Looking to stay alive in the playoff hunt, the Hillcats won in walk-off fashion over the Winston-Salem Dash 4-3.
Lynchburg (26-30, 58-65) moves to five games back of the first-place Salem Red Sox in the Northern Division with the win while the Dash (28-29, 66-55) fall to 3.5 games back of a playoff spot in the Southern Division.
With the game knotted up at 3-3 and a runner on second base in the form of Will Benson, Jason Rodriguez ripped a single to right field. On the play, Dash right fielder Tyler Frost bobbled the ball which allowed Benson to score the winning run, capping a 4-3 win for the Hillcats.
In the bottom of the second inning, Lynchburg struck first. Gavin Collins smacked a double to lead off the frame, then Jonathan Laureano launched a rocket over the left field fence to put the Hillcats up 2-0. The homer was the first Hillcats longball at City Stadium since July 19.
Winston-Salem fought back in the third. Johan Cruz drew a one-out walk and came home on an RBI single from Steele Walker to make it 2-1 Lynchburg.
In the fifth, Yeyson Yrizarri singled his way aboard to begin the inning. On the first pitch of the next at-bat, Walker swatted a ball over the right field fence to push the Dash to a 3-2 edge.
Looking to claw back into the game, the Hillcats struck in the eighth. Laureano hit a leadoff single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from Cody Farhat. Steven Kwan walked, then Tyler Freeman delivered Laureano home on a single to knot the game up at 3-3.
Juan Hillman was solid in the start for the Hillcats, allowing three earned runs over five innings of work. Felix Tati tossed three scoreless innings while striking out five, and Yapson Gomez (Win, 2-6) tossed a perfect ninth.
Jorgan Cavanerio surrendered two earned runs across five innings in the start for Winston-Salem. Bennett Sousa spun two scoreless frames and Jacob Lindgren (Loss, 1-1) coughed up two runs (one earned) over 1.1 innings of work.
The Hillcats will seek to secure the series win when they face off against the Dash in the finale on Thursday. Lynchburg will send right-hander Cody Morris (2-0, 3.82) to the rubber to face off against MLB rehabber Manny Banuelos (0-0, 3.86). First pitch is slated for 6:30 p.m.
Max Gun and Anders Jorstad will be on the air at 6:20 p.m. with the Hillcats pre-game show on TuneIn Radio and the Radio434 App.
Thursday’s game will also be a Thirsty Thursday with $2 specials on Miller Lite and Yuengling.
For tickets or more information, visit lynchburg-hillcats.com, call 434-528-1144, or visit the City Stadium box office.
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Chris Graham
