Two home wins and fireworks conclude the Tri-City Chili Pepper Opening Weekend - Progress Index

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The Tri-City Chili Peppers are 2-0 after an Opening Weekend that puts them first in their division and no celebration or mark of success is complete without a firework celebration on Saturday night to conclude the events. 

"It's early, but I feel good about kind of what we've put on the field so far," said Head Coach James Bierlien. 

The opening pitches to the Holly Springs Salamanders were quick and easy outs, including an out at second on a stolen base attempt, but it was not the same for them when the Salamanders took the field. The two Chili Peppers ground out, and the next batter, Brandon Eike, sends a pitch to left field for a 2-0 lead and the first home run of the season. 

But the Salamanders were able to bounce back to tie the game at two after sloppy fielding. Yet, fly balls were able to get the Peppers out of the inning and back in the dugout to score but the Chili Peppers swinging could not help them find the right pitch to score.  

It was still 2-2 at the bottom of the third after Chili Pepper's defense got them out of the inning quickly. With Ethan Ianuzzi on first base on a walk and Hunter Gilliam finding his way to the bases, the two worked together to steal bases to get in a better scoring position. Conner Butler sent a single to the right-field for Ianuzzi to score to make it 3-2. 

With the score 3-2 at the top of the fourth inning, the defense kept fielding balls and pitching to places where it could lead to easy fielding. This worked for the Chili Peppers all game because no Salamander crossed the home plate again. 

"I think our defense played great today... I think we had two errors, but nothing crazy that really hurt us...," Bierlien explained. 

While the Salamanders were having no luck on offense, the Chili Peppers were fearless swinging at pitches they could hit in hopes it can generate scoring opportunities on offense. Innings were quiet and scoring opportunities were close but Chili Pepper batters struck out swinging leaving runners on base still. 

But, at the bottom of the fifth, Gilliam was on third. Butler fouled a pitch but it gave Gilliam enough time to try and steal home. He slid into home plate feet first and was able to avoid the tag to make it 4-2 Chili Peppers and energize the crowd. 

All the Chili Peppers pitching had to do was stay ahead with good pitching and Nick Woolfolk came into the game to take over. He started with a strikeout, walked two batters, but finished striking out the rest. Feeling invigorated by the energy from Gilliam stealing home Michael Dolberry sent a home run ball deep into center field that had yet to be recovered. 

A 5-2 lead in the top of the seventh inning and there were only nine more outs to go. The defense put in work as back-to-back pop fly took to the outfield and to make sure that there were no more chances of home run swings, there was a pitching change for Connor Schuman for Alec Riles to enter the game. 

"I thought it was a good place to kind of bring in a new look for the other team," Bierlien explained. 

It did not start out great because the next batter was hit and he went to first. But, Gilliam had his pitcher back by getting the tag when the runner got a little too excited and had to return to first after trying to steal. He could not beat the throw and Gilliam's catch ended the inning. 

For the rest of the game, both squads were striking out batters and using short fair balls to play defense in the infield. The Chili Peppers finished the game by striking out three of the last four batters to become 2-0. 

When the game was over, spectators were invited to join the players and coaches on the field for a fireworks celebration to celebrate the start of the season and Memorial Day weekend. 

"This is pretty cool," one of the Chili Peppers said aloud. 

It is a cool way to start the season and the Chili Peppers are on the right track with a 2-0 start. 

Zoe Collins Rath (she/her/hers) is an award-winning Sports Columnist and Investigative Reporter. She is the Sports and Education reporter for The Progress- Index. For times email her at ZCollinsRath@gannett.com or follow her on Twitter @zoe_jordan99. 

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