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Lynchburg Hillcats rally to top Frederick, 6-5

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lynchburg hillcatsDaniel Castro ripped the first pitch he saw from Matt Price in the 10th-inning down the third base line to drive home Tyler Tewell and give Lynchburg its first victory of the season, 6-5.

Castro’s game-winning single capped off a thrilling comeback victory for the home team at Calvin Falwell Field Friday night. The Hillcats (1-1) tied the game with two outs in the ninth inning and won the game with two outs in the 10th. In total, Lynchburg scored five of its six runs with two outs to even the season-opening series with Frederick (1-1).

Lynchburg held multiple leads during the game but found itself trailing entering the ninth inning, 5-4. Levi Hyams began the comeback with a single and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Castro. Two batters later, Kyle Wren hit a sinking line drive to center field that barely fell in front of Glynn Davis to tie the game with Wren’s second RBI of the evening. Hyams scored twice on a night that saw him go 2-for-3 with two walks.

In the extra frame, Tyler Tewell started the 10th with a base hit, and Edison Sanchez followed with a single through the left side. After Price recovered to retire the next two batters, the stage was set for Castro. With two on and two out in the bottom of the 10th, Castro scorched the baseball just a couple feet inside of third base all the way down the left field line to seal the victory.

Zach Jadofsky (1-0) earned the victory out of bullpen after striking out a batter and not allowing a run in top half of the inning. Brandon Cunniff worked 1.1 scoreless innings in relief, and Greg Ross had an extended appearance out of the bullpen where he surrendered two runs but struck out four in 3.2 innings of relief for Mauricio Cabrera.

Cabrera, the No. 5 prospect in the Braves system, started the game on the mound and went four innings, allowing three runs despite only one of them being earned. The 20-year-old touched triple digits on the radar gun, reaching as high as 101 mph with his fastball. He struck out five in his four innings.

For the second straight night, Lynchburg found itself trailing before it even had a chance to pick up the bats. Glynn Davis hit a leadoff single and scored in the first inning. However, Lynchburg responded with a big second inning to take its first lead of the season. After a one-out double by Sanchez, Hyams and Castro drew back-to-back walks to load the bases. Peraza came through with a two-out single to left field, which ended up bringing home three runs after a misplay by Michael Burgess. Peraza received two RBIs, and Lynchburg gained the advantage, 3-1.

Frederick tied the game with two runs in the third, but Lynchburg moved in front again with an RBI groundout by Wren in the fourth. Will Skinner scored from third on the bouncing ball after he originally led off the frame with a walk.

Lynchburg returns to action when Wes Parsons (0-0) takes the mound for the Hillcats against Matt Taylor (0-0) of FrederickSaturday at 6:05pm. It’s the first Fireworks Night of the season presented by Liberty University. It also serves as the first TUCP “Smoke Free” School Night. If you can’t make it to the ballpark, you can tune in to the live play-by-play action with Erik Wilson and Kyle West, going on the air at 5:40pm on 97.9 The Planet.

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