Lynchburg picked up a 4-1 win Sunday evening at City Stadium to complete a four-game sweep of the Frederick Keys.
Frederick used a pair of doubles in the opening frame to strike first. Randolph Gassaway lined a ball to right field to bring in Ryan Mountcastle.
The Hillcats answered in the bottom half. After three straight walks loaded the bases, Connor Marabell slapped a fastball back up the middle to drive in both Sam Haggerty and Ka’ai Tom. Daniel Salters hit a sacrifice fly to left and plated Sicnarf Loopstok. Later in the inning, Yonathan Mendoza singled on a broken bat blooper to shallow left, which scored Willi Castro to give Lynchburg a 4-1 lead. The Hillcats maintained that margin the rest of the way to stay undefeated in the second half.
Hillcats starter Brock Hartson (3-3) turned in a gem, allowing just one run on two hits over six innings of work. Paul Hendrix andJared Robinson pitched a scoreless inning each before Leandro Linares entered the game to pick up the save in the ninth. For the Keys, starter Ofelky Peralta (1-6) allowed four runs on three hits while surrendering four walks over just 2/3 of an inning. Frederick’s pitching staff combined to shutout Lynchburg the remainder of the game.
Each team finished the contest with six hits. Mendoza had half of Lynchburg’s total on a 3-4 day at the plate that included his team-best 12th two-out RBI of the year. Sam Haggerty stole two bases Sunday to give him three multiple-steal games out of his last five contests. He increased his league-leading total to 25. Armando Araiza walked for Frederick’s offense in the fifth inning. That broke an incredible streak by the Hillcats pitching staff in which it did not walk a batter in 47 consecutive innings at home.
Lynchburg heads on the road Monday to take on the Salem Red Sox for three games before returning home to finish the four-game set with the rare one-game homestand Thursday night. Shao-Ching Chiang (7-4, 3.36) will start Monday’s game at 7:05 p.m. The game can be heard live at www.lynchburg-hillcats.com beginning at 7.
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Chris Graham
