Luke Young was excellent on the bump for the FredNats, the Low-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals, as he worked through the first three innings without allowing a run.
Then in the bottom of the third, Cortland Lawson and Leandro Emiliani each singled, and Sammy Infante walked to load the bases. Drew Gray then walked Paul Witt to force in a run, and the Pelicans replaced him with Angel Hernandez. He faced Max Romero Jr. who drove in two runs with a double off of the batter’s eye in center field to give the Nats a 3-0 edge.
John McHenry followed with his own RBI single, and Christopher De La Cruz brought the fifth run home with a sacrifice fly to give Fredericksburg a 5-0 lead.
Myrtle Beach, the Low-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs, did have an answer in the very next half inning. After Andy Garriola reached base, Parker Chavers deposited a 1-0 offering from Young on to the top of the picnic garden in right field for a two-run homer to cut the score to 5-2.
From there, FredNats pitching stole the show. Young finished up his night with a scoreless fifth, as he allowed just the two runs while striking out four Pelicans. Bubba Hall followed him with two spotless frames of his own, allowing just a base hit and a walk.
Fredericksburg was then able to tack on some insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth thanks to some erratic command on the mound. Yovanny Cabrera walked the bases loaded, and Emiliani then took advantage with a sacrifice fly to make it 6-2.
Infante and Romero Jr. each ripped RBI singles to push two more runs across, and De La Cruz was walked with the bases loaded by catcher Malcom Quintero to make it 9-2.
Armando Cruz then dealt the final blow with a bases-clearing double to give the Nats a 12-2 lead.
Matt Merrill closed it down in the ninth inning, to give Fredericksburg a 12-2 win.
Merrill got the save, Luke Young got the win, and Noah Gray suffered the loss.
Jarlin Susana toes the slab for the second time this week on Sunday, against Kevin Valdez.
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Chris Graham
