The Hillcats hit 10 extra-base hits, eight doubles and two home runs, to win their third straight game 9-4 over the Wilmington Blue Rocks Friday night.
The Blue Rocks scored first in the top of the second inning. Three singles, finished with an RBI single by Jose Bonilla scored the first run of the game for Wilmington.
The Hillcats started to come alive in the bottom half of the second. Joe Leonard led off with a walk. Shawn McGill followed with a double, the first of many for the Hillcats. Geraldo Rodriguez scored both runners with a double of his own. Rodriguez came around to score four batters later when Andrelton Simmons doubled down the left field line. The Hillcats led 3-1 at the end of the inning.
Three more doubles were hit by the Hillcats in the bottom of the third. The big blow was a bases-clearing double by Keenan Wiley that scored Joey Terdoslavich, McGill and Rodriguez to put the Hillcats ahead 6-1.
Lynchburg continued to pile on the runs in the fourth. Joe Leonard hit his eighth home run of the season, a two-run shot to right-center to give the Hillcats an 8-1 lead.
The Hillcats had another home run in the sixth. With nobody on and one out, Terdoslavich hit a long fly to left-center. The ball bounced back into the field of play, however, the home plate umpire Rich Gonzalez ruled that it hit the net behind the wall and bounced back in, giving Terdoslavich his 16th home run of the season, and allowing the Hillcats to go up 9-1.
The Blue Rocks scored three in the seventh inning, but that is all they would score and the Hillcats won 9-4. Ten batters came to the plate since Marcus Lemon pinch-ran for Keenan Wiley in the fifth inning, and all ten reached base during the game. Seven batters hit a double in the game, and Simmons hit two.
Starter David Hale had a strong outing for the Hillcats. He went six and one-third innings, giving up four runs, and only one run through the first six. He earned the win to improve to 3-4. Blue Rocks starter Noel Arguelles couldn’t escape the third inning and took the loss to fall to 4-5.
The Hillcats won their third straight game and are now 16-24 in the second half and in third place in the Northern division. Wilmington fell into fourth and are 15-25.
The homestand continues Saturday night against Wilmington. Lefty Dimasther Delgado (7-6) will pitch for the Hillcats while the Blue Rocks will send out righty Elisaul Pimentel (5-6). First pitch will be at 6:05 pm and the gates will open at 5.
The Hillcats On-Deck Show presented by Honda/Suzuki of Lynchburg will go on the air at 5:40 pm. Tune in to 105.5 KD Country or go to lynchburg-hillcats.com to listen live to all the action.
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