Salem drops home finale
A manufactured run in the top of the ninth inning fractured a 4-4 tie, surging the Blue Rocks into a lead that they would not relinquish in the final game of the season at LewisGale Field. Wilmington’s 5-4 victory was a byproduct of opportunistic baserunning and opposition miscues, as the Sox made three errors, including one pivotal one in the decisive ninth. Whit Merrifield drew a one-out walk from Jeremiah Bayer and advanced to second after an errant pick-off attempt skipped past first. Two wild pitches later, Merrifield touched home plate to put the Blue Rocks on top.
With the score even at two through six innings, both teams plated a pair in a wild and scary seventh, in which Salem right fielder Bryce Brentz was carted off the field after backing into the wall in pursuit of a fly ball. With Merrifield at first, Carlo Testa’s deep drive to right pushed Brentz to the track. The ball bounced off Brentz’ glove and rolled into the right-field corner, while Brentz drilled the wall, fell down, and laid motionless on the ground. Both Merrifield and Testa rounded the bases, providing Testa with an inside-the-park two-run homer. Meanwhile, Brentz remained on the ground as Salem Athletic Trainer Brandon Henry charged onto the field.
Brentz sat up, stood up on his own, and took a few steps to a cart that helped him off the field. Brentz said that he felt a very sharp pain in his back when it happened, but he appeared to be alright after the game, walking around the clubhouse with his teammates.
In the last of the seventh, Salem rallied to even the score, with Heiker Meneses bringing the spark with a one-out single, his third hit of the ballgame. Zach Gentile singled Meneses to third, and the incoming throw bounced away, allowing Meneses to score. Later in the frame, Miles Head smashed a single to center to score Gentile and tie the game at four.
Both teams made three errors, leading to four unearned runs in the ballgame, three of which were scored by Wilmington. All three Salem errors were charged to the pitchers. Starter Anthony Ranaudo made two errors, one fielding and one on an errant pick-off attempt, while Bayer’s miscue in the ninth also cost the Sox dearly.
Salem also lost third-baseman Kolbrin Vitek early in the game. Vitek aggravated an oblique injury and departed in the middle of his second at-bat. Gentile took over for Vitek with a 1-1 count in the third inning, and Gentile flew to left to end that frame.
Ranaudo dealt four innings, allowing two runs (both unearned) on three hits, while striking out six and walking four. He received a no-decision, and it was Bayer who was saddled with the setback, falling to 7-3.
The Salem Sox will take two days off before returning to the diamond on Wednesday in Winston-Salem for the final six-game road trip of the season.
Salem prevails in extras
Jorge Padron delivered a two-out, two-strike game-tying double in the bottom of the ninth, and Shannon Wilkerson’s sacrifice fly to left scored Heiker Meneses two innings later to give the Salem Sox a dramatic come-from-behind 10-9 triumph in 11 innings on Saturday night in front of 4,833 at LewisGale Field. After trailing 5-0 after three and a half, 8-6 after eight and a half, and 9-8 after ten and a half, the Sox scored two in the bottom of the 11th to send the near-capacity crowd home happy.
Scoreless through three innings, the action intensified in the fourth. Ryan Stovall and Carlo Testa each went deep off Drake Britton in a five run-frame, and the Rocks possessed a 5-0 lead. But Salem broke up Elisaul Pimentel’s shutout thanks to Meneses’ leadoff triple and an RBI single from Bryce Brentz in the bottom of the fourth. One inning later, Salem rallied for four runs to tie it up at five. Kolbrin Vitek connected for a clutch two-run single with the bases loaded, and Bryce Brentz’ slow roller to third was chucked down the right-field line, allowing two more runs to score.
In the last of the sixth, Peter Hissey drew a one-out walk, stole second, and trotted home on Josue Peley’s RBI single, surging the Sox to a 6-5 advantage. But the lead would only last until the eighth, when the Blue Rocks rallied for a pair against reliever Jordan Flasher. Travis Jones walked, moved to second on a passed ball, to third on a wild pitch, and scored on Michael Liberto’s clutch single. Two batters later, Liberto crossed on Testa’s RBI knock, boosting the Blue Rocks to a 7-6 edge.
