Hillcats can’t complete comeback

A dramatic late inning comeback fell one run short in front of a sellout crowd at City Stadium on Saturday night. The Hillcats trailed by four runs for most of the game, but three runs in the eighth with only one out gave the Lynchburg faithful hope.

Ivan Castillo got the game started with a bang for the Hillcats, as he led off the bottom of the first with a triple. With two out and Castillo still at third, Nellie Rodriguez drove Castillo in with a double to right-center field to give the Lynchburg an early 1-0 lead.

Myrtle Beach answered with a run of their own in the third on a home run from Mark Zagunis to left, knotting things up at one.

The Pelicans took the lead in the fourth by sending nine men to the plate and scoring four runs. Trey Martin had an RBI single to right, Wes Darvill scored on a wild pitch after he reached on a walk, and Carlos Penalver had a two RBI double to take a 5-1 lead.

Still trailing by four runs in the eighth, the Hillcats mounted a comeback on Pelicans reliever Gerardo Concepcion. Concepcion worked the sixth and seventh and recorded every out with a strikeout. Nellie Rodriguez got things started with double. Luigi Rodriguez followed with a double of his own, scoring Nellie Rodriguez. With the bases loaded, Alex Monsalve singled through the gap between first and second, scoring Luigi Rodriguez. Castillo then singled to right to cut the deficit to one, but the runners could only go station to station. With the bases still loaded, Clint Frazier grounded into a double play to end the inning with the score 5-4 Pelicans.

The Hillcats couldn’t complete the comeback and went down one-two-three in the ninth to drop the contest, 5-4.

Game three of four against Myrtle Beach will be Sunday at 2:00 p.m. There will be a team photo giveaway to the first 1,000 fans presented by WYYD. It is also a Family Sunday. Four pack tickets can be purchased for 40 dollars. Kids will be able to run the bases and play catch on the field after the game. Fans that can’t make it out to the ballpark can tune into ESPN Radio Virginia beginning at 1:40 for the Hillcats On-Deck Show.