The Lynchburg Hillcats moved a game and a half ahead of the rest of the Carolina League North with their 8-2 victory over the Carolina Mudcats.
The Hillcats (28-21) were carried by four runs in the first two innings for the second night in a row as the Mudcats (27-23) struggled to get their bats going against Will Dion.
The Hillcats would score in the first for the second straight ballgame as Jorge Burgos blasted his third home run of the season over the right field wall with two away in the inning.
In the second inning, the Hillcats would tack on three more runs to extend the lead to four. Victor Planchart would blast a double into left-center field to score Dayan Frias and Richard Paz. Yordys Valdes would hit a double of his own later in the inning to score Planchart.
The Hillcats would be held scoreless until the fifth when the floodgates would break open once again for a four-spot on the scoreboard. A wild pitch with the bases loaded would allow Victor Planchart to score from third. Then, a single from Milan Tolentino would bring home two more runs. A bloop single from Junior Sanquintin would score Tolentino from second and give the Hillcats the eight-run lead.
The starting pitching for the Hillcats was dominant once again as Will Dion would go six innings, striking out four and not allowing a run. He improved to 3-0 on the season with the victory.
Carolina would scratch across two runs before the ballgame would end but could not mount a comeback as Tyler Thornton came in and slammed the door shut.
Lynchburg and Carolina will play one more game in this series on Sunday night at 5 p.m. at Bank of the James Stadium.
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Chris Graham
