Connor Marabell capped a 4-for-5 day at the plate with a three-run walk-off homer against closer Ryan Brinley to shock the Nationals and take the series finale, 8-7, at City Stadium Sunday afternoon. The ‘Cats rallied in multiple innings to come back and take a one game lead in the second-half Northern Division standings.
Lynchburg and Potomac combined for 31 hits and 15 runs in the series finale. The Hillcats needed to come from behind three different times in the contest.
The Nats took an early 3-0 lead after tallying a run in each of the second, third and fourth stanzas. The ‘Cats responded with two runs in the fourth frame. Anthony Santander hit his league leading 40th double and eventually came around to score on a double by Dorssys Paulino. Paulino scored on a single by the next batter, Taylor Murphy. The ‘Cats tied the game in the fifth after Paulino drove in Yonathan Mendoza, who lead off the inning with a walk.
The ‘Cats tallied a run in the bottom of the sixth after Marabell hit his first of two doubles and scored on a single by Mark Mathias to make the score 4-4. The Nationals tacked on a run in the seventh and two more insurance runs in the ninth to take a 7-4 lead.
Facing Carolina League Postseason All-Star Ryan Brinley, Santander began the ninth with his second double of the contest and advanced to third on a Bobby Bradley groundout. Paulino walked to put runners on the corners and was followed by a run-scoring fielder’s choice by Taylor Murphy. Alex Monsalve hit the first pitch he saw into right field for a single. Connor Marabelltook his first swing and deposited a ball over the fence but it landed foul. He did not miss the next pitch as he crushed it over the right field wall to send the ‘Cats home with a victory and control of first place.
Sean Brady allowed four runs on nine hits in his 5 1/3 innings of work. The lefty struck out seven batters without surrendering a walk, marking the third time he has done that in a start this year. Justin Garcia pitched two innings and allowed two runs, including a homer. Dominic DeMasi allowed an earned run in his lone inning of work but still came away with his second win in his time with the Hillcats. Brinley blew his second save and took his first loss with the Nationals. The appearance raised his ERA a whole earned run from 0.52 to 1.53. He had only surrendered two runs all year long in 34 2/3 innings, but he gave up four in 2/3 of an inning Sunday.
Connor Marabell set a season high with nine total bases after two doubles and a home run… Anthony Santander hit two more doubles to increase his league lead to 41…The HIllcats improved to 17-17 in one-run games…It represented Lynchburg’s third walk-off victory of the season and second on a home run, as Santander had a walk-off two-run homer May 30 against Salem.
Lynchburg enjoys an Off Day on Monday before the team travels to Myrtle Beach to begin a three-game series on Tuesday at7:05 p.m. Brock Hartson (2-1, 5.75) will be on the mound for the ‘Cats. 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 6:45 p.m.
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Chris Graham
