ValleyCats Come Up One Win Short

After going 48-28 in the regular season and earning the No. 1 seed in the New York-Penn League playoffs, the Tri-City ValleyCats could not capture their second consecutive league title, falling, 11-2, to the State College Spikes on Tuesday night at Joe Bruno Stadium.

The Spikes jumped up on the 'Cats early and often, scoring six times before Tri-City had even come to bat in Game 3 of the best-of-three series.

State College added one more in the fourth to make it 7-0 and put the game out of reach in the sixth by tacking on four more.

Despite being down 11-0, the ValleyCats showed heart in front of their home faithful, scoring twice in the bottom half of the seventh on a home run by Terrell Joyce and a single by Alex Hernandez.

The 'Cats finished the year in total at 51-30, a great accomplishment for a minor league team that has to deal with constant turnover on its roster.

Throughout the year, the 'Cats shuffled new players in and out of the lineup as players were promoted within the Astros organization. The ValleyCats lost their four best offensive players, two of their top starters and multiple relievers throughout the course of the year.

The 'Cats have won two championships within the last five years, so you can bet they'll be back and ready to go in 2015.