Travis Sykora, who earlier in the day had been named the Carolina League Pitcher of the Year, struck out nine in five one-hit innings to get the 3-0 win over the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers, the Low-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox.
Brandon Pimentel, an undrafted free agent signed by the Washington Nationals in 2023 out of Texas-Rio Grande Valley, hit a two-run homer in the second inning to put the FredNats on top to stay.
Pimentel is also a Valley League alum – he hit .273/.333/.424 in 11 games with the Waynesboro Generals in 2021.
Pimental finished the 2024 season with Fredericksburg with a .274/.329/.393 slash line, eight homers and 85 RBIs, and 18 stolen bases.
Nathaniel Ochoa Levya, a sixth-round draft pick in 2022, added an insurance run with an RBI single in the sixth.
Virginia Tech alum Anthony Arguelles, a 2023 undrafted free agent signee, closed the game out with a two-K seventh.
Arguelles is also a VBL alum – he was 2-0 with a 3.38 ERA in four starts in 2021 with Woodstock.
Arguelles was 3-0 with a 2.87 ERA in 27 appearances (39Ks/15BBs in 31.1 IP) out of the FredNats bullpen in 2024.
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Chris Graham
