Colonial Heights, VA - The Tri-City Chili Peppers showed off their alter ego the Chilly Peppers in an exhibition game against the Greenbrier Knights on Sunday night. While wearing the coldest jerseys in the Coastal Plain League, the Chilly Peppers also had a cold night, falling 8-3.
The Chilly Peppers started off hot in the matchup, with pitcher Reed Garland (FDTCC) holding the Knights in the top of the first and Michael Dolberry (Longwood University) putting Tri-City on the scoreboard by rounding the bases after being walked in the bottom of the inning.
Greenbrier did not stay behind for long. In the second, the team had three hits off of Garland and put up two runs. The Chilly Peppers failed to have any hits or runs in the second inning to keep the 2-1 score.
Connor Schumann (Old Dominion University) took over on the mound in the top of the third, but the Knights kept their bats moving. A home run advanced their lead to two, and the Chilly Peppers batted three up, three down to finish off the inning.
The offense for the Greenbrier Knights didn’t slow down in the fourth, during which they put up another two runs with yet another home run. Things didn’t look as promising for Tri-City’s offense, who batted three up, three down once again.
As always, the Chilly Peppers bullpen came in and limited the damage. Jackson Walker (Franklin Pierce University) pitched three up, three down to prevent the Knights from advancing their lead any further. Despite a single by Brandon Eike (UNC), Tri-City was unable to score yet again in the fifth inning to keep the score at 5-1.
Tri-City brought in Cole Driscoll in the sixth, who held Greenbrier to no hits or runs. The Chilly Peppers were able to find their first offensive success since the first in the bottom of the eighth. Ethan Iannuzzi of Randolph Macon College walked and a home run by Eike brought him around the bases to make the score a more balanced 5-3.
Morehead State University’s Branden Blankenship took the hill in the seventh, during which the Knights’ bats heated up again. The team put another two runs on the board, while the Chilly Peppers were unable to score in the seventh.
Greenbrier put up yet another run in the eighth with Troy Shepherd (Catawba Valley Community College) pitching for Tri-City. The Chilly Peppers found themselves unable to have offensive success yet again, batting three up, three down for an 8-3 deficit.
Eli Parks (Howard College, TX) came to finish things off for the Chilly Peppers, and pitched three up, three down. Tri-City entered the bottom of the ninth in a situation that has become familiar to them as of late, needing a big comeback. They were unable to achieve this comeback, falling 8-3.
The Tri-City Chili Peppers will remain at Shepherd Stadium for Tuesday’s matchup against the Holly Springs Salamanders