Hillcats sweep doubleheader at Wilmington

Anthony Miller’s third home run of the season broke a 1-1 tie in the seventh inning of game one of a doubleheader to send Lynchburg to a 2-1 victory, and the Hillcats led throughout the nightcap to complete a twin bill sweep at Frawley Stadium, 5-0.

Lynchburg trailed 1-0 entering the sixth inning of the opening contest, but Sam Haggerty began the frame with a single and a stolen base. Willi Castro singled to center field to tie the game. With one out in the seventh, Miller belted a solo homer over the right-field fence to send the Hillcats to a 2-1 win.

Dominic DeMasi (7-4) recorded a complete-game victory by holding Wilmington to one run on three hits in seven innings. It marked the third time of his career he went seven frames, all of which have been since August 1.

Argenis Angulo (5-2) earned the win in the second game by striking out all six batters he faced out of the bullpen. The strikeout machine has fanned 68 batters in 55 innings this season. Lynchburg used exclusively relief pitchers in game two. Ben Krauth tossed two scoreless frames to start, and Luke Eubank followed with two innings. Kieran Lovegrove pitched the seventh to complete the Hillcats’ 12th shutout.

Lynchburg led for the duration of the second game after taking the lead in the first. Claudio Bautista hit a double down the right-field line to extend his hitting streak to a season-best seven games and eventually came home on a wild pitch. In the second, Mitch Longo singled, stole second base, and scored on aSicnarf Loopstok sacrifice fly. That tied Loopstok for the team lead in RBIs with 65.

The Hillcats tallied one more in the fourth and two in the fifth. Anthony Miller drove in Longo with a sacrifice fly in the fifth. Bautista and Andrew Calica each scored in the sixth after opening the stanza with back-to-back singles. Longo and Connor Marabell notched RBIs in the inning.

Longo has hit safely in all four games since he joined the Hillcats. He is 9-13 with three RBIs, eight runs scored, and two stolen bases. Marabell has five RBIs in the series to raise his season count to 45.

Lynchburg concludes the regular season Monday at Wilmington at 1:05 p.m. Sean Brady (2-1, 4.02) is scheduled to start. If the Hillcats win, they will finish the regular season 87-52, which would mark the best winning percentage (.626) by a Lynchburg team since the 1985 Mets (95-45, .679).

Following the game, Lynchburg will travel to Frederick to prepare for the Northern Division Championship Series, which begins Wednesday. The Hillcats’ first home playoff game will be Friday, Sept. 8, at 6:30 p.m. It will include Postgame Fireworks. All games can be heard live at www.lynchburg-hillcats.com.