Wilmington added one insurance run in the top of the ninth, with Nick Van Stratten scoring from second on Ryan Stovall’s fly to the warning track in right that dropped out of Brentz’ reach. In the bottom of the ninth, however, the Sox capitalized from the wildness of Blue Rocks reliever Gary Cuevas, utilizing two walks, three wild pitches, and Padron’s clutch double to score twice and send the action to extras.
After a scoreless tenth, the Blue Rocks connected for a pair of doubles from Van Stratten and Stovall to assume a 9-8 lead in the 11th, but the Red Sox rallied for a third time in the last of the frame. Derrik Gibson singled off Bryan Paukovits to start the inning, and Gibson scored all the way from first on Meneses’ sacrifice bunt that was chucked down right field line by Stovall. Meneses scooted all the way to third on the pivotal error, but remained there when Vitek grounded to short. Brentz received an intentional pass, and then Wilkerson, batting for the first time after entering as a pinch-runner in the ninth, lifted a high fly to moderate depth left field. Meneses tagged and sprinted home, beating the incoming throw from Testa, and the Sox stormed the field in celebration. One night after falling by a run with the final out being recorded at the plate, the Sox prevailed in a similar circumstance, with Meneses evading the tag as the ball skipped away from the catcher.
It was the first time all season that Salem won when trailing after eight innings. Previously, the Sox had been 0-62 in such precarious situations.
The Salem Sox wrap up their 2011 home schedule on Sunday afternoon with a 4:05 matinee against the Blue Rocks. Anthony Ranaudo is slated to take the mound for Salem opposite Wilmington’s Tyler Sample.
P-Nats hammer Rocks’ pen in 11-3 win
The Potomac Nationals erupted for eight runs in the sixth and seventh innings against Jon Keck and Ryan Dennick on Wednesday night in Woodbridge, and scored an 11-3 victory over the Wilmington Blue Rocks. For the second straight night, Potomac scored 11 runs and overcame an early deficit to lock up the series victory. The Nationals have now won 13 of the last 15 against the Blue Rocks, and have outscored them by a mind-boggling 98-42 over that span.
The Rocks surged in front with a trio of bloop base hits in the top of the first inning against Nationals’ starter Evan Bronson. The last of them came off the bat of Tim Ferguson and plated a pair of runs to push the Blue Rocks ahead 2-0.
Potomac (61-66, 32-36) got a run in the second inning when Sandy Leon hit an impressive home run to straightaway centerfield. Leon’s sixth blast of the season cut the Rocks lead in half, but Wilmington would grab the run back in the fourth. Joey Lewis smashed a home run to left field to push the Rocks ahead by a pair at 3-1.
Blue Rocks spot starter Allen Caldwell held the lead until the fourth inning, when three doubles pulled Potomac level. Steven Souza’s two-bagger followed Destin Hood’s leadoff double to get the P-Nats within one, and Leon’s single to left tied the game at three.
After Lewis’s homer, the two pitching staffs went in opposite directions. Bronson retired ten straight hitters to complete his outing and earn a fifth win. Caldwell, meanwhile, worked around two hits in the fifth and gave way to the bullpen in the sixth. From that point on, things unraveled for Wilmington (59-67, 23-34).
Jon Keck allowed a leadoff single to Souza and walked Brian Peacock before Leon laid down a sacrifice bunt to put both men in scoring position. Zach Walters then stepped to the plate. Before his single to left, a Deck wild pitch scored Souza and gave Potomac a lead they would not relinquish. Jose Lozada then tripled to left field to score Peacock, and Francisco Soriano closed the scoring in the inning with a single to left, and Potomac led 7-3.
Things did not get better for Ryan Dennick in the seventh. After he struck out Souza to open the inning, Brian Peacock hit a grounder to third base. Deivy Batista let the ball skirt through his legs and into left field, and Peacock then walked. Walters delivered again with a double to left that made it 8-3 Nationals. Lozada then roped his second straight triple to score a pair; Perez closed the scoring with a single to right that closed the scoring and sent the Nationals to an 11-3 advantage.
Marcos Frias pitched the eighth, and Cameron Selik the ninth as Potomac closed out the victory and secured their second straight series win.
With the victory, Potomac trimmed its magic number to seven to qualify for the Carolina League Northern Division’s second playoff spot.
The Nationals will go for the sweep on Thursday evening with Adam Olbrychowski on the mound against Tim Melville at 7:05 P.M.
