TROY — Pitcher Dwayne Marshall, the Tri-City ValleyCats’ opening-night starter on Friday against the Trois-Rivieres Aigles, said Joseph L. Bruno Stadium isn’t the easiest place to pitch in the Frontier League.
He spoke from the perspective of a visitor who pitched for the rival Sussex County Miners the past two seasons.
“This is definitely not a pitcher’s park, which is one of the things I’m a little worried about,” Marshall said Thursday. “But it is what it is. It makes it better. It makes it tougher. Everyone’s got to play on the same field.”
The ValleyCats led the Frontier League with 162 homers last season, including 93 in 51 home games.
“Not a pitcher’s park in the sense that the ball travels very well here,” Marshall said. “It’s one of those weird things. Windy, I guess a little bit. The ball gets up in the air. There’s definitely a lot of balls that leave the yard here. But, I mean, it’s the fun part of the game. People come here to see that.”
Marshall, 25, added with a laugh, “Unfortunately, I’m not here to see that, unless it’s from us.”
Even if Bruno Stadium is a launching pad, it didn’t stop Marshall from signing with the ValleyCats after being one of the Frontier League’s top starting pitchers last season. The 6-foot-2, 205-pound right-hander went 11-3 with a 2.67 earned-run average for Sussex County with 111 strikeouts in 118 innings.
Tri-City was pleased to add Marshall as a free agent in an overhaul of its pitching staff, which posted a collective 5.84 ERA, 13th out of 16 Frontier League teams.
“We didn’t pitch very well last year, so we picked up Marshall, who had a really good year,” ValleyCats manager Pete Incaviglia said. “We were lucky enough to get him.”
On Friday might, Marshall began the game with two scoreless innings…
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