The first-place Quebec Capitales were in town last night, but most of the pregame discussion was about Thursday night�s marathon game against New Jersey.
The teams played a Can-Am League-record 20 innings before the Jackals prevailed, 5-4, after 6 hours and 6 minutes. The game featured a record 593 pitches thrown (370 for strikes). Worcester also set a record for most at-bats by a team in a game (71).
New Jersey recorded a league-record 21 strikeouts. The Tornadoes fell behind three times in extra innings, but fought back to tie it twice.
The game was played in front of an announced crowd of 1,434, but by the time Omar Pe�a popped out to end it, there were an estimated 49 fans left.
Catcher Alex Trezza caught all 20 innings for the Tornadoes, and last night was back behind the plate for Worcester.
�I�m not going to lie � I got tired in the 13th, but I got a second wind,� he said.
The players weren�t going to get any pity from the coaching staff. Tornadoes manager Rich Gedman and pitching coach Roger LaFrancois split the catching duties when the Pawtucket Red Sox played the longest game in pro baseball history, a 33-inning affair in 1981.
�I told them they have a long way to go before they can start to complain,� LaFrancois said.
The game ended at 12:06 a.m. yesterday, but most of the players and staff didn�t start getting to bed until around 3 a.m. Worcester shortstop Chuck Jeroloman was ejected in the sixth inning for arguing balls and strikes and ended up watching 14 innings from behind the center-field fence.
His replacement, Jeff LaHair, belted a solo home run in his first at-bat to give the Tornadoes a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the eighth inning, and with Worcester sending closer John Birtwell to the mound, it seemed like the Tornadoes would be home soon.
However, Birtwell � who had missed the past eight games with a strained forearm � hit Tommy Murphy with a pitch to lead off the inning. Murphy was sacrificed to second and scored on a single by Marcus Sanders.
It was the only mistake Birtwell made in an impressive three-inning, one-hit performance before giving way to Justin Edwards, who has been impressive as a pitcher this year despite being primarily a third baseman.
Edwards went a long way toward making sure he sticks with the Tornadoes, turning in a seven-inning performance while allowing seven hits and one earned run.
Edwards benefited from his teammates turning three of their five double plays behind him.
New Jersey took a 3-2 lead in the 16th on a single by Sanders, but Worcester fought back in the bottom of the inning when Pe�a scored on a single by Josh Farkes.
New Jersey loaded the bases with one out in the 17th, but Edwards got Murphy to ground into a 1-2-3 double play. After the Jackals took a 4-3 lead in the 19th on a solo home run by Andrew Larsen off reliever Alex Pe�a, Worcester came back once again on a sacrifice fly by Chris Colabello to score B.J. Weed.
The Jackals got the winning run in the 20th on a solo home run by Sanders.