P-Nats shake Blue Rocks
The Potomac Nationals offense put on a show Tuesday night against the Wilmington Blue Rocks, and defeated their Northern Division opponent 11-1.
Much like the 5.9 earthquake shook all of the East Coast earlier in the afternoon, Potomac’s offense shook Wilmington’s starting pitcher,Tyler Sample, in the early innings of the ball game.
It was the Rocks, however, who notched the first run in thetop of the first on an RBI single by John Whittleman. Unfortunately for Wilmington, that was the only run theyscored the entire game.
The P-Nats responded quickly with two runs of the own in thebottom half of the first. JeffKobernus led the offense off with a one-out single to left and later stolesecond to put him into scoring position with two outs. A costly error by Wilmington’s firstbaseman on Steven Souza’s ground ball scored Kobernus from second, which tiedthe game at one. Sandy Leonknocked Souza in a few pitches later on a single up the middle.
The very next inning, the scoring continued for theNationals and the errors continued for the Blue Rocks. After a leadoff walk by Jose Lozada anda single by Sean Nicol, Eury Perez laid down a sacrifice bunt that Sample wasunable to field properly and was charged with an error. Two batters later, Kobernus smashed asingle up the middle and scored two runs.
After a double steal by Perez and Kobernus, the Rocksdefense failed their pitcher again. Destin Hood grounded a ball to the third baseman, Whittleman who bobbledthe ball, which allowed Perez to score and Hood to reach first safely. Hood then advanced to second on anerrant throw by the first baseman and men were left on second and third. Steven Souza knocked in the fourth andfinal run of the inning on a sacrifice fly. After two innings, Potomac’s offense had six runs and theRocks defense had four errors.
Three more P-Nats runs came across in the fourth inningthanks to two bases loaded walks and an RBI single by Sandy Leon. Another two insurance runs were platedin the eighth on a two-run double by Francisco Soriano which finalized thescore at 11-1.
Soriano, Kobernus, Souza and Leon all had two RBIs on thenight and Kobernus led the offense with a four-for-six performance with threeruns. Kobernus also swiped twobags on the night which increased his league-leading total to 48.
Potomac’s starting pitcher, Sammy Solis, had a solid secondstart after being activated from the DL with four innings of work, four hits,one earned run, and six strikeouts. It was reliever Neil Holland (3-0) who was credited for the win, though,for his three innings of scoreless relief. Rocks starter Sample received the loss (7-12).
The three-game series between the two clubs resumes tomorrow at 7:05 p.m.
Salem swept … again
Salem’s bats never found a groove and the Wilmington Blue Rocks made it four straight over the Sox by sweeping a twin-bill for the second straight day. The Blue Rocks overcame a 2-0 deficit to prevail 6-3 in the opener before blanking the Red Sox 4-zip in the finale. In between games, the tarp covered the field for a lengthy intermission, but following a two hour, 10 minute break, the second game commenced and went in Wilmington’s favor.
In game one, Bryce Brentz’s two-run double in the first inning against Justin Marks surged the Sox to their first lead of the series. But Wilmington scratched Ryan Pressly for four runs in the last of the second, connecting on five singles in addition to the one walk Pressly issued. With the game tied 2-2, Whit Merrifield and Carlo Testa delivered consecutive two-out RBI knocks to boost the Blue Rocks into the lead.
Pressly did not allow a hit in his scoreless third and fourth innings, but yielded consecutive singles to begin the fifth that knocked him out of the game. Both runners came around to score against reliever Jordan Flasher, giving Wilmington a 6-2 edge. Salem trimmed the deficit to three in the seventh as the first three batters in the inning reached against Gary Cuevas, but former Salem Sock Kendal Volz entered and recorded the final three outs to earn the save. The victory belonged to Allen Caldwell, who retired all six men he faced over two innings in relief of Marks.
In game two, both starters appeared locked in after the long break between games, with Elisaul Pimentel and Pete Ruiz both dealing two scoreless to start the contest. In the third, Salem mustered a pair of hits, but stranded the man at the corners. Meanwhile, Blue Rocks first-baseman Joey Lewis led off the last of the third with a line-drive home run to left, giving Wilmington the 1-0 edge.
