with more news on the New York Penn League.