MANCHESTER, N.H. – At long last, the New Hampshire Fisher Cats have finally clinched a playoff berth, thanks to their 9-7 victory over the Binghamton Rumble Ponies on Saturday night.
After Friday’s disappointing defeat, the Fisher Cats got off to a promising start, plating a pair of runs in the first thanks to RBI singles from Harold Ramirez and Connor Panas.
Binghamton dashed that early lead in the third, sending 10 men to the plate and collecting three extra-base hits on way to a five-run inning. The Rumble Pony rally chased New Hampshire starting pitcher Hector Perez from the contest, but the ‘Cats weren’t calling it quits just yet.
An inning later the hosts clawed back a run thanks to a Panas solo shot, his ninth of the year. The Fisher Cats couldn’t add onto Panas’ blast in the fourth, but they would regain the lead in the fifth thanks to a three-run rally punctuated by Forrest Wall’s RBI triple.
Santiago Espinal’s throwing error in the eighth allowed the Ponies to put two men across the plate, regaining the lead, but a Max Pentecost three-run home run half an inning later provided New Hampshire with all they would need for the victory.
Although he blew his second save of the year due to Espinal, Travis Bergen managed to get the win thanks to Pentecost’s score, recording the final four outs of the contest on the way to raising his record to 4-1. The loser of record was David Roseboom, falling to 3-3 thanks to his poor outing in the sixth.
While it certainly wasn’t a good night on the mound for Perez, Binghamton starter Nabil Crismatt didn’t fare much better, allowing one more run than the total combined amount from his prior three starts this season against New Hampshire, giving up 12 hits before leaving after the fifth.
Joey Terdoslavich and Kevin Taylor each grabbed a pair of hits for Binghamton while the Fisher Cats got multihit days from Wall, Pentecost, Ramirez, Panas and Espinal, as Pentecost ending the night with season high four RBI.
The series concludes on Sunday as New Hampshire sends T.J. Zeuch (8-4, 3.19 ERA) against Binghamton’s Harol Gonzalez (0-7, 7.90 ERA) for a 1:35 p.m. matchup.
With Saturday’s win and Reading’s 4-3 loss to Portland earlier in the night, Reading is now 10 ½ games out of first place in the Eastern League’s Eastern Division with eight games left in their season, ensuring that the Fisher Cats will finish in one of the division’s two playoff spots for the first time since 2011.
Trenton, still 1 ½ games behind New Hampshire after their victory in Hartford on Saturday, can clinch the other spot on Sunday with a win or a Reading defeat.
