Home Wilmington takes rubber match from Hillcats, 6-2
Baseball

Wilmington takes rubber match from Hillcats, 6-2

Chris Graham

Lynchburg failed to win the series against Wilmington on Thursday night at City Stadium, dropping a 6-2 contest after a 39-minute rain delay prior to the game.

lynchburg hillcatsIn the first, Nick Heath launched a solo home run to right, his first at the Advanced-A level. After Brandon Downes tripled, Chris DeVito also homered to give Wilmington a 3-0 lead. In the bottom half, Sicnarf Loopstok showed off his power, hammering a ball deep to left, cutting the Wilmington lead to 3-1. It gave Loopstok his team-leading 12th home run and 41st RBI of the season.

In the seventh, after two singles and a walk, D.J. Burt lined a single through the right side of the infield to plate Roman Collins. One batter later, Heath hit a sacrifice fly to bring in Nate Esposito and give the Blue Rocks a 5-1 advantage.

In the ninth, Wilmington added a run to its total. After a single, stolen base, and an error moved Burt to third, a wild pitch helped him home. In the bottom half, Connor Marabell went yard for the fifth time as a Hillcat this year to make it 6-2.

Shao-Ching Chiang (7-6) allowed five runs on seven hits over 6 1/3 innings. For Wilmington, Andres Machado (5-7) earned the victory. He allowed just one run on six hits over 7 1/3 frames.

The Hillcats welcome the Salem Red Sox to town on Friday for the Patriotic Cap Giveaway presented by Foster Fuels, 105.5 KD Country, Steve FM, WJJS and WYYD. The first 1,000 fans through the gates at 5:30 p.m. will receive the red-white-and-blue lid. The game can be heard live at www.lynchburg-hillcats.com with pre-game coverage beginning at 6:20 p.m.

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Chris Graham

Chris Graham

Chris Graham is the founder and editor of Augusta Free Press. A 1994 alum of the University of Virginia, Chris is the author and co-author of seven books, including Poverty of Imagination, a memoir published in 2019. For his commentaries on news, sports and politics, go to his YouTube page, TikTok, BlueSky, or subscribe to Substack or his Street Knowledge podcast. Email Chris at [email protected].

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