Home FredNats get out early, but big fourth inning lifts Myrtle Beach to 10-5 win
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FredNats get out early, but big fourth inning lifts Myrtle Beach to 10-5 win

Chris Graham

fredericksburg nationals The Myrtle Beach Pelicans used a big fourth inning to beat the Fredericksburg Nationals, 10-5, on Copa Night.

The FredNats, the Low-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals, chased Chicago Cubs top prospect Jackson Ferris in the first inning, as he struggled to locate his pitches.

John McHenry picked up a single with one out, then Paul Witt and Sammy Infante both walked to load the bases.

Ferris then sailed a pitch to the backstop which allowed McHenry to dash home with the first run of the game. Ferris walked two more batters to force in another run, and Myrtle Beach was forced to pull him with two outs, but kept the score at 2-0.

Riley Cornelio held the Pelicans scoreless through the first two innings, but cracked in the top of the third.

Reivaj Garcia and Cristian Hernandez each singled with one out, and an E2 allowed them each to advance a base. After a strikeout, Andy Garriola tied the game with a two-run double.

Myrtle Beach went on to break the game open in the top of the fourth. Cornelio got the leadoff man out, before Miguel Pabon reached on an E4, and Pedro Ramirez singled. Ismael Mena drove both runners home with his third triple of the year, and Garcia followed with an RBI single to make it 5-2 Pelicans.

Another Hernandez single put two aboard for Andy Garriola, who delivered a three-run home run to left that gave Myrtle Beach an 8-2 lead.

Fredericksburg did not let that lead stay at six runs for long, as Cortland Lawson punched a two-run single into right field to make it 8-4 in the bottom of the fifth.

But in the top of the sixth, Garriola drove in his fifth and sixth runs of the game with a double down the left field line to make it 9-4, and Garcia tacked on a 10th run in the seventh.

Max Romero Jr. scored on a balk in the bottom of the ninth.

Cornelio took the loss, and Koen Moreno earned the win in relief.

For Game 3 his week, Erik Tolman takes on Luis Rujano in a 7:05 start.

Chris Graham

Chris Graham

Chris Graham is the founder and editor of Augusta Free Press. A 1994 alum of the University of Virginia, Chris is the author and co-author of seven books, including Poverty of Imagination, a memoir published in 2019, and Team of Destiny: Inside Virginia Basketball’s Run to the 2019 National Championship, and The Worst Wrestling Pay-Per-View Ever, published in 2018. For his commentaries on news, sports and politics, go to his YouTube page, or subscribe to his Street Knowledge podcast. Email Chris at [email protected].