Gavin Conticello spent Friday night refusing to make an out, then delivered the swing that saved the Reno Aces from a costly unraveling.
After Sacramento erased a two-run deficit in the eighth inning, Conticello lined a two-run double into the right-field corner in the ninth, scoring Tommy Troy and Santiago Espinal for a 6-4 victory at Sutter Health Park. The relay caught Conticello trying for third, but only after both runners had crossed and Reno had reclaimed the game.
Conticello finished 2-for-2 with three walks and two RBIs, reaching base in all five of his plate appearances. His final trip came against Ryan Walker with two outs. Troy had singled, moved to second on Adrian Del Castillo’s groundout and watched Walker walk Espinal before Conticello found the open grass down the line.
It was a timely answer from an Aces team that had gone scoreless for five innings and watched a 4-0 advantage disappear beneath three errors and a late Sacramento rally.
Reno built that lead around Conticello the first time through the order. He singled to open the second, advanced on Demetrio Crisantes’ walk and Trent Youngblood’s forceout, then scored when Kristian Robinson’s grounder struck pitcher Darien Smith and rolled into the outfield.
Troy and Del Castillo supplied the power an inning later. Troy drove Smith’s offering over the center-field wall, sending it to the deepest part of the park for his fifth home run. Del Castillo followed immediately with his seventh, lifting the next pitch over the right-field wall for back-to-back homers and a 3-0 lead.
Conticello walked, moved to third on Crisantes’ double and scored Reno’s fourth run on Aramis Garcia’s fielder’s choice. Troy finished 3-for-5 and eventually scored the run that put the Aces ahead for good.
The early support should have made Jose Cabrera’s night straightforward. Instead, Reno’s defense complicated an otherwise strong start.
Tommy Troy’s throwing error put Thomas Gavello aboard in the third, and Cabrera’s own throwing error on Darren Baker’s infield single allowed Gavello to score. Bo Davidson followed with a drive toward the left-center-field wall, where Youngblood and Robinson collided as the ball fell for a double and Baker came home.
Both runs were unearned. Cabrera allowed no more damage over six innings, striking out seven without issuing a walk. He worked around Davidson’s infield single in the sixth and left with Reno still ahead 4-2.
Bryce Jarvis protected that margin in the seventh, but Sacramento broke through against Drey Jameson in the eighth. Aeverson Arteaga opened the inning by sending a drive off the wall in right-center and racing into third. Baker’s sacrifice fly brought him home, and singles by Davidson and Parks Harber put the tying run in position.
Will Brennan then dropped a bloop into shallow left beyond Robinson’s reach. Davidson scored, and Robinson’s fielding error helped Harber advance to third as Sacramento pulled even at 4.
Jameson stopped the inning there, striking out Eddys Leonard before retiring Charlie Szykowny on a fly ball. He was credited with the win, improving to 2-2 despite allowing the tying run and taking his third blown save.
Conticello’s double restored the lead, but Sacramento forced Gerardo Carrillo to earn the final three outs. Diego Velasquez and Gavello opened the ninth with singles, and Arteaga’s sacrifice bunt moved both runners into scoring position. Carrillo struck out Baker, intentionally walked Davidson to load the bases and then struck out Harber to end it.
Carrillo’s scoreless inning, which included two strikeouts, secured his seventh save. Sacramento finished with 10 hits and left the bases loaded, while Reno escaped with six runs on eight hits — and a victory rescued by the one Aces hitter the River Cats never retired.