With the bases loaded and two outs in the 12th inning, Bobby Bradley smacked a double past a diving third baseman to break a 6-all tie and give the Lynchburg Hillcats their sixth consecutive victory on the road Tuesday night at Pfitzner Stadium.
Lynchburg trailed, 4-3, entering the seventh. However, the Hillcats went to work in that frame, scoring two runs on three hits to take the lead. Claudio Bautista and Yu-Cheng Chang both singled. With two outs, Anthony Santander singled to left to knot the score, 4-4. One batter later, Chang scored on a passed ball to put the Hillcats in front, 5-4.
Lynchburg added an insurance run in the eighth inning when Daniel Salters’ sacrifice fly brought home Dorssys Paulino, who reached on an error earlier in the frame. The insurance run proved valuable, as the Nationals plated two in the home half of the eighth on an RBI double by Jose Marmolejos and an RBI single by Drew Ward.
The game remained even, 6-6, until the 12th inning. After the first two batters were retired, Greg Allen and Chang each walked.Santander was hit by a pitch to load the bases, and Bradley came through with his clutch two-bagger to give the Hillcats the win.
Lynchburg wasted no time scoring the first two runs of the game. Allen hit a leadoff double, and Chang followed with an RBI triple to right-center field. Chang scored one batter later on an RBI groundout by Santander. Potomac tallied two in the bottom of the first, though, to tie the game after one stanza.
Lynchburg broke the 2-2 deadlock in the fourth when Daniel Salters hit a ground-rule double over the center field wall to scoreMike Papi. The big hop over the fence cost the Hillcats a run and Salters an RBI, as Mark Mathias was easily going to score with two outs in the inning. However, he was called back to third base where he was eventually stranded. Potomac used a two-run fifth to take its first lead of the game, 4-3, which included a solo home run by Dale Carey.
Lynchburg’s pitching staff struck out 13 batters in 12 innings while only walking two. Luis Lugo allowed four runs on eight hits in five innings, but he also struck out six and did not walk any. Justin Garcia surrendered two runs in two frames but logged four punchouts and no walks.
Cameron Hill came up big when he entered in the eighth inning. Hill inherited runners on the corners with nobody out in a 6-5 game. A bloop single by Drew Ward tied the score, but with two on and no outs, Hill was able to get the lead runner out on a sacrifice bunt attempt. The next batter grounded into a double play to end the inning and keep the game tied.
Hill threw a season-high three innings and did not concede a hit while striking out two. Robbie Aviles (2-0) earned the win with two scoreless frames in the 11th and 12th.
Lynchburg improved its record to 2-1 in extra-inning contests…The Hillcats had 15 hits to mark its fourth consecutive game with double digits in that column…Lynchburg has scored at least eight runs in five of its past six contests.
Lynchburg plays a morning game to complete its seven-game road trip Wednesday at 10:35 a.m. Julian Merryweather (2-0, 0.00) starts for Lynchburg. Fans can listen to the action on 93.3 FM and 1320 AM as well as www.lynchburg-hillcats.com, beginning with the Hillcats On-Deck Show at 10:30 a.m.
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Chris Graham
