It took far longer than the necessary nine innings, but the Potomac Nationals (36-34, 2-0) emerged victorious with a 3-2 12-inning win over the Lynchburg Hillcats (45-27, 0-2) Saturday night at Calvin Falwell Field. Without a run since the first inning, Potomac got a one-out solo home run from DH Drew Vettleson in the 12th inning, as his first home run of the season proved to be the game winner.
Before RHP Austen Williams (ND) even had a chance to take the field, he received more run support than he had in his first two starts combined. The first three hitters of the night singled for Potomac, as 1B Jose Marmolejos’ RBI single off of LHP Luis Lugo (ND) made it 1-0 in favor of the P-Nats. Two batters later, C Raudy Read plated SS Osvaldo Abreu with a sacrifice fly, as Potomac led 2-0 five batters into the game. However, Potomac did not pick up another hit until the eighth inning and did not score again until Vettleson’s 12th inning home run. Potomac had scored just one total run in Williams’ first two starts.
Williams put together his third consecutive quality start, as the righty allowed just one earned run over six innings. Lynchburg got on the board in the third inning, as C Sicnarf Loopstok doubled with one out, and LF Anthony Santander picked up his 47th RBI of the season with a two-out single. The score remained 2-1 Potomac until the bottom of the sixth inning.
With one out, 1B Bobby Bradley singled for the Hillcats. With SS Yu-Cheng Chang at the plate, a wild pitch from Williams allowed Bradley to get to second base. After Williams retired Chang, Bradley stole third base, as Potomac 3B Drew Ward was well off the line. After deciding not to throw down, Read eventually did, and his throw glanced off of Ward’s glove and went into the outfield, which allowed Bradley to score. The error on Read tied the game at two, where the score remained until the 12th.
The Hillcats had opportunities in each of the final four innings. CF Greg Allen led off the eighth with a walk, but Lynchburg left men at first and second base. 3B Paul Hendrix drew a two-out walk in the ninth, but he was left at first base. Allen led off the 10th with a single, but was caught stealing for just the fifth time this season. With two outs in the 11th, three consecutive walks put the winning run at third base. LHP RC Orlan issued the first two, while RHP Mario Sanchez (W, 3-0) walked Hendrix and loaded the bases. Sanchez fell behind 3-1 to Loopstok, but got two consecutive called strikes and escaped with a strikeout. On the final strike, which ended the inning, the home plate umpire ejected Loopstock and Lynchburg hitting coach Larry Day for arguing after the call.
With RHP Cameron Hill (L, 5-1) on the hill for his third inning of work, Vettleson provided a much needed boost to the Potomac offense, has he lifted a ball just over the left field wall and tucked it inside the foul pole. The home run made it 3-2 P-Nats. In the bottom half of the frame, Sanchez allowed a leadoff single to Allen, but RF Taylor Murphy popped up a bunt attempt. Sanchez then struck out Santander swinging on a high changeup, and got Bradley to foul tip a third strike fastball into Read’s glove, which ended the game.
At 12 innings, Potomac matched its longest game of the season based on innings, and finished six minutes shy of their longest game time of the season. Potomac held the Hillcats to just 1-10 with RISP, as Lynchburg left 10 men on base. Marmolejos ran his hit streak to eight games with his first inning RBI single, while six of Potomac’s nine starters had at least one hit.
An opportunity presents itself for Potomac to come away with a series sweep, as the P-Nats look to RHP Luis Reyes (3-7, 5.34) Sunday afternoon. Reyes has made one start against Lynchburg, his first outing of the season. The righty allowed five runs, two earned, over four innings in a loss on April 12th. For the Hillcats, RHP Mitch Brown (2-5, 4.71) will make his third start of the season vs. Potomac. Brown is 0-1 with an ERA of 8.30 vs. the P-Nats in 2016. First pitch is set for 2:00pm at Calvin Falwell Field.
The Potomac Nationals Baseball Network will carry live coverage beginning with the “P-Nats Leadoff Show” at1:45pm. P-Nats Gameday Audio on the Potomac Nationals Baseball Network is available atwww.potomacnationals.com or via the TuneIn Radio App.
Share
Contributors