Aside from the homer, Ruiz eased through the first four, retiring 12 of the 13 men he faced. In the bottom of the fifth, Yem Prades smoked a leadoff triple into the right-center field gap, coming across to score on the ensuing sac fly from Tim Ferguson to make the score 2-0. The Blue Rocks doubled their lead again in the last of the sixth, with John Whittleman drilling a bases-loaded double off reliever Will Latimer to take a 4-0 lead.
Salem’s offense mustered just four hits in the finale against Elisaul Pimentel (six innings) and Ryan Dennick (a 1-2-3 seventh), and the Sox scored just seven total runs in the four-game series, completed in less than 26 hours from 5 PM Saturday to 7 PM on Sunday. The pair of Sunday setbacks drop the Sox to 55-70 for the season, a low-water mark at 15 games below .500 with 14 games remaining in the season.
After registering a bunt single in the first game, Heiker Meneses went 0-3 in the nightcap, putting a halt to his 12-game hitting streak to begin his time with Salem. During the 12-game streak, Meneses hit .438 (21-for-48).
Salem returns to LewisGale Field on Monday for the final homestand of the regular season. The week-long slate begins with four games against Winston-Salem, commencing on Monday with Drake Britton facing Matt Wickswat at 7:05.
Salem drops two to Blue Rocks
The Blue Rocks jumped to 3-0 early leads in both games and hung on to prevail in a Saturday night pair at Frawley Stadium, downing the Salem Sox 3-2 in the opener and 6-2 in the nightcap. Bryce Brentz blasted his 29th homer of the season in the sixth inning of game two, his solo shot failed to provide the necessary firepower to overcome the early deficit.
In game one, Wilmington broke through with three runs in the last of the third against Salem starter Chris Hernandez. Michael Liberto’s RBI single drove home Jared Dyer, and two more runs scored on Carlo Testa’s single to right and the ensuing Brentz throwing error. Despite the error, all three runs were earned against Hernandez.
Salem plated a unearned run of its own in the top of the fifth, then made it 3-2 on Shannon Wilkerson’s RBI single in the sixth, but the Sox could not deliver the equalizer in the seventh. Michael Mariot tossed five innings to improve to 8-3, while Bryan Paukovitz dealt a scoreless seventh to earn his sixth save. Hernandez became the first Salem pitcher of the season to register a complete game, but unfortunately, his six-inning CG also coupled as his sixth loss, with the southpaw falling to 10-6.
In game two, the Blue Rocks three-run rally kicked off the ballgame, with three of the first four Rocks reaching against Stolmy Pimentel. John Whittleman’s two-run double gave Wilmington a 2-0 lead, and Whittleman crossed the plate on Yem Prades’ ground ball that Heiker Meneses overthrew to first.
Whittleman picked up his third RBI by belting a solo bomb to lead off the third, surging the Blue Rocks to a 4-0 edge and becoming just the third Blue Rock ever to record 20 homers in a season. The Red Sox responded in the top of the fourth, with Alex Valdez singling to drive in an unearned tally against Tim Melville. But the Blue Rocks reassumed their four-run edge in the bottom of the fourth, manufacturing a run following Deivy Batista’s single. He advanced to second on an error, moved to third on a strikeout throw to first, and then scurried home on a wild pitch, making it 5-1.
Brentz’ bomb off Melville brought the Sox within three, but Batista scored his second run of the game on Carlo Testa’s two-out RBI single in the bottom of the sixth. Up 6-2, Melville handed the baton to Dusty Odenbach, who pitched around a one-out walk in the seventh to preserve the victory.
Meneses led the Red Sox with three hits, connecting in both ballgames to extend his hitting streak to 11 games. Valdez also chipped in three hits in the double-dip, while Wilkerson mustered two hits in game one but went hitless in the nightcap, snapping his streak at 10 games.
Sunday brings another doubleheader between Salem and Wilmington, with Ryan Pressly and Pete Ruiz scheduled to start for the Sox. The Blue Rocks will send Justin Marks and Elisaul Pimentel to the mound, with the first pitch of the day slated for 12:35.
Late error dooms Lynchburg
Chris Masters took a no-hitter into the sixth inning Saturday night for the second time this season. Yem Prades broke up the no-no and the shutout with an RBI single that inning. Tied 2-2 in the bottom of the ninth, Ryan Stovall delivered the final blow grounding one under the glove of shortstop Andrelton Simmons which allowed Nick Van Stratten to score from third and the Blue Rocks won 3-2.
