The Lynchburg Hillcats dropped the series opener to Northern Division rival Wilmington Blue Rocks, 6-4, Wednesday night at City Stadium. Elmer Reyes had two hits and an RBI in the loss. The Hillcats scored the last four runs of the game but could not completely climb out of the early hole.
The Blue Rocks (23-28, 56-65) struck with single runs in the second and third innings to take an early lead. Yowill Espinal drove home a run with a single in the second inning and Dennis Raben doubled home a run in the third inning. They then sent eight men to the plate and scored four times in the fourth inning, led by a two-run single by Ethan Chapman, to jump out 6-0 through three-and-a-half innings.
The Hillcats (21-27, 57-60) got two runs back in the home half of the fourth. Lynchburg was held hitless through three innings but struck for three doubles in the fourth. Josh Elander, Reyes and Levi Hyams all doubled. Reyes and Hyams had the RBI knocks in the inning. The Hillcats got two more runs in the fifth when Rocks 3B Daniel Mateo committed an error with bases loaded and two outs before Trent Moses walked to force in a run.
That was all the scoring in the game. Both starters were charged with all the runs and got the decisions with Sam Selman (10-8) getting the win and Greg Ross (7-6) taking the loss. Ross allowed six runs, five earned, on nine hits with a walk and six strikeouts through seven innings.
With the loss the Hillcats fall out of first place in the Northern Division wild card spot to the Rocks. They look to regain the edge on Thursday at 7:05pm. Gates open at 6pm for football night; fans wearing a football jersey will get half-priced admission. It’s also Virginia Tech night with fans wearing Hokie gear getting half off tickets as well. There will be $2 drink specials for Thursday Cheers courtesy of Yeungling, Miller Lite and 97.9 FM The Planet. Erik Wilson and Jake Levy will have the broadcast starting with the Hillcats On-Deck Show, powered by Honda/Suzuki of Lynchburg, at 6:40pm on 97.9 FM The Planet and lynchburg-hillcats.com
Share
Chris Graham
