Aaron Civale went six innings and held Potomac to one run on three hits while striking out five in his Advanced-A debut to earn a victory at Pfitzner Stadium Thursday night. The Hillcats plated three runs in the first three innings and led the entire night en route to a 3-1 final margin.
efore Civale even took the mound, the Hillcats gave him a two-run cushion. Sam Haggerty began the game with a single and stole second base. Sicnarf Loopstok was hit by a pitch, and Connor Marabell walked to load the bases. Haggerty scored on a groundball to shortstop off the bat of Martin Cervenka, and Loopstok came home on an Andrew Calica sacrifice fly.
Lynchburg added another run in the third inning. Willi Castro had a leadoff single and eventually scored on a fielder’s choice. The Hillcats offense stalled after that, but Potomac couldn’t establish much with its bats. The Nationals’ lone run came in the sixth inning when Jack Sundberg doubled and scored on an Austin Davidson sacrifice fly. Potomac had the potential tying run at the plate in every inning after that but never successfully put the possible tying run on base.
Haggerty paced the Hillcats with a 3-4 day that included two doubles and two stolen bases to raise his team-leading totals in each category to 13 and 16, respectively. Calica raised his season RBI count to 20. Lynchburg finished 1-13 with runners in scoring position.
Billy Strode tossed 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief, and Argenis Angulo notched his seventh save of the year by recording the final five outs. Joan Baez (3-4) took the loss after allowing three runs on three hits in three frames.
Triston McKenzie (3-2, 2.84) will start on the mound Friday when the Hillcats look to make it three in a row against the Nationals. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Fans can listen to the game live at www.lynchburg-hillcats.com.
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Chris Graham
