COLONIAL HEIGHTS, Va. – A night of many firsts. In the first home game in Chili Peppers history, the Tri-City collected win number one by virtue of a 10-8 final score vs. an East division foe, the Wilson Tobs.

It didn’t take long to feel the impact of a sellout crowd as the game was pushed back 15 minutes to let fans make their way into the stadium. Chili Peppers Head Coach Taylor Lockhart described the atmosphere as “nuts.” “It shows how bright the future is for baseball in the Tri-Cities,” he added.

With a packed house, neither offense wasted time jumping into the scoring column. The Tobs struck first with a run in the top of the first from an RBI single from Logan Keller (Tennessee Wesleyan).

Tri-City’s responded with three runs of their own as Casey Hartford (UT Martin) drove in the first on a 6-3 ground out. Then Hunter Gilliam (Longwood) drove in a pair with a two-out, two RBI single to make it 3-1 Chili Peppers.

The Tobs responded with two runs in the top of the second as Logan Eickhoff (Eastern Illinois) and Dylan Scaranda (Barton College) picked up back-to-back RBI base knocks. However, the Tobs two runs were answered by the first home run in Chili Peppers history, coming off the bat of Cade Swisher (Virginia Tech). The two-run blast brought it to a 5-3 score.

Both teams added to their scoring totals in the 3rd innings as well. Wilson second baseman Braedon Blackford (Purdue Fort Wayne) garnered his first home run of the summer with a deep shot to centerfield. The Chili Peppers though poured three more runs on the board, thanks to an RBI single from Tommy Crider (Belmont). That single also results in a pair of Wilson errors that plated the second and third run of the inning.

In the top of the fourth, the Tobs’ offense hung a four spot on the board and tied the game up at 8-8, and this lended a stretch of seven consecutive half-innings with at least one run scored. This led to the game transitioning from offensive slugfest, to battle of the bullpens.

Wilson relied on Justin Guidos (East Stroudsburg), who in innings five through seven, faced the minimum plus one, the lone runner being from an error, and picked up five strikeouts in that stretch. Meanwhile for Tri-Cities, it was lefty Logan Ross (Troy) who answered the call. The southpaw navigated through 3.2 innings of work, tallied four strikeouts and walked none.

To describe Ross’s outing, Lockhart said, “Logan was lights out, has been all year. and I expect him to be lights out for the rest of the year.”

All told, the two sides went on to throw zeros on the scoreboard for eight straight half-innings. But that changed in the bottom of the eighth.

Carson Bell (James Madison) reached on an error to start the frame and then Jack Capobianco (Belmont) followed it up with a walk. With two runners on, no outs, Crider stepped up to the plate and laid a sac bunt perfectly up the third baseline to move Bell and Capobianco up 90 feet.

That brought Wilson Galvan (South Carolina) to the plate, and in the RBI chance, he was not going to be beat. On an inside fastball, the Chili Pepper centerfielder muscled the offering out to left field, driving home both runners and giving the Tri-Cities the lead once more at 10-8.

Galvan said, “In that moment you just have to be poised, you have to breath and forget about all the other at-bats that were not going my way and just keep trucking.”

Keep trucking he did as his two RBI single proved to be the difference.

The Chili Peppers then called on Eli Parks (Liberty) from the pen to close the game out, and he didn’t disappoint as he corralled the first save in team history.

A perfect night for baseball, with a perfect atmosphere, produced a perfect game with the storybook ending in the Tri-Cities home opener. The Chili Peppers look to ride the momentum into tomorrow night’s matchup vs. the Morehead City Marlins, who sit at 3-0.

The Chili Peppers dropped the first matchup between the two sides on Sunday night in Morehead City, 6-3.That being said, tomorrow the team is home looking to grab back-to-back W’s.

First pitch is set for 7:00 p.m., ticket information can be found at chilipeppersbaseball.com and the game will be broadcast on FloSports.