P-Nats drop Hillcats, 7-4

Bobby Bradley and Mike Papi each homered in the fourth inning, but five early runs for Potomac held up in a 7-4 Lynchburg Hillcats defeat at City Stadium Wednesday night.

Trailing 5-0 entering the fourth, Bobby Bradley hit a solo home run with one out in the frame. Two batters later, fellow left-handed hitter Mike Papi drilled a ball over the center field fence to pull the Hillcats within three.

In the fifth inning, another left-handed hitter in Daniel Salters started a rally with a leadoff single. Claudio Bautista followed with a single up the middle, and Greg Allen hit a high chopper over the first baseman’s head to make it a 5-3 contest. Bautistascored later on a wild pitch, but the ‘Cats could not push the tying run across the plate.

Potomac claimed a 5-0 lead through three innings with a two-run second and a three-run third. Khayyan Norfork had an RBI double in the second inning, and Drew Ward and Bryan Mejia contributed RBI singles in the third.

The Nationals added a run in the eighth without a hit when Alec Keller walked, stole second base, and advanced the rest of the way on two separate pitches in the dirt. Potomac plated its final run in the ninth after Jose Marmolejos tripled in front of a Raudy Read double.

Phillips Valdez (2-0, 4.50) earned the victory despite conceding four runs on seven hits in five innings. Mitch Brown suffered the loss after surrendering five runs on six hits and five walks in 4 2/3 frames.

This marked the first time the Hillcats had multiple home runs in the same game in 2016…Lynchburg has six home runs for the season, which is tied with Potomac for the most in the Carolina League…The ‘Cats went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position and stranded six….Lynchburg is now 13-for-70 (.186) with runners in scoring position, including 2-for-22 (.091) in the past four contests.

Lynchburg hits the road for seven games, beginning with a four-game set at Frederick. Luis Lugo (1-0, 0.00) will start for the Hillcats against the Keys’ Matthew Grimes (1-0, 0.00). First pitch at Nymeo Field is scheduled for 7 p.m. Fans can tune in to the action on 93.3 FM and 1320 AM as well as www.lynchburg-hillcats.com beginning at 6:45 p.m. for the Hillcats On-Deck Show.