Down East rallies in ninth, downs Lynchburg Hillcats, 3-1

The Lynchburg Hillcats lost in heartbreaking fashion as they surrendered the lead in the ninth to fall to the Down East Wood Ducks by a score of 3-1.

The Hillcats (31-30) and Wood Ducks (30-31) were trading blows all game and were tied heading into the ninth inning before Down East tacked on two runs.

It was a pitcher’s duel for most of the evening, as Jack Leftwich and Josh Stephan battled to out-do each other through the first five innings. The Hillcats would score their one run in the fifth on a Wilfri Peralta single into right that would score Jordan Brown. From there, the Hillcats were held scoreless by Bradford Webb for the final four innings.

The Wood Ducks would score their first run in the top of the sixth as Efrenyer Narvaez would single home Derwin Barreto to tie things up at one. After the run would score, the Hillcats would bring in Juan Zapata who would go on to shut down the Wood Ducks lineup.

However, in the ninth inning, Lynchburg brought in Sammy Vasquez who caught a few unlucky breaks on ground balls. One was a slow roller to the mound that he could not pick up, the other was a grounder to first that took an awkward hop over the glove of Will Bartlett.

From there, the Wood Ducks would tack on two runs to give themselves the lead. The Hillcats could not do anything in the bottom of the ninth as they were set down 1-2-3.

The Hillcats currently remain in a tie for first place in the Carolina League North. Down East and Lynchburg will play game five of their series Saturday night at Bank of the James Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30.