Victor Planchart sends the fans home happy after a walk-off single in the 11th to give the Lynchburg Hillcats a 3-2 victory over the Columbia Fireflies.
The Hillcats (24-19) received some clutch pitching from their bullpen to down the Fireflies (13-31). Lynchburg’s pitching combined for 16 strikeouts on Saturday night.
Jake Fox opened the scoring in the first inning after he walked and came all the way around to score. He would touch home due to a wild pitch.
From there, Rodney Boone was electric for the first three innings of the ballgame, before allowing a two-run home run to Erick Peña to give Columbia the lead. Boone would stay in until the end of the seventh, setting the team high for innings pitched in a game this season.
The Hillcats would not score again until the seventh inning, when Luis Durango would score from third via a throwing error with two outs, tying up the ballgame at two.
Hugo Villalobos would come on in relief in the eighth inning, where he would retire all nine batters he faced after a leadoff single. He struck out the side in the ninth and went one-two-three in the tenth.
Tyler Thornton would be brought in to pitch the eleventh, where he recorded three strikeouts on his own for a quick inning that left the Columbia baserunner stranded at third.
In the bottom of the eleventh, Victor Planchart would swing at the first pitch he saw to drive a ball into right-center field. With Dayan Frias on second to start the inning, he would come around to score with ease to give the Hillcats their third walk-off of the season.
Lynchburg and Columbia will square off for the final time on Sunday afternoon at Bank of the James Stadium. First pitch is slated for 4 p.m.
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Chris Graham