Masters and Wimington’s starter Justin Marks exchanged zeroes on the scoreboard through the first five and a half innings.
The Blue Rocks struck first in the bottom of the sixth inning. After Prades broke up the no-hitter and the shutout, Van Stratten singled in another run putting Wilmington up 2-0.
Marks came out in the seventh inning with the lead for the first time. He retired the first batter; making 18 consecutive Hillcats sat down since giving up a double to Simmons in the first inning. He then walked Phil Gosselin on a borderline outside fastball with a full count. Joey Terdoslavich and Joe Leonard followed the walk with back-to-back singles, Gosselin scoring on the latter. Then Christian Bethancourt hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game 2-2.
All tied heading into the bottom of the ninth, Cardenas entered the game for the Hillcats. He hadn’t allowed a run in 14 innings, but found himself in trouble right away. Van Stratten singled to lead off the inning. John Whittleman then ripped an inside fastball to right, moving Van Stratten to third base with nobody out. With the infield drawn in to cut down the game-winning run, Ryan Stovall hit a ground ball to the left of shortstop Andrelton Simmons. Simmons never got his glove down far enough and let the ball roll into to center field. The Blue Rocks won 3-2.
Bryan Paukovitz (2-2) earned the win in relief of Marks, tossing the final two outs of the eighth, through the ninth inning. Cardenas (3-2) took the loss allowing an unearned run in the final frame.
The Hillcats fall to 20-28 with the loss and now trail in the series 2-1. Their consecutive winning series streak will stop at four, but they will have a chance to split when the two teams meet one last time Sunday at 1:35 pm.
RHP Gary Moran (1-0) will start for Lynchburg against RHP Tim Melville (8-7) for Wilmington. Listen live to all the action starting with the Hillcats On-Deck Show powered by Honda/Suzuki of Lynchburg on 105.5 KD Country and online at lynchburg-hillcats.com
Early burst dooms Lynchburg
Lynchburg puts up one in opening frame, but four runs for the Blue Rocks in the bottom of the first proved to be too much for the HIllcats Friday. The ‘Cats managed three runs on seven hits but fell for just the third time in eight games in Wilmington this season. The Blue Rocks added five more after the first for a final of 9-3 at Frawley Stadium.
The Hillcats jumped out of the gate with a run in the first inning. Joey Terdoslavich hit just his second triple of the season, plating Phil Gosselin in the process. Lynchburg led 1-0, but not for long.
Wilmington roared back with four runs in the bottom of the first frame. Starter Matt Crim surrendered three hits, all for extra bases. Whit Merrifield led off the inning with a triple. Crim hit the next batter, before a double tied the game at 1-1 and put runners at second and third. A sacrifice fly and a ground out to short scored two more. Finally, Yem Prades capped the inning with a solo home run to left. The Blue Rocks led 4-1.
Crim allowed two more runs on two hits, a walk, and an error in the fourth inning. The error came from shortstop Andrelton Simmons making an awkward flip to second base with the bases loaded and two outs. Gosselin couldn’t handle the flip, and two runs scored on the play, one ruled unearned.
Wilmington went on to score one run in the each the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings as well bringing their final total to nine.
The Hillcats’ offense plated two more runs in the sixth inning. Gosselin single and eventually scored on a wild pitch, while Joe Leonard coming in from third on a grounder to the pitcher scored after Jose Bonilla dropped the toss from the pitcher Tyler Sample.
Sample (7-10) would get the win finishing six innings, allowing three runs, two earned on seven hits and two walks. Crim (1-7) suffered the loss. He gave up six runs, five earned, in four innings. Jon Beck went the final three innings scoreless for the Blue Rocks and earned his second save of the season.
The Hillcats are now 20-27 in the second half, falling five games back of the Potomac Nationals for the last playoff spot in the Northern Division. Even with the loss the HIllcats have won seven of their last 10.
The series continues tomorrow with game three at 6:05 pm. LHP Chris Masters (7-5) will start for Lynchburg against RHP Justin Marks (7-8) for Wilmington. Listen live to the action starting with the Hillcats On-Deck Show powered by Honda/Suzuki of Lynchburg on 105.5 KD Country and online at lynchburg-hillcats.com
Lynchburg stays hot
LHP Dimasther Delgado earned his eighth win of the season Thursday night allowing just one run through five innings on four hits. Four runs proved to be plenty of support as the Hillcats took the series opener. The ‘Cats have now won seven of their last nine contests.
