Lynchburg Hillcats top Frederick Keys, 9-6

Tyler Tewell had an RBI triple and an RBI double, and Daniel Castro added an RBI triple to help Lynchburg overcome a four-run deficit for the second straight night and ultimately prevail, 9-6, against Frederick Tuesday night at Calvin Falwell Field.

Identical to Monday’s contest against Winston-Salem, Lynchburg (26-25) used a four-run bottom of the fifth inning to erase its deficit and tie the score. Trailing 5-1, Will Skinner sparked the rally with a line-drive single up the middle. Tewell tripled to right field to cut the margin to 5-2.

Following a walk to Eric Garcia, Castro hit a triple of his own to score Tewell and Garcia, making it a one-run contest. Jose Peraza hit a sacrifice fly to the right, and the game was tied, 5-5. For Castro, his two-run triple gave him 24 RBIs for the season, moving him within one of Kevin Ahrens for the team lead.

After Frederick (21-28) plated a run on an RBI single by Jerome Pena in the sixth, the Hillcats needed to knot the score again. Ahrens led off the frame with a double to right field. Three batters later, Tewell doubled down the left field line to tie the game at 6-all.

After Alex Wilson struck out two Keys hitters as part of a 1-2-3 inning, Lynchburg had an opportunity to take the lead after the seventh-inning stretch. Castro and Peraza hit back-to-back singles, and Peraza stole his league-leading 25^th base of the season to put two runners in scoring position. Kyle Wren and Josh Elander hit back-to-back sacrifice flies to right field to drive in both runners and give the Hillcats an 8-6 advantage. Lynchburg tacked on its final run in the eighth with an RBI single by Garcia to score Skinner.

Wilson (2-1) earned the victory after retiring all five batters he faced in middle relief. Wes Parsons started the game, but was removed after three innings due to a 52-minute rain delay. Parsons allowed one run on two hits while striking out three. Ryan Kelly earned his first save with the Hillcats after two perfect innings, including two strikeouts. Kelly has now retired all 12 batters he has seen with Lynchburg.

Prior to falling behind 5-1, Lynchburg actually had the initial lead of the contest. Jose Peraza began the first inning with a single, stole second base, advanced to third on a groundout by Wren, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Elander. In total, Lynchburg leads all of professional baseball with 31 sacrifice flies this season.

Five Hillcats had multi-hit games, led by Tewell’s 3-for-4 night with two RBIs and a run scored. Peraza finished the game 2-for-2 with an RBI and two runs scored, while Ahrens was 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored. Skinner and Castro both went 2-for-4 with two runs scored. Castro added two RBIs.

Lynchburg improved to a winning record for the first time since April 20, and the Hillcats remained one-half game behind the Wilmington Blue Rocks for first place in the Northern Division.

Lynchburg will host Frederick for game two of the series Wednesday night at 6:05pm. Lucas Sims (5-3, 4.04) will go against branden kline (3-1, 3.20). Gates open at 5pm. Erik Wilson and Kyle West will call all of the action live from City Stadium beginning at 5:40pm on 97.9 The Planet.