TROY – Tri-City ValleyCats manager Pete Incaviglia saw no reason for alarm over a five-game losing streak in May.
The ValleyCats broke that slump on Sunday, sweeping a doubleheader from the Washington (Pa.) Wild Things 4-0 and 9-5 in a pair of seven-inning games at Joseph L. Bruno Stadium.
The ValleyCats improved to 4-5 heading into a three-game series at the Windy City Thunderbolts and Washington next week.
“Everybody in America panics early in the year because of the record,” Incaviglia said. “Everything’s over-magnified early in the year. If we lost five games in July, nobody would say anything. The fact that we got off to a 2-5 start, it’s like, ‘Oh my God,’ everybody’s hitting the panic button. I’ve just been telling them, ‘Relax, it’ll be OK.'”
At the same time, Incaviglia was pleased to see his team take some momentum into the Windy City series that starts Tuesday morning with a Camp Day game. The ValleyCats were scheduled to leave at 9Â p.m. Sunday for Illinois.
“Makes for a lot easier 15-hour bus ride to Chicago,” Incaviglia said.
In Sunday’s first game, second baseman Trey Hair smacked two homers and Rafi Vazquez threw a three-hit shutout. In the second game, the ValleyCats scored eight runs in the fourth inning before a crowd of 1,511.
“Our pitching has been great this whole season,” Hair said. “They’ve been competing in the zone. Our offense just hasn’t really produced like we should. So this doubleheader today, hopefully it’s a catalyst going into next week and keep putting together at-bats and not taking one swing to try to get four runs. Have team at-bats, and that’s kind of what we did today.”
Hair and Vazquez got the ValleyCats off to a quick start in the doubleheader, which took place because Saturday night’s game was rained out.
Vazquez, who played in college at Coastal Carolina…
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