The Hillcats tallied four hits in the second inning and took the early lead. Barrett Kleinknecht doubled in Marcus Lemon to put the ‘Cats on the board. Keenan Wiley then hit into a fielder’s choice that saw Kleinknecht get tagged out at third. Todd Cunningham and Andrelton Simmons followed with back-to-back singles, the latter scoring Wiley. The ‘Cats led 2-0.
In the third the Blue Rocks fought back with three of their six hits on the night. Three straight singles strung together by Deivy Batista, Yem Prades, and Carlo Testa plated a run with two outs. Wilmington still trailed 2-1.
Three more hits for Lynchburg plated another pair of runs in the fourth. Cunningham started the rally with an infield single to third with one out. Simmons then popped up a bunt to the catcher. With two outs, Phil Gosselin triple to the left center field gap scoring Cunningham from first. Joe Leonard followed with a ground rule double over the left field wall, and Gosselin scored. The Hillcats led 4-1.
Delgado (8-7) finished five innings and left with the 4-1 lead. Jeremy Haynes, Mark Lamm, and Eliecer Cardenas combined for four scoreless innings of relief behind the starter, securing the win for Delgado. Haynes and Lamm both earned holds, while Cardenas recorded his fifth save of the season.
The Hillcats have won each of their last four series, and are off on the right foot taking the opener in Wilmington for a fifth. Prior to this recent stretch Lynchburg had not won more than two series in a row all year.
Lynchburg is now 20-26 in the second half, four games back of a playoff spot, as they chase the Potomac Nationals in the Northern Division.
Wilmington hosts the ‘Cats again Friday at 7:05 pm. LHP Matt Crim (1-6) will start for Lynchburg against RHP Tyler Sample (6-10) for the Blue Rocks.
Listen live to all the action starting with the Hillcats On-Deck Show powered by Honda/Suzuki of Lynchburg 105.5 KD Country and online at lynchburg-hillcats.com
Lynchburg doubles up Blue Rocks
The Hillcats hit 10 extra-base hits, eight doubles and two home runs, to win their third straight game 9-4 over the Wilmington Blue Rocks Friday night.
The Blue Rocks scored first in the top of the second inning. Three singles, finished with an RBI single by Jose Bonilla scored the first run of the game for Wilmington.
The Hillcats started to come alive in the bottom half of the second. Joe Leonard led off with a walk. Shawn McGill followed with a double, the first of many for the Hillcats. Geraldo Rodriguez scored both runners with a double of his own. Rodriguez came around to score four batters later when Andrelton Simmons doubled down the left field line. The Hillcats led 3-1 at the end of the inning.
Three more doubles were hit by the Hillcats in the bottom of the third. The big blow was a bases-clearing double by Keenan Wiley that scored Joey Terdoslavich, McGill and Rodriguez to put the Hillcats ahead 6-1.
Lynchburg continued to pile on the runs in the fourth. Joe Leonard hit his eighth home run of the season, a two-run shot to right-center to give the Hillcats an 8-1 lead.
The Hillcats had another home run in the sixth. With nobody on and one out, Terdoslavich hit a long fly to left-center. The ball bounced back into the field of play, however, the home plate umpire Rich Gonzalez ruled that it hit the net behind the wall and bounced back in, giving Terdoslavich his 16th home run of the season, and allowing the Hillcats to go up 9-1.
The Blue Rocks scored three in the seventh inning, but that is all they would score and the Hillcats won 9-4. Ten batters came to the plate since Marcus Lemon pinch-ran for Keenan Wiley in the fifth inning, and all ten reached base during the game. Seven batters hit a double in the game, and Simmons hit two.
Starter David Hale had a strong outing for the Hillcats. He went six and one-third innings, giving up four runs, and only one run through the first six. He earned the win to improve to 3-4. Blue Rocks starter Noel Arguelles couldn’t escape the third inning and took the loss to fall to 4-5.
The Hillcats won their third straight game and are now 16-24 in the second half and in third place in the Northern division. Wilmington fell into fourth and are 15-25.
