Castro, Castillo lead charge in 7-3 Hillcats win

Willi Castro posted a season high four RBIs and finished a single shy of the cycle, while Ivan Castillo went 4-5 with a pair of doubles in his return to the lineup after more than a month on the Disabled List. As a team, the Hillcats matched a season high with 16 hits to defeat Salem, 7-3, Wednesday night.

Lynchburg jumped out a 2-0 advantage thanks to a two-out, two-run double by Castro that drove in Sam Haggerty and Connor Marabell. Salem tied the game in the bottom of the first with two runs, although one was unearned.

The Hillcats took the lead for good with three runs on four hits in the third. Ka’ai Tom opened the stanza with a double and scored two batters later on an RBI single by Marabell. Castro followed with a triple to right center field to make it a 4-2 contest. The next batter, Jodd Carter, doubled to left to push the margin to 5-2.

In the fifth, Castro drilled a solo home run well beyond the right field fence to make it 6-2. It marked Castro’s second home run batting left-handed, his sixth overall, and gave him a season-high four RBIs for the evening. Salem used another unearned run to pull within three, 6-3, in the home half of the frame.

Lynchburg tallied its final run in the seventh when Marabell walked and later scored on an Anthony Miller two-out single. For the second straight game, every Hillcat in the lineup reached base at least once. Martin Cervenka went 2-5 to extend his season-long on-base streak to 11 consecutive contests.

Aaron Civale (4-1, 2.48) earned his fourth victory in six starts with the Hillcats after holding Salem to three runs, one earned, on five hits in five innings. He struck out five and walked none. Jordan Milbrath tossed two scoreless innings of middle relief, and Argenis Angulo struck out three in two shutout innings to finish the game. Dedgar Jimenez (8-3) entered Wednesday as the league leader in wins but suffered his shortest outing of the year after giving up five runs on seven hits in 2 1/3 innings.

Lynchburg plays Salem at home Thursday at 6:30 p.m. Triston McKenzie (6-4, 3.14) will be on the mound for the Hillcats. Gates open at 5:30 for a ThirstyThursday presented by Miller Lite, Yuengling and 97.9 FM The Planet. The game can be heard live at www.lynchburg-hillcats.com.