Ivan Castillo dropped a single into left field in the bottom of the 12th inning to give Lynchburg a 3-2 walk-off win over the Potomac Nationals on Thursday night at City Stadium. With the victory, the Hillcats have won each of their last five series.
HOT START
Lynchburg jumped on the board early once again as Paul Hendrix reached on a single and scored on a RBI double by Clint Frazier to give the Hillcats a 1-0 lead in the first.
Frazier scored on a passed ball by Zach Wright that gave the Hillcats a 2-0 lead.
KAMINSKY DEBUT
Rob Kaminsky took the mound for his Hillcats debut tonight and lived up to the hype. The southpaw pitched 5 1/3 scoreless innings and allowed five hits while walking three and striking out one before Michael Peoples took over in the sixth. Kaminsky,who is listed as the No. 3 prospect in the Indians organization, went toe-to-toe with the Nationals’ No. 3 prospect Reynaldo Lopez. After allowing two runs in the first, Lopez only allowed three more Hillcats baserunners over his remaining five innings.
FOIL THE PLAN
Michael Peoples held the Nationals scoreless until the top of the ninth inning when Grant DeBruin reached on a fielding error by Ivan Castillo and advanced to second on a wild pitch. John Wooten reached on a walk and was replaced by Alec Keller as a pinch runner to give Potomac runners at first and second. Khayyan Norfork singled up the middle that scored both runs to tie the game at two.
THIRD RUN IS THE CHARM
Michael Peoples remained in the game and held the Nationals off the board through the 12th inning. He finished the game with 6 2/3 innings pitched, one out shy of tying a career high, and earned his eighth win of the season. In the bottom of the frame,Mike Papi reached on a walk and Yhoxian Medina singled to advance Papi to third. With runners at second and third, Ivan Castillo lifted a ball to left field that dropped at the feet of Estarlin Martinez that allowed Papi to score the winning run to give Lynchburg a 3-2 walk-off win.
AUDIO: Castillo walk-off single
KEEPING UP WITH THE CATS
Paul Hendrix went 3-for-5 at the plate with a run scored…Hendrix now has a multi-hit game in three of his last five contests…Eric Haase failed to reach base in the win over Potomac to snap a 16 game on-base streak, his longest of the season…With the win, the Hillcats have won five straight series and have won 12 out of their last 15 games…The Hillcats are now 3-7 in extra inning games and 13-16 in one-run games.
UP NEXT
Lynchburg will begin a three-game series against the Wilmington Blue Rocks on Friday night at 6:30 p.m. Gates will open at 5:30 p.m. The first 1,000 fans through the gate will receive a free t-shirt presented by High Peak Sportswear and Steve FM. Fans can tune in to the action on ESPN Virginia 93.3 FM and 1320 AM as well as www.lynchburg-hillcats.com beginning at 6:10 p.m. for the Hillcats On-Deck Show.
– Source: Lynchburg Hillcats