The Lynchburg Hillcats couldn’t match the bats of the Frederick Keys in Thursday’s rubber match, losing 11-7 at City Stadium. Robby Hefflinger hit his ninth home run of the season and Matt Lipka had three hits in the game, but it wasn’t enough. The Hillcats bullpen allowed eight runs on 13 hits in five innings of relief. The Hillcats defensive woes continued with a four-error night.
The Hillcats (21-17) fell behind early with the Keys (21-18) scoring the first three runs of the ballgame. They got two in the first when James Hoyt walked in two runs; he walked four straight batters in the inning and faced eight batters in the first. The Keys added another run in the second on an infield single from Christian Walker, making it 3-0 mid second.
Lynchburg tied things up with a three-run third. The first four hitters of the inning reached with back-to-back walks and back-to back singles to lead off the frame. Elmer Reyes’ single came with the bases loaded and scored two. Matt Weaver scored later in the inning on a fielding error by Keys 3B Nicky Delmonico; the game was tied at 3-3 after two.
The Hillcats jumped out in front with a solo home run from Hefflinger in the third. It was his ninth of the season and first in May. Lynchburg got another run in the fourth on an RBI-double from Emerson Landoni, plating Lipka.
The Keys regained the lead in the fifth inning. Caleb Brewer came on in relief and gave up three runs on four hits in the inning. Delvi Cid hit a two-run double and then scored when Johnny Ruettiger followed up with a single. Delmonico singled home a run off Brewer in the sixth to make it 7-5 Frederick after six.
It was the first time Brewer (0-1) has allowed more than one earned run in a game this season. He allowed four in Thursday’s game on six hits and a walk while striking out one.
Ryan Woolley came on in the seventh for Lynchburg but that didn’t slow down the Keys lineup, who plated two more runs. Two walks and two singles, including an RBI-single from Sammie Starr, came before an out was recorded and a throwing error on Hillcats 3B Kyle Kubitza allowed another run to come across, making it 9-5 Keys.
The Hillcats got a run back in the bottom of the frame with a sacrifice fly from Kyle Kubitza. Kubitza had three RBI in the final two games of the series.
The teams traded runs in the eighth; William Beckwith picked up an RBI-single to score Lipka and the HIllcats would get the tying run to the plate in the form of David Rohm with two outs in the inning, but Rohm grounded out sharply to second to end the frame. The Keys added an unearned run off John Cornely in the ninth for extra padding.
Neither starter factored into the decision. Hoyt went four innings and gave up three runs on five hits and four walks while striking out seven for Lynchburg. Tim Berry also went four innings, giving up five runs on five hits and four walks plus four strikeouts for Frederick.
The Hillcats look to rebound when they host the Carolina Mudcats for a weekend set beginning Friday at 6:05pm. Gates open at 5pm and there are fireworks after the final out, courtesy of Bee Line Towing. It’s also Reading Night, presented by Children’s Dentistry & Orthodontics of Lynchburg, with kids who completed the Hillcats ‘Hit the Books!’ program will receive free admission.
Greg Ross (1-0, 2.53) makes his second start for the Hillcats since getting called up from Rome, taking on Shawn Morimando (1-5, 4.24) for Carolina. If you can’t make it to the game, join Erik Wilson and Jake Levy for all the play-by-play action starting with the Hillcats On-Deck Show, powered by Honda/Suzuki of Lynchburg, going live at 5:40pm on 97.9 FM The Planet and lynchburg-hillcats.com
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Chris Graham
