A dropped third strike in the fifth inning seemed to do-in the Lynchburg Hillcats as they lost 3-2 to the Winston-Salem Dash tonight. William Beckwith hit his fifth home run of the season, and drove in his team-best 13th and 14th RBI of the season. That was the only source of Hillcats offense however, as they dropped game two against the Dash.
The scoring began in the bottom of the second inning. Runners were at second and third after Mark Haddow walked and Grant Buckner doubled. Martin Medina then grounded out to second base scoring Haddow from third. Winston-Salem went up 1-0.
Lynchburg came back right away in the top of the third. Matt Weaver led off the frame with a bunt single. Matt Lipka sacrificed Weaver to second. Then, after an Elmer Reyes strikeout, Beckwith homered to put the ‘Cats up 2-1.
The lead last until the fifth inning, when the Hillcats hurt themselves on defense. With a runner at second at one out, A.J. Holland struck out Joey DeMichele on a breaking ball in the dirt. DiMichele took off for first as the ball skipped away from the catcher Chase Anselment. As Anselment retrieved the ball, Jeremy Farrell, the runner at second, advanced to third base. The throw to first to get DeMichele went sailing into right field. Farrell came into score and DeMichele was safe at first. A slow grounder to shortstop moved DeMichele to second base who then scored on a Kevan Smith single. The Dash regained the lead 3-2.
The Hillcats had a chance to extend their 2-1 lead in the fourth inning when they loaded the bases with nobody out. However, Will Skinner struck out and Weaver grounded into a 1-2-3 double play to end that threat, and the ‘Cats didn’t record another hit the rest of the night.
The Dash starter Chris Bassitt completed six innings, allowing two runs on five hits and a walk, while striking out six. Bassitt (2-0) earned the win, while Holland (1-1) took the loss, giving up three runs in five innings. Holland surrendered four hits, walked one, and struck out six.
Lynchburg fell to 8-9 and the Dash improved to 10-8.
The Hillcats are back in action bright and early tomorrow morning for game three of the series at 11am tomorrow. Winston-Salem will throw RHP Chris Beck (2-1, 0.00) against RHP Jarrett Miller (0-0, 2.00). Miller is making his first start of the season. The Hillcats On-Deck Show powered by Honda/Suzuki of Lynchburg will go on the air at 10:40am. Tune in to all the play-by-play action with Erik Wilson on 97.9 FM The Planet and online at lynchburg-hillcats.com
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Chris Graham