The homestand continues Saturday night against Wilmington. Lefty Dimasther Delgado (7-6) will pitch for the Hillcats while the Blue Rocks will send out righty Elisaul Pimentel (5-6). First pitch will be at 6:05 pm and the gates will open at 5.
The Hillcats On-Deck Show presented by Honda/Suzuki of Lynchburg will go on the air at 5:40 pm. Tune in to 105.5 KD Country or go to lynchburg-hillcats.com to listen live to all the action.
P-Nats close out Blue Rocks
After a rocky first inning, Paul Demny settled in and dominated the Wilmington Blue Rocks. He struck out a career high ten and allowed just two hits after a two-run first, as the Potomac Nationals survived a rocky ninth to win 7-5 at Frawley Stadium on Thursday afternoon.
Demny, coming off two disastrous road starts, appeared rattled early. Three straight one-out hits in the first inning scored a pair and put the Blue Rocks in front 2-0. But Demny got the next two outs and was outstanding from then on. He retired nine straight hitters and allowed only two more baserunners through seven innings and earned his seventh win as the Nationals moved to 20-13 in the second half, nine games ahead of Wilmington in the second half standings.
With their record at 49-53 overall, the Nationals also moved to four games under .500 for the first time since the first day of May.
The Nationals seized the lead back for Demny in the top of the second. Consecutive singles by Steven Souza and J.R. Higley set the table for an inning, but Cutter Dykstra’s double play appeared to stem the tide. However, Eury Perez bunted for a single to score Souza and cut the lead in half. Francisco Soriano rocked the very next pitch over the left field wall for his fifth home run and a 3-2 Potomac lead.
The P-Nats added four runs in the last three innings – and would end up needing them. Dykstra hit his first homer of the season in the seventh; Souza crushed a two-run double in the eighth and Destin Hood smacked a run-scoring double in the top of the ninth to make it 7-2 Potomac.
Neil Holland pitched a scoreless eighth, but allowed a two-out, three-run homer to Julio Rodriguez in the ninth that trimmed the lead to two at 7-5. Rob Wort was brought on to get the last out; he retired Gerard Hall to earn his third save.
The Nationals took three of four from Wilmington and four of seven on the road trip.
Potomac welcomes the first-half champion Frederick Keys to Woodbridge for a three-game series beginning Friday night at 7:05. Adam Olbrychowski takes the mound the Nats against Bobby Bundy.
Pitching pushes P-Nats
Sammy Solis was outstanding into the eighth inning and was again supported by early offense as the Potomac Nationals took an edge in their four-game series in Wilmington with a 5-1 victory Wednesday night at Frawley Stadium. A one-out double chased Solis in the eighth and plated the only run against the lefthander, but a steady start that featured a stretch of 13 consecutive hitters retired earned him a fourth victory in five tries with Potomac and moved the Nationals eight games ahead of the Blue Rocks in the Carolina League standings.
The Nationals (48-53) staked Solis to an early lead. Francisco Soriano led off the first inning with a walk, stole second and scored on Destin Hood’s single to right field. After Hood moved to second no a throwing error by Rocks’ starter Tyler Sample on a pickoff, Justin Bloxom hit a deep fly ball that appeared to clear the wall in left. It was called a double, however, and the Nats led 2-0.
Solis again struggled to settle into the game. In each of the first three innings, he allowed two men to reach base. But double plays in the first and third and consecutive strikeouts in the second helped him steer clear of trouble.
J.R. Higley hit a massive home run in the top of the fourth to stretch the lead, after which Solis took over. Including the twin-killer that ended the third, he retired 13 consecutive Blue Rocks (47-54), needing just 33 pitches to do so.
The P-Nats got two more runs in the sixth and ended Sample’s night. Three straight singles, combined with another throwing error on a pickoff, plated a run and chased Sample. With the bases loaded and one out, Eury Perez hit a high chopper to first that brought Sandy Leon home and made it 5-0 Potomac.
Gerard Hall’s double in the eighth scored Jose Bonilla, who had walked to open the inning. But Marcos Frias shut down Wilmington for an inning and two thirds and closed down the 5-1 win.
The Nationals will look to take three of four from Wilmington on Thursday. Paul Demny takes the mound for the Nationals at 12 P.M.
