The Fredericksburg Nationals celebrated their first walk-off win at FredNats Ballpark on Tuesday, beating the Lynchburg Hillcats 3-2 on a ninth-inning single from Junior Martina.
Martina’s two-out, two-strike liner to right field off Jerson Ramirez scored Jake Boone from third base, securing a win that had looked in doubt after the Hillcats tied the game in the top of the ninth.
Making his first start of the season, Michael Cuevas delivered 4.0 solid innings against Lynchburg. The only run he allowed was unearned, as an errant pickoff throw in the second inning scored Will Bartlett from third to put the Hillcats up 1-0.
The FredNats tied it in the fourth against Randy Labaut as Onix Vega drew a bases-loaded walk, and took a 2-1 lead in the fifth on Jeremy De La Rosa’s second home run of the season. Troy Stainbrook pitched 3.0 scoreless innings of relief to protect the lead, and Davis Moore (W, 1-0) pitched a 1-2-3 eighth before running into trouble in the ninth.
Bartlett and Hosea Nelson led off the top of the ninth with singles and were sacrificed into scoring position by Cody Farhat. Alexfri Planez lifted a sacrifice fly to left field, bringing home Bartlett to tie the game 2-2.
Moore struck out the next batter to preserve the tie, and a one-out single from José Sánchez against Trey Benton (L, 0-1) set the stage for Martina’s heroics in the bottom of the ninth. Benton was lifted for Ramirez, who uncorked a wild pitch and then intentionally walked De La Rosa. Boone pinch-ran for Sánchez, and Cole Daily drew a walk to load the bases before Martina ended the game with his walk-off single.
The FredNats continue their series against the Lynchburg Hillcats on Wednesday. First pitch from FredNats Ballpark is scheduled for 7:05, with FredNats On Deck beginning at 6:50 on the FredNats Baseball Network.
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Chris Graham
